Earthquake in Mexico
Type of Disaster - Earthquake
Location Relative - Guerro City
• 262 km S Puebla (pop 1,392,099 ; local time 12:02:49.6 2012-03-20)
• 165 km SE Chilpancingo (pop 165,250 ; local time 12:02:49.6 2012-03-20)
• 19 km E Ometepec (pop 17,801 ; local time 12:02:49.6 2012-03-20)
• 10 km S Xochistlahuaca (pop 3,566 ; local time 12:02:49.6 2012-03-20)
Location Geographic - 16.69 N, 98.24 W
Hazard/Disaster/Catastrophe - Disaster
Date – 2012-03-20 18:02:49.0 UTC
Cause of the Disaster – Seismic Activity, Tectonics Resulting in earthquake.
Total Economic Loss- 800 homes destroyed and 60 more homes collapsed. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.
Total Lives lost- 11 people injured, no reported deaths
Source- http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=259440
Mitigation- Earthquakes cause loss and suffering every year in large parts of the world. Most of this loss and suffering is due to lack of, or inadequate, structural design for the forces that earthquakes impose on buildings and other structures. Earthquakes impose vertical and lateral forces on structures, due to the inertia of the structure. While vertical forces are significant, most structures have substantial capacity to resist vertical forces, since their primary structural design is for the force of gravity. A crucial and often difficult aspect of mitigation is finding the political will and resources to examine the risk of earthquakes and then to implement the program. Mitigation alternatives can be broadly grouped into four categories: structural, locational, operational, and risk transfer. Structural mitigation generally involves resisting or avoiding earthquake forces via hardware solutions. Locational mitigation typically avoids earthquake effects via alternative land uses.

Tornadoes, Midwest/Southeast USA
Type of Disaster - Tornado
Location Relative – Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Alabama, Georgia
Location Geographic – 40N, 86W
Hazard/Disaster/Catastrophe - Disaster
Start Date – March 2nd, 2012
Cause of the Disaster - Warm air mixing with cold air causing tornado
Total Economic Loss – Hundreds of homes destroyed and many businesses destroyed, millions of dollars in damage.
Total Lives Lost – 39 people killed
Source- http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/hazards/
Mitigation - Once a tornado strikes not much can be done except for try to get out of the way. The first step towards mitigating the effects of tornadoes is developing good methods for detecting these powerful storms. The National Weather Service uses several methods to help detect tornadoes either forming or on the ground. Some of these include storm spotters, radar, Doppler radar. These are very helpful in detecting tornadoes. More tornadoes are reported now than previously in the past and with better detection, prediction and warnings have led to fewer deaths in the last two decades. It’s important that during tornado season people pay close attention to reports, warnings and the weather service. Once a tornado hits and you are at home some things can be done to protect yourself such as get to storm cellar, basement, or lowest level of the building. If there is no basement, go to an inner hallway or a smaller inner room without windows, such as a bathroom or closet. Get away