Introduction to natural hazard and disaster management

MS IN DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Department of Geography & Environment
DM 5111: Introduction to Natural Hazard and Disaster Management
(Handout # 1: Definition & concepts)
NATURAL HAZARDS: SOME FACTS & STATISTICS
• The earth indeed a hazardous planet
• There are 516 active volcanoes with an eruption every 15
days (on average)
• Global monitors record approximately 2000 earth tremors
everyday
• There are approximately 2 earthquakes per day of sufficient
strength to cause damage to homes and buildings, with
severe damage occurring 15 to 20 times per year.
• There are 1800 thunderstorms at any given time across the
earth surface; lightening strikes 100 times every second.
• On average there 4 to 5 tornadoes per day or 600 1000 per
year.
Handout -1

Floods

Drought

Cyclone with storm surge

Tornado

Department of Geography & Environment Earthquake

Tsunami

Fire hazards

Volcanic eruptions

Snowfall

Landslides

Lightening

Dust storm

Pollutions

Number of disasters Average number of disaster related
deaths
Disaster damage per event
(thousand $)
Country Total Country Total Country Total
India 199 USSR 284,334 Italy 611,696
Philippines 134 China 80,812 Spain 374,686
Indonesia 110 India 44,379 Chile 121,505
Bangladesh 109 Bangladesh 26,981 USSR 90,645
Japan 91 Ethiopia 16,138 Argentina 84,758
China 89 Niger 7,826 Mexico 80,563
Brazil 68 Mozambique 7,262 Colombia 51,969
Mexico 60 Italy 2,949 Pakistan 39,370
Peru 55 Pakistan 2,061 China 39,296
Iran 53 Japan 2,005 Peru 32,498
Turkey 43 Peru 1,355 India 31,940
Colombia 39 Chile 1,107 Sri Lanka 31,734
Italy 39 Iran 1,103 Japan 30,416
Korea 38 Turkey 1,027 Bangladesh 26,831
Chile 37 Colombia 705 Korea 25,116
Burma 36 Haiti 429 Philippines 13,393
Pakistan 33 Vietnam 412 Haiti 10,460
Vietnam 32 Sri Lanka 317 Turkey 10,320
USSR 31 Mexico 287 Mozambique 9,588
Ecuador 30 Ecuador 261 Ecuador 8,830
Argentina 29 Indonesia 225 Brazil 6,964
Sri Lanka 29 Philippines 222 Indonesia 6,838
Niger 27 Argentina 202 Niger 4,322
Haiti 26 Burma 176 Burma 4,280
Ethiopia 25 Korea 107 Ethiopia 3,129
Mozambique 25 Spain 106 Vietnam 2,296
South Africa 25 Brazil 99 Iran 1,415
Spain 25 South Africa 73 South Africa 40
Note: The United State was
excluded from these data. The
types of disaster included are
accidents and unusual
phenomena; civil strife,
emergencies and displaced and
expelled persons; cyclones,
hurricanes, typhoons, and storms;
drought, food shortage, and
famine; epidemics; earthquakes
and tsunami; fire; floods;
infestation; landslides and
avalanches; and volcanic
eruptions. Data source: Office of
U. S. foreign Disaster Assistance
(1988).
Rankings of Countries that
Experienced 25 or More
Disasters 1900-1988

Type of disaster Number of
disasters
Deaths (in ‘000’) Deaths per disaster
Meteorological
Flood 395 244 618
Tropical cyclone 272 791 2,907
Other storm 212 28 131
Heat wave 23 5 223
Cold wave 15 4 275
Geological
Earthquake 191 1,198 6,272
Volcanic eruption 27 40 1,494
Tsunami 7 3 271
Other
Landslide 85 25 295
Fire 40 6 157
Total 1,267 2,343 1,849
Data source: Glickman et al. (1992), Acts of God and acts of man: Recent trends in natural disasters and
major industrial accidents, Center for Risk Management, Discussion paper 92-02, Washington
D.C.
Global Loss of Life
by Geophysical Event, 1945-1986

Are Disasters Increasing?
• Increasing population and density
• Cities in high risk areas (64 largest cities in world in seismic zones)
• Global worming (Increased hydro-meteorological hazards)
• Increased technologies (Transport, chemicals, hazards goods)
• Economic stress (Poverty, exclusion, urban slums)
• Environmental stress (Exploration of natural resources, increasing greediness)
• Armed conflict (Terrorisms)
• Impact of globalization (Rising competitions among nations/countries)

Disaster Frequency

Natural Hazard/Disaster: Definitions and Concept
Hazard (natural/environmental and man-made)
Disaster (natural/environmental and man-made)
Hazard: A perceived event which threatens the
life or the well being of an organism, especially
man.
A catastrophe or a disaster is the realization of
a hazard.
Contd……

Human-made hazards (also called
anthropogenic hazards) are
distinguishable from environmental
hazards by the direct level of human
involvement in their causation. For
example, radioactive waste, DDT etc.

Environmental or Natural
Hazards/Disasters generally refers to
geophysical events such as
earthquakes, volcanoes, drought,
flooding, cyclone, lightening etc., that
can potentially cause large scale
economic damage and physical injury
or death. Environmental hazards are
sometimes known as ‘Act of God.’

SOME DEFINITIONS
• Natural Hazards are those elements of
the physical environment harmful to
Man and caused by forces extraneous
to him. (Burton and Kates, 1964)
• Hazards are threats to people and the
things they value. (Curret 1993)

• Natural Hazards: Any natural event which
has an adverse socio-economic impact on
the human being. Alternatively, a natural
extreme event, such as cyclone, flood,
earthquake etc. that is not caused by human
beings. These are naturally occurring
phenomenon that only becomes hazardous
due to the intervention of human
infrastructure. (Banglapedia 2003)

• A Hazard is an extreme geophysical
event that is capable of causing a
disaster. (Alexander 2000)
• A Hazard is a threat posed to people
by the natural environment. (Oliver
2001)

• Calamity is an event that causes a great deal
of damage, destruction or personal distress.
Calamity is an event resulting in great loss
and misfortune; "the whole city was affected
by the irremediable calamity".
• Disasters: The culminating events that result
from environmental hazards, and which are
characterized by major losses of life and
property. A Hazard is something which
could be dangerous to man’s life, livelihood,
health, safety and property.

Hazard is an
event or
occurrence that
has the potential
for causing
injuries to life
and damaging
property and the
environment

Disaster A serious disruption
of the functioning of a
community causing
widespread human, material
or environmental losses
which exceed the ability of
the affected community to
cope using its own
resources.
UNISDR Terminology on Disaster Risk Reduction (2009)

CHARACTERISTICS OF HAZARD
• that was not directly caused by
humans
• that it directly affects humans
• that it is often accompanied by a
violent release of energy, and
• that it was sometimes beyond
prediction in the short to long term

Further comments:
• Hazards are in part socially constructed by
people’s perceptions and their experiences.
• The hazard exists because humans or their
activities are constantly exposed to natural
forces.
• Natural hazards constitute a threat to all
societies.
• Extreme events that do not affect human
activities do not constitute a hazard.

Natural disasters
Natural disasters arise without direct human
involvement, but can become more severe because of
human actions prior, during or after the disaster itself.
Also, one specific event may spawn another type of
disaster. For example, a hurricane may cause flooding
by excessive rain or by pulling seawater onshore, also
called a storm surge.
A volcanic eruption is particularly prone to spawning
additional events like earthquakes, structural fires and
wildfires, flooding from melting of mountain snow and
ice, landslides, mudslides, thunderstorms and, if the
volcano is located in or near the ocean, tsunamis.
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Disaster

A natural disaster is the effect of a natural hazard (e.g.
flood, tornado, hurricane, volcanic eruption, earthquake,
or landslide) that affects the environment, and leads to
financial, environmental and/or human losses. The
resulting loss depends on the capacity of the population
to support or resist the disaster, and their resilience.This
understanding is concentrated in the formulation:
"disasters occur when hazards meet vulnerability.“
A natural hazard will hence never result in a natural
disaster in areas without vulnerability, e.g. strong
earthquakes in uninhabited areas. The term natural has
consequently been disputed because the events simply
are not hazards or disasters without human involvement.
http://www.answers.com/topic/natural-disaster

HOW NATURAL ARE NATURAL HAZARDS?
Notwithstanding the term "natural," a natural hazard has
an element of human involvement. A physical event,
such as a volcanic eruption, that does not affect human
beings is a natural phenomenon but not a natural
hazard. A natural phenomenon that occurs in a
populated area is a hazardous event. A hazardous
event that causes unacceptably large numbers of
fatalities and/or overwhelming property damage is a
natural disaster.
In areas where there are no human interests, natural
phenomena do not constitute hazards nor do they result in
disasters. This definition is thus at odds with the perception
of natural hazards as unavoidable havoc wreaked by the
unrestrained forces of nature. It shifts the burden of cause
from purely natural processes to the concurrent presence
of human activities and natural events. Contd….

Although humans can do little or nothing to change the
incidence or intensity of most natural phenomena, they
have an important role to play in ensuring that natural
events are not converted into disasters by their own
actions. It is important to understand that human
intervention can increase the frequency and severity of natural
hazards. For example, when the toe of a landslide is removed to
make room for a settlement, the earth can move again and bury the
settlement. Human intervention may also cause natural hazards
where none existed before. Volcanoes erupt periodically, but it is
not until the rich soils formed on their ejects are occupied by farms
and human settlements that they are considered hazardous. Finally,
human intervention reduces the mitigating effect of natural
ecosystems. Destruction of coral reefs, which removes the shore's
first line of defense against ocean currents and storm surges, is a
clear example of an intervention that diminishes the ability of an
ecosystem to protect itself. An extreme case of destructive human
intervention into an ecosystem is desertification, which, by its very
definition, is a human-induced "natural" hazard.
http://www.oas.org/usde/publications/Unit/oea54e/ch05.htm

Disaster A serious disruption of the functioning
of a community or a society causing widespread
human, material, economic or environmental
losses which exceed the ability of the affected
community or society to cope using its own
resources.
A disaster is a function of the risk process. It
results from the combination of hazards,
conditions of vulnerability and insufficient
capacity or measures to reduce the potential
negative consequences of risk.

RISK
The probability that a
community’s structure
or geographic area is
to be damaged or
disrupted by the
impact of a particular
hazard, on account of
their nature,
construction and
proximity to a
hazardous area.

Risk The probability of harmful consequences, or
expected losses (deaths, injuries, property, livelihoods,
economic activity disrupted or environment damaged)
resulting from interactions between natural or human-
induced hazards and vulnerable conditions.
Conventionally risk is expressed by the notation
Risk = Hazards x Vulnerability. Some disciplines also
include the concept of exposure to refer particularly to
the physical aspects of vulnerability.
Beyond expressing a possibility of physical harm, it is
crucial to recognize that risks are inherent or can be
created or exist within social systems. It is important to
consider the social contexts in which risks occur and that
people therefore do not necessarily share the same
perceptions of risk and their underlying causes.

DISASTER
RISK
VULNERABILITY
X=HAZARD
CAPACITY
RISK

ELEMENTS AT RISK
Persons, buildings,
crops or other such
like societal
components
exposed to known
hazard, which are
likely to be
adversely affected
by the impact of the
hazard.
Exposed Elements

OPTIONS FOR MANAGING DISASTER
RISKS
We basically have four options
• prevention
• mitigation
• Adaptation, and
• Migration
If all options are failed, we have to suffer
“the more mitigation we do, the less adaptation will be
required, and the less suffering there will be”

DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT-WHAT AND WHO?
DRM includes administrative decisions and
operational activities that involve:
-Prevention
-Mitigation
-Awareness
-Preparedness
-Response
-Recovery, and
-Rehabilitation
• DRM involves all levels of government decision
makers.
• NGOs and CBOs play vital role in the process.
• Communities themselves are first responders.

DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
The conceptual framework of elements
considered with the possibilities to minimize
vulnerabilities and disaster risks throughout
a society, to avoid (prevention) or to limit
(mitigation and preparedness) the adverse
impacts of hazards, within the broad context
of sustainable development.

Measures for Disaster Risk Reduction
Sea side
Country side
Coastal Polder River Embankment

A disaster is a function of the risk
process. It results from the
combination of hazards, conditions of
vulnerability and insufficient capacity
or measures to reduce the potential
negative consequences of risk.

CONCEPT OF DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT

A Vicious Spiral
Poverty

PREVENTION
Measures taken to
avert a disaster
from occurring, if
possible (to impede
a hazard so that it
does not have any
harmful effects)

RESPONSE
Actions taken
immediately
following the
impact of a disaster
when exceptional
measures are
required to meet
the basic needs of
the survivors

MITIGATION
Structural and non-structural measures
undertaken to limit the adverse impact of
natural hazards, environmental
degradation and technological hazards.

VULNERABILITY
• The conditions determined by physical,
social, economic, and environmental factors
or processes, which increase the
susceptibility of a community to the impact
of hazards.
• “the extent to which a community, structure,
service, and/or geographic area is likely to be
damaged or disrupted by the impact of a
particular hazard, on account of their nature,
construction and proximity to hazardous
terrain or a disaster prone area”

DISASTER STUDIES: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY
SUBJECT

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

Disaster Management: Planned steps taken to the
effects of a disaster

PREPAREDNESS
Activities and measures taken in
advance to ensure effective response
to the impact of hazards, including the
issuance of timely and effective early
warnings and the temporary evacuation
of people and property from threatened
locations.

PUBLIC AWARENESS
The processes of informing the general
population, increasing levels of
consciousness about risks and how
people can act to reduce their exposure
to hazards.
This is particularly important for public
officials in fulfilling their responsibilities to
save lives and property in the event of a
disaster.

Public awareness activities foster
changes in behaviour leading towards a
culture of risk reduction. This involves
public information, dissemination,
education, radio or television broadcasts,
use of printed media, as well as, the
establishment of information centres and
networks and community and
participation actions.

RECOVERY
Decisions and actions taken after a disaster
with a view to restoring or improving the pre-
disaster living conditions of the stricken
community, while encouraging and
facilitating necessary adjustments to reduce
disaster risk.
Recovery (rehabilitation and reconstruction) affords an
opportunity to develop and apply disaster risk reduction
measures.

RESILIENCE/ RESILIENT
The capacity of a system, community or
society potentially exposed to hazards to
adapt, by resisting or changing in order to
reach and maintain an acceptable level of
functioning and structure. This is determined
by the degree to which the social system is
capable of organizing itself to increase its
capacity for learning from past disasters for
better future protection and to improve risk
reduction measures.

CAPACITY
A combination of all the strengths and
resources available within a community,
society or organization that can reduce the
level of risk, or the effects of a disaster.
Capacity may include physical, institutional,
social or economic means as well as skilled
personal or collective attributes such as
leadership and management. Capacity may also
be described as capability.

CAPACITY BUILDING
Efforts aimed to develop human skills or
societal infrastructures within a community
or organization needed to reduce the level of
risk.
In extended understanding, capacity building
also includes development of institutional,
financial, political and other resources, such as
technology at different levels and sectors of the
society.

COPING CAPACITY
The means by which people or organizations
use available resources and abilities to face
adverse consequences that could lead to a
disaster.
In general, this involves managing resources,
both in normal times as well as during crises or
adverse conditions. The strengthening of coping
capacities usually builds resilience to withstand
the effects of natural and human-induced
hazards.

STRUCTURAL/ NON-STRUCTURAL MEASURES
Structural measures refer to any physical construction to
reduce or avoid possible impacts of hazards, which
include engineering measures and construction of
hazard-resistant and protective structures and
infrastructure.
Non-structural measures refer to policies, awareness,
knowledge development, public commitment, and
methods and operating practices, including participatory
mechanisms and the provision of information, which can
reduce risk and related impacts.

COUNTER MEASURES
All measures taken to counter and reduce
disaster risk.
They most commonly refer to engineering
(structural) measures but can also include non-
structural measures and tools designed and
employed to avoid or limit the adverse impact of
natural hazards and related environmental and
technological disasters.

RELIEF (response)
The provision of assistance or
intervention during or immediately after
a disaster to meet the life preservation
and basic subsistence needs of those
people affected. It can be of an
immediate, short-term, or protracted
duration.

CLIMATE CHANGE
The climate of a place or region is changed if over an
extended period (typically decades or longer) there
is a statistically significant change in measurements
of either the mean state or variability of the climate
for that place or region.
Changes in climate may be due to natural processes or to
persistent anthropogenic changes in atmosphere or in
land use. Note that the definition of climate change used
in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change is more restricted, as it includes only those
changes which are attributable directly or indirectly to
human activity.

GREENHOUSE GAS (GHG)
A gas, such as water vapour, carbon dioxide,
methane, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and
hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), that
absorbs and re-emits infrared radiation,
warming the earth's surface and contributing
to climate change (UNEP, 1998).

DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT
The systematic process of using administrative
decisions, organization, operational skills and
capacities to implement policies, strategies and
coping capacities of the society and communities to
lessen the impacts of natural hazards and related
environmental and technological disasters. This
comprises all forms of activities, including structural
and non-structural measures to avoid (prevention) or
to limit (mitigation and preparedness) adverse
effects of hazards.

The disaster risk reduction framework is composed of the
following fields of action: (Ref: ISDR's publication 2002 "Living with Risk: a
global review of disaster reduction initiatives", page 23: )
• Risk awareness and assessment including hazard analysis
and vulnerability/capacity analysis;
• Knowledge development including education, training,
research and information;
• Public commitment and institutional frameworks, including
organizational, policy, legislation and community action;
• Application of measures including environmental
management, land-use and urban planning, protection of
critical facilities, application of science and technology,
partnership and networking, and financial instruments;
• Early warning systems including forecasting, dissemination of
warnings, preparedness measures and reaction capacities.

EARLY WARNING
The provision of timely and effective information,
through identified institutions, that allows
individuals exposed to a hazard to take action to
avoid or reduce their risk and prepare for effective
response.
Early warning systems include a chain of concerns,
namely: understanding and mapping the hazard;
monitoring and forecasting impending events;
processing and disseminating understandable warnings
to political authorities and the population, and
undertaking appropriate and timely actions in response
to the warnings.

HAZARD ANALYSIS
Identification, studies and monitoring of any
hazard to determine its potential, origin,
characteristics and behavior.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
The organization and management of resources and
responsibilities for dealing with all aspects of
emergencies, in particularly preparedness, response
and rehabilitation.
Emergency management involves plans, structures and
arrangements established to engage the normal
endeavours of government, voluntary and private
agencies in a comprehensive and coordinated way to
respond to the whole spectrum of emergency needs. This
is also known as disaster management.

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Introduction to natural hazard and disaster management

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