Have natural disasters always been like this?

Question

First there was the Tsunami in Asia killing 200k-800k people, then there was Hurricane Katrina and now there's the freak lightning storm in Cali that caused upwards of 800 fires. Is it simply that the population is more likely to be hit by a natural disaster than missed [statistics], has the frequency of these events increased [phenomena] or have they always been the same frequency and the only reason it seems more frequent is because they are more recent [relativity]?

Answer 1

The tsunami was a rare occurrance but they have happened like this in the past.  In fact, they have been much worse but since they are so rare it has been hundreds, perhaps thousands of years since one hit this bad.  Earthquakes and tsunamis are pretty much the same thing; it's all about tectonic plates shifting as they always have and will.  I'm no expert on this subject but I have read books on it and took earth science in college.  These events are going to keep occurring.  As for the hurricanes, it has been said that global warming has a lot to do with the severity of them  I tend to agree.  There are those who are in denial and don't believe that global warming is man made but even if it's not why can't we just go ahead and cut down on the green house gases and quit putting so much CO2 into the air?    

The severity and frequency of the fires could be caused by a number of factors.  I've heard on the news that there is a manpower problem and the extremely dry conditions and lack of moisture have caused the fires to spread quickly.  

Some years seem to have more natural disasters than others.  I also heard that Australia is heading for a huge drought because of global warming.

Answer 2

These events are relatively rare, but not unprecedented.  Deadly Cyclones, powerful hurricanes and earthquakes, etc. obviously do not occur every day, but do occur once in a while.  Our abilities to detect and report these events has increased, which likely explains why one hears of them more often. And yes, there are more people, which means a higher chance that an event will be more significant.