DISASTER

MITIGATION
AND
EARTHQUAKE
ENGINEERING
Dr. BASURAJ BHOWMIK
Department of Civil Engineering
IIT (BHU), Varanasi
 LECTURE – 1
JAN - 2, 2025 (Thu: 8 - 8:55 AM)
 COURSE INFORMATION

Tuesday: 1:30 PM to 2:25 PM

Thursday: 8:00 AM to 8:55 AM
Friday: 10:00 AM to 10:55 AM

Weekly lecture hours: 3

Credits: 9 (L-T-P: 3-0-0)
Venue: G1
Course website: https://www.theoscarlab.com/teaching/disaster-mitigation-and-earthquake-engineering
 LEARNING OUTCOMES
On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. Identify and analyze the causes and impacts of natural disasters, including earthquakes, floods, and forest
fires.
2. Understand the principles of engineering seismology and the functioning of earthquake recording
instruments.
3. Evaluate the vibration response of structures to dynamic loads and earthquake forces.
4. Assess structural performance during earthquakes and identify design shortcomings such as lack of
ductility or detailing.
5. Develop disaster management strategies for rescue, risk mitigation, and casualty management based on
lessons from past earthquakes.
 ASSESSMENT
Sl. No. Evaluation pattern Duration Weightage Date and time

1. Quiz 45 minutes each 15% To be announced

2. Assignments - 30% Continuous

3. Tutorials - 0% Continuous

4. Mid-semester exam To be announced 15% To be announced

5. End semester exam To be announced 40% To be announced

Penalties (for late submission of Course/Project Work etc.): Work which is submitted late shall be assigned a
mark of zero (or a Fail Judgement in the case of Pass/Fail modules).
 TEACHING METHODS
 A combination of different methods will be used for teaching. Formal lectures will cover some
theoretical aspects introducing students to key concepts.

 Experiments will introduce the students to some hands-on concepts towards the end of the course.

 A term paper will be discussed during the early stages of the course and students are expected to
work on the term paper over the entire period of coursework.

 There may be quizzes and mock examinations for the course.

 Students are expected to read up as much material as they can in relation to the course. Additionally,
the students should solve as many problems as possible by hand to ensure a good performance in the
examination. Problems done in classes or tutorials are examples.

 Additional reading materials, videos, links or other media may be uploaded to my website
occasionally. Such updates will be notified.
 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. I have a query/question/doubt/concern. How to sort it out?
For any query at all, please feel free to contact me on basuraj.civ@itbhu.ac.in. Please feel free to stop me
in lectures. Ask as many questions as you can – no question or argument is unimportant.

2. How do we submit our continuous assessment?

There will be a instruction set explaining this. Please follow those instructions.

3. Would it be helpful to study the last 10 years’ question papers for CE462?
NO! Questions are rarely repeated. Please follow the course, be regular in class and try to learn as much a
possible. Also – do the problems yourself. This should be enough.

4. I made a calculation mistake/ silly mistake in exams. Am I going to get a zero?

NO. You will be marked based on the demonstration of learning outcome. So, if you method is correct,
you will be penalised little for small mistakes.
 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
5. My assignments went badly. Am I going to get marked very low?
Not necessarily. I would look forward to your interpretation and analysis of why and where it went wrong.
What could have been done to make it right etc.

6. Is this a difficult course?

No. The marks are quite high. However, this is an extremely busy course and I recommend paying keen
attention to what is introduced in class.

7. What about the book?

The lectures or materials presented are not from a single book. In many cases they can be from active
research. Books or parts of books will be recommended as we proceed with the lectures.

8. We had other business to do and the class decided not to turn up for lectures. Can you rearrange your
lectures?
Most likely not. Lectures will be cancelled only under exceptional circumstances. If there is a genuine
reason, I would like the class representative to get in touch with me as early as possible to discuss.
Finally - please don’t forget to provide feedback to me at the end of the course. The online link
for feedback will be provided to you.
 DISASTER MITIGATION AND EARTHQUAKE
1. WHAT? ENGINEERING
It explores the science of natural disasters, with a focus on earthquakes, their effects on structures, and engineering responses.
Also covers vibration theory, structural performance, and disaster management strategies to mitigate risks and improve
resilience.
2. WHY?
The objective is to understand the causes and impacts of natural disasters, particularly earthquakes, and to apply engineering
principles to enhance the resilience and safety of infrastructure.
3. HOW?
It includes fundamental knowledge with practical applications through case studies allowing students to analyze and design
real-world structures.
4. WHERE?
Disaster mitigation expertise is used in infrastructure design to reduce damage from natural hazards and in emergency
planning to enhance readiness and response efforts.
UNIT-1
 VULNERABILITY
• The ‘WHAT’ of the topic
• The ‘WHY’ of the topic
• The ‘HOW’ of the topic
• The ‘WHERE’ of the topic

OUTCOMES OF THIS MODULE:

1. Explain vulnerability scenario for
India.
2. Select vulnerable zones with respect
to various disasters in India.

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 VULNERABILITY
OBJECTIVES OUTCOMES

‘WHAT’ IS VULNERABILITY EXPLAIN VULNERABILITY

EXPLAIN VULNERABILITY
‘WHY’ LEARN ABOUT IT IN THE INDIAN CONTEXT

‘HOW’ TO KNOW VULNERABLE SELECT VULNERABILITY

AREAS ZONES

‘WHERE’ IS IT NECESSARY IDENTIFY W.R.T. VARIOUS

DISASTERS

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 Vulnerability – ‘WHAT’ is it?
Basically, there are 3 schools of thought:
1. The extent to which a community, structure, services or geographic area is
likely to be damaged or disrupted by the impact of particular hazard, on
account of their nature, construction and proximity to hazardous terrains or a
disaster-prone area.
2. Vulnerability (V) is the degree of loss to a given element or a set of elements
at risk resulting from the occurrence of a hazardous phenomenon of a given
magnitude. It is expressed on a scale from 0 (no damage) to 1 (total loss).
3. Simplest definition – The characteristics and circumstances of a community,
system or asset that make it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard.

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 Relationships
When Hazard meets Vulnerability, there is a Risk of disaster occurring

A Hazard B Vulnerability
• Past occurrences
• People
Risk
• Future probability
• Speed of onset • Property
• Magnitude • Essential Services
• Duration • Environment
• Spatial Extent • Economy
• Intensity

1
 VULNERABILITY – ‘WHY’ SHOULD WE CARE?
VULNERABILITY = EXPOSURE + SENSITIVITY + RESILIENCE
EXPOSURE SENSITIVITY RESILIENCE
Components: Human conditions: Coping/response:
• Individuals • Social • Programs
• Households • Population • Policy
• Ecosystems • Economic structures • Govt. options

Characteristics:
• Frequency Environmental Impact/response:
• Magnitude conditions: • Loss of life
• Duration • Natural • Soil
• Soil, water • Ecosystem services
• Ecosystem structures

Check additional notes for numerical example

 HAZARD vs. RISK vs. VULNERABILITY

HAZARD RISK VULNERABILITY

1.Pre-existing 1. Degree to which a 1. How likely will the

condition or community can be community be
calamity harmed due to affected by the
2.E.g., Volcano, the hazard hazard
Earthquake 2. E.g., Flash floods, 2. E.g., Submersion
severe drought due to flooding
fault 1
 17
Source: munichre.com
 18
Source: munichre.com
VULNERABILITY – ‘HOW’ DOES IT HAPPEN?
VULENRABILITY - CLASSIFICATION
GENERAL 5S
FACTORS PRINCIPLE

Political factors Setting

Physical factors Shelter

Economic factors Sustenance

Social factors Security

Environmental
factors Society

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 VULNERABILITY – GENERAL FACTORS
Note: Check extra notes in Moodle for details and definitions

1. Political factors: Level of vulnerability linked directly to political will and commitment.
(e.g. Government policies towards disaster).
2. Physical factors: Level of vulnerability among individuals and communities to loss due to
physical environment (e.g. loss in population, sudden switch to remoteness).
3. Economic factors: Directly related to economic status of a nation. Poorer country is affected
while coping and recovering from disasters (e.g. poor are more vulnerable to disaster).
4. Social factors: Social well-being that elevate physical and mental health will help in
reducing vulnerability.
5. Environmental factors: Disasters directly related with environmental degradation. Risk
reduction only through sustainable environment (e.g. wetlands are vulnerable to salinity).
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 VULNERABILITY – 5S PRINCIPLE
Note: Check extra notes in Moodle for details and definitions

1. Setting: Physical environment (climate, vegetation, etc.), population and its distribution.

2. Shelter: Buildings used to provide shelter to the community at home, work, and recreation.

3. Sustenance: Utility and service infrastructures such as water supply, sewerage,

power supply and telecommunications.
4. Security: Availability of facilities such as hospitals, nursing homes, industries,
commercial premises.
5. Society: This includes the more intangible measures such as language, ethnicity,
religion, nationality, meeting places, cultural activities and so on.
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 VULNERABILITY – CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Note: Check extra notes in Moodle for more details
1. According to Bohle (2001), vulnerability can be seen as
having an external and internal side.
2. External side:
a) Exposure to risks and shocks,
b) Social inequalities,
c) Population dynamics, and
d) Vulnerability of people to manage assets
3. Internal side:
a) Coping – The capacity to anticipate, cope with, resist and
recover from the impact of a hazard
b) The Crisis and Conflict Theory - control of assets and
resources, crisis situations and resolve conflicts),
c) Action Theory Approaches - how people act and react
freely as a result of social, economic or governmental
constrains
d) Model of Access to Assets - mitigation of vulnerability Fig. Bohle’s conceptual framework (2001)
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 VULNERABILITY – ANALYSIS

Definition: A vulnerability assessment is the process of identifying, quantifying,

and prioritizing (or ranking) the vulnerabilities in a system.

Vulnerability from the perspective of disaster management means assessing the threats from
potential hazards to the population and to infrastructure. It may be conducted in the political,
social, economic or environmental fields.

Vulnerability Analysis Tasks:

1. Organizing resources to prepare the assessment
2. Evaluating the site and building
3. Preparing a vulnerability portfolio
4. Determining the vulnerability rating
 LECTURE – 2
JAN - 3, 2025 (Fri: 10 - 10:55 AM)
DISASTER
TYPES OF DISASTERS
 VULNERABILITY PROFILE OF INDIA

DROUGHT: Situation caused due to an extended period

68% of rain deficiency.

60%
EARTHQUAKE: Caused due to the release of energy
in the earth’s crust that causes seismic waves.
LANDSLIDE: caused by the movement of masses of
30% rock or debris over land or under the sea/ocean.
FLOODS: A flood is an overflow of water that
12% submerges land that is usually dry.

8% CYCLONES: Cyclone is a type of rotating

storm that occurs over the oceans and seas
Green marketing consists of marketing products and
services based on environmental.
 EARTHQUAKES
• Nearly 60% of India’s territory is vulnerable to
earthquakes – 12% is prone to very severe, 18% to
severe and 25% to damageable earthquakes. Others
are minor shocks.

• The last three major earthquakes shook Gujarat in

January 2001, Jammu and Kashmir in October 2005
and Sikkim in 2011.

• Seven states in North-East (Assam, Arunachal

Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and
Meghalaya), the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, parts
of three states in the North/North-West (Jammu and
Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Bihar, and Gujarat are in
Seismic Zone V.
 FLOODS
1. Floods affect an average area of around 7.5 million hectares per year. Flooding is perhaps
the most critical and common climate-related hazard in India.
2. According to the National Commission on Floods, out of 40 million hectares area
susceptible to floods, it is possible to provide reasonable degree of protection to nearly 80
percent (32 million ha). Floods in the Indo–Gangetic–Brahmaputra plains are an annual
feature.
3. On an average, annually a few hundred lives are lost, millions of people are rendered
homeless, lakhs of hectares of crops are damaged, thousands of animals are affected
(killed and injured).
4. Floods are a perennial phenomenon in at least 5 states – Assam, Bihar, Orissa , Uttar
Pradesh and West Bengal. On account of climate change, floods have also occurred in
recent years in areas that are normal not flood prone. In 2006, drought prone parts of
Rajasthan experienced floods.
 DROUGHTS

1. About 68% of the cultivable area is vulnerable to

drought.
2. Drought affects parts of Rajasthan (chronically),
Gujarat, Maharashtra, MP, UP, Chhattisgarh,
Jharkhand, and Andhra Pradesh. Droughts
cause severe distress in the affected areas.
3. About 50 million people are affected annually by 4. In India annually 33% area receive rainfall
less than 750 mm (low rainfall area) and 35
drought. Of approximately 90 million hectares of
% area receive between 750 to 1125 mm
rain-fed areas, about 40 million hectares are
rainfall Medium rainfall) and only 32percent
prone to scanty or no rain.
falls in the high rainfall (>1126 mm) zone.
LANDSLIDES
 LANDSLIDES
1. Resulting from natural phenomena (heavy
rainfall, snowmelt, gravity, volcanic eruptions,
earthquakes) or man-made actions
(deforestation, construction, blasting etc.)

2. Landslides occur in the hilly regions of India

such as the Himalaya, North-East India, the
Nilgiris, Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats.

3. It is estimated that 30% of the World’s

landslides occur in the Himalayan ranges.
 LECTURE – 3
JAN - 7, 2025 (Tue: 1:30 - 2:25 PM)
• About 8% of the land is vulnerable to cyclones of which coastal areas experience two or three
tropical cyclones of varying intensity each year. Cyclonic activities on the east coast are more severe
than on the west coast. India's long coastline of nearly 7,500 km is vulnerable to about 10% of the
World's tropical cyclones.
• The Indian continent is considered to be the worst cyclone affected part of the world, as a result of
low depth ocean bed topography and coastal configuration. The principal threat from a cyclone are in
the form of gales and strong winds; torrential rain and high tidal waves/storm surges.
• Cyclones typically strike the East Coast of India, along the Bay of Bengal, i.e. the states of West
Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, but also parts of Maharashtra and Gujarat at the
Arabian Sea West Coast.
• More cyclones occur in the Bay of Bengal than in the Arabian Sea and the ratio is approximately 4:1.
• On an average, 5 to 6 tropical cyclones form every year, of which 2 or 3 could be severe.
STORM SURGES
1. Storm surge, a coastal phenomenon, is the
inherent destructive aspect of cyclones.
2. It is an abnormal rise of water generated by a
storm, over and above the predicted
astronomical tides.
3. The rise in water level can cause extreme
flooding when storm surge coincides with
normal high tide, reaching up to 6 meters or
more in some cases.
4. Most casualties during tropical cyclones occur as
the result of storm surges.
 AVALANCHE
1. Avalanches are river like speedy flow of snow or ice descending from the mountain tops.
2. In Himalayas, avalanches are common in Drass, Pir Panijat, Lahaul-Spiti and Badrinath areas.
on an average around 30 people are killed every year due to this disaster.
3. Beside killing people, avalanches also damage the roads and others properties and
settlements falling in its way.
4. Areas Prone to Avalanches:
a) Avalanches are common in Himalayan region above 3500m elevation
b) Very frequent on slopes of 30 - 45°.
c) Convex slopes more prone to this disaster.
d) North facing slope have avalanches in winter and south facing slopes during spring.
FOREST FIRES
1. Forest or bush fire, is a major hazard for forest cover in the country. As per FSI report, 50 per cent of
the forest cover of the country is fire prone, out of which 6.17 per cent is prone to severe fire
damage causing extensive loss to forest vegetation and environment.
2. The major loss due to forest fire is caused to the environment which gets adversely affected by this
calamity. The degradation of climate, soil and water quality, loss of wildlife and its habitat,
deterioration of human health, depletion of ozone layer, etc.
3. Along with direct loss to timber are the major adverse impact of forest fires. The coniferous forests
in the Himalayan region are very susceptible to fire and every year there are one or more major fire
incidences in these areas.
4. The other parts of the country dominated by deciduous forest are also damaged by fire up to an
extent. It is worth mentioning that in India 90 per cent of the forest fires are man made
(intentionally or unintentionally).
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
HEAT AND COLD WAVES
1. Heat waves refer to the extreme positive
departure from the maximum temperature in
summers. The fatalities caused by heat waves
have increased in recent decades. The problem
of heat wave is compounded by a decrease in
diurnal temperature Range (DTR).
2. Cold waves occur mainly due to the extreme
low temperature coupled with incursion of dry
cold winds from north-west. Most affected
areas country due to the cold waves include the
western and north-western regions and also
Bihar, UP directly affected by the western
disturbances.
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INDUSTRIAL, CHEMICAL & NUCLEAR DISASTERS

• Industrial and chemical disasters can occur due to

accident, negligence or incompetence. They may
result in huge loss to lives and property. The
Hazardous industries and the workers in these
industries are particularly vulnerable to chemical and
industrial disasters.

• The most significant chemical accidents in recorded

history was the 1984 Bhopal Gas disaster, in which
more than 3,000 people were killed after a highly toxic
vapor, (methyl isocyanate), was released at a Union
Carbide pesticides factory.
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