Definitions

• what is a natural hazard?

  a natural process that has the potential to be a substantial threat to human life and society
• what is a natural diasaster?

  an even that has occurred due to a natural hazard - it involves substantial disruption and affects a discrete region over a restricted time period
• what does the centre for research on the epidemiology of disasters define a natural hazard as?

  • 10 or more people reported killed
  • 100 people reported affected
  • a call for international assistance
  • a declaration of a state of emergency
• what is happening to the number of natural hazards and disasters and their impacts over time?

  increasing
• what type of disaster caused the most natural disasters between 1995 and 2015?

  flood
• what type of disaster caused the most disaster related deaths between 1995 and 2015?

  earthquakes
• what are three of the five reasons for why the number of disasters is increasing?

  increased public awareness and reporting by the globalised media, increased world population and increasing poverty and urbanisation
• what is risk defined as?

  the probability that harmful effects will actually follow form an identified natural hazard
• how is risk calculated?

  hazard level x exposure x vulnerability
• what does the hazard level refer to?

  the probability of a hazard occurring within a specified timescale
• what does exposure refer to?

  the number of people and value of the property at risk
• what does vulnerability refer to?

  the preparedness and resilience to the disaster
• what is the hazard level defined as?


  the probability that a potentially harmful natural phenomenon may occur at a given location in a given time period