Public Disaster Education

Raetihi forest fire

The Raetihi forest fire was a catastrophic fire that occurred on 18–20 March 1918, in and around Raetihi, Horopito and Ohakune in the North Island of New Zealand.[1] The fire almost destroyed the townships of Raetihi and Ohakune, killed thousands of sheep and cattle and destroyed areas of native forest in the North Island Volcanic Plateau of New Zealand. Origin of the fire The area around Horopito where […]

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2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami M9+

On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 JST (05:46:24 UTC), a Mw 9.0–9.1 undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, 72 km (45 mi) east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approximately six minutes and caused a tsunami. It is sometimes known in Japan as the “Great East Japan Earthquake” (東日本大震災, Higashi Nihon Daishinsai), among other names.[en 1] The disaster is often referred to by its numerical date, 3.11 (read San

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1987 Edgecumbe earthquake

The 1987 Edgecumbe earthquake measured 6.5 on the moment magnitude scale and struck the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand at 1.42 pm on 2 March.[3] The hypocentre was at a shallow depth of 8 km. The epicentre was 2.24 kilometres (1.39 mi) south-south-east of the town of Matatā, and 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) north-north-west of Edgecumbe, on the Rangitaiki Plains (the floodplain of the Rangitaiki River, the Tarawera River and the Whakatāne River). It was the

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1979 Tumaco earthquake

The 1979 Tumaco earthquake occurred at 02:59 local time on 12 December with a moment magnitude of 8.2 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The epicenter was just offshore from the border between Ecuador and Colombia, near the port city of Tumaco. It triggered a major tsunami, which was responsible for most of the estimated 300–600 deaths. The hardest hit area was Colombia’s Nariño Department.[2] Tectonic

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Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina was a devastating and deadly tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $186.3 billion (2022 USD) in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area.[1] Katrina was the twelfth tropical cyclone, the fifth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was also the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall in

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2014 Malin landslide

On 30 July 2014, a landslide occurred in the village of Malin in the Ambegaon taluka of the Pune district in Maharashtra, India. The landslide, which hit early in the morning while residents were asleep,[3] was believed to have been caused by a burst of heavy rainfall, and killed at least 151 people.[4] Rains continued after the landslide making rescue efforts difficult. Cause The landslides

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Cental Otago Blizzard and flood of 1863

The blizzard and flood of 1863 was a series of consecutive natural disasters in Central Otago in New Zealand’s South Island. In the early 1860s the area was in the midst of a gold rush. From July to August 1863 the gold fields suffered from a combination of floods, snowstorms, and blizzards that caused heavy loss of life among the gold miners.

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2013 Seddon earthquake

The 2013 Seddon earthquake measured 6.5 on the Mww scale and was centred in New Zealand’s Cook Strait, around 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of the town of Seddon in Marlborough. The earthquake struck at 5:09:30 pm on Sunday 21 July 2013 (05:09 UTC) at a depth of 13 kilometres (8 mi), according to Geonet.[2] The United States Geological Survey also measured the quake at 6.5, at a depth of 17

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1998 Papua New Guinea earthquake

The 1998 Papua New Guinea earthquake occurred on July 17 with a moment magnitude of 7.0 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). The event occurred on a reverse fault near the north coast region of Papua New Guinea, 25 kilometers (16 mi) from the coast near Aitape and caused a large undersea landslide which caused a tsunami that hit the coast, killing between at least 2,183 and

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