This document discusses the top 11 natural disasters: landslides, floods, thunderstorms, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, droughts, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, earthquakes, and avalanches. It provides details on the causes and impacts of each type of disaster, with landslides defined as the movement of land down a slope by gravity, floods caused by excessive rainfall, and tsunamis generated by displacement of large bodies of water. The document aims to raise awareness of natural hazards and inform readers on disaster preparedness.

1. Are we prepared?

2. What is a Natural Disaster?
What’s the difference between natural disaster and natural hazard?
Can we predict them?
What can we do to prevent
disaster?
Are we in danger?

3. List of top 11 natural disasters
1. Landslides and Mudflows
2. Flood
3. Thunderstorm
4. Tsunami
5. Volcanic Eruption
6. Drought
7. Hurricane
8. Tornado
9. Wildfire
10. Earthquake
11. Avalanche

4. Landslides and mudflows

5. Landslides
• Landslides are the movement of
land down a slope by gravity
• Landslides are mother nature’s
way of redistributing land
• They can be triggered by rain,
floods, and earthquakes as well
as man-made factors such as
slope grading or mining
• Landslides have the potential to
happen anywhere a steep slope is
present

6. Landslides
• A landslide or a landslip is a movement in the
ground and a shallow flow of debris.
• The largest landslide in history happened
because of Mount St. Helens. 3km of rock
moved downhill.

7. Droughts
• A drought is a long period of time in which a
certain region receives a shortage of water
• Lasting three years from 1958 to 1961, the
Great Chinese Famine is the worst on record,
15 to 43 million were killed as a result
• USA has been hit by a huge drought in 2012
decreasing corn income by 12%

9. Thunder Storms
• Every Thunderstorm produces
lightning
• There is wet thunder and dry
thunder, the difference being
whether or not rain in produced
• Warm humid conditions favor
thunderstorms
• Only 10% of thunderstorms are
classified as severe
• Your chance of being struck by
lightning is 1 in 600,000
Multiple Lightning Strikes and a
Supercell Thunderstorm formation

10. Tsunami

11. Tsunami’s
• Tsunami means harbor wave and is caused by
the displacement of a large body of water
normally an ocean or a large lake.

12. Tsunami’s
• The biggest tsunami ever happened at Lituya
Bay, Alaska on July 9, 1958. The megatsunami
was around 150 meters tall.
• The tsunami caused by 2004 Indian Ocean
earthquake, is the 6th deadliest Natural
disaster in recorded history with a death toll
of 230,210 – 280,000.

14. Volcanic Eruption
• A volcano is an opening in a planet’s surface
which allows hot magma to escape from
below the surface.
• Study of volcano’s is called Volcanology and
volcanic eruptions are measured using
Volcanic Explosivity Index

15. Volcanic Eruption
• The biggest volcanic eruption was Mount
Tamboraon April 10, 1815, it heard over 2000
km away and had a death toll of around
71,000. Due to the explosion 1816 became
known as “The Year Without Summer”.
• The largest volcano known to humans is
Olympus Mons on Mars. Olympus Mons
means Mount Olympus and is bigger than
Mount Everest.

18. Droughts
• A drought is a long period of time in which a
certain region receives a shortage of water
• Lasting three years from 1958 to 1961, the
Great Chinese Famine is the worst on record,
15 to 43 million were killed as a result
• USA has been hit by a huge drought in 2012
decreasing corn income by 12%

22. Hurricanes
• A hurricane is a tropical storm
with winds over 74mph
• Hurricanes occupy the most
intense level of the three
levels of tropical storms
• Hurricanes rotate or circulate
counter-clockwise in the
northern hemisphere
• Hurricanes can only occur
over the Atlantic ocean,
Caribbean sea, and gulf of
Mexico
View of a Hurricane from Space

24. Tornados (Twisters)
• A tornado is a violently rotating column of air
that is touching both the ground and a
cumulonimbus cloud.
• Tornado conditions are caused when different
temperatures and humidity meet to form
thunder clouds
• “Twisters” can attain speeds up to 100 miles
an hour

26. Tornados
• The biggest tornado recorded was the Hallam,
Nebraska tornado on May 22, 2004. It was
around 2.5 miles big and had a death toll of
around 160.
• The deadliest tornado recorded occurred in
Daultipur and Salturia, Bangladesh on April
26th, 1989. 1300 recorded dead and 12,000
injured.

27. Tornados
• A tornado is defined as a
violently rotating column of air
extending from a thunderstorm to
the ground
• Tornados are found in almost
every part of the world
• Tornados are most common in
the United States, just east of the
Rocky Mountains in an area
called Tornado Ally
• Waterspouts are weak tornados
over water and can move inland
and become tornados
Click on Image to View
a Tornado Chaser’s
Video

29. Wildfire
• A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in the
countryside or wilderness.
• Other names for a wildfire are brush fire,
bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill
fire, peat fire, vegetation fire, and veldfire.
• One of the largest wildfire is the 1910 wildfire

31. Earthquakes
• Earthquakes are caused by the
release of built up pressure
caused by the shifting of tectonic
plates
• Earthquakes usually occur on
fault lines, or areas where
tectonic plates meet
• The size of an earthquake is
measured using the logarithmic
based Richter scale An aerial view of the San
Andreas fault in the
Carrizo Plain, Central
California

32. Earthquake

38. Avalanches
• Avalanches Happen on every continent
• Avalanche Season is during the “winter
time” or December-April in the United
States
• A large scale can release up to 300,000
cubic yards of snow
• Avalanches are more commonly released
by recreationists than by natural causes
• The biggest factor of avalanche possibility
is the accumulation snow over the winter
season
– More snow = bigger avalanche
Click on Image for
An Avalanche
Video

44. Llaima
Villarrica
Antuco
Descabezado Grande

45. In case of eruption.