The author examines natural disasters around the Pacific Rim throughout history together with scientific data context to produce enlightening-and highly readable-entries. On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off Japan's coast, triggering a powerful tsunami. The massive destruction that resulted proved that not even sophisticated, industrialized nations are immune from nature's fury. Written to take some of the mystery out of the earth's behavior, this encyclopedia chronicles major natural disasters that have occurred around the Pacific Rim, an area nicknamed the "Ring of Fire" because of the volatile earth that lies above and below. The encyclopedia offers descriptions of deadly earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis through time. The entries provide in-depth information that promotes an understanding of the structure of the earth and earth processes and shares the insights of scientists whose work helps clarify the causes and effects of these cataclysmic events. At the same time, the work examines how the people and cultures of the Pacific Rim view this active part of the earth, how they live with the threat of disaster, and how they have been affected by major events that have occurred. Readers will come away with a holistic view of what is known, how this knowledge was gained, and what its implications may be. Features approximately 100 alphabetically arranged entries with insights into specific disasters, technology, key geographic features of the area, significant people, cultural beliefs, and more Includes a general introduction and overview of the geography and tectonic activity in the Pacific Rim countries Offers both historical and scientific information Explains complex natural phenomena and scientific concepts using nontechnical language and clear illustrations Provides relevant cross-references to related topics as well as to articles, books, and websites that offer further information

Flooding is a global phenomenon that claims numerous lives worldwide each year. Apart from the physical damage to buildings, contents and loss of life, which are the most obvious, impacts of floods upon households and other more indirect losses are often overlooked. These indirect and intangible impacts are generally associated with disruption to normal life and longer term health issues. Flooding represents a major barrier to the alleviation of poverty in many parts of the developing world, where vulnerable communities are often exposed to sudden and life-threatening events. As our cities continue to expand, their urban infrastructures need to be re-evaluated and adapted to new requirements related to the increase in population and the growing areas under urbanization. Topics such as contamination and pollution discharges in urban water bodies, as well as the monitoring of water recycling systems are currently receiving a great deal of attention from researchers and professional engineers working in the water industry. The papers contained in this volume cover these problems and deals with two main urban water topics: water supply networks and urban drainage. Originating from the 7th International Conference on Flood and Urban Water Management, the included research works include innovative solutions that can help bring about multiple benefits toward achieving integrated flood risk and urban water management strategies and policy.

Disasters can happen without warning and cause detrimental damage to society. By planning and conducting research beforehand, businesses can more effectively aid in relief efforts. The Developing Role of Public Libraries in Emergency Management: Emerging Research and Opportunities is an essential reference source for the latest scholarly information on library engagement in official emergency response and how these institutions can offer community aid in disaster situations. Featuring extensive coverage on a number of topics such as hazard analysis, mitigation planning, and local command structure, this publication is ideally designed for academicians, researchers, and practitioners seeking current research on the role local businesses play in emergency response situations.

Research presented at the 7th International Conference on Disaster Management and Human Health: Reducing Risk, Improving Outcomes is contained in this volume. These contributions from academics and experts focus on public health, security and disaster management with the goal to assess the potential risk from various types of disaster and highlight ways to prevent or alleviate any damage. There is a need for academia and practitioners to exchange knowledge and experience on the way to handle the increasing risk of natural and human-made disasters. Recent major earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods and other natural phenomena have resulted in huge losses in terms of human life and property destruction. A new range of human-made disasters have afflicted humanity in modern times; terrorist activities have been added to more classical disasters such as those due to the failure of industrial installations for instance. It is important to understand the nature of these global risks to be able to develop strategies to prepare for these events and plan effective responses in terms of disaster management and the associated human health impacts. The papers included in this volume cover such topics as Public health risk; Socio-economic issues; Environmental issues; Emergency preparedness and risk mitigation.

The book seeks to comprehend how indigenous knowledge systems of local communities can be effectively used in disaster management of various types. A prime example is the 2015 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, promoting indigenous environmental management knowledge and practices. Traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples includes information and insight that supplement conventional science and environmental observations, a comprehensive understanding of the environment, natural resources, culture, and human interactions with them which is not documented before. A great deal of this knowledge have been lost in translation. In this book, the authors attempt to keep a record of each and every traditional knowledge study of the indigenous communities in managing the disasters. The use of indigenous knowledge systems in disaster understanding and management is the primary focus of the chapters.   This book is organized into four major sections. The first part gives an overview and help in conceptualizing the different concepts of hazard and disaster perception and how response and adaptation are connected with it. This part also discusses the concept of the connection between hazard and sustainable development and how the understanding of risk reduction and resilience can happen with the help of indigenous knowledge, insights, and strategies. The second part of the book introduces the different approaches to disaster and risk management. It establishes how vulnerability influences the risk associated with a hazard and the responses can be both positive and negative in disaster management. The approaches of the indigenous communities in managing a disaster, their resilience, capacity building, and community-based preparedness will be the area of prime focus in this chapter. Part 3 of this book describes the concept of sustainability through indigenous knowledge and practice. The sole highlight of this chapter is the indigenous knowledge efficacies in disaster identification, risk reduction, climate risk management, and climate action. The last section of the book explores how to meet the gaps between local knowledge and policy formulation. It highlights how traditional knowledge of the indigenous communities can prove to be beneficial in developing a holistic regional-based policy framework which will be easily accepted by the target stakeholders since they will be more acquainted with the local strategies and methods. This section ends with an assessment and discussion of the gaps and future scopes in disaster risk reduction through integrating local knowledge and modern technologies.

Recent major earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods and other natural phenomena have resulted in huge losses in terms of human life and property destruction. A new range of human-made disasters have afflicted humanity in modern times; terrorist activities have been added to more classical disasters such as those due to the failure of industrial installations. It is important to understand the nature of these global risks to be able to develop strategies to prepare for these events and plan effective responses in terms of disaster management and the associated human health impacts. The selected papers contained in this book have been written by academics and professionals and represent some of the latest developments in the field.