Geography- Disaster Management (Extra Questions)

Geography- Disaster Management

1. What is a disaster?
A disaster is an unexpected adverse event of immense magnitude that causes catastrophic damage to human life as well as the natural surroundings.

2. What is disaster management?
Disaster management are measures taken up before, during and after a disaster to control the disaster and provide a framework for prompt recuperation. In fact, this progressive strategy for managing disasters is a continuous process.

3. What is an earthquake?
An earthquake is a sudden and violent movement of the Earth’s crust followed by a series of shocks of lesser intensity.

4. Analyse the distribution of earthquakes in India.
The Indian subcontinent lies in a highly volatile region. The whole of Northeast, parts of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and hills Uttarkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Kutch in Gujarat and Andaman and Nicobar Islands are some of the most vulnerable regions in India.

5. Analyse the effects of Earthquakes.

Primary effect involves destruction of human settlements in the form of collapsing buildings, bridges that kill and injure several people. It disrupts transport and communication system and affects the supply of electricity, water supply, etc. The aftershocks, even though of lesser intensity, can cause even greater damage by destabilising weak structures. Secondary effects include fires due to explosion of gas pipelines that can destroy forests, contamination of water supply due to bursting of water pipeline, tsunamis that flood coastal areas, landslides and spread of epidemics

6. What is a natural disaster? 

A disaster is an unexpected adverse event of immense magnitude that causes catastrophic damage to human life as well as the natural surroundings.

7. Name some types of man- made disasters. 

Communal riots, Ethnic conflicts, Refugee situations, War.

8. Name some type of natural disasters. 

Natural disaster: Earthquake, Drought, Cyclone, Flood.

9. Why does one need earthquake preparedness? 

Identifying potential hazards and advance planning can save life as well as significantly reduce destruction. Educating the public about the causes and characteristics of earthquake through training programmes can to a large extent mitigate the effect of earthquakes.

10. What was the cause of the earthquake of April 1, 2014 in Iquique Chile? 

The earthquake off the Chilean coast occurred because the Nazca plate is diving down (being subducted) below the South American plate.

11. Identify the causes of a cyclone. 

Warm sea temperature, high relative humidity and atmospheric instability contribute to formation of cyclonic winds. In a cyclone giant unstable spiral cloud bands are formed with a highly active central cloud core called ‘eye of the cloud’.

12. Analyse the distribution of cyclones in India. 

West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are the most vulnerable states on the eastern coast and on the western coast - Gujarat and Maharashtra are the two states affected by cyclone related hazards.

13. Analyse the effects of cyclone. 

Powerful winds, heavy rainfall and flooding cause huge loss of life and property. Disruption in the entire transport and communication system of the region. This becomes an obstacle in distribution of relief materials. The winds also damage water supply system which then gets contaminated by accumulated flood water. Flooding also leads to spreading of epidemics like diarrhea and malaria.

14. What is the importance of cyclone preparedness? 

A lot of lives are saved and the Indian Meteorological Department issues a warning in advance to ports, fisheries and aviation departments that help in reducing the scale of death and destruction. These days a special Disaster Warning System (DWS) is used to disseminate information about cyclonic storms in local languages, especially in isolated regions.