Disaster caused by natural forces.

Barale, LauraGamboa, Valeria Pons, Rubén

Natural DisasterEarthquake

Tsunami

Hurricane

Volcano

Flood

Tornado

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

EXAMPLES

Ancient Egypcians believed the Nile River was a gift from the gods

Central American Inhabitants thought that the Earth was square and supported by four gods who shook it.

Greeks said that Atlantis was demolished by a volcano as a punishment because of the arrogance of its people

Romans believed that eruptions were caused by Vulcan, the god of fire

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.

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.

EOLO: God of the winds in Greek Mythology

Eolo helps Odiseo in his trip to Itaca

MESOAMERICA MYTHOLOGY

Mayan Mythology: God Jun Ragan (Huracán)

God Chaac: Mayan Rain Deity produces thunder and rain.

Cocijo: Zapotec God of rain, thunder and lightning

E A R T H Q U A K E

Earthquake or seims: It is 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”

Mediterranean

Ever since the Meditherranean was an area frequently devastated by earthquake, which originated many myths and legends.

Tectonic Plate

Under the Mediterranean sea we can see the union of 2 tectonic plates

Troy

Between about 1300 and 1200 BC, an earthquake hit the Mediterranean, causing damage to Crete, Greece and Troy.

POSEIDON

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.

VOLCANO

VESUVIOUS ERUPTION

August 24, 79 AD 

Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried by lava and ash  2000 people killed (estimated)  Was the first eruption described (Recorded by Pliny the Younger)  

Undercovered in 1748 by archeologists  Last eruption alert in April 2010

TSUNAMI

Tsunami: It is a large destructive ocean wave caused by an underwater earthquake or another movement of the Earth's surface.

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.

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.

Disappearance of Helike

373 B.C.

Platon 429 – 347 B.C.

FLOODS

When a great area is covered with water.

THE GREAT FLOOD OR WORLDWIDE DELUGE

ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS: JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM

Viracocha is the great creator god in the pre-Inca and Inca mythology in the Andes region of South America.

CONCLUSION

Human knowlegde has evolved much since those old days;

Hasn’t it?

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.

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.

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.