This course introduces students to natural disasters in coastal regions, such as earthquakes, tsunami, landslides, floods and erosion. The major types of natural hazards will be described, analyzed and assessed in terms of their underlying causes as well as their socio-economic and environmental impacts. This course will emphasize the mechanism, origin, and impacts on coastal regions and also focus on the approaches for mitigating and minimizing hazards. Lectures in this course are designed as an introduction to the topics and provide students with the basic scientific principles for each major natural hazards. Discussion sessions will focus on recent scientific findings in the fields covered by the course.