PART 2. HUMAN INSTIGATED DISASTERS (MAN MADE DISASTERS)
Human-instigated disasters are the consequence of technological
hazards. Examples include stampedes, fires, transport accidents, CBRN
Emergencies( Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Emergencies)
Industrial accidents. War and deliberate attacks may also be put in this
category
Examples:
CHEMICAL ATTACK;
Halabja
year 1988
-Chemical Attack by Iraqi forces over Northern Iraq Kurdhish populated
-Death toll around 5,000
-Injured more than 10,000
SYRIA CIVIL WAR
Damacus
Chemical Attacks done at Damacus area
-on 30th Aug2013
-at 12 locations
-1429 civilian deaths including 423 children
TOKYO SUBWAY
Sarin Gas( Nerve Agent )
-Deaths-12
Non-fatal injuries-about 1,050
Perpetrator- Aum Shinrikyo
CHEMICAL INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT
Bhopal Gas Tragedy
On the night of 2–3 December 1984
-at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL)
-pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
Over 500,000 people were exposed to methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and
other chemicals
Estimates vary on the death toll. The official immediate death toll
was 2,259. The government of Madhya Pradesh confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths
related to the gas release.A government affidavit in 2006 stated that the leak
caused 558,125 injuries, including 38,478 temporary partial injuries and
approximately 3,900 severely and permanently disabling injuries.Others estimate
that 8,000 died within two weeks, and another 8,000 or more have since died from
gas-related diseases.
CHEMICAL
TRANSPORTATION ACCIDENT
Although
the major chemical accidents seem most threatening because they often kill
people outright, it is the smaller, more routine accidents and spills that
affect most people. Some of the most common spills involve tanker trucks and
railroad tankers containing gasoline, chlorine, acid, or other industrial
chemicals. Many spills occur during the transportation
of hazardous materials; one study found that 18,000 hazardous materials spills
occurred during 1976. In 1983, spills from 4,829 highway and 851 railroad
accidents resulted in eight deaths, 191 injuries, and damages exceeding more
than $110,000,000. The National Environmental Law Center reported that 34,500
accidents involving toxic chemicals were reported to the EPA's Emergency
Response and Notification System between 1988 and 1992, meaning that on
average, a toxic chemical accident was reported nineteen times a day in the
United States, or nearly once every hour.
BIO WARFARE
A
biological attack is the intentional release of a pathogen (disease causing
agent) or Bio-toxin (poisonous substance produced by a living organism) against
humans, plants, or animals. An attack against people could be used to cause
illness, death, fear, societal disruption, and economic damage.
AGENTS
- Plague
- Cholera
- Tularemia
- Brucellosis
- Q Fever
- Smallpox
- Monkeypox
- Arboviral Encephalitides
- Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers
- Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B
- Ricin
- Botulinum Toxin
- Mycotoxins
EXAMPLES
1.In
1985, Iraq began an offensive biological weapons program producing anthrax,
Botulinum toxin, and Aflatoxin. During Operation Desert Storm, the coalition of
allied forces faced the threat of chemical and biological agents. Following the
Persian Gulf War, Iraq disclosed that it had bombs, Scud missiles, 122-mm
rockets, and artillery shells armed with Botulinum toxin, Anthrax, and
Aflatoxin. They also had spray tanks fitted to aircraft that could distribute
agents over a specific target.
2.In
September and October of 1984, 751 people were intentionally infected with
Salmonella, an agent that causes food poisoning, when followers of the Bhagwan
Shree Rajneesh contaminated restaurant salad bars in Oregon.
3.In
1994, a Japanese sect of the Aum Shinrikyo cult attempted an aerosolized
(sprayed into the air) release of anthrax from the tops of buildings in Tokyo.
4.In
1995, two members of a Minnesota militia group were convicted of possession of
ricin, which they had produced themselves for use in retaliation against local
government officials.
5.In
1996, an Ohio man attempted to obtain Bubonic Plague cultures through the mail.
6.In
2001, anthrax was delivered by mail to U.S. media and government offices. There
were four deaths.
RADIO-LOGICAL AND NUCLEAR EMERGENCY
A
Radiological emergency is an emergency in which there is, or is perceived to
be, a hazard due to radiation exposure from a source. As sources of radiation
are used in various fields, including industry, medicine and research,
Radiological emergencies may occur anywhere.
THESE EMERGENCIES CAN BE IN THE FORM OF THE FOLLOWING:
1. Nuclear Bombs(More Destructive than Atom Bomb)
2. Atom Bombs ( Hiroshima and Nagasaki)
3. RDD ( Radiological Dispersal Device)
- Radio-active Source + IED(Improvised Explosive Device)
3. RED ( Radiological Exposure Device)
4. Unintentional
a) Accident with the carriage of
Radioactive Material during Transportation
b)Wrong / Faulty Practices with
Radioactive material
Example:
MAYAPURI Scrap Market -Cobalt-60
c)Failure of Machinery in at
Nuclear Power Plant
Example: Chernobyl Nuclear power plant Blast
On April 26, 1986, a sudden surge of power
during a reactor systems test destroyed Unit 4 of the nuclear power station at
Chernobyl, Ukraine, in the former Soviet Union. The accident and the fire that
followed released massive amounts of radioactive material into the environment.
After the accident, officials closed off the
area within 30 kilometers (18 miles) of the plant, except for persons with
official business at the plant and those people evaluating and dealing with the
consequences of the accident and operating the undamaged reactors. The Soviet
(and later on, Russian) government evacuated about 115,000 people from the most
heavily contaminated areas in 1986, and another 220,000 people in subsequent
years
RADIO ACTIVE MATERIALS AGENTS
1. URANIUM
2. THORIUM
3. CESIUM
4. COBALT
5. IRIDIUM
6. IODINE
7. STRONTIUM
8. AMERICIUM
RADIO LOGICAL /NUCLEAR DISASTER SCENARIO
Immediate and direct effect of 20 KT nuclear weapon detonation would
affect
- about 65 sq.km of arae
-about 32 lakh inhabitants
(polpulation density 0.5 lakh/sq.km
-about 3.2 lakh deaths in the
first few months(-50% on 151 day)
-about 7.5 lakh will be injured
affected due to INR
-Fallout zone app. 4000 sq.km
may change on wind direction and velocity.
In case
of Chernobyl it was more than 2,00,000 sq.km
-about
40 lakh will be affected due to fall out
