In 2024, the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) recorded 393 natural hazard-related disasters. These events caused 16,753 fatalities and affected 167.2 million people. Economic losses totaled US$241.95 billion. The year 2024 was marked by extreme temperature events in Asia that caused thousands of deaths, severe droughts in Africa affecting over 25 …
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asserted on Wednesday that there would be no compromise on the safety of nuclear installations and officials had been instructed to ensure that such units had world-class safety facilities. Dr. Singh, however, said: “ ... because there is a nuclear threat we must put a stop …
Indian nuclear reactors will get a facility that automatically shuts them down in case of a devastating earthquake, as part of the ongoing upgrade of safety features that is being implemented after the nuclear disaster in Japan. The other safety features include providing different options for power sources for cooling …
There is no denying that climate change has been affecting the higher frequency and intensity of natural disasters in the last quarter century. In the last decade, there has been a marked increase in the number of severe hurricanes, tsunamis, and earthquakes, heat waves, and mudslides. Environmental degradation is directly …
A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 struck off Japan's north-eastern coast on Friday, triggering a tsunami advisory that was later lifted. Japan's Meteorological Agency said the quake hit at 2.36 p.m. and was centred slightly south of where a massive magnitude-9.0 temblor struck in March. The agency …
Disaster-weary Japan was rattled by another strong quake today, which measured at a preliminary magnitude of 6.8, triggered a tsunami warning and sent people diving for cover. The quake struck the Pacific seabed not far from the epicentre of the March 11 quake-tsunami disaster that killed more than 20,000 people …
The day after a giant tsunami set off the continuing disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, thousands of residents at the nearby town of Namie gathered to evacuate. Given no guidance from Tokyo, town officials led the residents north, believing that winter winds would be blowing south and carrying …
Abiotic disturbances, disturbances caused by non living factors, are a natural and integral part of forest ecosystems that have major impacts, positive and negative. They influence forest structure, composition and functioning and can be important for maintaining biological diversity and facilitating regeneration. When disturbances exceed their normal range of variation, …
New Delhi: A nuclear safety review has concluded that Indian nuclear plants will be able to withstand “extreme natural events” like tsunamis, cyclones, floods and dam breaks. The government informed Parliament that after the Fukushima disaster in Japan, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) had set up six taskforces …
Quantitative real-time observations of a tsunami have been limited to deep-water, pressure-sensor observations of changes in the sea surface elevation and observations of sea level fluctuations at the coast, which are essentially point measurements. Constrained by these data, models have been used for predictions and warning of the arrival of …
Tokyo: For some elderly survivors of Japan's March earthquake and tsunami, comfort comes in the form of a small white robotic seal named Paro. Sitting only 27 km south of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant on a hill above an area ravaged by the tsunami, the Suisyoen retirement home is …
Over six lakh trees and some 1,800 betel vines will have to be sacrificed to set up Posco’s Rs 52,000-crore mega steel project in Orissa’s coastal Jagatsinghpur district. The trees to make way for the greenfield project include about three lakh casuarina and as many horticultural plants, official sources said. …
This new report by the Disaster Management Division, Ministry of Home Affairs has detailed information on various types of disasters, institutional framework and policy guidelines in disaster management. It also presents the roadmap in tackling disasters. India’s geo-climatic conditions as well as its high degree of socio-economic vulnerability, makes it …
Japan on Friday proposed an aggressive plan to spend 13 trillion yen ($167 billion) over five years in hopes of bringing about a swift recovery after its recent natural and nuclear disasters. The Japanese government is desperate to pull the economy out of a recession stemming from the March 11 …
A strong earthquake has struck off the coast of the Pacific island nation of Fiji. There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage and no tsunami warning has been issued. The US Geological Survey says the 6.6-magnitude quake struck today about 630 km south of the capital Suva at …
In Avudaiyarkoil and Manamelkudi PU limits Apoorva, Project Director, Tsunami Project Implementation Unit, directed the officials to complete projects on the construction of houses for the tsunami victims now in progress in Avudaiyarkoil and Manamelkudi panchayat union limits as per schedule. Housing projects are under execution under the Emergency Tsunami …
Japan's government said on Tuesday it was on track with efforts to take control of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant but cautioned that a final clean-up of the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl would take many years. The update on progress to shut down six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi …
The first phase of work to bring the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant under control has been completed as scheduled, a Japanese minister said.
Japan's centre-left Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on Wednesday the country must gradually reduce its reliance on atomic power with the eventual goal of becoming nuclear-free. Four months after the March 11 quake and tsunami triggered the Fukushima nuclear accident, the world's worst since Chernobyl 25 years ago, Mr. Kan …
A strong earthquake jolted on Sunday the same area of northeastern Japan that was hit by a massive quake in March, but there was no sign of further damage along the coast or to the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, officials said. The Japan Meteorological Agency lifted a tsunami alert …
Small tsunami waves reached the Pacific coast of northern Japan on Sunday after a major quake hit the region heavily damaged by the March earthquake and tsunami, said the Japan Meteorological Agency. The port towns of Soma and Of unato saw 10-cm tsunami waves triggered by the 7.3-magnitude earthquake that …
