Is natural disaster tourism the next step for "last-chance tourism," "apocalypse travel" or dark tourism? Lately, there has been a lot of coverage of tourism to places that are disappearing and travelers are trying to get to them before they are gone. A recent article in the Huffington Post talks about what is possibly the next phase - natural disaster tourism - heading to specific locales before they are possibly wiped out by an earthquake, tsunami, flood or some other disaster.
Becky Mahan talks about several places that travelers may want to visit before a natural disaster happens and wipes them out.
"It's easy to forget the threat when years, or even centuries(!), go by without a disaster, but it's important to remember that in the end, we're not the ones in charge," writes Mahan.
One of the first places on the list is Los Angeles. Angelenos have long awaited the "Big One," a massive earthquake on the San Andreas fault that would derail city services and lay waste to its skyscrapers.
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The rumors that California is going to break off the continent and float out to sea are highly exaggerated, but we still don't like to tempt Mother Nature," says Mahan.
Like Los Angeles, San Francisco is also awaiting the Big One a la the film "San Andreas."
While its historic city infrastructure may fall victim during a quake, Mahan notes that "a giant chasm in the road (like in the film San Andreas) won't open up. Nor will a tsunami topple the Golden Gate Bridge."
While other earthquake zones are also on the list, another place that is in danger of being wiped out by a natural disaster is the Cinque Terre in Italy.
This UNESCO World Heritage Site is right in the line of fire when it comes to flooding and landslides.
"With half the famous hiking trail that connects the five villages still unstable and unsafe for public access, the effects of natural disasters on this region are serious," says Mahan.
Volcanoes can also wreak havoc on landscapes and Hilo, Hawaii, is no stranger to this threat.
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"Hilo is very aware of its precarious placement near Mauna Loa - which just so happens to be the largest volcano on earth. It produces more lava than any other Hawaiian volcano, but there's one lucky catch: the lava flows are notoriously slow, which means residents would have plenty of time to evacuate if Moana Loa ever totally blows her top," notes Mahan.
These are just a few of the places that live in constant threat of being totally wiped out by nature. If you want to know where else there is a real threat of annihilation, read on.
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