Types of Disasters — Set 10

Correct Answer: B. Heavy rainfall and seismic activity

Landslides in India's northeastern states are primarily triggered by the combination of extremely heavy monsoon rainfall and the region's seismically active setting. The northeast is one of the world's most tectonically active regions, lying at the junction of the Indian and Eurasian plates plus the Burmese microplate. The combination of steep terrain, loose soils, heavy rainfall, and frequent earthquakes makes the northeast India among the world's most landslide-vulnerable regions.

Correct Answer: B. A disaster caused by human-made technology or infrastructure failure

A technological disaster is caused by the failure, misuse, or accident of human-made technology or infrastructure, including industrial plants, dams, transportation systems, and information technology. Technological disasters are a subset of man-made disasters and include events like the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, Chernobyl, bridge collapses, and train derailments. India's rapid industrialization and infrastructure expansion have increased its exposure to technological disaster risk.

Correct Answer: B. IMD's own 7-category classification

India follows the IMD's own 7-category cyclone classification: Depression, Deep Depression, Cyclonic Storm, Severe Cyclonic Storm, Very Severe Cyclonic Storm, Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm, and Super Cyclonic Storm. This differs from the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale used in the Atlantic basin. IMD, as the WMO's Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) for the North Indian Ocean, is responsible for tracking and naming cyclones in this region.

Correct Answer: C. Both natural and man-made hazards including biological and technological

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 explicitly recognises both natural and man-made hazards — including biological, environmental, geological, hydro-meteorological, and technological hazards — as drivers of disaster risk. This comprehensive approach marks a shift from managing individual hazard types to addressing the underlying drivers of disaster risk including poverty, weak governance, and unsustainable development. India aligned its national disaster management policies with the Sendai Framework following its adoption in 2015.

Correct Answer: B. Earthquake → tsunami → nuclear accident (cascading)

The 2011 Japan disaster is the definitive example of a cascading disaster: the Tohoku earthquake (9.0 Mw) triggered a massive tsunami that caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown — three linked disasters in rapid succession. Cascading disasters multiply human and economic losses far beyond what any single event would cause and require multi-hazard planning. This disaster led to global reassessment of nuclear plant siting near coastlines and seismic zones.

Correct Answer: C. Lightning

Lightning is responsible for more deaths in India than any other single hydro-meteorological hazard, killing approximately 2,000–2,500 people annually. This figure exceeds annual deaths from floods, cyclones, and heatwaves in most years. NDMA and IMD have launched the Damini lightning alert app and real-time warning systems to reduce lightning deaths by providing location-specific advance warnings to mobile phone users.

Correct Answer: B. Chernobyl Disaster

The Chernobyl disaster of April 26, 1986 is the world's worst nuclear disaster, involving a reactor explosion and open-air graphite fire at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Soviet Ukraine. It released massive amounts of radioactive material including cesium-137, strontium-90, and plutonium across Europe. Chernobyl and Fukushima are the only two nuclear accidents ever rated at the maximum Level 7 on the INES scale.

Correct Answer: B. Unplanned urbanization blocking natural drainage

Urban flooding in Indian cities is increasingly caused by unplanned urbanization that encroaches on natural drainage channels, wetlands, and floodplains, dramatically reducing the ground's ability to absorb rainfall. Concretization of urban surfaces prevents rainwater percolation and accelerates surface runoff. Cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru have experienced devastating urban floods in recent years, with the 2015 Chennai floods and 2005 Mumbai floods being landmark events.

Correct Answer: B. Slow-onset disaster / land degradation

Desertification is a slow-onset disaster involving the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas resulting from climate variability and human activities such as overgrazing, deforestation, and unsustainable agriculture. India has significant areas under desertification threat in Rajasthan, Gujarat, and the Deccan Plateau. The National Action Programme to Combat Desertification (NAP-CD) is India's response framework for this slow-onset disaster.

Correct Answer: C. Compound natural and man-made disaster

An embankment breach flood is a compound natural-and-man-made disaster where the natural hydrological flood hazard is amplified by failure of a human-made protective structure. Embankment failures are common in Bihar and Assam, where thousands of kilometres of flood embankments contain the Ganga-Brahmaputra river system. Such events highlight the need for regular maintenance of flood protection infrastructure as part of structural disaster risk reduction.