Eastern Asia receives much more than its share of natural disasters.  In fact, 50% of the world's major emergencies have occurred in this area of the world.

Floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes, windstorms, tidal waves, and landslides often occur without warning.  The climate, meteorological, geological, and seismic forces are usually at work.  Since 1990, natural disasters have cost Eastern Asia over US $100 billion, and have killed over 200,000 people.

Hundreds of millions of people in the area are dependent upon subsistence farming.  Floods, in countries such as Bangladesh, and droughts, in countries such as India, can destroy croplands, ruining farmers and hurting the economy.

Earthquakes are more common in Eastern Asia than anywhere else in the world, with 70% of earthquakes registering over a 7 on the Richter scale occurring there.  The regions most hurt by earthquakes are the Pacific Island nations near the earth's tectonic plates.

Over half of India is also threatened by earthquakes.  In China, over 80% of the land is located in seismic zones.  On July 28, 1976, the Tangshan earthquake in China killed over 240,000 people.  In 1995, the Kobe earthquake killed over 5,000 people in Japan.

Volcanoes are another natural disaster with major consequences both for humans and for the environment.  Countries along the Ring of Fire, such as Indonesia and Japan, are at the greatest risk.

When Mount Pinatubo exploded, it destroyed forests, caused siltation of rivers, and dumped volcanic ash on the local environment.  As that explosion proved, natural disasters are often responsible for environmental degradation.