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When Dr. Benjamin Pauli moved to Flint, Michigan, in June 2015, the town was already one year into a water crisis without knowing it. He was to begin his role [...]

In this study, we swiftly determined the focal parameters (focal mechanism, seismic imaging process, magnitude) of the Jishishan earthquake, leveraging a solved fault model to assess the intensity field and casualties promptly. The investigation began by retrieving the source mechanism through the P-wave initial motion and W-phase method. This enabled us to chart the spatial and temporal distribution of energy release in the source area via the back-projection technique. Following this, we estimated the earthquake's intensity field by merging the source inversion findings with the ground motion prediction equation. This analysis facilitated the evaluation of earthquake casualties, utilizing the theoretical intensity field and a casualty assessment model. Our findings indicate that the fault type is a thrust fault, characterized by a unilateral rupture in the direction of NW, with a rupture length spanning approximately 10-15 km and a duration ranging between 8 and 10 s. The earthquake's magnitude varied from M 5.9 to M 6.2. The demarcated high-intensity areas, as per our intensity assessment, align closely with the actual survey results. Furthermore, the predicted total casualties and identified critical rescue zones closely match the real-world casualty figures. These insights offer crucial technical support for governmental emergency command and rescue operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme heat contributes to 8000-12 000 excess U.S. deaths per year. Partly due to increasing summer temperatures and a renewed focus on environmental justice, local governments started new initiatives to manage and adapt to extreme heat. For example, Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, appointed Jane Gilbert as the world's first Chief Heat Officer. This manuscript summarizes Miami-Dade County's preliminary efforts to build local evidence, engage the community, and rapidly respond to extreme heat. The manuscript's goal is to expedite the translation of existing tools into mainstream extreme heat, health, and equity planning. The study generated local evidence to identify the places and periods of time with elevated heat-related illness using a statistical vulnerability and time series analysis, respectively. The places with the highest severe heat-related illness rates had hotter land surface temperatures and/or higher proportions of people who were outdoor workers, Indigenous, living in poverty or mobile homes, and households with children. "Everyday" summer conditions instead of rare heatwaves increase the risk of a heat-related death. The Chief Heat Officer convened workshops that engaged 298 unique community members on six cross-sectoral heat topics. Key recommendations included increasing multisectoral heat monitoring and risk communication, building more affordable housing, preserving and expanding greenspace, and creating heat resilience hubs. The activities culminated in a Heat Action Plan, which was completed in less than two years from the receipt of project funding. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Extreme heat is a contributing factor to more U.S. deaths per year than any other weather hazard. This manuscript summarizes the world's first Chief Heat Officer's efforts to build local heat and health evidence. The places with the highest heat-related illness rates had hotter surface temperatures and/or higher proportions of people who were outdoor workers, Indigenous, and living in poverty or mobile homes. On hot and humid days, 7.8% (603 deaths) of the summer deaths per year were associated with the concurrent and preceding day's heat exposures. In response, Miami-Dade County is targeting heat interventions, lowering heat advisory thresholds, and considering new heat safety laws. KEYWORDS: Adaptation; Health; Heat islands; Societal impacts; Vulnerability, 1. Introduction Over 2002-20, an increasing proportion of jurisdictions considered extreme heat in their planning activities (Bernard and McGeehin 2004; Meerow and Keith 2021). In Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States [...]

Seismic isolation structures have excellent seismic mitigation effects, but implementing isolation measures may increase the initial cost of the structure. This paper presents a method to calculate the seismic loss and assess the life-cycle cost of isolated structures, which is convenient for owners to make decisions. The life-cycle cost assessment model is divided into two parts: initial cost assessment and seismic loss assessment over life-cycle period. Among them, the assessment method of the isolation layer is proposed, including the cost assessment of isolation bearings and dampers. The assessment method of seismic loss considers direct loss, indirect loss, casualties and integrating casualties into a unified assessment system. Direct loss includes building loss, indirect loss includes rental loss, relocation loss, income loss, personal property loss and business inventory loss. The seismic loss model is associated with seismic damage probability, which is obtained through seismic vulnerability and seismic probability risk assessment. The 8-story base-isolated-reinforced concrete structure illustrates the feasibility of the life-cycle-cost assessment model. The example shows that the initial cost of the isolated structure exceeds that of the nonisolated structure, however, the rental loss, income loss, personal property loss and casualties are much lower than those of nonisolated structures. The income loss of the isolated structure is the maximum proportion in life-cycle cost, and the casualty loss is the minimum proportion in the seismic loss, due to its excellent seismic mitigation effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the moral responsibility for the deaths of Palestinian non-combatants in the 2023–24 Gaza War rests with Hamas. Its argument is philosophical rather than legal, based on an analysis and discussion of the rules of just war theory and what these rules imply for the moral assessment of the use of human shields. One main conclusion will be that the moral responsibility for the killing of human shields in the context of morally legitimate attacks on military targets should be assigned to the side that tried to benefit from the presence of the shields in the first place. Questions concerning proportionality are still relevant, but have to be understood and resolved in relation to what is at stake in a particular war. The more extreme the war aims of an unjust attacker are, the greater is the need to prevent it from winning the war. Hence, whether or not the number of non-combatant deaths in Gaza is proportionate should not be determined by the significance of individual military targets alone but also by the prospects of allowing a genocidal enemy such as Hamas to remain in control of Gaza. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to understand the disaster-causing laws of earthquakes, formulae the disaster prevention and mitigation planning effectively, and mitigate earthquake disaster losses, earthquakes data with the magnitude not less than 5.0 and their losses in China and surrounding areas were sorted out from 1949 to 2021. Their distribution characteristics in terms of time and space were studied in detail, and the following conclusions were obtained, 453 disaster earthquakes caused about 350,000 deaths, 760,000 injuries, and 1124.9 billion RMB of direct economic losses (converted value), of which caused by major seismic hazards accounted for a huge proportion. From the time perspective, there are obvious earthquake-prone and less earthquake-prone years, and the number of catastrophic earthquakes has increased in chronological terms. The economic losses caused by earthquakes accelerated quickly, and the casualties decreased by varying degrees. Geographically, the frequency of earthquakes on the west side of the HU Huanyong Line was higher, but the average loss was lower. In the economic subregions, the western region had the highest frequency of earthquakes and the lowest average loss. The eastern region had the second highest frequency of earthquakes and the highest average loss. The central and northeastern regions had the lowest frequency of earthquakes and medium average losses. Yunnan and Sichuan provinces had the highest frequency of earthquakes and the most severe earthquake losses. For earthquakes with similar intensity in the same period, the casualties and economic losses were more serious in economically developed and densely populated areas. In the 21st century, the frequency of earthquakes with low magnitudes but large-scale disasters increased, and most of them occurred on the east side of the HU Huanyong Line and in the eastern and central parts in the economic subregion. In the events of major disasters caused by minor earqhquakes, the focus has shifted from a high number of casualties to significant economic losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through on-site investigation, the number, locations, and causes of death in the Luding earthquake were obtained. Based on an analysis of the causes of death, 44.1% of the deaths were caused by building collapse, and 54.8% were caused by earthquake-induced geological effects. Therefore, it is particularly important to conduct research on targeted methods for assessing casualties for emergency rescue work after earthquakes. First, this article analyzes the number of deaths as a result of different earthquake intensities and building types and, combined with data from 81 on-site survey points (lethality levels and quantity and ratios of different types of buildings), obtains the regional lethality levels for different intensities and administrative units in the study area (intensity VIII and IX areas). Second, based on on-site investigation results of points at which secondary geological effects (landslides and rolling stones) occurred, and by combining parameters, such as the slope, slope direction, slope curvature, and distance from the fault, this study obtains the risk level of earthquake-induced landslides. On this basis, a coupling analysis is conducted on the seismic landslide risk level and lethality level. The results show a positive correlation between the risk level and the lethality level; the higher the risk level, the higher the corresponding lethality level is, but this relationship is not absolute. The Pearson's correlation coefficient for the fitting results is 0.70828, the coefficient of determination R2 is 0.50102, and the mean squared (MS) is 0.029. The results of the sensitivity analysis of the two levels show values that are above the average level, with the prediction accuracy of the landslide risk level and lethality level being 0.708 and 0.609, respectively. The fitting results show average values at a moderate level; by constructing a fitting relationship between the landslide risk level and lethality level, the relationship can provide ideas and feasibility for constructing a lethality matrix for secondary geological disasters during earthquakes. Furthermore, it is possible to quickly evaluate the number of deaths due to secondary geological effects of the earthquake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the importance of tracking civilian deaths in war zones and highlights the increase in civilian casualties and the use of explosive weapons in modern warfare. It mentions that air strikes were responsible for the majority of civilian fatalities and that Operation Swords of Iron in Gaza contributed significantly to the increase in casualties. The article also mentions the decline in Western media reporting on casualties in Iraq after 2010 and the rise of Middle Eastern journalists, medics, and police officers as primary sources of information. It emphasizes the availability of data and identifying details of casualties in Gaza and the need to trust and acknowledge the suffering of innocent victims regardless of which side they are on. [Extracted from the article]

INTRODUCTION: This study examines human-wildlife conflict (HWC) in Peninsular Malaysia, a consequence of human population expansion, natural resource demand, deforestation, resettlement, infrastructure development, urbanization, and agricultural land growth. We analyze HWC incidents and human casualty statistics from wildlife attacks recorded by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Peninsular Malaysia, between 2011-2018 and 2008-2019, respectively. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were collected on HWC cases reported to the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Peninsular Malaysia (locally known as PERHILITAN), from 2011 to 2018. This data underwent processing, analysis, and presentation in tables and bar charts. RESULTS: . There was an increasing trend in reported HWC cases from 2012 to 2018 (5,602 to 7,967 cases). The majority of these incidents in Peninsular Malaysia involved mammalian species such as the long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis), wild boar (Sus scrofa), elephant (Elephas maximus), civets (Viverridae family), and pig-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina), totaling 33,198, 6,614, 3,797, 3,219, and 2,232 cases respectively. Notably, snakes accounted for over 80% of fatalities and injuries. CONCLUSION: This report is the first to provide a comprehensive overview of HWC cases and casualties due to wildlife attacks in Peninsular Malaysia. Our findings highlight the urgent need for policy evaluation and improved inter-agency coordination for effective HWC management, wildlife conservation, and reduction of wildlife attack casualties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses various channels to collect the data of earthquake disasters in 2022, and collates the global seismic activities and earthquake disasters in 2022. The change curves of global disaster earthquake frequency and casualties in recent 20 years and the distribution map of disaster earthquakes in 2022 were drawn. By summarizing the earthquake information and disaster conditions causing casualties, a detailed analysis of major earthquake disasters was made. The main characteristics of global earthquake disasters in 2022 were summarized, and major earthquake events in Afghanistan were listed. Compared with last year’s earthquake, the number of casualties caused by earthquake disasters in 2022 has decreased, and the disaster earthquakes are characterized by concentrated casualties and frequent secondary disasters. In view of the prominent causes of earthquake casualties, this paper puts forward corresponding earthquake disaster prevention measures and suggestions.