ABSTRACT
WHEN TWO OR MORE NATURAL DISASTERS TRANSPIRE IN CLOSE SUCCESSION IN the same region, as they have in certain Andean cases, the collateral crises produce what can be termed a "convergent catastrophe." Convergent catastrophe is best characterized by means of an analogy with disease. Suffered individually, a natural illness or a natural disaster is generally survived by a healthy population. However, when people are first struck by one malady and then are afflicted by still other disorders, recovery becomes tenuous and the likelihood of demise increases. The potency of collateral natural disasters lies in the compound stress they exert upon biotic communities. Convergent catastrophes are implicated contributors to past cases of economic collapse, fall of government, as well as change in ideology, demography, and health. The nature, intensity, and duration of composite stress varies because convergent catastrophes are generated by variable agencies of hazardous change.
