Analysis of geospatial and temporal distribution of earthquakes as natural disasters

Abstract

Natural disasters of all types (meteorological, hydrological, geophysical, climatic and biological) are increasingly becoming a part of everyday life of the modern man. The consequences are often devastating to life, health and property of people, but also to the security of the country and the entire international community. Earthquakes belong to a group of geophysical disasters and occur very often, with the highest number of them being of lower intensity. Stronger earthquakes may cause extensive property damage and serious consequences to human life by forming cracks in the earth's crust, ground shaking, flooding, release of hazardous substances, and the like. In this sense, for effective and efficient protection and response to emergencies caused by deleterious effect of seismic waves, it is necessary, among other things, to comprehensively investigate this natural phenomenon, and therefore, the subject of this paper is a form, consequences, and temporal and geospatial arrangement of earthquake manifestations. Using an international database on natural disasters of the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), headquartered in Brussels, with the support of statistical analysis software (SPSS) and the method of thematic cartography, we have tried to point to the number, trends, consequences, and temporal and geospatial distribution of earthquakes in the period from 1900 till 2013, as well as to the need for an adequate response of the society to this type of a natural disaster.

Prirodne katastrofe svih vrsta (meteorološke, hidrološke, geofizičke, klimatske i biološke) sve više postaju deo svakodnevnog života savremenog čoveka. Posledice su veoma često razorne po život, zdravlje i imovinu ljudi, ali takođe i po bezbednost države i čitave međunarodne zajednice. Zemljotresi (trusovi) pripadaju grupi geofizičkih prirodnih katastrofa i dešavaju se vrlo često, s tim što je najveći broj slabijeg intenziteta. Snažniji zemljotresi mogu da prouzrokuju veliku materijalnu štetu i ozbiljne posledice po život ljudi, nastajanjem pukotina u Zemljinoj kori, potresom tla, poplavama, oslobađanjem opasnih materija i sl. U tom smislu, radi efektivnije i efikasnije zaštite i reagovanja u vanrednim situacijama izazvanim štetnim dejstvom seizmičkih talasa, potrebno je, između ostalog, sveobuhvatno istražiti ovaj prirodni fenomen, tako da će predmet ovog rada biti forma, posledice, vremenski i geoprostorni raspored ispoljavanja zemljotresa. Koristeći međunarodnu bazu podataka o prirodnim katastrofama Centra za istraživanje epidemiologije katastrofa (CRED) sa sedištem u Briselu, uz podršku programa za statističku analizu (SPSS) i metoda tematske kartografije, pokušali smo da ukažemo na broj, trendove, posledice, vremensku i geoprostornu distribuciju zemljotresa u periodu od 1900. do 2013. godine, kao i na potrebu adekvatnog odgovora društva na tu vrstu prirodne katastrofe.