# Natural disasters-where do they occur the least? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 22, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042 "2013-05-22T17:34:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042/21 "2013-05-22T22:03:39Z")
> [@ethelbert](#): > > An _Israeli_ finds it hard to believe that people would choose to live in areas where their life is in danger? Color me incredulous. Well rockets can be intercepted, Throwing everything we have at an oncoming hurricane would be like standing on railroad tracks with a BB gun expecting to stop an oncoming freight train. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042/22 "2013-05-22T22:06:27Z")
Ireland has a very low level of threat from natural disasters, no really dangerous animals either _(bulls can be pretty frikking scary but thats about the most dangerous animal here)_. Most of the threat around here is of the human kind. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042/23 "2013-05-22T22:37:38Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Ireland and Great Britain do get occasional hurricanes. Even Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire? ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042/24 "2013-05-23T02:35:31Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Even Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire? 'Ardly hever. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042/25 "2013-05-23T04:41:26Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Ireland and Great Britain do get occasional hurricanes. Nonsense. People just say it is a hurricane when the wind gets a bit stronger than usual. We do not get anything approaching actual hurricanes. I should have thought that not just Britain and Ireland but most of northern Europe is fairly disaster free (flood danger in the Netherlands, and a few other coastal regions aside, perhaps). ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042/26 "2013-05-23T04:53:11Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > I guess Ireland is pretty much natural disaster free, no hurricanes or tornadoes here. Hell you cant even get frostbite or sunstroke, unless you fall asleep in a fridge or something. We don’t even have any dangerous flora or fauna, just grass and cows. I know I’m not on Reddit when somebody doesn’t inevitably take that as bait to trot out the joke about how many potatoes it takes to kill an Irishman. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042/27 "2013-05-23T05:09:02Z")
> [@Reverend\_Meade](#): > > I seem to have a vague recollection that Australia is supposed to be pretty seismically dead. Stay away from the coast and that would cross a lot of things off the list. True, we rarely experience earthquakes of any great magnitude. The last one that caused major damage was on the central east coast in 1989 in [Newcastle, NSW](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Newcastle_earthquake). However, every year we experience cyclones in the northern tropical regions. Whilst the death tolls have been decreasing due to better meteorological forecasting and warning systems, the damage can run to many billions of dollars for the more severe ones. Bushfires and floods are commonplace right around the more southern parts of the country. 2009 saw Australia at the peak of a 10-15 year drought culminating in the [Black Saturday Bushfires](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Saturday_bushfires) in Victoria and South Australia. A year or so later saw much of NSW and Victoria experiencing the worst floods in decades. It’s never boring in this wide, brown land. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042/28 "2013-05-23T05:33:01Z")
> [@Reverend\_Meade](#): > > I seem to have a vague recollection that Australia is supposed to be pretty seismically dead. Stay away from the coast and that would cross a lot of things off the list. Australia has cyclones (aka hurricanes), bushfires, and droughts. What is the Mediterranean coast like? ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042/29 "2013-05-23T10:04:32Z")
There was an earthquake near Canberra last year, not 2, not 3 but 3.7 Ricties. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042/30 "2013-05-23T10:25:41Z")
We had a 5.4 here in Victoria last year. Knocked a DVD off the shelf. Scary stuff. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042/32 "2013-05-23T10:42:07Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > We had a 5.4 here in Victoria last year. Knocked a DVD off the shelf. Scary stuff. 5.4 in Islamabad would be missed by most of the populace. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042/33 "2013-05-23T11:29:03Z")
> [@ethelbert](#): > > An _Israeli_ finds it hard to believe that people would choose to live in areas where their life is in danger? Color me incredulous. It’s easy to be blinded to every day threats. I was going to say the Netherlands, but realised you would all jump to the flooding danger. Actually the last serious flood we had was in 1953, it killed the same amount of people as Katrina in the US. But nothing since then, and the dams have been significantly improved obviously. Global warming? We’ll see. Building dams and pumping land dry is what we what we do. I live close to the lowest point in the country, almost 7m below sea level. Doesn’t bother me. So I can see where the Israeli is coming from. Living near an active volcano sounds like crazy talk to me 😛 My vote, however, would go to Ireland. As has been mentioned: no heat, no freezing, no shaking, no flooding, no storms, no snakes. The biggest threat is the pint. Some other places that were mentioned get pretty cold, and that often kills the homeless. Don’t know if we can count that? ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042/34 "2013-05-23T11:30:42Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > 5.4 in Islamabad would be missed by most of the populace. Really shook up the population. Lots of commemorative art came out of it, like [this piece](http://forums.watchuseek.com/attachments/f73/741425d1340155723-just-had-5-5-earthquake-here-frabz-2012-melbourne-earthquake-we-will-rebuild-1e16d8.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Bartman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bartman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bartman)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042/35 "2013-05-23T12:29:01Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > 5.4 in Islamabad would be missed by most of the populace. I grew up in a seismically active area. One night years ago my new bride woke me up to complain about me shaking the bed. My response was something like, “oh that’s just an earthquake.” Which was apparently the wrong thing to say to someone who isn’t so blase about them. It took a couple of hours to calm her back down. ---
**Author:** ![Bartman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bartman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bartman)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042/36 "2013-05-23T12:34:39Z")
Brazil would be a decent answer. It isn’t seismically active. No hurricanes or tornadoes. There is flooding and an occasional landslide, but that is pretty predictable and avoidable. The North East has occasional droughts. All in all not bad. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042/37 "2013-05-23T12:47:52Z")
> [@Bartman](#): > > Brazil would be a decent answer. It isn’t seismically active. No hurricanes or tornadoes. There is flooding and an occasional landslide, but that is pretty predictable and avoidable. The North East has occasional droughts. All in all not bad. My village there experienced very bad flooding just recently. A few people died, there was mud a meter deep, infrastructure was destroyed. Luckily all the kids were fine, but having to find all new beds, furniture, clothes, cars, _ **everything** _ for an entire orphanage is pretty disastrous. At least the houses were still standing. See, that’s just the thing, because in the Netherlands we expect that to happen, we prepare for it and so it doesn’t happen. Not sure if that makes it more or less dangerous… ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042/38 "2013-05-23T15:26:41Z")
Michigan has very little in the way of natural disaters. No hurricanes or earthquakes, summer temperatures rarely go above the low-90’s Fahrenheit, and we don’t usually get the kind of brutally-cold winters you find on the Plains. We have occasional tornadoes, but not nearly as common as places like Oklahoma or Texas. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042/39 "2013-05-23T16:15:14Z")
> [@dstarfire](#): > > The Pacific Northwest is pretty safe, as long as you’re not dumb enough to build in a flood plain. We do get a serious snow storm about once a decade, but those only knock out your power and block the roads for a while. > > The most common natural disasters (wildfires and mudslides) out here are the sort of thing you get anywhere people build without thinking(except maybe in deserts and swamps). Does “building without thinking” include building in the the potential blast or fall zone of [a volcanic eruption](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_eruption_of_Mount_St._Helens)? Or within reach of a [bay-enhanced tsunami](http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020557437_aporxgrnorthwestearthquakepreparedness.html)? The Pacific Northwest is significantly affected by being adjacent to the [Pacific Ring of Fire](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_fire). It may not be particularly vulnerable to “mild” disasters (perhaps of the meteorological kind), but the most populous parts of it are ripe for The Big One. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042/40 "2013-05-23T16:21:48Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Saudi Arabia gets pretty damn hot and dry, but AFAIK the weather is pretty consistent; I can’t say that I’ve heard of sudden downpours or tornadoes there. [Flash flood free](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22367587) for over three weeks! > [@](#): > > At least 13 people have died and four other are missing in flash floods in Saudi Arabia. Deaths were reported in the capital Riyadh, Baha in the south, Hail in the north and in the west of the country Not as bad as the [2009 floods](http://arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=128934&d=29&m=11&y=2009), though. ---
**Author:** ![Srsly\_Dad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@Srsly\_Dad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Srsly_Dad)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042/41 "2013-05-23T16:35:04Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Michigan has very little in the way of natural disaters. No hurricanes or earthquakes, summer temperatures rarely go above the low-90’s Fahrenheit, and we don’t usually get the kind of brutally-cold winters you find on the Plains. We have occasional tornadoes, but not nearly as common as places like Oklahoma or Texas. I second Diceman and would also add the following. Not very prone to large flood or wildfires. Most Michigan tornadoes are smaller, not the 1/2 mile wide tornado alley type. When a tornado does touch down, often there will be something like one side of a street with houses knocked down, the other side with only minor damage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-disasters-where-do-they-occur-the-least/659042.md?page=3)