When we hear the word “disaster” we often think of floods, droughts or earthquakes – events caused by nature. But what really turns these events into disasters is how prepared we are to deal with them ...

THE WORD disaster derives from the Italian dis and astro, which together mean ill-starred. Disasters are borne of astrological misalignment. Or they are seen as acts of God. In either case, they are ...

When an earthquake hit the Japanese town of Niigata in October 2004, Yo Yasuhara, an elderly monk, wrote these words: It’s cold and wet/camping outdoors/aftershocks multiplying the misery The poem, ...