Natural disaster

Natural disaster

A natural disaster is the effect of a natural hazard . It leads to financial, environmental or human losses...

s in Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

 are the result of several different natural hazards that affect the country according to its particular geographic and geologic features. Human vulnerability, exacerbated by the lack of planning or lack of appropriate emergency management

Emergency management

Emergency management is the generic name of an interdisciplinary field dealing with the strategic organizational management processes used to protect critical assets of an organization from hazard risks that can cause events like disasters or catastrophes and to ensure the continuance of the...

, and the fragility of the economy and infrastructure contribute to a high rate of financial, structural, and human losses.

Some of the natural hazards present in Colombia are:

Geologic

Colombia is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire

Pacific Ring of Fire

The Pacific Ring of Fire is an area where large numbers of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in the basin of the Pacific Ocean. In a horseshoe shape, it is associated with a nearly continuous series of oceanic trenches, volcanic arcs, and volcanic belts and/or plate movements...

 and Andean Volcanic Belt

Andean Volcanic Belt

The Andean Volcanic Belt is a major volcanic belt along the Andean cordillera in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Chile and Argentina. It formed as a result of subduction of the Nazca Plate and Antarctic Plate underneath the South American Plate. The belt is subdivided into four main volcanic...

 due to the collision of the South American Plate

South American Plate

The South American Plate is a continental tectonic plate which includes the continent of South America and also a sizeable region of the Atlantic Ocean seabed extending eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge....

 and the Nazca Plate

Nazca Plate

]The Nazca Plate, named after the Nazca region of southern Peru, is an oceanic tectonic plate in the eastern Pacific Ocean basin off the west coast of South America. The ongoing subduction along the Peru-Chile Trench of the Nazca Plate under the South American Plate is largely responsible for the...

. This produces an increased risk of earthquake

Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

s and volcanic eruptions. Some natural disasters of this type are:

• The Earthquake of Cúcuta (1875)
• The 1979 Nariño Department
  Nariño Department
  Nariño is a department of Colombia named after Antonio Nariño. It is in the west of the country, bordering Ecuador and the Pacific Ocean.Its capital is Pasto, other important cities include Tumaco, Ipiales.-Municipalities:# Albán# Aldana# Ancuya...
  
   Tsunami
  Tsunami
  A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
  
  , with an 7.2 Ritcher scale earthquake
• The 1982 Popayán
  Popayán
  Popayán is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in southwestern Colombia between Colombia's Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range...
  
   earthquake
• The 1985 eruption of Nevado del Ruiz
  Nevado del Ruiz
  The Nevado del Ruiz, also known as La Mesa de Herveo or Kumanday in the language of the local pre-Columbian indigenous people, is a volcano located on the border of the departments of Caldas and Tolima in Colombia, about west of the capital city Bogotá. It is a stratovolcano, composed of many...
  
   volcano
  Volcano
  2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
  
   and subsequent Armero tragedy
• The 1994 Paez river earthquake
• The 1999 Armenia earthquake that affected heavily the city of Armenia, Colombia
  Armenia, Colombia
  Armenia is the capital of Quindío, a department in Colombia. The city is located at coordinates 4.5170° north, 75.6830° west, 290 kilometers west of Bogotá. Armenia is a mid-size city located between Bogotá, Medellín and Cali, the 3 largest Colombian cities. The city's area code for phone calls is...
  
   in the Quindío department.

Hydrologic

Rainfall is heaviest in the Pacific lowlands and in parts of eastern Colombia, where rain is almost a daily occurrence and rain forests predominate. Precipitation exceeds 760 centimeters annually in most of the Pacific lowlands, making this one of the wettest regions in the world. The highest average annual precipitation in the world is estimated to be in Lloro, Colombia, with 13,299 mm (523.9 inches). In eastern Colombia, it decreases from 635 centimeters in portions of the Andean piedmont to 254 centimeters eastward. Extensive areas of the Caribbean interior are permanently flooded, more because of poor drainage than because of the moderately heavy precipitation during the rainy season.
The Caribbean Region of Colombia, valleys of Magdalena river

Magdalena River

The Magdalena River is the principal river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, in spite of the shifting sand bars at the mouth of its delta, as...

 and Cauca river

Cauca River

The Cauca River is a river in Colombia that lies between the Occidental and Central cordilleras. Born in southwestern Colombia near the city of Popayán, it joins the Magdalena River near Pinillos in Bolívar Department, and the combined river eventually flows out into the Caribbean Sea. It has a...

 and the eastern savannah

Savannah

Savannah or savanna is a type of grassland.It can also mean:-People:* Savannah King, a Canadian freestyle swimmer* Savannah Outen, a singer who gained popularity on You Tube...

s are prone to floods during the two main monsoon

Monsoon

Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...

 seasons (April and November). The opposite phenomenon of drought

Drought

A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...

 is also frequent. January through March and July through September are the dry seasons, when abnormally dry periods cause shortage in the water supply to crops and urban centers.

Climatic

The presence of coastal regions both in the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans increases the risk of hurricanes and tropical storms. Waves in the trade winds in the Atlantic Ocean—areas of converging winds that move along the same track as the prevailing wind—create instabilities in the atmosphere

Atmosphere

An atmosphere is a layer of gases that may surround a material body of sufficient mass, and that is held in place by the gravity of the body. An atmosphere may be retained for a longer duration, if the gravity is high and the atmosphere's temperature is low...

 that may lead to the formation of hurricanes. Some of the events of this type that have affected the country are:

• Tropical Storm Bret (1993)
  Tropical Storm Bret (1993)
  Tropical Storm Bret was the second named storm of the 1993 Atlantic hurricane season. The third tropical cyclone of the season, Bret formed on August 4 from a westward moving, African tropical wave. Bret would later peak as a 60 mph tropical storm as it neared Trinidad...
  
  
• Hurricane Cesar-Douglas
  Hurricane Cesar-Douglas
  Hurricane Cesar–Douglas was a devastating tropical cyclone that killed 122 people throughout Central and South America in late-July 1996. The Category 1 hurricane formed in late July in the Caribbean Sea and pounded Central America with rain, killing 67 people and causing local governments to deem...
  
  
• Hurricane Joan-Miriam
  Hurricane Joan-Miriam
  Hurricane Joan was a powerful hurricane that caused death and destruction in over a dozen countries in the Caribbean and Central America. Moving on a due west course for nearly two weeks in October 1988, Hurricane Joan caused widespread flooding and over 200 deaths after moving into Central America...
  
  

Health and disease

Some of the main public health issues in Colombia are: malnutrition

Malnutrition

Malnutrition is the condition that results from taking an unbalanced diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, in excess , or in the wrong proportions....

, pregnancy

Pregnancy

Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...

-related deaths, neonatal deaths, acute respiratory disease-related deaths in children under 5 years, diarrhea

Diarrhea

Diarrhea , also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having three or more loose or liquid bowel movements per day. It is a common cause of death in developing countries and the second most common cause of infant deaths worldwide. The loss of fluids through diarrhea can cause dehydration and...

-related deaths in children under 5 years, lack of vaccination

Vaccination

Vaccination is the administration of antigenic material to stimulate the immune system of an individual to develop adaptive immunity to a disease. Vaccines can prevent or ameliorate the effects of infection by many pathogens...

s, tropical diseases such as malaria

Malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...

, dengue fever

Dengue fever

Dengue fever , also known as breakbone fever, is an infectious tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to measles...

, hemorrhagic dengue fever, yellow fever

Yellow fever

Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....

, Chagas disease

Chagas disease

Chagas disease is a tropical parasitic disease caused by the flagellate protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. T. cruzi is commonly transmitted to humans and other mammals by an insect vector, the blood-sucking insects of the subfamily Triatominae most commonly species belonging to the Triatoma, Rhodnius,...

 and leishmaniasis

Leishmaniasis

Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by protozoan parasites that belong to the genus Leishmania and is transmitted by the bite of certain species of sand fly...

, poly-parasitism

Parasitism

Parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. Traditionally parasite referred to organisms with lifestages that needed more than one host . These are now called macroparasites...

, snakebite

Snakebite

A snakebite is an injury caused by a bite from a snake, often resulting in puncture wounds inflicted by the animal's fangs and sometimes resulting in envenomation. Although the majority of snake species are non-venomous and typically kill their prey with constriction rather than venom, venomous...

s and violence related causes of mortality.