Encyclopaedia

This encyclopedia is a descriptive, illustrated account of disasters, both natural and human-induced, that have occurred throughout the world at different times over the past two thousand years. They include experiences of earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, floods, extremes of weather, droughts, pandemic illnesses, land subsidence and landslides. Most troubling of all is a newcomer to the world of disasters, the terrorist attack. While terrorists have, from time to time in the past, wrought havoc on human environments, the expanded volume and brutality of their activities over the past thirty years has gone beyond all previous acts of violence. Terrorism is the type of disaster that may become increasingly destructive in the future. Challenger (space shuttle), Florida, fire/explosion, 1986 Chernobyl, Ukraine, nuclear accident, 1986 Armenia earthquake, 1988 Alaska oil spill, 1989 Tiananmen Square, China, massacre, 1989 Loma Prieta, California, earthquake, 1989 Persian Gulf oil i