Geophysical disaster trends and hazard profiles

• Why are the total number of reported natural disasters increasing?

  Because there are improvements in monitoring natural disasters, improvements in communication technology allowing these events to be reported, an increasing population leading to more people being at risk, and increasing urbanisation leading to more buildings potentially collapsing
• What are the current trends of countries' vulnerability to natural disasters?

  More developed countries are less vulnerable and therefore have lower deaths, but the financial costs are greater than to less developed countries
• Why is the number of people being killed in natural disasters decreasing?

  Because of improvements in early warning systems, building regulations, and disaster preparation
• Why are the financial costs of natural disasters increasing?

  Because more urbanisation leads to more infrastructure being affected
• What is a hazard profile?

  A diagram that shows the main characteristics of different tectonic hazards, where comparisons can be made between single hazards and multiple hazards
• What are hazard profiles useful for?

  They help governments and other organisations to develop disaster plans