A natural disaster is a major adverse event resulting from natural processes of the Earth; examples include firestorms, duststorms, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, storms, and other geologic processes. A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property, and typically leaves some economic damage in its wake, the severity of which depends on the affected population's resilience and on the infrastructure available.In modern times, the divide between natural, man-made and man-accelerated is quite difficult to draw with human choices like architecture,fire, resource management or even climate change potentially playing a role. An adverse event will not rise to the level of a disaster if it occurs in an area without vulnerable population.In a vulnerable area, however, such as Nepal during the 2015 earthquake, an adverse event can have disastrous consequences and leave lasting damage, which can take years to repair. The disastrous consequences also impact the mental health of effected communities often leading to post-traumatic symptoms. These increased emotional experiences can be supported through collective processing, leading to resilience and increased community engagement.

2011 Earthquake and Tsunami, Japan
On March 11, 2011, a magnitude-9.0 earthquake hit northeastern Japan and caused a savage tsunami that engulfed everything in its pathway. About 20,000 people were killed. The quake lifted the seafloor by 30 feet and the tsunami debris was found on US shorelines two years later. The twin disaster caused a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant which developed into the world's worst nuclear crisis. Throughout GEOG 030N, we have emphasized human impacts on the environment. It is important to recognize that humans do not cause earthquakes. We certainly do play a large role in determining what the impacts of an earthquake end up being. But the earthquake itself is caused by plate tectonics.

2012 Hurricane Sandy, US East Coast
Hurricane Sandy (also known as Superstorm Sandy) was the most destructive hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season. Sandy made landfall in southern New Jersey and became incredible in its size and power. It was a large storm with violent gusts and storm surges that caused major flooding and left millions of people along the East Coast without power. More than 100 people died and tens of thousands of people were injured and relocated. According to NOAA(link is external), estimated damage from Sandy is $71 billion, making Sandy the fourth-costliest hurricane in the United State's history, after Hurricanes Katrina, Harvey,