This book reflects the latest research results in computer modelling of landslide-induced debris flows. The book establishes an understanding of the initiation and propagation mechanisms of landslides by means of numerical simulations, so that mitigation strategies to reduce the long-term losses from landslide hazards can be devised. In this context, the book employs the Discrete Element Method (DEM) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to investigate the mechanical and hydraulic behaviour of granular materials involved in landslides - an approach that yields meaningful insights into the flow mechanisms, concerning e.g. the mobilization of sediments, the generation and dissipation of excess pore water pressures, and the evolution of effective stresses. As such, the book provides valuable information, useful methods and robust numerical tools that can be successfully applied in the field of debris flow research.

This volume presents the history of marine fog research and applications, and discusses the physical processes leading to fog's formation, evolution, and dissipation. A special emphasis is on the challenges and advancements of fog observation and modeling as well as on efforts toward operational fog forecasting and linkages and feedbacks between marine fog and the environment.

SYNER-G, a multidisciplinary effort funded by the European Union, allowed the development of an innovative methodological framework for the assessment of physical as well as socio-economic seismic vulnerability and risk at urban and regional level. The results of SYNER-G are presented in two books both published by Springer, the present and a second one, entitled SYNER-G: Typology Definition and Fragility Functions for Physical Elements at Seismic Risk: Buildings, Lifelines, Transportation Networks and Critical Facilities (*), which provides a comprehensive state-of-the-art of the fragility curves, an alternative way to express physical vulnerability of elements at risk.

In this second volume of SYNER-G, the focus has been on presenting a unified holistic methodology for assessing vulnerability at systems level considering interactions between elements at risk (physical and non-physical) and between different systems. The proposed methodology and tool encompasses in an integrated fashion all aspects in the chain, from hazard to the vulnerability assessment of components and systems and to the socio-economic impacts of an earthquake, accounting for most relevant uncertainties within an efficient quantitative simulation scheme. It systematically integrates the most advanced fragility functions to assess the vulnerability of physical assets for buildings, utility systems, transportation networks and complex infrastructures such as harbours and hospitals. The increasing impact due to interactionsbetween different components and systems is treated in a comprehensive way, providing specifications for each network and infrastructure. The proposed socio-economic model integrates social vulnerability into the physical systems modelling approaches providing to decision makers with a dynamic platform to capture post disaster emergency issues like shelter demand and health impact decisions.Application examples at city and regional scale have provided the necessary validation of the methodology and are also included in the book.

The present volume, with its companion volume on fragility functions, represent a significant step forward in the seismic vulnerability and risk assessment of complex interacting urban and regional systems and infrastructures. These volumes are not only of interest to scientists and engineers but also to the insurance industry, decision makers and practitioners in the sector of civil protection and seismic risk management.

(*) Pitilakis K, Crowley E, Kaynia A (eds) (2014) SYNER-G: Typology definition and fragility functions for physical elements at seismic risk, Series: Geotechnical, Geological and Earthquake Engineering 27, ISBN 978-94-007-7872-6, Springer Science+Business Media, Dordrecht.

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This Open Access Book is the first to examine disasters from a multidisciplinary perspective. Justification of actions in the face of disasters requires recourse both to conceptual analysis and ethical traditions. Part 1 of the book contains chapters on how disasters are conceptualized in different academic disciplines relevant to disasters. Part 2 has chapters on how ethical issues that arise in relation to disasters can be addressed from a number of fundamental normative approaches in moral and political philosophy. This book sets the stage for more focused normative debates given that no one book can be completely comprehensive. Providing analysis of core concepts, and with real-world relevance, this book should be of interest to disaster scholars and researchers, those working in ethics and political philosophy, as well as policy makers, humanitarian actors and intergovernmental organizations..

Seventy-foot waves batter a torn life raft 250 miles out to sea in one of the world's most dangerous places, the Gulf Stream. Hanging on to the raft are three men: a Canadian, a Brit, and their captain, JP de Lutz, a dual citizen of the United States and France. Their capsized forty-seven-foot sailboat has disappeared below the tempestuous sea. The giant waves repeatedly toss the men out of their tiny vessel, and JP, with nine broken ribs, is hypothermic and on the verge of death.
Trying to reach these survivors before it's too late are four brave Coast Guardsmen battling hurricane-force winds in their Jayhawk helicopter. With waves reaching an astounding eighty feet, lowering the helicopter into such chaos will be extremely dangerous. The pilots wonder if they have a realistic chance of saving the sailors or even retrieving their own rescue swimmer. Soon the rescuers find themselves in almost as much trouble as the survivors, facing one life-and-death moment after the next against the towering seas.
Also caught in the storm are three other boats, each one in a Mayday situation. Of the ten people on these boats, only six will ever see land again.
Spellbinding, harrowing, and meticulously researched, "A Storm Too Soon" is a vivid, heart-pounding narrative of survival, the power of the human spirit, and one of the most incredible rescues ever attempted.

This book contains the best contributions presented during the 6th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering and the 2nd National Conference on Earthquake Engineering and Seismology - 6CNIS & 2CNISS, that took place on June 14-17, 2017 in Bucharest - Romania, at the Romanian Academy and Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest. The book offers an updated overview of seismic hazard and risk assessment activities, with an emphasis on recent developments in Romania, a very challenging case study because of its peculiar intermediate-depth seismicity and evolutive code-compliant building stock. Moreover, the book collects input of renowned scientists and professionals from Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey and United Kingdom.The content of the book focuses on seismicity of Romania, geotechnical earthquake engineering, structural analysis and seismic design regulations, innovative solutions for seismic protection of building structures, seismic risk evaluation, resilience-based assessment of structures and management of emergency situations. The sub-chapters consist of the best papers of 6CNIS & 2CNISS selected by the International Advisory and Scientific Committees. The book is targeted at researchers and experts in seismic hazard and risk, evaluation and rehabilitation of buildings and structures, insurers and re-insurers, and decision makers in the field of emergency situations and recovery activities.

Seismicity is a major trigger for landslides with often devastating effects. The Japan Landslide Society (JLS) therefore organized a meeting fully dedicated to the research area of earthquake induced landslides. The symposium covers all aspects of earthquake-induced landslides including the phenomena occurred in manmade embankments as well as in natural slopes in mountainous areas. In this comprehensive volume on landslide science the JLS presents the Proceedings of this First International Symposium on Earthquake-Induced Landslides, held in November 2012 in Kiryu, Japan.

This book evolved from a collaborative research project between the University of Manitoba, Canada and Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh, which commenced in 1984 to study the problems of river channel migration, rural population displacement and land relocation in Bangladesh. The study was sponsored by the International Development Research Center (IDRC), based in Ottawa, Canada. It was through this project that I started my journey into disaster research more than thirteen years ago with basically an applied problem of massive magnitude in Bangladesh. I spent two- and-a half-years, in two stages, in Bangladesh's riparian villages to collect the empirical data for this study. Then the growing disaster discourse throughout the 1980s, especially its conceptual and theoretical areas, drew me in further, gluing my interest to these issues. In the 1990s, during my research and teaching at Brandon University, Canada, I realized that, despite the large body of literature on natural disasters, there was no work that synthesized the approaches to nature-triggered disasters in a comprehensive form, with sufficient empirical substantiation. In addition, despite the great deal of attention given to disasters in Bangladesh, I found no detailed reference book on the topic. Natural hazards and disasters, in my view, should be studied under a holistic framework encompassing the natural environment, society and individuals. Overreaction to the limitations of technocratic-scientific approaches-the control and prevention of physical events through specialized knowledge and skills-has resulted in a call for "taking the naturalness out of natural disasters.

This book explores economic concepts related to disaster losses, describes mechanisms that determine the economic consequences of a disaster, and reviews methodologies for making decisions regarding risk management and adaptation. The author addresses the need for better understanding of the consequences of disasters and reviews and analyzes three scientific debates on linkage between disaster risk management and adaptation to climate change. The first involves the existence and magnitude of long-term economic impact of natural disasters on development. The second is the disagreement over whether any development is the proper solution to high vulnerability to disaster risk. The third debate involves the difficulty of drawing connections between natural disasters and climate change and the challenge in managing them through an integrated strategy. The introduction describes economic views of disaster, including direct and indirect costs, output and welfare losses, and use of econometric tools to measure losses. The next section defines disaster risk, delineates between "good" and "bad" risk-taking, and discusses a pathway to balanced growth. A section entitled "Trends in Hazards and the Role of Climate Change" sets scenarios for climate change analysis, discusses statistical and physical models for downscaling global climate scenarios to extreme event scenarios, and considers how to consider extremes of hot and cold, storms, wind, drought and flood. Another section analyzes case studies on hurricanes and the US coastline; sea-level rises and storm surge in Copenhagen; and heavy precipitation in Mumbai. A section on Methodologies for disaster risk management includes a study on cost-benefit analysis of coastal protections in New Orleans, and one on early-warning systems in developing countries. The next section outlines decision-making in disaster risk management, including robust decision-making, No-regret and No-risk strategies; and strategies that reduce time horizons for decision-making. Among the conclusions is the assertion that risk management policies must recognize the benefits of risk-taking and avoid suppressing it entirely. The main message is that a combination of disaster-risk-reduction, resilience-building and adaptation policies can yield large potential gains and synergies.

As the world grieves over the catastrophic loss of humanity from the 26 December 2004 tsunami, we must resolve to learn from nature's lessons. This issue provides a framework and a set of tools to develop communities that are resilient to tsunami. This collection of papers represents a starting point on our new journey toward a safer world. The history of tsunami hazard mitigation tracks well with the history of destructive tsunamis in the United States. Following the 1946 Alaska g- erated tsunami that killed 173 people in Hawaii, the Paci?c Tsunami Warning Center was established in Hawaii by a predecessor agency to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Following the 1960 Chilean tsunami that killed 1,000 people in Chile, 61 in Hawaii, and 199 in Japan, the United States formed the Joint Tsunami Research E?ort (JTRE) and sta?ed the International Tsunami Information Center (ITIC) in Hawaii. JTRE was formed to conduct research on tsunamis while ITIC, sponsored by the United Nations, was formed to coordinate tsunami warning e?orts of the Paci?c Countries. Many research and mitigation e?orts were focused on the distant tsunami problem. Following the 1964 Alaskan t- nami that killed 117 in Alaska, 11 in California, and 4 in Oregon, the U. S. was confronted with the local tsunami problem. In response, the U. S. established the Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska. In 1992, a Ms 7.

Remote Sensing of the Changing Oceans is a comprehensive account of the basic concepts, theories, methods and applications used in ocean satellite remote sensing. The book provides a synthesis of various new ideas and theories and discusses a series of key research topics in oceanic manifestation of global changes as viewed from space. A variety of research methods used in the analysis and modeling of global changes are introduced in detail along with numerous examples from around the world s oceans. The authors review the changing oceans at different levels, including Global and Regional Observations, Natural Hazards, Coastal Environment and related scientific issues, all from the unique perspective of Satellite Observation Systems. Thus, the book not only introduces the basics of the changing oceans, but also new developments in satellite remote sensing technology and international cooperation in this emerging field.

Danling Tang (Lingzis) received her Ph.D from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. She conducted research and teaching in Hong Kong, USA, Japan, and South Korea for more than 10 years; in 2004, she received 100 Talents Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences and returned to China. She was a professor of Fudan University, and now is a Leading Professor of Remote Sensing of Marine Ecology and Environment at the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Tang has been working on satellite remote sensing of marine ecology and environment; her major research interests include ocean dynamics of phytoplankton bloom, global environmental changes, and natural hazards.

Dr. Tang has organized several international conferences, workshops, and training, she also services as member of organizing committee for several international scientific organizations; she was the Chairman of the 9th Pan Ocean Remote Sensing Conference (PORSEC 2008), and currently is the President-elect of PORSEC Association.

For too long, the details of this tragedy have been shrouded in a fog of secrecy. Beyond Tranquillon Ridge is a story that recounts the firefighting efforts during a frenzied 24- hour period known as the "Honda Canyon Fire." It is a history of the strategies and tactics used and it includes many first-hand accounts of the conditions that firefighters and the military faced on the front lines-including the tragic deaths of their comrades. Joseph Valencia offers a brilliant look back; re-creating the sights and sounds of actual firefighting; descriptive overviews of the landscape of South Vandenberg, with rich profiles and command level decisions of the brave men who fought it. In the end, this one day in 1977 stands out as the pivotal time when wind and fire combined into a firestorm and where past compromises affected an outcome.

Modern Technologies for Landslide Investigation and Prediction presents eleven contributed chapters from Chinese and Italian authors, as a follow-up of a bilateral workshop held in Shanghai on September 2013. Chapters are organized in three main parts: ground-based monitoring techniques (photogrammetry, terrestrial laser scanning, ground-based InSAR, infrared thermography, and GNSS networks), geophysical (passive seismic sensor networks) and geotechnical methods (SPH and SLIDE), and satellite remote-sensing techniques (InSAR and optical images). Authors of these contributes are internationally-recognized experts in their respective research fields. Marco Scaioni works in the college of Surveying and Geo-Informatics at Tongji University, Shanghai (P.R. China). His research fields are mainly Close-range Photogrammetry, Terrestrial Laser Scanning, and other ground-based sensors for metrological and deformation monitoring applications to structural engineering and geosciences. In the period 2012-2016 he is chairman of the Working Group V/3 in the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, focusing on 'Terrestrial 3D Imaging and Sensors'.

Over the past 20 years the costs of natural disasters have escalated significantly. The lives of over 800 million people have been disrupted and the number of catastrophes has nearly quadrupled. At present, the increasing global threat of natural disasters, in spite of our increased knowledge, is ominous. With the growth in world population, the increasing of resources in newly developing areas, and the increasing cost and sophistication of engineering structures and technical installations, there is an urgent need to seek to understand the potential threats posed by natural hazards and to ascertain the best ways of mitigating their damaging effects. To meet this urgent threat, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in December 22, 1989 passed a Resolution which declared the 1990s to be the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR). As a contribution to the decade, the International Symposium Hazards--91 was held in Perugia, Italy, during 4--9 August 1991. The conference was attended by specialists from 34 countries, and a total of 110 papers were presented at 20 sessions, covering a very broad range of topics which proved to be of significant value for future research. The sixteen articles included in this book provide a unique overview of the state-of-the-science in geophysical hazards including climatic, atmospheric, hydrological and geological hazards. Furthermore, the results of a panel on the IDNDR and the recommendations adopted during the meeting are presented at the end of this volume. Recent Studies in Geophysical Hazards is thus an excellent reference source for scientists, engineers, and policy makers.

Geophysical mass flows, such as landslides, avalanches or debris flows, are frequent mass movement processes in mountain areas and often cause disastrous damage. This book lays a foundation for formulating the depth-averaged equations describing the shallow geophysical mass flows over non-trivial topography. It consists of the detailed derivation of the model equations. The stimulating numerical examples demonstrate how the proposed models are applied. All this make this book accessible to a wide variety of readers, especially senior undergraduate and graduate students of fluid mechanics, civil engineering, applied mathematics, engineering geology, geophysics or engineers who are responsible for hazard management.

Earthquakes and Atmospheric Hazards contains a selection of papers that were presented as part of the Sixth International Symposium on Natural and Man-Made Hazards (HAZARDS-96) held in Toronto, Canada during July, 1996. The Symposium was very timely, given the large number of natural disasters that have occurred in various parts of the world during the 1990s, the United Nations' International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR). The human reaction to these disasters has varied widely from one event to the next and the economic and social costs have been immense with damage running into billions of dollars. Having in everyone's mind the Northridge, California (1994) and the Kobe, Japan (1995) earthquakes, the volcanoes in the Philippines, the cyclones and related storm surges in Bangladesh, and the floods in North America and Europe caused by heavy rains, the Symposium attracted more than one hundred papers covering various aspects of these events. The eleven papers included in this volume deal with the scientific and management issues of those earthquakes and atmospheric hazards that occurred during the late 1990s, with emphasis on the preparedness aspects. A summary report of the HAZARDS-96 Symposium and recommendations adopted by the participants is also included. Earthquakes and Atmospheric Hazards forms an excellent reference for scientists, students, engineers, the insurance industry, authorities specializing in public safety and natural hazards preparedness and mitigation plans.

This book provides a detailed overview on methods used for the dating of past torrential activity on fans and cones and fosters the discussion on the impact of past and potential future climate change on torrential processes. The book has a clear focus on the practical applications of these methods, complemented by case studies. The limits of each dating method in case of excessive natural and human interventions on fans and cones are shown.

Geotechnics for Catastrophic Flooding Events presents the keynote lectures (book, 264 pages) and keynote lectures and general papers (CD-ROM, 608 pages) presented at the Fourth International ISSMGEConference on Geotechnical Engineering for Disaster Mitigation and Rehabilitation (4th GEDMAR, Kyoto, Japan, 16-18 September 2014). The contributions discuss hurricane, rainstorm and storm surge induced riverine and coastal flooding events, such as the 2004 Sumatra earthquake in Indonesia, the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans, USA, Typhoon Morakot, which devastated parts of Taiwan in 2009 and the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster in Eastern Japan, when combined failure mechanisms, multiple hazards, and rare events with huge consequences occurred. The book is divided into the following sections: - Keynote lectures - Liquefaction experiment and analysis project (LEAP) - Guidelines and recommendations for local governments to mitigate flooding disasters - Materials and modeling - Natural hazards - Disaster mitigation and rehabilitation Geotechnics for Catastrophic Flooding Events will be of interest to researchers, academics, industry practitioners and other professional involved in earthquake geotechnical engineering, foundation engineering, and earthquake engineering and structural dynamics.

The Fourteenth International Tsunami Symposium held from 31 July to 3 August 1989 in Novosibirsk, U.S.S.R., was sponsored by the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics. Sixty-five scientists from 13 countries met to exchange information on recent advances in tsunami research. The Symposium was a great success due to the enthusiasm of the participants, the quality of research presented, and the great organization provided by the Soviet hosts. Teams of dedicated workers, under the fine leadership of Academician A. S. Alexseev and Dr V. K. Gusiakov, blended social and scientific activities in a memorable fashion. The 62 presentations of the Symposium were divided into six areas of research: generation (7), propagation (12), coastal effects (10), observations (11), seismics and tectonics (10), and hazard mitigation (12). A summary of the research presented appears as the first article in this special issue. Following the Symposium, a team of session chairmen nominated 20 of these oral presentations to be published in a special issue devoted to the International Tsunami Symposium.

Economic reforms in China began in 1979 and initiated some of the most fundamental changes ever to occur in any country. While allowing some of the most astonishing economic growth the world has seen, they have also induced some of the most profound social and environmental shifts. This volume looks at two aspects of the impacts of the reforms, firstly on the demography of the country (especially migration and urbanization), and secondly on the environment. A third section examines various problems of environmental degradation in relation to natural processes and human efforts to mitigate their effects.

This book identifies lessons learned from natural hazard experiences to help communities plan for and adapt to climate change. Written by leading experts, the case studies examine diverse experiences, from severe storms to sea-level related hazards, droughts, heat waves, wildfires, floods, earthquakes and tsunami, in North America, Europe, Australasia, Asia, Africa and Small Island Developing States. The lessons are grouped according to four imperatives: (i) Develop collaborative governance networks; (ii) build adaptive capabilities; (iii) invest in pre-event planning; and (iv) the moral imperative to undertake adaptive actions that advance resilience and sustainability.

""A theoretically rich and empirically grounded analysis of the interface between disaster risk management and climate change adaptation, comprehensive yet accessible, and very timely."" Mark Pelling, Department of Geography, King s College London, UK.

""This book represents a major contribution to the understanding of natural hazards planning as an urgent first step for reducing disaster risk and adapting to climate change to ensure sustainable and equitable development."" Salvano Briceno, Vice-Chair, Science Committee, Integrated Research on Disaster Risk IRDR, an ICSU/ISSC/ISDR programme. Former Director International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, UNISDR.

" What a welcome addition to the young literature on climate adaptation and hazard mitigation Bruce Glavovic and Gavin Smith each bring to the editing task a rare blend of solid scholarly attainment and on-the-ground experience that shines through in this extensively-documented synthesis of theoretical ideas from the realms of climate and hazards and their validation in a rich set of diverse case studies pulled in from around the world. This book should remain a classic for many years. " William H. Hooke, American Meteorological Society."

This book provides a critical perspective on people's response to disasters in the Philippines. It draws upon an array of case studies to discuss people's vulnerability, capacities and resilience in facing a wide range of different hazards.

Causes of major disasters are many and diverse, and the risks associated with them endanger human lives, property, the environment, the economy, and even the country's political and social well-being. It is clear that, with rapid population growth, environmental degradation, climate change, poorly regulated industries, and continued economic uncertainty, the chances are that communities may become more vulnerable to disasters. The dramatic losses in recent years from volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and landslides, wildland fires, droughts and floods, cyclones and storm surges attest to the fact that we are still a long way from applying even the knowledge we have today to make communities safe. Tackling this problem requires a sound evaluation of disaster mitigation policies and tools. As a contribution to the International Decade for Natural Disasters Reduction (IDNDR), the fifth international symposium HAZARDS-93 was held in Qingdao, P.R. China on 29 August - 3 September, 1993. China is a country frequently hit by almost all kinds of disasters. Its history is one of combating natural disasters and working towards their reduction. More than 250 scientists, engineers and government officials from 20 countries met for the purpose of engaging in a free exchange of knowledge, experience and ideas regarding the scientific and socio-economic aspects of mitigating losses from natural and man- made disasters. A total of 180 papers were presented at 28 sessions covering a very broad range of topics related to disaster management. The twenty-one articles included in this book deal with the scientific and management issues of land-based and marine hazards which cause the most severe economic losses, deaths and environmental degradation in many parts of the world. The book also includes specific recommendations addressed to the IDNDR Secretariat, national governments and scientific experts to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of disaster management. Thus, Land-Based and Marine Hazards: Scientific and Management Issues forms an excellent reference for scientists, engineers, policy-makers and the insurance industry.