Natural disasters in China divine retribution: "tianzai" (天災), literally 'heavenly disaster'. In ancient beliefs, natural disasters were seen as Heaven’s response to immoral human behaviour, whereby the conduct of different individuals carried different weights. While the behaviour of common people ranked last, the actions of bureaucrats had a greater effect. Given that in Imperial China the emperor's behaviour was believed to be the most important, popular belief was that the emperor should attempt to prevent disasters by ensuring his conduct was in following with moral codes – and if a disaster should occur, he was responsible for addressing the consequences. According to the Overseas
Natural disasters in Japan Natural disasters in Japan Japan is one of the countries most affected by natural disasters. Two out of the five most expensive natural disasters in recent history have occurred in Japan, costing $181 billion in the years 2011 and 1995 only. Japan has also been the site of some of the 10 worst natural disasters of the 21st century. The types of natural disasters in Japan include tsunamis, floods, typhoons, earthquakes, cyclones, volcanic eruptions, hailstorms, tornadoes, thunderstorms, lightnings, nuclear explosions and other natural disasters including the related geotectonic phenomena. The country has gone through many years of natural disasters, affecting