Most Common Natural Disasters and How They Are Formed

Wikipedia defines “Natural Disaster” as major adverse event resulting from the natural processes of the Earth. This is a sudden event that causes widespread destruction, lots of collateral damage or loss of life, brought about by forces other than the acts of human beings.

Let us take a closer look at the most common natural disasters and how they are formed that strikes our place leaving many people homeless and dead.

Floods and Massive Landslides

These are the result of deforestation, man's misuse of trees and forest. Illegal loggings, bare land and balding mountains contribute to the massive landslides we are experiencing that could lead to the deaths of hundreds of people all at once.

People now depend for forest for their needs on woods and trees but are they being replaced? People should try to think of the consequences before doing anything. Yes, we need trees to produce what we need and our necessities in life but why are they finding it so hard to replace it?

The soil in the mountains becomes soft without the roots of trees holding it and when heavy rains fall, it will have the tendency to be eroded. Imagine that people trapped on the eroding soil and left there to death is horrifying.

Tsunamis

Tsunamis or what is commonly called tidal waves are generally caused by earthquakes, submarine landslide, or submarine volcanic eruptions. This powerful earthquake will push a large volume of the water to the surface thus creating giant waves.

Tsunamis can do a massive harm to the place and will leave thousands of death, both humans and animals. It will damage properties and will make thousands of people homeless and grieving. The residue of tsunamis will forever stay in the minds of its victims.

People who survived the aftermath is prone to sickness and depression, and it will be so hard to recover again.

Tornadoes

Tornadoes (or also known as twisters or cyclones) are born when different temperatures and humidity meet to form thunderclouds. The warm, wet winds move northward meeting the cold, dry winds moving southward.

Dryline is the place called where these two winds meet. The warm southern winds will try to rise but the cold northern air blocks them. The clash would then cause the warm, trapped air to horizontally rotate between the two air masses. And then the rising warm wind will become strong to force itself up through the colder air layer.

The cold air on top begins to sink, sending the rising warm wind spinning upward. This disaster can send houses and cars and even human beings to rise upward then toss it to the ground.

Earthquakes

Earthquake is a sudden movement of the earth's crust, originates below the surface. There are two main causes of earthquakes:

• Earthquakes are caused by explosive volcanic eruptions
• Earthquakes can be triggered by Tectonic activity associated with plate margins and faults.

This natural disaster can bury a person or animals alive. These can cause homes and buildings to collapse and will leave many people homeless. It ruins roads and bridges, leaving large cracks enough for us to be trapped if we are not aware.

Volcanic Eruptions

It has been said that far below on the earth's crust is a big mass of magma, this is the molten or melted rock on the surface of the earth. This magma is always building up pressure and the earth is always spinning, this sometimes causes a crack on the earth.

These two sides of the crack may shift and this is called the plate tectonics. This plate tectonics is known to cause the volcanic eruptions. How? The magma will burst through this crack and comes out or erupts, and this is already called the lava, the fiery red burning molten rocks.

If this happens on the ocean, an island can be formed. But if this happens on the mainland, imagine, people fleeing for their lives, afraid to be burned alive. I once saw a remnant of a volcanic eruption, what was left of a once so tall church is its bell tower.

Drought

Drought is caused by shortage of rainfall. This natural calamity can have a great impact especially on agriculture and ecosystem. It can cause famines on some areas affected heavily by this natural phenomena due to lack of water for irrigation. It can also cause many diseases and shortages of water for many industrial uses. Wildfires can easily spread and may harm our environment and can cause a great deal of loss.

During times of drought, the soil may hardened and dries out so many farmers won’t be able to toil and plant crops. Such situations can cause social unrest and wars over natural resources. Developing some technique to develop adequate irrigation strategies will be a good help to prevent extreme damage caused by this natural disaster.

Natural disasters, ranging from earthquakes and hurricanes to floods and wildfires, pose significant threats to human life and infrastructure worldwide. These calamities arise from various natural processes, such as tectonic movements, weather patterns, and geological events, and their impacts can be catastrophic.

Earthquakes result from the shifting of tectonic plates beneath the Earth's surface, while hurricanes develop from the interaction of warm ocean waters and atmospheric conditions. Floods occur when excessive rainfall or melting snow overwhelms riverbanks and drainage systems, leading to widespread inundation. Similarly, wildfires often ignite due to dry conditions, lightning strikes, or human activities, spreading rapidly across landscapes and consuming everything in their path.

The aftermath of these disasters includes loss of life, displacement of communities, destruction of homes and infrastructure, and long-term environmental damage. Effective disaster preparedness, response, and mitigation strategies are essential for minimizing the human and economic toll of these natural events.