Philippines

• Multi-Hazard Environment


  An environment prone to multiple different types of natural hazards
• The Philippines is situated South East of mainland Asia, North of Indonesia
• The country is made up of more than 7000 islands, many of which are very small and difficult to reach
• The population of the Philippines is over 100 million people
• The geographical position of the Philippines is prone to natural disasters
• Reasons the Philippines is a hazard hotspot

  • Situated on a major plate boundary
  • Western rim of the pacific ring of fire (volcanoes and earthquakes)
  • North and east coast faces the pacific (seismic and world's greatest tsunami risk)
  • Tropical monsoon climate experienced with heavy rain
  • Lies in SE Asia's typhoon belt
  • Subject to secondary impacts like lahars, landslides, floods
• The Philippines is a lower middle income country that is developing fast
• The Philippines has a rapidly increasing young population
• Average population densities across the Philippines are high with 240 people per sq km, and in Manila there are up to 2000 people per sq km
• Many people in the Philippines are very poor and are residents near the coast
• Tectonics of the Philippines


  • Dense oceanic Philippines plate is being subducted beneath Eurasian plate at a destructive plate boundary
  • Creating the Manila Ocean trench
  • Both volcanoes and earthquakes are occurring
• The 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption killed more than 700 people, left 200,000 homeless, caused buildings to collapse, destroyed crops, and ruined agricultural land
• The 1990 Luzon Island earthquake killed over 1500 people, and earthquakes in surrounding oceans can trigger tsunamis like the 1976 Moro gulf tsunami that killed thousands and devastated several cities
• Tropical Storms in the Philippines


  • The Philippines has around 10 tropical storms every year that develop in the Pacific Ocean and move westwards to the islands
  • Typhoon Haiyan killed over 6300 people
  • Typhoon Xangsane in 2006 destroyed homes, caused flooding and landslides, and led to the loss of power and water, killing around 2000 people and costing over $130 million
• Resilience in the Philippines


  • Communities understand the risks from past experience
  • People prepare themselves for hazards by widening rivers and stockpiling food
  • Increases communities and individual resilience
• Previously, only funding was available after disasters had occurred, but since 2009 the Philippines has been working to increase large-scale resilience by adapting, mitigating and managing hazards
• Strategies to increase resilience in the Philippines


  • Preventing people building in high risk areas
  • Adapting new and existing buildings and structures to cope with earthquakes
  • Building embankments to reduce flood risk
  • Increasing public awareness
  • Monitoring hazards and developing early warning systems