3. How ancient civilizations explained natural disasters? Catastrophes were part of religious tradition. Gods brought prosperity and destruction Each natural Phenomenon had its own god People were punished by gods with natural disasters because of their bad behaviour Mythology explained events that were not understood
8. Indians thought that the Earth was supported by four elephants that were standing on a turtle, while it was balancing on a cobra and when any of these animals moved, the Earth shook.
9. HURRICANE AND TORNADO Hurricane : It is a violent storm with very strong winds, specially in the western Atlantic Ocean. Tornado : It is a violent storm with very strong winds which move in a circle.
10. EOLO: God of the winds in Greek Mythology Eolo helps Odiseo in his trip to Itaca
12. God Chaac: Mayan Rain Deity produces thunder and rain. Cocijo: Zapotec God of rain, thunder and lightning
13. E A R T H Q U A K E Earthquake or seims : I t i s a violent shaking of the Earth's crust that may cause destruction and results from the sudden release of tectonic stress along a fault line or from volcanic activity. Seism comes from the greek seismo that means “to shake”
14. Mediterranean Ever since the Meditherranean was an area frequently devastated by earthquake, which originated many myths and legends.
15. Tectonic Plate Under the Mediterranean sea we can see the union of 2 tectonic plates
16. Troy Between about 1300 and 1200 BC, an earthquake hit the Mediterranean, causing damage to Crete, Greece and Troy.
18. TROJAN HORSE Some research studies said the Trojan Horse of Homer’s Iliada was a metaphor for the earthquake, which damaged the fortification walls of the city and made ivasion easier.
20. Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried by lava and ash 2000 people killed (estimated) Was the first eruption described (Recorded by Pliny the Younger)
22. TSUNAMI Tsunami: It is a large destructive ocean wave caused by an underwater earthquake or another movement of the Earth's surface.
23. Gulf of Corinth Helike On a winter night in 373 BC an earthquake followed by a tsunami destroyed a grand old greek city, near the Gulf of Corinth. The city was a venerated center for worship of Poseidon.
24. This catastrophe was attributed to the anger of Poseidon, because Helike’s people refuse to give away the statue of bonze to the settlers of Minor Asia. Acording to some research, the Helike catastrophe may have inspired Plato’s sotry of Atlantis, a land that apparently sank on the bottom of the sea.
31. Haití: Pact with the Devil? Pat Robertson, a prominent political spokesman, blamed Haitians for “making a pact with the Devil” as a reason behind the earthquake.
32. Katrina: God’s Judgment? Some fundamentalist christians were anxious to characterize the disaster as “God’s Judgment” on the wicked city of New Orleans and to link its timing to a gay celebration held there annually.
33. In conclusion, our wold is controlled by natural laws, these laws are necessary for life to go on; without earthquake there wouldn’t be mountains, without volvanic eruption there wouldn’t be atmosphere. Earthquakes, volcanos, floods are extreme expressions of the natural process of the planet, but disasters happen when human beings aren’t prepared for this kind of events.
