Mitigating the impacts of marine related disasters
Coastal zones are home to some of the world’s most densely populated areas. These regions rely on the ocean not just for food and livelihoods, but for essential offshore infrastructure that supports entire industries.
When marine hazards strike, the impacts can be devastating, damaging ecosystems, destroying infrastructure, and disrupting lives. Some effects may be irreversible. To better prepare for future disasters, we need an internationally connected community of researchers and decision-makers, supported by new tools and techniques to detect, understand and respond to these events.
Understanding Marine Hazards
Marine-related hazards come in many forms, each with the potential to threaten communities, economies and ecosystems.
The Hunga Volcano Eruption
In January 2022, the submerged Hunga Volcano in the South Pacific erupted in the most explosive volcanic event ever recorded. It triggered deadly tsunamis and pressure waves that travelled around the globe. NOC-led research revealed the eruption’s hidden underwater impacts; including the collapse of huge volumes of volcanic material into the sea and the severing of subsea cables that connected Tonga to the rest of the world.
Hear From Hazard Experts
Test Your Knowledge
Do you know the dangers posed by marine geohazards? Try this quiz now and find out more.
Marine Geohazards: Do You Know The Dangers?
Think you know about the dangers of marine geohazards? Take the quiz and find out how much you know about their characteristics and impacts!
Which of these is NOT a potential impact of volcanic eruptions on communities and the environment?
Which event is most likely to trigger a tsunami?
Damage to what type of technology has helped us learn more about turbidity currents?
Which country was disconnected from the internet in 2022 after the Hunga volcano erupted and wiped out subsea cables?
One of the largest landslides in history occurred in Norway over 8,000 years ago. The landslide moved an area equivalent to which country?
Which of the following is a characteristic of an underwater landslide?
Turbidity currents triggered by underwater landslides can reach which speed?
According to recent studies, an earthquake emanating from which fault zone is most likely to cause a tsunami that would affect the UK coastline?
Support Our Pollution Research
Plastic pollution reaches even the most remote parts of our ocean, from marine protected habitats to the deepest ocean trenches.
NOC’s pollution research is closing the knowledge gap on microplastics: where they go, how they move through ocean currents, and what harm they’re causing to marine life.