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.

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 is an attempt to demonstrate the analytical power of the holistic approach for understanding disasters. Six major earthquakes in Latin America are used as an example: the general idea is to place disasters in a broad social and regional context. Understanding disasters is a way of understanding the social system. The idea is to show that every major disaster is unique and different. Statistical methods may be useful for purposes of risk estimation but modern disasters are "systemic" and complex. In the chapter on the 2010 Chile earthquake we discuss the tsunami and why the system of tsunami alert did not work. The introductory chapter contains some basics of seismology (plate tectonics) and earthquake engineering. The 1985 Mexico earthquake describes why geology is important. Why was Mexico City founded in a lake? Technology must be adapted to the environment, not "imported" from possibly more advanced but different societies. The 1970 Peru earthquake is an example of disaster in a unique environment. Caracas 1967 takes us on a survey of different engineering solutions. And the 1960 Chile earthquake leads us on a retrospective survey--what has changed in Chile between the two major Chile earthquakes? A discussion on Charles Darwin's observations of the 1835 Chile earthquake provides a fitting summary.