Relationship between hazard, vulnerability, resilience and disaster

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  • Created by: Woden
  • Created on: 20-02-19 13:09

Definitions

Disaster-a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving widespread human material, economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources. With economic losses of over $1.5 million

Megadisaster:a disaster with unusually high impacts, millions of people affected and billions of dollars in damage over an entire region or more than one country.

Hazard-An event (tectonic) that has the capacity to develop into a disaster/event

Vulnerability-the a measure of the extent to which a community, structure, service or geographical area is likely to be damaged or disrupted, on account of its nature or location, by the impact of a particular disaster hazard.

Resilience-the ability of a community/society to deal with a hazard

Hazard-risk equation-Risk=(hazard x exposure x vulnerability)/Managability

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Pressure and Release Model (PAR Model)

Root Causes-Limited access to:Resources, Power, Structures                                                                                                       Idealogies:Political Systems and Economic Systems

Dynamic Pressures-Lack of:Training, Local investment, press freedom, appropriate skills,                                                              ethical standards                                                                                            Macro- Forces:Rapid population change, Debt repayment schedules,                                                             Deforestation, Arms Expenditure, Rapid Urbanisation

Unsafe Conditions:Fragile physical environment, Vulnerable Society, Fragile local                                            economy, Public Actions

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Impacts of Tectonic Hazards

Economic:Loss of property, business, infrastrcutre and opportunity

Social:Deaths, injury and wider health impacts including psychological harm (PTSD)

Environmental-Damage, disruption or destruction of physical systems (ecosystems)

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Impacts of Hazards and Levels of Devolepment

Japan (developed): Magnitude 9.0 Richter Scale, 9.3m tsunami wave height                                                         16,000 deaths, 6000 injured, $300bn in economic losses

Indian Ocean (developing+emerging): Magnitude 9.2, 24m wave height                                                                                                  230,000 deaths,125,000 injured, $15bn economic losses

Developed Nations suffer less social impacts due to their higher resilience and lower vulnerabilty. This is because they invest in protections from hazards. However, these investments are expenisve and usually get damaged by the hazard, making the economic losses more severe. On the other hand, whilst Japan lost more economically, it is still a smaller percentage of loss than the Indian Ocean Nations.

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