International
2011 Earthquake in Japan
The March 11 earthquake started on a Friday at 2:46 p.m. local time (5:46 a.m. UTC). It was centered on the seafloor 45 miles (72 kilometers) east of Tohoku, at a depth of 15 miles (24 km) below the surface. The shaking lasted about six minutes. Residents of Tokyo received a minute of warning before the strong shaking hit the city, thanks to Japan's earthquake early warning system. The country's stringent seismic building codes and early warning system prevented many deaths from the earthquake, by stopping high-speed trains and factory assembly lines. People in Japan also received texted alerts of the earthquake and tsunami warnings on their cellphones.
In the tsunami's aftermath, Japan's Meteorological Agency was criticized for issuing an initial tsunami warning that underestimated the size of the wave. In some regions, such as Miyagi and Fukushima, only 58% of people headed for higher ground immediately after the earthquake, according to a Japanese government study published in August 2011. Many people also underestimated their personal risk, or assumed the tsunami would be as small as ones they had previously experienced, the study found. Scientists from around the world descended on Japan following the earthquake and tsunami. Researchers sailed offshore and dropped sensors along the fault line to measure the forces that caused the earthquake. Teams studied the tsunami deposits to better understand ancient sediment records of the deadly waves. Earthquake engineers examined the damage, looking for ways to build buildings more resistant to quakes and tsunamis.
Mauna Lao 2022 Eruption
The eruption of Mauna Loa wasn’t immediately endangering towns, but the US Geological Survey (USGS) warned the roughly 200,000 people on the Big Island that an eruption “can be very dynamic, and the location and advance of lava flows can change rapidly”. Officials told residents to be prepared to evacuate if lava flows started heading toward populated areas.Officials urged the public to stay away, given the dangers posed by lava, which is shooting 100 to 200 ft (30 to 60 meters) into the air out of three separate fissures estimated to be 1 to 2 miles (1.6 to 3.2km) long.Volcanic gasses wafting out of the vents, primarily sulfur dioxide, are also harmful.The USGS said it had opened shelters in Kailua-Kona and Pahala because it had reports of people self-evacuating along the South Kona coast.
The eruption started in Mokuʻāweoweo, Mauna Loa’s summit caldera, at about 11:30 p.m. HST. The handful of scientists that responded to alarms about 45 minutes before the eruption quickly turned into an online meeting of 15–20 experts in seismology, deformation, geology, and satellite imagery. Additionally, Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense Agency (HCCDA) was immediately apprised of the volcano’s behavior, both via the online meeting and with the addition of a volcanologist who quickly went to the HCCDA Emergency Operations Center in Hilo. Scientists from USGS volcano observatories in Alaska, California, and Washington also joined to assist. Those tense first several hours served as a good demonstration of how HVO is able to work with HCCDA officials and volcanologists from other USGS offices to rapidly respond to volcanic activity. Together, these agencies continue to monitor the Northeast Rift Zone eruption of Mauna Loa and keep the public informed on the activity.
Ukraine and Russia War
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Ukraine’s military said that residents of Ukraine’s Russian-occupied city of Kherson received warning messages on their phones urging them to evacuate as soon as possible.
Russian soldiers warned civilians that Ukraine’s army was preparing for a massive attack and told people to leave for the city’s right bank immediately. Ukrainian forces have been pushing forward in the south, as Russia intensifies its attacks on Kyiv.
LOCAL
Typhoon Yolanda
As a result of the death and destruction caused by Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most destructive typhoons to hit the Philippines, It is clearly shown that this archipelagic country was not prepared for this typhoon. According to Ramon Capisle, the local government is definitely not ready and underestimated the strength of the typhoon. He said that LGUs should have made the maximum preparations. Fortunately, according to Gwendolyn Pang, hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated three days ahead of the disastrous typhoon.
Care Philippines launched the "Typhoon Haiyan Response," a three-year disaster response aimed at assisting affected communities, repairing damage, and building a stronger sense of resilience in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan. Typhoon Haiyan's response has three phases: phase 1 is the emergency phase, phase 2 is the recovery phase, and phase 3 is the medium-term recovery phase. On the other hand, WHO worked with the Department of Health (DOH) to rehabilitate mental health services within the affected community. Some Yolanda-related mental health issues that can be addressed through psychological first aid training include psychological distress, trauma-related conditions, and disaster-induced depression
2013 Earthquake in Bohol
It is a reminder to Filipinos of what happened in the Visayas in 2013, particularly in Bohol, following the devastating 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck the region. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reminded the public on the 9th anniversary of the 2013 Bohol earthquake that better preparedness is the key to surviving earthquakes and other disasters. Based on an interview, Phivolcs 7 Director Robinson Jorgio encourages the public to have a "proactive mindset" toward disaster preparedness in view of the fact that disasters such as earthquakes do not happen in a definite time frame. To prevent structural damages in the future that are frequently the cause of accidents during earthquake events, Jorgio encourages people to make their houses "earthquake proof" or to consult structural engineers when planning for house development and construction.
Philippine Red Cross (PRC) is one of the organizations that immediately responded to the 2013 Bohol earthquake through rescue and transport of casualties to hospitals, first aid management, providing food and non-food items for evacuated families in evacuation facilities, clean water, health and hygiene, and welfare assistance, namely psychological support, guidance, and counseling, and tracing of other family and relative members. PRC was able to build 304-core shelters or full houses, and along with the construction and repair of damaged infrastructure, they also focused on providing hygiene and sanitation training in schools and communities. On the other hand, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) established a livelihood support program in the form of Cash-for-Work (CFW) that was distributed to the 17 most affected municipalities in Bohol.
2020 Taal Eruption
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On January 12, 2020, the Department of Science and Technology and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (DOST-PHIVOLCS) raised the Alert Level from 1 to 4 after Taal's increasing activity. An alert level of 4 means that a catastrophic explosive eruption may take place within the next hour or days, and this indicates a "Danger Zone" 14 kilometers from the main crater. On January 13, 2020, at 5:00 p.m. local time, 75 volcanic earthquakes were recorded, with 32 ranging in intensity from II (weak) to IV (strong). Fortunately, experts and the community were able to assess the situation and come up with an early warning system that warns the locals regarding what might occur next (Lagmay, 2020).
Between January 13 and January 24, 2020, 508 locals were relocated to 77 evacuation centers. On the other hand, the Manila International Airport Authority announced that all flights are postponed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport; a total of 242 flights were canceled back on January 13, 2020. GlobalMedic deployed a response team that supported the people displaced by the eruption. They brought 1,650 N95 masks to the locals and used them as respiratory protection from sulfuric ashes. According to the action plan report of the NDRRMC, there are numerous national and local institutions, both government and non-government, that are taking action on the disastrous eruption.
Marawi Siege
According to Knight and Theodorakis (2018), the siege exhibited the unpreparedness of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), which took five months to take over the city from the Maute terrorist group. This siege allows the Philippine military and authorities to assimilate lessons; apart from that, it helps the other government authorities evaluate their own readiness to deal with urban operations, such as assisting effective strategies to evacuate people and assessing their own territories. With better preparedness for this man-made disaster, this could reduce military and civilian casualties.
Terrorism in Marawi has displaced 360,000 local residents, and the government has taken the lead in providing relief assistance from local, national, and international humanitarian partners. After two years, the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) and its partner, accompanied by the government's Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM), were retained to provide an organized response to the precedence of humanitarianism, protection, and early recovery of the vulnerable people affected by the conflict.