Floods refer to huge amount of water reaching land in a short span of time, causing land surface to be submerged under water – at places, where, land surface is usually not covered with water. Floods could be caused due to natural causes, or, human activities, or, a combination of both. Floods are caused by…

Volcanoes refer to eruption of hot molten lava from below the surface of the earth. As plates move away from each other, at certain places, the surface might get stretched and thinner. In such a situation, the hot molten lava and gaseous substances below this thinned surface could open up a fissure and come out….

When staying in the house, simple precautions should be used: 1.    Large/heavy items should be fastened, so that they don’t fall-off, during earthquakes. 2.    Hanging items (like: fan, chandeliers, decorations etc.) should be fastened, rather than just left hanging through a hook 3.     4.    You should be adequately prepared to live without utilities for several days. As earthquake…

People who stay in an earthquake prone area might do well to make investments in earthquake-proofing of their houses. The process starts with the construction of the house. Traditionally, people in earthquake prone areas used to build homes using lighter materials, and, also materials which could be reused, e.g. wood. The advantage with wood is:…

Earthquakes have very low predictability in short term, i.e. in most cases, there is no warning – even a few minutes before an earthquake. However, in most cases, a much higher degree of predictability exists in long term – in the sense that if a certain area is sitting on a fault line, it can…

Hence, in case of an earthquake, the safest place to be would be in an open ground – away from all kinds of buildings and tall structures. If you can not rush out of your building, you can duck under some sturdy desk etc. which might provide protection against heavy objects falling on your body. If even…

During an earthquake, there are many ways by which one can get hurt (many times, fatally) 1.    People inside buildings could get hurt (even critically) by fall of objects/walls/ceilings 2.    People outside the buildings could get hurt by falling debris from damaged buildings, glasses etc. 3.    People traveling could get hurt by their vehicles falling off the tracks,…

The most common ways to identify the onset of an earthquake would be: ●     A feeling of shaking of the ground below you, if you are sitting/standing. The most common feeling is – as if the person is feeling giddy. ●     Swinging of overhead hanging stuff, e.g. fans, chandeliers etc. However, in this situation, you should distinguish…

The implications of “aftershocks” are the following: ●     Structures which are not severely damaged during the main earthquake could now get damaged during one of the “aftershocks” – as they are getting continuously weakened by the earthquake and the “aftershocks”. ●     While rescue teams are trying to search through the debris of fallen buildings/bridges etc for trapped people, an…

Earthquakes are also characterized by aftershocks. After any major seismic activity below the earth, the new order might take a while to finally settle down. During this time, there might be some more activity below the earth (sort of “adjusting” of the new positions for the various plates, layers etc.) These activities result in several…