Asia Asia has suffere‚ the most loss of life As in the previous three years… loss of life ‚ue to natural an‚ man‰ma‚e catastrophes from catastrophic events for four years as hihest in Asia in 2015ˆ “n all… there ere aroun‚ 1† 000 victimsˆ he total cost runninˆ of ‚isaster events in the reion as estimate‚ to be aroun‚ Ž‘’ ‡ billion… of hich more than Ž‘’ billion ere insure‚ˆ ™n 25 April 2015… an earthŒua€e of manitu‚e Š ‡ Aroun‚ † 000 people ‚ie‚ in the ˆ‡ struc€ Nepalˆ he epicentre earthŒua€e that struc€ Nepal in Aprilˆ as beteen the capital Ÿathman‚u šhome to 1ˆ2 million people› an‚ •o€hara… the nation’s secon‚ larest cityˆ he resultin ‚estruction spanne‚ lare parts of central Nepal… affectin almost half of its ‚istricts inclu‚in isolate‚ mountainous areasˆ he earthŒua€e as ‡ˆ2 €m belo the earth’s surface an‚ cause‚ severe ‚amae in Ÿathman‚uˆ he city lies on a ‚ry la€e be‚… the soil of hich is soft an‚ ust 650 metres ‚eep… hich accentuate‚ the ‚estructive poer of the Œua€eˆ “n all… close to †000 people ere €ille‚… ma€in it the orst ‚isaster in Nepal in over ‡0 yearsˆ he earthŒua€e’s impact ent beyon‚ Nepal… ith casualties an‚ ‚amae reporte‚ in “n‚ia… China an‚ ”anla‚esh alsoˆ otal losses from the earthŒua€e ere estimate‚ to be Ž‘’ 6 billion… most of hich ere uninsure‚ˆ yphoon –oni cause‚ the hihest ¨ith respect to insure‚ losses… the biest natural catastrophe event in Asia as insurance loss of all natural catastrophes yphoon –oni… hich ma‚e lan‚fall in ¤apan on 25 Auustˆ he insure‚ losses ere in Asiaˆ estimate‚ to be Ž‘’ 1ˆ2 billionˆ he typhoon claime‚ ‡† lives… most in the •hilippines an‚ North Ÿorea rather than in ¤apanˆ žeavy monsoon rains hit southern “n‚iaˆ Elsehere… “n‚ia as hit by severe floo‚inˆ “n mi‚‰November… repeate‚ heavy monsoon rains cause‚ floo‚s in the southern states of amil Na‚u an‚ An‚hra •ra‚esh… an‚ in the union territory of •u‚ucherryˆ he cities of Chennai… Cu‚‚alore an‚ Ÿancheepuram an‚ neihbourin ‚istricts ere most affecte‚ˆ he total losses ere estimate‚ to be at least Ž‘’ 2 billionˆ “nsure‚ losses ere Ž‘’ 0ˆ‡ billion… ma€in the floo‚s the secon‚ costliest insurance event in “n‚ia on sigma recor‚sˆ A lare part of the losses oriinate‚ from commercial lines as Chennai is home to several manufacturin companies… particularly in the motor in‚ustryˆ he city of Chennai as paralye‚ by the Chennai is a ma or urban an‚ in‚ustrial centre in southern “n‚ia… ith a population of resultin flash floo‚sˆ about ‡ˆ5 millionˆ ¨hile heavy rains in the area are common… ‚urin the northeast monsoon š™ctober–’ecember› of last year… the accumulate‚ rainfall in November alone as in excess of 500 mmˆ ‘ome areas ha‚ more than 250 mm rainfall in ust 2„ hoursˆ his extreme rainfall volume over a short ‚uration paralye‚ Chennai… ith ma or ‚isruption to critical infrastructureˆ he event hihlihts the vulnerability of rapi‚ly roin urban areas to flash floo‚s oriinatin from heavy rainsˆ 8 Š is the moment manitu‚e… base‚ on the seismic moment… hich “is a measure of the sie of an earthŒua€e base‚ on the area of fault rupture… the averae amount of slip… an‚ the force that as reŒuire‚ to overcome the friction stic€in the roc€s toether that ere offset by faultinˆ” ‘ee http://earthŒua€eˆ ussˆov/learn/lossary/¹term¬seismic§20moment Swiss Re sigma No 1/2016 †
Natural Catastrophes And Man-Made Disasters In 2015 Page 9 Page 11