What a Disaster! Trivia Quiz

Answer: California

Causing approx. 25 billion dollars in damage, the Northridge earthquake devastated areas just of the San Fernando Valley in California. At least 87 people lost their lives and many more were injured. Many bridges and elevated highways were damaged and many buildings were lost. Because this occurred on a holiday traffic on the roads was lighter and there is little doubt that had this occurred at the same time the next day, the loss of life would have been much higher.

This image is just one of the many collapsed overpasses that occurred taken from a helicopter.

Answer: Galveston, Texas

The Galveston Hurricane was one of the costliest hurricanes to ever hit the U.S. when it made landfall on the Texas coast in 1900. Figures vary, but at least 6,000 people were killed and many bodies were never recovered. To get an idea of how bad the death and destruction was, just compare it to Hurricane Katrina. Only 1,800 people were killed.

This hurricane occurred before the practice of naming storms and is usually called either the Great Galveston Hurricane or The Great Storm. This storm hit at a time when meteorology was in its infancy and predicting a hurricane or its path was next to impossible. Even with today's modern technology, hurricanes can cause some of the deadliest natural disasters. This old photo shows survivors attempting to collect the thousands of dead bodies before an epidemic broke out.

Answer: Disease transferred from one species to another species.

A zoonotic disease is any disease that is transferred from one species to another. It is usually used in reference to any disease transferred from an animal to a human. During the 14th century, bubonic plague, pneumonic plague and septicemic plague killed approx. half of the population of Europe. Most people who caught these flea-borne infections died within four days of contracting the disease. There have been zoonotic plagues throughout history. Other zoonotic diseases that have killed thousands include ebola, malaria, rabies, and AIDS.

Found by accident in Martigues, France, the mass grave in this image, is just one of many that have been found across Europe that give testament to the effects of a plague.

Answer: Avalanches are a rare event.

All of these statements are true except the idea that avalanches are rare. They can and do occur in almost every mountain range on the planet, every year. Avalanches are most common in winter and spring but can actually occur in any season. In various locations in the Alps, it is believed that gunfire caused avalanches that killed approx. 50,000 soldiers in WWI. Many of the bodies were never recovered.

This image helps give perspective as to how large an avalanche can be. This wall of snow simply dwarfs the tall trees in front of the flow.

Answer: Japan

The word tsunami is of Japanese origin and means "harbor wave". A tsunami is a series of waves usually caused by underwater seismic activity. Other causes can include nuclear explosions and the impact of a meteorite or asteroid. Contrary to popular belief, the first wave is usually not the strongest. The 2004 Indonesian tsunami was thought to have released more energy that all the earthquakes on the planet in the last 25 years combined. A segment of the seafloor about the size of California is thought to have slid approx. 30 feet causing the displacement of huge amounts of water. Over 280,000 people were killed or went missing. Tsunamis are most common in the Pacific Ocean, and countries bordering this large mass of water experience the most tsunamis, making Japan much more likely to experience one than any of the other options.

This photograph shows a group of people running from an approaching tsunami in Hilo, Hawaii in 1946. While somewhat difficult to see, the wave can be seen just to the left of the man's head in the center of the image. It is somewhat difficult to tell the ocean from the sky.

Answer: Bangladesh

In 1989 one of the deadliest single tornados in history hit Bangladesh and killed approx. 1,300 people and injured countless more. The poverty in the area, the lack of any forewarning, and a six month drought all helped make this tornado so devastating. The towns of Saturia and Manikgank were completely leveled and about 80,000 people were left homeless. Tornados are often considered the most powerful, destructive, and unpredictable natural phenomena on the planet. In 2011, between April 25-28 there was a tornado outbreak in eastern and central U.S. recorded over 350 separate tornados touch down and over 300 fatalities.

This image shows just one of the many variations a tornado can take, and some storms can produce simultaneous tornados repeatedly before dissipating.

Answer: Children

The 1966 landslide in Aberfan, Wales killed over 100 children. Witnesses described this landslide as behaving like liquid. It demolished everything in its path including two of the local schools and multiple residences. Most of the dead were between seven to ten years of age and the emotional devastation caused by this disaster may have been worse than the economic disaster. This disaster had both human and natural causes and probably could have been prevented. It was caused by the collapse of a pile of accumulated soil and rocks left over from the coal mine that had been the economic hub of the community. It took only minutes for over 40,000 cubic meters of this debris to slide down the hill and cover a large portion of the village. In 2011, the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro was inundated with a landslide that killed over 600 people. Landslides can be caused by earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and sadly sometimes by human ignorance.

This image is of the 2006 landslide in Leyte, Philippines. The large light brown area is the huge slide of mud and rocks that came down the side of the mountain and how it spread out when it reached the bottom.

Answer: Potatoes

When the common plant disease known as potato blight destroyed the potato crops in Ireland and parts of Great Britain around 1845 a huge famine ensued. Ireland lost almost 1/4th of its population to starvation and mass emigration. Famine has been rampant in parts of Africa and Asia for centuries. Crop failures can be caused by a variety of weather phenomena, and natural disease. Famine can cause epidemics further decimating the population. They are also one of the hardest disasters to recover from as their longevity can be much longer than most natural disasters.

This sad image is from the 1943 Bengali famine which caused the deaths of between 1.5-4 million people.

Answer: True

The Bhola Cyclone hit East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, on November 12, 1970. It stands as the deadliest cyclone to ever have been recorded. Strong winds hit the region at 115mph and the storm was said to have reached the strength of a Category 3 hurricane. However, it wasn't the winds that killed. Most of those who lost their lives during this natural disaster were killed because of the storm surge. It is said that up to 500,000 people were killed because of the heavy rain and flooding in many areas. Hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons are all the same weather phenomenon; we just use different names for these storms in different places. In the Atlantic and Northeast Pacific, the term "hurricane" is used. The same type of disturbance in the Northwest Pacific is called a "typhoon" and "cyclones" occur in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean. The location of the storm also determines whether storm movement in clockwise or counterclockwise.

This photo is of the damage done to the Royal Hotel in Queensland, Australia that occurred in the early part of the 20th century.

Answer: True

Many people do not realize just how dangerous a lightning storm can be. One air to ground strike can kill multiple people, directly or indirectly. On December 24, 1971, LANSA Flight 508 was struck by lightning causing it to crash in the Amazon rainforest of Peru. Of the 92 people aboard only 14 survived the initial crash. Of these fourteen all but one died before they were found. There are reports of many planes that have been hit by lightning. Lightning is not confined to thunderstorms. It can be seen occurring during intense forest fires, surface nuclear detonations, volcanic eruptions, heavy snowstorms and large hurricanes.

This photo depicts a lightning storm occurring over Detroit, Michigan.