Natural disasters, response, recovery, and mitigation are important topics for policy makers, sustainable development specialists, technical experts and teachers. The occurrences and distributions of natural disaster events and the responses and mitigation practices associated with them are presented in the book. Experts on natural disaster topics and regional experts on natural disasters provide compelling information. A rich background in natural disasters and the places where they frequently occur is presented. The chapter authors' discussions address the physical attributes of natural events and secondly, the role of education and training as mitigation strategies. This second perspective examines mitigation practices. Alternatives beyond disaster response and recovery are being practiced in many places. The role of education and training is highlighted. It is intended that the book be a welcome addition to working in natural disasters policies, education, training, and improving the public understanding of natural disasters and the mitigation of their effects. This volume includes a CD-ROM containing electronic versions, in full color if available, of the figures which are all printed in black-and-white in the book. Reports of natural disasters fill the media with regularity. Places in the world are affected by natural disaster events every day. Such events include earthquakes, cyclones, tsunamis, wildfires ¿ the list could go on for considerable length. In the 1990s there was a concentrated focus on natural disaster information and mitigation during the International Decade for Natural Disasters Reduction (IDNDR). The information was technical and provided the basis for major initiatives in building structures designed for seismic safety, slope stability, severe storm warning systems, and global monitoring and reporting. Mitigation, or planning in the event that natural hazards prevalent in a region would suddenly become natural disasters, was a major goal of the decade-long program. During the IDNDR, this book was conceptualized, and planning for its completion began. The editors saw the need for a book that would reach a broad range of readers who were not actively or directly engaged in natural disasters relief or mitigation planning, but who were in decision-making positions that provided an open window for addressing natural disaster issues. Those people were largely elected public officials, teachers, non-governmental organization staff, and staff of faith-based organizations. Those people, for the most part, come to know very well the human and physical characteristics of the place in which they are based. With that local outreach in mind, the editors intended the book to encourage readers to: 1. Preface ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1(10) Joseph P. Stoltman, John Lidstone, and Lisa M. DeChano Chapter 1: Earthquakes 11(26) Walter Hays Chapter 2: Volcanoes 37(26) Raymundo S. Punongbayan Chapter 3: Windstorms 63(24) Tony Gibbs Chapter 4: Global Flooding 87(20) John Handmer Chapter 5: Wildfires 107(24) Steven Yool Chapter 6: Mass Movement 131(16) Lisa M. DeChano Chapter 7: Drought 147(16) D.A. Wilhite Chapter 8: Natural Hazards in Japan 163(18) Hiroshi Sasaki and Shuji Yamakawa Chapter 9: Natural Disasters in China 181(12) Yang Hua Ting Chapter 10: Natural Disasters in Oceania 193(18) George Pararas-Carayannis Chapter 11: Hazard Mitigation in South and Southeast Asia 211(20) Nehal Karim Chapter 12: Natural Disasters in Africa 231(16) Belinda Dodson Chapter 13: Natural Disasters in Russia 247(16) V.M. Kotlyakov Chapter 14: Natural Disasters in Europe 263(18) Lea Houtsonen and Arvo Peltonen Chapter 15: Natural Disasters and Their Impact in Latin America 281(22) James J. Biles and Daniel Cobos Chapter 16: Disaster Impacts on the Caribbean 303(20) Jeremy Collymore Chapter 17: A Perspective on North American Natural Disasters 323(18) Joseph Scanlon Chapter 18: Teaching and Learning to Live with the Environment 341(18) Kath Murdoch Chapter 19: Educational Aims and the Question of Priorities 359(10) Graham Haydon Chapter 20: The Experience of Natural Disasters: Psychological Perspectives and Understandings 369(16) Joseph P. Reser Chapter 21: Curriculum Innovation for Natural Disaster Reduction: Lessons from the Commonwealth Caribbean 385(12) Michael Morrissey Chapter 22: Curriculum Adaptation and Disaster Prevention in Colombia 397(12) Omar D. Cardona Chapter 23: Current Curriculum Initiatives and Perspectives in Education for Natural Disaster Reduction in India 409(8) R.B. Singh Chapter 24: Disaster Education in New Zealand 417(12) John Macaulay Chapter 25: Natural Disasters and the Role of Women 429(16) Jacqueline Sims Chapter 26: Natural Hazards and Disaster Information on the Internet 445(12) John A. Cross and Yasuyo Makido Chapter 27: Capacity Building, Education, and Technical Training 457(6) Joseph P. Stoltman, John Lidstone, and Lisa M. DeChano Index 463(4) List of Figures on CD-ROM 467