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In Latin America and the Caribbean, the main natural hazards are droughts,
hurricanes, cyclones, tropical storms, floods, tidal waves, avalanches,
landslides and mudslides, earthquakes and volcanoes. Mining and oil spill
accidents represent the main human-caused disasters in the region.
A total of 65 260 deaths due to natural disasters were reported in the
region during the 1990s. The deaths were mainly a result of floods (54
per cent), epidemics (18.4 per cent), storms, cyclones and hurricanes
(17.7 per cent), earthquakes (5.2 per cent) and landslides (3.2 per cent)
(CRED-OFDA 2002). Considering that floods and landslides are often associated
with storms and hurricanes, this means that three-quarters of total human
losses due to natural disasters in the region have a hydrometeorological
origin.
The number of deaths due to disasters declined markedly between 1972
and 1999, coinciding with the global trend. Total fatalities in the 1990s
were less than one-third of those in the 1970s while the number of people
injured fell by almost one-half (after rising by nearly 30 per cent in
the 1980s) (CEPAL 1999). This trend can be explained by fewer severe earthquakes
in densely populated or highly vulnerable areas and by the establishment
of early warning systems and disaster-preparedness measures in some countries
over the past 30 years (PAHO 1998). Economic losses caused by disasters
increased by almost 230 per cent between the 1960s and the 1990s (CEPAL
1999), again reflecting a global trend.
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