It has been estimated that natural hazards cost the global economy over $50 000 million per year. Two-thirds of this sum is accounted for by damage, and the remainder represents the cost of predicting, preventing and mitigating disasters. Man-made hazards such as groundwater pollution and subsidence and damage caused by expansive soils add to this figure.
A natural hazard has been defined by UNESCO (see Varnes, 1984) as the probability of occurrence within a specified period of time and within a given area of a potentially damaging phenomenon. However, geological hazards are not all natural; some are influenced by or brought about by man. Hazards pose a threat to man, his property and the environment and so they are of more significance when they occur in highly populated areas. Moreover, as the global population rises so the significance of hazard is likely to rise...

Geological Hazards is the first book to consider both natural and man-made disasters in a single volume. All major geological hazards are examined.