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Situated in Southeast Asia yet outside the Pacific Rim of Fire, Singapore is fortunate enough to have been spared from major natural disasters such as typhoons, floods, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes. Moreover, Singapore can be affected by the situations in surrounding countries.

The 26th Dec 2004 tsunami had no effect here in Singapore – we didn’t feel the earthquake, either. Singapore is at the south-eastern end of the Strait of Melaka. The tsunami did not affect the Strait of Melaka or Singapore because the epicentre was on the southern side of Sumatra.

While there are no volcanoes in Singapore, we do lie in one of the most volcanically active areas in the world: more than three-quarters of the world’s volcanic threat is in southeast Asia (Indonesia and the Philippines). Volcanic ash from the 1991 eruption of Pinatubo reached Singapore, nearly 2,400 km away.

However, the effects are seldom felt by Singapore as we are hundreds of kilometres from the nearest volcano, and because the area of ash fall is controlled by the wind direction. Singapore is not affected by the kinds of hazards experienced in the immediate vicinity of a volcano.

OVERALL RISK : LOW. Generally, Singapore is very safe to visit. It is probably the safest country in Asia to travel to, but it has its dangers. Use your common sense and keep your valuables closely by your side, since the most common type of crime is petty theft.

Buildings in Singapore are well-constructed and the earthquake hazard is low. An earthquake could cause damage to the facade of a building, break its windows, or cause objects and equipment inside to fall, even if the building structure itself is undamaged.

Conventional buildings shake with the ground in an earthquake. They may sustain structural damage but are designed to remain standing. The stronger the earthquake, the more the building moves in response. Buildings that use base isolation are more likely to survive a strong earthquake and be functional afterward.

There are no records of earthquakes occurring in Singapore, as the island is located outside earthquake zones. However, Singapore does periodically experience low-level earth tremors caused by earthquakes in Sumatra, Indonesia.

‘Tornado’ in Singapore Everyone, just hide – got tornado coming! At least that’s what some residents thought at first, when a giant waterspout was sighted off the East Coast in August 2016.

Hail is rare in Singapore but not unheard of. In 2014, hailstones were reportedly seen in Turf Club Road during a heavy downpour. In 2013, a rare hailstorm uprooted trees and disrupted traffic. The last reported incidence of hail before this was in 2009.

Waterspouts have long been recognized as serious marine hazards. Incidents of waterspouts causing severe damage and casualties are rare. However, there have been several notable examples. The Malta tornado in 1555 was the earliest record of a deadly waterspout.

But a tornado is formed by upper winds rotating the storm and the funnel then coming to the ground. A landspout is when winds go up into the storm, called an updraft, while winds at the surface are coming together, or converging, and then getting into the updraft and causing the rotation.

There is no record of two tornadoes joining forces. On rare occasions, a single thunderstorm spawns a new tornado just as an old one is dying off, and then the two offspring of the same thunderstorm system run into each other.

Although the official boundaries of Tornado Alley are not clearly defined, its core extends from northern Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa along with South Dakota. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and western Ohio are sometimes included in Tornado Alley.