Cultural heritage and natural hazards

Abstract

Cultural heritage is exposed to different types of hazards and potentially devastating natural events which may result in different degrees of damage or, less commonly, total destruction. Earthquakes appear to have most serious effects and many great heritage sites are located along major fault zones in Europe, Asia, and America. Other hazards include volcanic eruptions, gravitational mass movements, flash floods, and coastal erosion. Weathering and ground subsidence are slow-acting processes whose cumulative effects may nevertheless seriously affect the stability of structures and their visual quality. Perhaps the most important aspect of relationships between cultural heritage and natural hazards is that damage or loss of properties cannot be measured in monetary units only. Their value to the humankind can be hardly expressed in this way, and some are considered of outstanding universal value, protected by international conventions. In disaster-affected areas, if objects of cultural heritage are prioritized for rebuilding, they may be used as catalysts of renewed tourism interest and, thereby, as means to improve a shaken local economy.