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Internal threats refer to possible dangers that come from within a kingdom or an empire.
They could be in the form of natural disasters such as widespread diseases ,
earthquakes or floods , or man-made events like civil wars.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Most hard-hit areas are in southern Taiwan. Torrential downpours triggered the worst flooding in 50 years, causing deadly landslides and mudslides which buried hundreds of people. The magnitude of devastation is unimaginable. Some townships are still covered in muds almost a month after the disaster.
This is a very emotional song composed by JJ Lin to help those affected by the Sichuan earthquake. It really expresses the loss and also the strength of human spirit in these tragic times. My heart really goes out to those children, its really sad how a whole generation could just be gone in a matter of moments.
Lyrics:
大地被摇晃着 天空突然黑了 我的心也被震碎了 下一秒瓦解了 泪堆积成了河
但明天是好的 我们要坚定着 爱 让我们不放弃活着 还要继续和大自然拔河
当爱与希望投射炙热的太阳 昨日泪光会随时间都蒸发 别轻易放弃明天要许更多愿望 装满了勇气就更有力量
当爱与希望倒映暖暖的月亮 再回头望又是筑好的家乡 我知道未来还有好多路要闯 我打开了窗看见了晴朗
English Translation: The earth was shakened The sky darkened suddenly My heart was shattered to pieces, too Collapsing the next second Tears became river
But it will be a better tomorrow We must be firm Love will let us live on not giving up We still have to continue the tug-of-war with Mother Nature
When love and hope shine through the fiery sun Tears of yesterday's will be evaporated over time Do not give up easily for we have to make more wishes for tomorrow Filling with courage for more strength
When love and hope reflect on the warmth of the moon Looking back again, we will see a well-built homeland There will still be many obstacles to cross in the future Sunshine could be seen when the window is opened.
Mount Saint Helens erupted on the 18th May 1980, which is known as the most deadly and economically destructive volcanic eruption in the history of the United States. 57 people were killed. Houses, bridges, railways and highways were destroyed. Volcanic ash were causing major problems with transportation, sewage disposal, and water treatment systems. Though the volcano had erupted numerous times since 1980, but none was as deadly as the one in 1980.
A video about Famine. People are starving from hunger until they became so skinny till you can see the bones. Famines can be caused by floods which washed away crops. Not only that, droughts caused crops to die, and hence causing famine. 24 000 people die daily because of hunger-related causes. Almost 1 billion people go hungry everyday. However, 48 000 000 tons of food suitable for human consumption is thrown away every year by America alone. That's enough to feed 24 000 adults for a whole year since an average American consumes 2175 pounds of food every year. So people, now learn not to waste food, only take what you know you can eat. Lastly, learn to appreciate food.
As you can see, the people in Sri Lanka were swimming to survive the Tsunami which occured on 26th December 2004, Boxing Day. Vehicles were floating on the water and this shows that the water level was really high at that time. Houses were destroyed, people were washed away by rushing waters, and you can see appliances from houses were floating on water. About 300 000 people were killed and millions of people were left homeless. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand were the hardest hit.
Welcome!
This is a website created for our history project. On this website , we feature the natural disasters of the ancient civilisations of India , China and Southeast Asia. Also ,
we link it to modern day natural disasters around the world.
About The Project
This project is done by :
Rebecca Toh (15)
So Pui Yee (16)
Tan Jie Yin (17)
Teo Jie Ling (19)
Of 111'09
Voiceless
Floods
Natural disasters were a constant threat to the people of ancient India. A major natural disaster that threatened the Indus people was the flooding of the Indus River. Floods would destroy homes and crops, and drown people and animals.
The Indus Valley cities had to be rebuilt several times because of floods. From the archaeological evidence of city walls and houses with several layers of foundations, we can conclude that the Mohenjo-daro was rebuilt six times and Harappa, five times. However, despite the best efforts of the Indus people, as discussed in Chapter 3, the Indus Valley Civilization was probably wiped out by a series of great floods c.1500 BCE.
Although the Ganges River did not overflow as often as the Indus River, it also caused serious floods. Excavations at Hastinapur, an early Aryan city, show that a part of the city was washed away when the Ganges River overflowed c.800BCE.
Famines
Another natural disaster that caused much suffering in ancient India was famine. A famine is a period of severe food shortage. It often occurs after a drought, a period of little or no rain. Without rain, crops die, resulting in food shortage. A famine can also be caused by a flood because crops and plants are washed away by the waters.
Kautilya, the prime minister of Chandragupta Maurya, the first emperor of the Mauryan dynasty (c.322-185 BCE), wrote a textbook on government, the Arthashastra. He wrote that Indian kings should help their people during a famine. The kings were expected to distribute food stored in the government’s grain stores to the people. They could also take some food from the rich to feed the starving. In addition, temples were expected to provide food for the people.
Floods
Like ancient India, ancient China experiences many large-scale natural disasters. The most common and serious of these was the flooding of the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers. As early as 500 BCE, Chinese farmers began building dykes to prevent flooding along the Yangtze River. From 1000 CE, emperors employed large numbers of workers to build and maintain dykes.
Famines
Famines became more serious as China’s population grew. During the Ming dynasty (1368-1644 CE), China’s population doubled, from about 80 million to about 160 million. Chinese emperors tried to control famine by stocking granaries with stores of rice, controlling prices and shipping rice from other parts of China to places that were experiencing famine.
Volcanic Eruptions
▲ Above is the drawn picture of people escaping from a volcanic eruptions , with the volcanic lava destroying the houses in the way.
One of the most serious internal threats that the people of Southeast Asia faced was volcanic eruptions. Volcanic eruptions were especially devastating because many villages were built near active volcanoes, where the ash from the eruptions made the ground fertile and suitable for farming.
There are not many records before 19th century CE that describe the effects that such eruptions had on the people. However, historians know that Mount Merapi in Java erupted in 1006 CE. The eruption killed many people and covered the Borobudur complex with ash. This eruption might have been the factor that persuaded the rulers of Mataram to shift their capital from central to east Java.