hazard risk

• hazard risk is the chance or probability of being affected by a natural event
• people who live close to a river may be at risk of flooding or those who live in mountainous areas may be at risk from earthquakes or landslides
• the reasons people live in hazardous areas include:

  • weighing up the advantages and disadvantages
  • not knowing its dangerous
  • not having the education to know
  • not having the choice (limited areas of accommodation)
  • not enough non-risk areas available
• urbanisation:

  over 50% of the worlds population now live in cities, some of the worlds largest cities (Tokyo, Istanbul) are at risk from earthquakes
• urbanisation:

  densely populated areas are at great risk from natural events such as earthquakes and tropical cyclones, the 2010 Haiti earthquake destroyed much of the capital port-auprince killing some 230,000 people
• poverty:

  in poorer parts of the world, poverty may force people to live in areas at risk, this is especially true in cities such as Lima in Peru, where a shortage in housing has led to people building on unstable slopes prone to floods and landslides
• farming:

  when a river floods, it deposits fertile soil on its floodplain, which is excellent for farming, so in low-lying countries many people may live on floodplains (river Ganges in Bangladesh) , but they are putting themselves at risk