1. A dreadful fear of catastrophes: After reading the newspaper about the terrible airplane crash, Jane, who was quite affected with atephobia, decided not to read the newspaper or watch the news on TV anymore.
2. An excessive apprehension of ruins, either historical or those after a recent disaster, as with fire or flooding: Jack lost his father in the earthquake the previous year, and since then he could not bear to live in such an earthquake-prone area with all the destruction they caused, and became quite afflicted with atephobia.