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...

This special volume contains a selection of papers that were presented as part of the Seventh International Symposium on Natural and Man-Made Hazards (HAZARDS-98), held in Chania, Crete Island, Greece, during May 1998. The Symposium attracted broad international interest because many cases of natural disaster events, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, storm surges, forest fires, etc., that occurred in several parts of the world during the 1990s were presented not only for their physics but also from the point of view of their impact on society and their environmental consequences. Among these...

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...

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...

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...

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...