Natural Disasters Are Rarely All-Natural

On the earthquake in southern Turkey

Photo by moein rezaalizade on Unsplash

Earthquakes, hurricanes, and tornadoes are commonly referred to as “natural disasters.” The idea is to contrast such events with “man-made” disasters like, say, Three Mile Island or the war in Ukraine.

The most important thing I learned from writing Theories of International Politics and Zombies and teaching “The End of the World and What Comes After,” however, is that very few disasters are completely man-made or natural. Such a stark dichotomy overlooks the interactions between humans and the natural environment that can exacerbate or dampen disasters. The effects of any “act of God” on humanity depends upon human actions before, during, and after the event.

This brings us to the literal, political, and human aftershocks of the earthquake in southern Turkey last week. Earthquakes seem like the ne plus ultra of naturally occurring phenomenon: no human intervention can literally stop an earthquake from happening.

But did the death toll have to exceed at least 34,000 people? No, no it did not.