Disasters

By Dr. Asim K. Dasgupta

In Disasters Dr. Asim K. Dasgupta examines the many kinds of natural
phenomena and environmental disaster that impact the Earth, drawing upon
his first hand experience and years of research gathered while working and
travelling as a medical doctor with a scientific interests. Dr. Dasgupta has got
a life-long fascination with the natural environment and mans impact upon
it developed. The results of Dr. Dasguptas explorations are considered in
several case studies that both describe and examine all kinds of disasters and
their context within the Earths environment. Combining scientific fact with
first-hand observations, conclusions are drawn that may help future response
to disasters. An additional chapter detailing the science and experience of
climate change draws conclusions on the way forward for mankind. The book
is essential reading for anybody with an interest in the Earths environment
and mans place within it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Jul 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9781482800029

Book preview

Copyright © 2013 by Dr. Asim K. Dasgupta.

First edition 2008

Second edition 2011

Indian edition (revised) 2013

ISBN:      Softcover         978-1-4828-0003-6

                Ebook             978-1-4828-0002-9

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Contents

Preface for the Indian edition

Preface for ²nd edition

Preface for ¹st edition

1.   Earthquakes and Tsunamis

2.   Volcanoes

3.   Driest and Wettest

4.   Floods and Dams

5.   Storms, Tidal Waves and Floods

6.   Avalanches, Mudslides and Landslides

7.   Gales, Snow and Hail

8.   Fog and Smog

9.   Lightning

10.   The Sun, the Solar System and Solar Eclipses

11.   Droughts, Famine and Starvation

12.   Accident and Accidental Disaster

13.   Human Movement

14.   Global Climate Change

About the Author

DR ASIM K DASGUPTA is a medical doctor and a former Occupational Health Consultant in the National Health Service, United Kingdom. He also worked in private and public sector industries. His main interest is in Rehabilitation and Environmental Medicine which involved him in many investigations and research. He worked and travelled to many world disaster zones and now he engages himself in researching, travelling, writing, and publishing of this fascinating subject.

This book is dedicated to the people who lost their lives, or became disabled or orphaned, as a result of various disasters across the world.

A Note on Place Names

In recent years, the names of several countries and cities in Asia have been changed. For example, Bombay is now called Mumbai, Burma is Myanmar, Ceylon is Sri Lanka, Calcutta is Kolkata, Madras is Chennai and Peking is Beijing. The places mentioned in this book are mostly the new names. The most recent change was of Calcutta and according to the relevant time period, the author has used both ‘Calcutta’ and ‘Kolkata’.

Preface for the Indian edition

This book is a reprint of the second edition of ‘Disasters’, which was published in 2011 by AuthorHouse UK Ltd. In this Indian edition, the second edition has been revised by adding the information on latest disasters, including

1.   Cyclone Aila (2009)

2.   Drought in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park (2009) and America’s Corn Belt (2012)

3.   Japanese earthquake and Tsunami (2011)

4.   Hurricane Sandy (2012)

5.   Brahmaputra River Flood (2012) that affected the Kaziranga wildlife sanctuary in Assam, India

6.   Earthquakes in Iran and China (2013)

7.   Accidental disaster of a garment factory in Bangladesh (2013)

I have included a section on sea beach pollution in India given that the fact that an increasing number of tourists to India’s beaches. My visits to India’s Konarak Sun Temple in 2012 winter solstice day and also to the Africa’s Great Rift Valley in 2013 have also been reflected in this edition. Finally, I have described some of the logical explanations for natural disasters and global warming in the chapter on Global Climate Change. I have also added a few more photographs to enrich the contents of this edition.

My thanks to the Partridge (Penguin ASI) for re-publishing ‘Disasters’ as an Indian edition and I hope this will make my book more accessible to the Indian audience.

Preface for 2nd edition

This is the new edition of my earlier book entitled ‘Disasters-A wander down memory Lane’ which was originally published in the year 2008 by the Athena Press, London, UK.

Since the first edition of the book was published, natural disasters have continued to occur with great impact on the global environment, often resulting in human catastrophe. My journey covers both near miss incidents and some of the world’s greatest disasters. Furthermore, man-made climate change in the form of global warming is adding to the misery of the human population. Many health professionals think that climate change is now the biggest threat to the well being of the twenty -first century. If we do not act now, the survival of the global community will be called into question. With the support and encouragement of many readers, I have written this new edition with the latest information available to me. A new chapter on ‘Global Climate Change’ has been added to this edition. In addition, new information is described on the incidents in the following chapters:

1.   Earthquakes and Tsunamis

2.   Volcanoes

3.   Floods and Dams

4.   Storms, Tidal Waves and Floods

5.   Gales, Snow and Hail

6.   Droughts, Famine and Starvation

7.   Accidents and Accidental Disaster

The chapter ‘The Sun and Solar Eclipses’ has been retitled as ‘The Sun, the Solar System and Solar Eclipses’ with the information on the solar system and the space shuttle disasters has now been incorporated.

The chapter Migration, Refugee and Asylum Seekers is also now changed to Human Movement.

Many photographs are new and have replaced the first edition photographs. The sources of information are all the same as mentioned in the ‘Preface’ of the first edition.

Preface for 1st edition

Since my childhood, I have been curious about the sudden happenings of nature, like lightning, solar eclipses, thunderstorms, cyclones and tornadoes. Over the years, I have come across natural calamities such as drought, floods, mudslides, landslides, earthquakes and volcanoes. As a medical doctor, I have often been involved in relief work and have visited and seen many scenes of death, injury, rehabilitation and deprivation. I felt the need to write this book, describing my journey from childhood to the present time and hence, I have drawn on more than fifty years of autobiographical perspective. My interest in Earth science and global warming, which is affecting the planet and our environment, has also been reflected.

This book consists of thirteen chapters with photographs. One chapter considers accidental disasters and the rest focus on natural and man-made disasters. In this book, I not only consider the calamity and its effects but also try to narrate the associated and underlying beauty and wonder of nature, famous historical monuments and World Heritage Sites, which might encourage people to visit those places or countries.

I have chosen the phrase ‘down memory lane’ for the title of my book because over fifty years’ experience has allowed me to draw some conclusions that I hope may contribute to our human capacity to respond in the future to what ancient societies called ‘ill-starred events’.

Modern science allows ever-growing possibilities for predicting catastrophe; scientists, engineers and administrators can now anticipate and plan resources and procedures to cope with the inevitable destruction and misery of disaster. As a physician, scientist and traveller, I have written this book and drawn conclusions on the role of technology, and the prevention and betterment of humankind. I trust my life experiences will contribute to reducing the impact of the many scenes of death, injury and deprivation due to disasters or calamities.

Information about places that I was unable to visit came from a variety of other sources, including journalists, relatives and friends. To write this book, I also depended upon newspaper articles, journals, travel and Earth science books, radio, television and internet search engines.

CHAPTER ONE

Earthquakes and Tsunamis

Earthquake1.jpg

Earthquake-resistant structure, Sacsayhuman, Peru

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, an earthquake is defined as ‘a convulsion of the superficial parts of the Earth due to the release of accumulated stress, as a result of faults in strata or volcanic action’. A tsunami is ‘a long, high sea wave caused by underwater earthquakes or other disturbances, such as volcanic eruption or sediment slump’.

Although an earthquake is quite simply a shaking, it is no doubt the most terrifying event of the Earth. The violent movements of the Earth’s surface occur suddenly, resulting in devastating effects on human lives and land mass.

In Hindu mythology, it is said that the god Brahma is holding the Earth with one hand and, when he gets tired, changes his hand. During the short spell of change of hands, the Earth rocks, resulting in devastating effects.

In ancient Greece, people used to worship the god Poseidon, the ‘earth-shaker’, and believed that he controlled the earthquake.

A recorded history of earthquakes goes back to 2300 BC China and, since then, history has witnessed many such catastrophes. If one considers the record of the most destructive known earthquakes the world has seen, China has had the most. So I was very interested in visiting China. In spring 2004, I had that opportunity.

Not far from Beijing, there is a pyramid-shaped memorial in the city of Tianjin for the victims of the 1976 earthquake, when 255,000 people were killed (although the unofficial toll was 655,000). This was the result of an earthquake that struck the north-east of China on 27 July with a magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter scale.

The effects of an earthquake depend upon its magnitude and intensity. Intensity is the degree of shakiness caused by earth quake, and magnitude is a measure of earthquake, calculated by the Richter Scale. The Richter Scale was devised by the American seismologist Charles Richter in 1935. The intensity depends upon the magnitude; a magnitude below three is so minute that it usually passes virtually unnoticed, but from three to five, it can be felt. Above five, the damaging effects start, and above seven, the Earth reveals its destructive power. The maximum intensity is at the earthquake epicentre and then decreases with distance from the epicentre. The severity of an earthquake can be described on the basis of magnitude (Table 1).

      Table 1: Richter Scale Severity

With modern scientific instruments (seismographs) and improved communication skills, the earthquake zones of the world can be easily mapped. In particular, now that the calculation of epicentres is possible, standardised mapping is widely available. It is possible to distinguish from seismographs whether an earthquake resulted from a bomb or from the Earth itself.

China pioneered the primitive version of the modern seismograph and a Chinese man, named Han Sin, invented it in the second century BC.

In modern China, I was surprised to see so many tall, newly constructed buildings, especially in Beijing and Shanghai. Many more skyscrapers were under construction. There is no doubt that China is booming economically. However, I was wondering how these tall buildings would stand against the destructive forces of earthquakes, as China is situated in an earthquake zone. When I tried to discuss the effect of earthquakes on China’s historical buildings and the present-day skyscrapers, our guide pointed out that some of the oldest monuments and buildings in the Forbidden City had survived earthquakes over the centuries.

However, this I could not support fully when I visited and saw the cumulative effects of earthquakes on an ancient Buddhist pagoda in a place called Xi’an, the capital of China’s Shaanxi Province. The top two stories of the fifteen-storied Little Goose Pagoda, a Buddhist temple built in AD 707, collapsed in the 1556 earthquake, and I also noticed some cracks on the walls of the pagoda.

Apart from damage to historical buildings, this earthquake took the lives of 830,000 people and its magnitude was 8.0 on the Richter Scale. It happened on 23 January 1556.

The world’s most durable earthquake-resistant construction is found in the fortress and temple of Sacsayhuman in Cusco Valley in Peru. Cusco, the capital of the ancient Incan empire, lies in the Andes at an altitude of 3,520 m. The stone structures were built by the Incas in such a way that they are locked and dove-tailed into position, making them earthquake-proof. Over the years, many devastating earthquakes have shaken the Andes but the blocks are still in place, while the Spanish cathedral in Cusco has collapsed a number of times.

My wife, Supta and I visited Peru in July 2007, nearly three weeks prior to a powerful earthquake that killed 510 and injured 1,500 people. The magnitude was 8.0 on the Richter Scale, and the epicentre was in the Pacific Ocean, ninety miles (145 kilometres) south-east of the capital, Lima. The most affected town was Chincha Alta. This earthquake occurred on 15 August 2007, and was followed by several aftershocks. A tsunami generated by the earthquake affected Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Colombia, but the effects were less catastrophic than one expected.

Due to the nature of natural catastrophes, it is very difficult to give exact numbers of earthquake victims in various parts of the world. However, in the last century, earthquakes have probably claimed the lives of one and a half to two million people throughout the world.

I remember my childhood experience of an earthquake in Calcutta, now known as Kolkata, India. It was in 1950 and we were having a meal at our home. Suddenly, we felt our plates start to move to one side and it seemed that the building was tilting.

My father started to shout, ‘Come out of the building, come out of the building!’ I could hear the sounds of the bell, the gong and the blow of the conch shell from nearby. I was puzzled by the sounds, as to whether they were to alert the people or whether they were some kind of worship to the Hindu gods to prevent disaster. The earthquake lasted a few seconds and its magnitude must have been below five, so it did not cause any damage. It was an exciting time; we all stayed out on the street in front of our house. We were told not to go inside as there was a chance of recurrence, or aftershocks. I cannot recall how long we waited before we were allowed to go inside. I was probably not scared because, as a child, I had no idea of how devastating the effects of an earthquake could be. I had mixed feelings of curiosity and fun.

The news of this earthquake made headlines in the following day’s newspapers. It was the Assam earthquake; the epicentre was on the India-China border (the magnitude was 8.6-9.0 on the Richter Scale) and it then spread through upper and lower Assam, Darjeeling, Dhaka and Calcutta. A total area of 1,794,000 square kilometres was affected, of which 49,700 square kilometres suffered a more severe disaster, in which 1,530 people were killed.

The largest earthquake in Calcutta took place in 1737, in which 3,000,000 people died. However, it is now believed that the high fatalities were due to storms and floods, rather than the earthquake itself. This was the result of a cyclone which struck Calcutta and the surrounding areas at the same time (7 October 1737).

It is interesting to note that when I visited Assam, India, in 1967, I found that most of the houses in Assam were built of wood. I was told that Assam is prone to recurrent earthquakes and so the houses were constructed in such a way that there would be fewer casualties.

The Indian subcontinent is always vulnerable to earthquakes, being situated in the Asian collision zone, where continuing pressure from one plate to another under the Himalayas generates powerful and frequent earthquakes.

The rescue of people buried or trapped under the rubble is the main problem associated with earthquakes. International rescue and experts are available nowadays, and many countries offer help with their search and rescue teams. Specialised equipments and techniques, even search dogs, are promptly available. This help is needed while the chance of survival still persists, even if people have been trapped for many days since the incident occurred. It has been seen that people can survive for long periods without food and/or water and sometimes they have dug their own way out. Of course, this will depend upon how deeply someone is trapped or buried and the degree of injury they sustain. A prime example of this was in the 2003 Iran earthquake, where a man was found alive after being trapped for thirteen days. A similar example is found on 8 October 2005, in the Kashmir earthquake, when a twenty-year-old farm worker miraculously survived for twenty-seven days after being buried in the rubble of his house. The longest survival in earthquake disasters, most probably was in Quetta earthquake in the Indian sub-continents, which took place on 31st May 1935, when a merchant was buried in the debris of his shop but was able to escape after 47 days.

In August 1999 there was a great earthquake in Izmit, Turkey, with a magnitude of 7.4. People blamed substandard construction and bad soil structure for the collapse of the buildings that killed thousands of people: 20,000 people died. The aftershock impact was great, both economically and psychologically. When I visited Turkey three years after the Izmit earthquake, people were still living in temporary shelters and emergency housing. However, reconstruction was also ongoing and people were moving to newly constructed sites.

Psychologists and social workers working in this area said that the earthquake had changed people’s lives and they had to deal every day with problematic family relationships, anxiety, sleeping disorders and alcohol abuse. Whatever lessons are learnt from this earthquake, the psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers’ efforts at rehabilitation in this type of disaster are no doubt crucial.

Turkey lies on the collision zone. During the last century, there were twelve significant earthquakes and one catastrophic one. In the century, the most recent one was 8thMarch 2010 with the magnitude of 6.0 (Richter Scale) which killed at least 57 people and more earthquakes are forecast for this century. So, in order to prevent high mortality, it appears that Turkey should give more importance to building houses with solid structured foundations.

Like Turkey, India has serious earthquake problems, and a recent earthquake in January 2001, in the western Indian city of Bhuj, Gujarat, killed 18,602 and injured 165,229 people. Some of the victims were first-time visitors to the country. With aftershocks, the figure increased to 20,000 deaths and 167,000 injured. According to the government of India, 15.9 million people were victims of the earthquake and its aftershocks. Over one million homes were destroyed.

Unlike Turkey, large areas of countryside were affected, resulting in the destruction of crops, livestock and agriculture infrastructures. 20,618 cattle were killed.

UNICEF estimated that five million children under the age of fourteen were affected and some three million children lost family members. Children suffered from trauma and needed medical or psychosocial counselling, as there were problems with recovery.

Within two weeks of the earthquake, 2,232 people underwent major surgery. Amputation was not uncommon. The magnitude of the earthquake was 7.7 on the Richter Scale and the epicentre of the earthquake was sixty-nine kilometres north-east of the city of Bhuj.

A powerful earthquake of 6.7 in magnitude struck the ancient Silk Road city of Bam in south-eastern Iran at about 5.30 p.m. On 26 December 2003, killing 42,000 people and injuring 30,000. Many were homeless and traumatised. 60 per cent of the city was destroyed, collapsing buildings and damaging the 2,000-year-old Citadel, a historic mud-brick fortress and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Two hospitals were completely destroyed and field hospitals were set up. There was an aftershock of 5.4 in magnitude about two hours later. Although the magnitude was low, the damage was tremendous and it was probably due to the type of houses and their construction, which were mostly made of mud-bricks. International rescue teams and forty-six countries offered help and assistance to rebuild shattered lives, even though Iran is politically isolated. Prince Charles came from Britain to visit the earthquake site; some people considered this a diplomatic move to improve the relationship between Iran and Britain while the Iraq war was ongoing. Earthquakes are not uncommon in Iran and the last major earthquake (of 7.3-7.7 in magnitude) was on 21 June 1990, when 50,000 people died.

The earthquake map shows that earthquakes affect the wealthier nations too, and the prime example of this is the 1906 San Francisco earthquake in the USA. When I visited San Francisco in 1988, our guide was narrating the story of the 1906 earthquake from inside a beautiful seventeenth-century church, noting how the building has withstood the various earthquakes. Later, I learned how buildings in San Francisco, constructed on solid rocks, withstood the devastating effects of the 1906 earthquake.

On the other hand, buildings with poor foundations collapsed easily and the devastation was greater. Solid-foundation buildings on solid rocks survived the earthquake, but secondary effects like fire destroyed those structures in the wealthier area of San Francisco in 1906. At the end of the tour, the guide told me that an earthquake had been predicted to take place in San Francisco on that very day. However, it did not occur on that day or that year, and I was rather disappointed that the prediction was wrong, or that the guide was telling a fib. However, later on I verified this and found that the 1988 Geological Survey of USA had forecast that this particular zone would have an earthquake in the next thirty years but could not predict exactly when it would happen. It did happen the next year (1989) on the Santa Cruz Mountain, about sixty-two miles (one hundred kilometres) south-east of San Francisco, injuring 3,757 with a death toll of sixty-two people and a great deal of damage to property, highways and bridges.

San Francisco stands on several earthquake fault lines and there are seven faults just in the Bay Area, so it is no wonder that San Francisco is vulnerable to earthquakes!

In 1989, its most damaged area was the landfill site where houses were built. Bay Bridge, which connects San Francisco, Treasure Island and Auckland, was affected and the most damaged part was the Auckland side. During my visit in 2006, I saw strengthening work taking place on the Bay Bridge, with the construction of an earthquake-proof structure.

In the same year, San Francisco celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of the 1906 earthquake that destroyed 75 per cent of the city. Fires blazed for four days. San Francisco is always prone to fire hazard.

In Britain, minor earthquakes occur from time to time, but the magnitudes of most of them are so low that they are hardly noticeable. The last small earthquake took place on 28 April 2007 at 8.18 a.m., measuring 4.3 on the Richter Scale, which struck about ten miles south-east of Folkestone, Kent. One person was injured and was taken to the local hospital with minor head and neck injuries. Some houses were damaged. According to the British Geological Survey, this earthquake resulted from a complex network of faults under the English Channel. Earlier records suggest that there have been earthquakes at the same location in the past. One was in 1382 and another was in 1580. In 1580, an earthquake of about 6.0 on the Richter Scale killed two people and some believe that there was a tsunami following this earthquake!

Many people do not know that earthquakes can cause tsunamis. Tsunamis are a series of sea waves caused by a massive shift of the seafloor during an earthquake. Tsunami means ‘harbour wave’; the Japanese word ‘tsu’ means harbour, and ‘nami’ means wave. The name is given because of the way the waves crash into harbours. Tsunamis are most often seen in the Pacific Ocean and they mostly affect Japan’s coastline. Japanese records on this subject suggest that there was a tsunami of two to three metres high along the eastern coastline of Japan as a result of an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter Scale on the Pacific north-west on 26 January 1700 at 9 p.m. Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone countries of the world, as it is situated on top of four tectonic plates. Therefore the country has developed a sophisticated tsunami warning service run by Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

The earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on 11 March 2011 killed 15,878, injured 6,126 and at least 2,713 people were missing. With the magnitude of about 9, the epicenter was 70 km (43 miles) east of Osaka peninsula of Tohaku. At an underwater depth of about 32km (20miles), the earthquake occurred where the Pacific plate subducted under the plate beneath the Northern Honshu. The duration was 6 minutes. There were 1,236 aftershocks, besides 7 foreshocks. Although an early warning by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) saved many lives, there were cases where large differences between estimated intimation by the earthquake early warning system and actual incident occurred. Tsunami warnings were issued across the Pacific but later on tightened for some of the most populated in the region including Australia, Taiwan and New Zealand. All towns along Japan’s north-east coast were washed away. The damages of this earthquake and tsunami included waves of up to 40 meters high, flooding, landslides, fires, buildings and infrastructure damage and lastly nuclear incidents including radiation releases. The nuclear accident was primarily a level 7 meltdown of three of the six reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. This is a typical nuclear disaster crisis that resulted in contamination of the surrounding areas of the plant. Initially, a 20-30 km radius in and around the plant had to be evacuated and indoor sheltering orders were given. However, at the time of the incident, two workers were taken to hospital with radiation burns and 37 had other physical injuries.

However, two years after incident, the region is still having problem with residual radiation, economy and the health. According to WHO, those living near by have high or increased risk of certain cancers such as thyroid, breast and leukemia.

The tsunami that was triggered by an earthquake on 1 April 1946 in Alaska was the world’s fastest-moving tsunami, travelling at more than 700 km/h to strike Big Island of Hawaii and killed more then 170 people. The most affected areas were Hilo, Laupahoehoe and Pololu Valley. Some waves were up to 55 ft in height. Many sugar cane plants and train tracks and bridges, used to transport this crop, were destroyed. When I was in Big Island in March 2008, besides Hilo, I also visited Laupahoehoe Point. Laupahoehoe means ‘Leaf of Lava’ and it was once a well-established little community, with a busy harbour and the location of Laupahoehoe Sugar Company. In April 1946, the three tidal waves of about 30 ft swept over the peninsula destroying sugar plants and the local school, and killing many residents. At present, there is a monument on the site of the school to commemorate the twenty-four victims who lost their lives.

Tsunamis are not uncommon on the island of Hawaii, and since the early 1800s about fifty tsunamis have been reported, two of which were major: one in 1946 and the other in 1960. On both these occasions Hilo was affected. The 1960 tsunami originated from Chile, and although its arrival time was predicted correctly, sixty-one lives were still lost. It was following the disastrous tsunami of 1946 that the tsunami warning system for the Pacific was developed by the USA and its headquarters in Honolulu. The tsunami warning centre receives information from seismometers and tide-gauge stations all around the Pacific Ocean. If there is an earthquake with a possible tsunami, then the warning centre puts out a ‘tsunami watch’, alerting civil defence and other authorities.

When the first positive evidence of a tsunami comes from the tide stations near the epicentre of the earthquake, Honolulu centre issues a ‘tsunami warning’ informing those at risk of the estimated arrival time for the first wave. Local authorities take action to evacuate the people at risk from low-lying areas. When I was travelling along the coastline on the island of Oahu, many beautiful beaches were empty and I noticed red flag signals which indicated high tide and rough seas.

Sugar plantations and the townships and railways associated with them used to dominate Big Island but are no longer in existence. The last sugar cane plantation closed down in 1996.

This was not due to tsunami but to the plantation’s inability to compete in the global economy. Many people lost their jobs and found it hard to get other employment. Some committed suicide or became drug addicts or alcoholics. Many of the once-thriving plantation-based communities have become ghost towns.

In 2004, the day after Christmas, the tsunami waves in the Indian Ocean rocked the world; the power of the waves resulted in the worst catastrophe ever across South Asia.

On Boxing Day, 26 December 2004, at about 10 a.m., I received a phone call from my son-in-law, Rahul, saying that a big tsunami had hit southern Asia. Rahul Tandon is a broadcasting journalist and works for BBC,