DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY

MID – LA UNION CAMPUS

City of San Fernando, La Union
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
LABORATORY HIGH SCHOOL

DISASTER READINESS AND RISK REDUCTION

I. BASIC CONCEPT OF DISASTER AND DISASTER RISK

A. What is Disaster and Disaster Risk?
Disaster is "a sudden, calamitous occurrence that causes great harm, injury, destruction, and
devastation to life and property”. It disrupts the usual course of life, causing both physical and
emotional distress such as an intense feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. A preceding definition
of disaster stresses that two elements are affected – life (whether human or animal) and property.
The effects vary – it maybe a minor damage (like broken windows and doors), major damage (like
torn rooftops, collapsed walls), total destruction (like completely destroyed houses and structures
rendering them useless and inhabitable) and the worst scenario, it can lead to death. (Asian Disaster
Preparedness Center, ADPC, 2012)
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, 2008), disaster is “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”.
Any adverse episode or phenomenon can exploit a vulnerability in the affected population or
community to create damage and this awareness will form the basis for an adequate intervention.
Meanwhile, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction defines disaster
as 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.
Disasters are often a result of the combination of: the exposure to a hazard; the conditions of
vulnerability that are present; and insufficient capacity or measures to reduce or cope with the
potential negative consequences.
Its impacts may include loss of life, injury, disease and other negative effects on human
physical, mental, and social wellbeing, together with damage to properties, destruction of assets,
loss of services, social and economic disruptions, and environmental degradation.
 B. Classification of Disasters:

Two Large Categories:

A. Natural Disasters – a natural phenomenon is caused by natural forces, such as
earthquakes, typhoon, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, fires, tornados, and extreme
temperatures. They can be classified as rapid onset disasters and those with progressive
onset, such as droughts that lead to famine. These events, usually sudden, can have
tremendous effects.
B. Man-made - disasters caused by man are those in which major direct causes are
identifiable intentional or non-intentional human actions.

Three Subdivided Categories:

1. Technological/ Industrial Disasters - Unregulated industrialization and inadequate
safety standards increase the risk for industrial disasters.
Example: leaks of hazardous materials; accidental explosions; bridge or road collapses, or
vehicle collisions; Power cuts
2. Terrorism/Violence - the threat of terrorism has also increased due to the spread of
technologies involving nuclear, biological, and chemical agents used to develop weapons of
mass destruction.
Example: bombs or explosions; release of chemical materials; release of biological agents;
release of radioactive agents; multiple or massive shootings; mutinies
3. Complex Humanitarian Emergencies - the term complex emergency is usually used to
describe the humanitarian emergency resulting from an international or civil war. In such
situations, large numbers of people are displaced from their homes due to the lack of
personal safety and the disruption of basic infrastructure including food distribution, water,
electricity, and sanitation, or communities are left stranded and isolated in their own
homes unable to access assistance.
Example: conflicts or wars and Genocide the deliberate killing of a large group of people,
especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation.

The damage caused by disaster cannot be measured. It also differs with the kind of
geographical location, climate, earth’s specific characteristics, and level of vulnerability.
These determining factors affect generally the psychological, socio – economic, political, and
ethnical state of the affected area.

C. What is Risk and Disaster Risk?

Risk has various connotations within different disciplines. In general, risk is defined as “the
combination of the probability of an event and its negative consequences” (UNISDR, 2009). The term
risk is thus multidisciplinary and is used in a variety of contexts. It is usually associated with the
degree to which humans cannot cope (lack of capacity) with a situation (e.g. natural hazard).
The term disaster risk refers to the potential (not actual and realized) disaster losses, in lives,
health status, livelihoods, assets, and services which could occur in a community or society over
some specified future time period.
Disaster risk is the product of the possible damage caused by a hazard due to the vulnerability
within a community. It should be noted that the effect of a hazard (of a particular magnitude) would
affect communities differently (Von Kotze, 1999:35).
It can also be determined by the presence of three variables: hazards (natural or
anthropogenic); vulnerability to a hazard; and coping capacity linked to the reduction, mitigation,
and resilience to the vulnerability of a community.
II. RISK FACTORS UNDERLYING DISASTERS
A. Differentiating Risk Factors Underlying Disaster
Risk Factors
3 Important Elements:
1. Exposure - the “elements at risk from a natural or man-made hazard event
(Quebral, 2016).
2. Hazard -a potentially dangerous physical occurrence, phenomenon or human activity
that may result in loss of life or injury, property damage, social and economic
disruption, or environmental degradation.
3. Vulnerability - the condition determined by physical, social, economic and
environmental factors or processes, which increase the susceptibility of a community
to the impact of hazard (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation, FAO
2008).
Reduction of the level of vulnerability and exposure is possible by keeping people and property
as distant as possible from hazards. We cannot avoid natural events from occurring, but we can
concentrate on addressing the reduction of risk and exposure by determining the factors causing
disasters.
Risk Factors are processes or conditions, often development-related, that influence the level
of disaster risk by increasing levels of exposure and vulnerability or reducing capacity.
The following are also taken into consideration when risk factors underlying disaster are
involved:

⚫ Severity of Exposure - which measures those who experience disaster firsthand which has
the highest risk of developing future mental problems, followed by those in contact with the victims
such as rescue workers and health care practitioners and the lowest risk are those most distant like
those who have awareness of the disaster only through news.

⚫ Gender and Family - the female gender suffers more adverse effects. This worsens when
children are present at home. Marital relationships are placed under strain.

⚫ Age - adults in the age range of 40-60 are more stressed after disasters but in general,
children exhibit more stress after disasters than adults do.

⚫ Economic Status of Country - evidence indicates that severe mental problems resulting
from disasters are more prevalent in developing countries like the Philippines. Furthermore, it has
been observed that natural disasters tend to have more adverse effects in developing countries than
do man caused disasters in developed countries.

B. Factors which underlie disasters:

1. Climate Change - can increase disaster risk in a variety of ways – by altering the frequency
and intensity of hazards events, affecting vulnerability to hazards, and changing exposure
patterns. For most people, the expression “climate change” means the alteration of the
world’s climate that we humans are causing such as burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and
other practices that increase the carbon footprint and concentration of greenhouse gases in
the atmosphere. This is in line with the official definition by the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that climate change is the change that can be
attributed “directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global
atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable
time periods”
2. Environmental Degradation - changes to the environment can influence the frequency and
intensity of hazards, as well as our exposure and vulnerability to these hazards. For instance,
deforestation of slopes often leads to an increase in landslide hazard and removal of
mangroves can increase the damage caused by storm surges. It is both a driver and
consequence of disasters, reducing the capacity of the environment to meet social and
ecological needs. Over consumption of natural resources results in environmental degradation,
reducing the effectiveness of essential ecosystem services, such as the mitigation of floods
 and landslides. This leads to increased risk from disasters, and in turn, natural hazards can
further degrade the environment.
3. Globalized Economic Development - It results in an increased polarization between the
rich and poor on a global scale. Currently increasing the exposure of assets in hazard prone
areas, globalized economic development provides an opportunity to build resilience if
effectively managed. By participating in risk sensitive development strategies such as
investing in protective infrastructure, environmental management, and upgrading informal
settlements, risk can be reduced. Dominance and increase of wealth in certain regions and
cities are expected to have increased hazard exposure.
4. Poverty and Inequality - Impoverished people are more likely to live in hazard exposed
areas and are less able to invest in risk-reducing measures. The lack of access to insurance
and social protection means that people in poverty are often forced to use their already
limited assets to buffer disaster losses, which drives them into further poverty. Poverty is
therefore both a cause and consequence of disaster risk, particularly extensive risk, with
drought being the hazard most closely associated with poverty. The impact of disasters on the
poor can, in addition to loss of life, injury and damage, cause a total loss of livelihoods,
displacement, poor health, food insecurity, among other consequences. Vulnerability is not
simply about poverty, but extensive research over the past 30 years has revealed that it is
generally the poor who tend to suffer worst from disasters.
5. Poorly planned and Managed Urban Development - A new wave of urbanization is
unfolding in hazard-exposed countries and with it, new opportunities for resilient investment
emerge. People, poverty, and disaster risk are increasingly concentrated in cities. The growing
rate of urbanization and the increase in population density (in cities) can lead to creation of
risk, especially when urbanization is rapid, poorly planned and occurring in a context of
widespread poverty. Growing concentrations of people and economic activities in many cities
are seen to overlap with areas of high-risk exposure.
6. Weak Governance - weak governance zones are investment environments in which public
sector actors are unable or unwilling to assume their roles and responsibilities in protecting
rights, providing basic services and public services. Disaster risk is disproportionately
concentrated in lower-income countries with weak governance. Disaster risk governance
refers to the specific arrangements that societies put in place to manage their disaster risk
within a broader context of risk governance. This reflects how risk is valued against a backdrop
of broader social and economic concerns.

Certain factors are related to a survivor’s background and recovery is hampered if survivors:
were not functioning well before the disaster; have no experience dealing with disasters; must deal
with other stressors after the disaster; have low self-esteem; feel uncared for by others; think they
exercise little control over what happens to them; and unable to manage stress.
More factors contributory to worse outcomes: death of someone close; injury to self or family
member; life threat; panic, horror, or similar feelings; separation from family; massive loss of
property; and displacement.

III. DISASTERS AND ITS EFFECTS

A. Effects of Disasters on one’s Life
A disaster is a damaging event that occurs suddenly and involves loss of life and property. It can
be of two types, natural and man-made.
Natural disasters can destroy a whole community in an instant. Examples of natural disasters are
volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, earthquakes, and typhoons which are destructive to people's lives.
Man-made disasters on the other hand are caused by human beings. Some of the man-made
disasters are bomb explosions, terrorism, wars, leakage of poisonous chemicals, pollutions, industrial
accidents, and epidemics. They are identified as man- made disasters because they happen due to
human actions and not by natural forces.
 B. What is the difference between Hazard and Disaster?
A hazard is a dangerous situation or event that carries a threat to humans. A disaster is an event
that harms humans and disrupts the operations of society. Hazards can only be considered disasters
once it affected humans. If a disaster happened in an unpopulated area, it is still a hazard.
C. The Human Effect of Natural and Man-Made Disasters
1. Displaced Populations
One of the most immediate effects of natural disasters is population displacement. When
countries are ravaged by earthquakes or other powerful forces of nature, many people need to
abandon their homes and seek shelter in other regions. A large influx of refugees can disrupt
accessibility of health care and education, as well as food supplies and clean water.
2. Health Risks
Aside from the obvious immediate danger that natural disasters present, the secondary
effect can be just as damaging. Severe flooding can result in stagnant water that allows
breeding of waterborne bacteria and malaria carrying mosquitoes. Without emergency relief
from international aid organizations and others, death tolls can rise even after the immediate
danger has passed.
3. Food Scarcity
The aftermath of natural disasters affects the food supplies. Thousands of people around
the world are hungry because of destroyed crops and loss of agricultural supplies, whether it
happens suddenly in a storm or gradually in a drought. As a result, food prices rise reducing
families’ purchasing power and increasing the risk of severe malnutrition or worse. The impacts
of hunger following an earthquake, typhoon or hurricane can be tremendous, causing lifelong
damage to children’s development.
4. Emotional Aftershocks
Natural disasters can be particularly traumatic for young children. Confronted with scenes
of destruction and the deaths of friends and loved ones, many children develop post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD), a serious psychological condition resulting from extreme trauma. Left
untreated, children suffering from PTSD can be prone to lasting psychological damage and
emotional distress.

Great damage caused by a disaster can be reduced if everyone will take responsibility in
anticipating its effects. Here are some ways on how to plan ahead of a disaster:
1. Check for hazards at home.
2. Identify safe place indoors and outdoors
3. Educate yourself and family members
4. Have Disaster kits/supplies on hand.
5. Develop an emergency communication plan.
6. Help your community get ready.
7. Practice the Disaster Preparedness Cycle.
IV. DISASTERS FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES
A. The Different Perspectives of Disaster
1. Physical perspective
Calamities are phenomena that cause great physical damage in a community
infrastructure, its people and their properties, e.g. houses and environmental sources of
living. These cited effects of a disaster can be easily measured and the most common.
Natural disasters generally affect the physical infrastructural facilities, agricultural
productivity and even lead to loss of life and cause damage to property. Various factors
influence the effects of a disaster on a country among them are the magnitude of the
disaster, the geography of the area affected, and the recovery efforts directed towards
reducing the immediate effects of a disaster.
Effects of Physical Disasters
- Injuries
- Physical disabilities or illness
- Sanitation
- Damage in infrastructure
2. Psychological Perspective
Victims of disasters may suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other
serious mental health conditions, which are not being given much attention to by the
authorities or even by the victims, themselves. (This may be sensitive statement)
Disasters are mostly unpredictable, which leave the victims in a state of shock. They
tend to deny the loss and try to escape from reality. Being in a denial state makes the victims
more vulnerable to stress, anxiety, and other different maladaptive reactions. Death of a
closed one also leaves the victim in a state of insecurity because the sense of love, attachment
and belongingness are deprived.
Psychological effects of a Disaster:
distress hopelessness
intrusion/avoidance emotional effects
hatred/revenge cognitive Effects
dependence/insecurities physical Effects
grief/withdrawn/isolation interpersonal effect
guilt feeling helplessness
lack of trust
3. Socio-cultural Perspective
Filipinos are generally known as “matiisin”, resourceful, helpful, optimistic, and
prayerful. These characteristics are manifested in the country’s recent fight against
COVID19.Due to the National Health Emergency, Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ)
prevailed in the whole country. A lot of people temporarily lost their jobs, some people
stranded in different regions, repatriated OFWs were held in different quarantine facilities in
Metro Manila, and all people were restricted to go out of their homes for months. As a result,
most Filipino families would rely on government’s help for them to get by. However, limited
resources and aids from the government make people find possible ways to survive amid the
pandemic.
These traits help a lot of Filipinos to survive the challenge of COVID19 in the country. To
people who are used to natural calamities like typhoons, flash floods, and volcanic eruptions
most citizen would find contentment with what they have at the moment. The culture of
“malalampasan din natin ‘to..” belief and “ bahala na and Diyos” syndrome give hope to most
Filipino in the midst of a disaster. Such perspective helps a lot especially those who belong to
the marginalized sector to be hopeful and continue fighting against any challenge at hand.
Their belief that a help from someone or from God would arrive at a time they most needed.
It also helps most people survive a lot of oddities in life.
Socio-Cultural Effect of Disasters

➢ change in individual roles

➢ disruption of social relationships and personal connections

4. Economic Perspective
Disasters affect the economic condition of a community because they reduce local and
international trade. It can also partially or totally paralyze a country’s transportation system,
just like what happened in the COVID19 pandemic.
Implementation of a partial and total shut down of local business operations result to
a lot of people losing means of living.
Economic Effects of Disasters
- loss of life
- unemployment
- loss of property
loss of household articles
- loss of crops
- loss of public infrastructure
5. Political Perspective
Natural disasters are commonly thought to be less politically argumentative than armed
conflicts, yet a closer look shows that both the effects of a natural disaster and the resulting
distribution of humanitarian aid are profoundly linked to politics.
Just as vulnerability to disasters is mediated by the political system of a country,
disasters can have major consequences for political stability and political legitimacy. Since
agencies of government have a significant role to play in directing disaster preparedness,
prevention and recovery. Social systems establish vulnerability to natural disasters and
governments are often considered to be responsible for the disaster effects.
Political Effects of a Disaster
- People who have trust in political institution will assess the government’s risk
assessments as credible and accept their hazard policies.
- Low level of trust in public institutions therefore means that citizens may ignore the
recommendations and disregard the information provided by these institutions.
- If individuals are confident that they will receive sufficient aid from the government
when a disaster occurs, they might not be motivated to take measures on their own.
6. Biological Perspective
The disturbing effects caused by a prevalent kind of disease or virus in an epidemic or
pandemic level is known as biological disaster.
(a) Epidemic Level: Biological disaster affects large numbers of people within a given
community or area. Ex: Dengue.
(b) Pandemic Level: Biological disaster affects a much large region, sometime spanning
entire continents or the globe. Ex. Swine Flue
Biological disasters can wipe out an entire population at a short span of time.
Example of it is the COVID19 pandemic which infected millions in less than a month and
left thousands of deaths in the same duration. Viral respiratory infections can lead to anything
from a mild cough that lasts a few weeks or months to full-blown persistent wheezing or
asthma (Martin, 2020). He added that when there is a severe respiratory infection, recovery
can be prolonged with a general increase in shortness of breath— even after normal lung
function returns. Since COVID19 is a respiratory disease, the public is advised by health
 authorities to do health precaution to prevent social contamination. Examples are: observing
physical distancing, appropriate washing of the hands, wearing of mask at all times once
outside of one’s home, and boosting one’s immune system.
COVID19 patients who have strong immune system can likely soon recover from the
disease. Also, those who follow the health precaution strictly have less chance of being
infected. As such, the effects of a biological disaster can be reduced.
Effects of Biological Disasters

➢ loss of lives

➢ public demobilization

➢ negative economic effect

➢ unemployment

➢ hunger

V. VULNERABILITY
A. Explain the meaning of Vulnerability
Vulnerability Defined
Vulnerability is a state of being at risk. According to Republic Act 1012 also known as
‘Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010’, vulnerability is defined as the
characteristics and circumstances of community, system or resource that make it susceptible to the
damaging effects of a hazard. With all the identified hazard at home, there is a possibility that some
family members might be susceptible or prone to the accident due to the presence of hazard.
Vulnerability is also situation specific. This means that if a specific province is prone to
earthquake, it does not mean that all localities on the province is vulnerable to it. The vulnerability
of different towns or cities or even provinces differ in the way they prepare for the hazard and the
amount and type of resources they have in order prevent and manage it. To lessen vulnerability
means to make the community prepared and ready for the possible damaging effect of the hazard.
This further means that to make the community less vulnerable, it must be resilient. So, to develop
resiliency at home, you should first identify the hazards and be prepared all the time for the possible
outcome and respond immediately.
Moreover, it is also hazard specific. A community that is vulnerable to earthquake hazard does
not necessarily mean that it is also vulnerable to typhoons. Hazards have different traits that can
influence the disasters possible to happen.

VI. VULNERABILITY IN DISASTER

A. Sectors of Society’s Vulnerability to Disaster
Factors affecting vulnerability of one’s community:
1. Population density near a hazard event.
• Population differs from population density.
• Population refers to the number of individuals inhabiting in a particular space at the same
time. If people are well distributed, there is lesser effect of disaster.
• Population density refers to the number of individuals living in an area in relation to the size
of an area. If population density is high, it means that the number of individuals is high but
the space is very small. In that case, if fire broke in that area, there is little space for the
population to escape quickly and easily. So, crowded communities have higher vulnerability
to hazards.
• The primary consideration is not the population size but the population density.
2. Capacity and efficiency to reduce Disaster Risk.
• Community that is less vulnerable has the capacity to reduce disaster risk because;
 a) It can provide accessibility and availability of services and facilities during and after
disaster.
b) It has the ability to anticipate, adapt, and respond to possible disaster.
• Is it appropriate to say that The Philippines is less vulnerable to typhoon? Nowadays, our
country has advanced technology to predict super typhoon and several municipalities already
provided evacuation centers to provide temporary housing for victims when disaster occur.

VII. VULNERABILITIES OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS EXPOSED TO HAZARDS

A. Recognize Vulnerabilities of Different Elements Exposed to Specific Hazards

Physical Vulnerability includes population density levels, place of a settlement, the site
design, and materials used for infrastructure and housing. When hazardous events occur, normally
physical elements are severely damaged. For example, UP Visayas buildings were totally destroyed
during the super typhoon Yolanda in 2008 leaving the structure totally damaged. Another example is
the decreased in population density like what happened in Baguio during the 1990 earthquake in
North Luzon when a lot of people were injured and died.
Social Vulnerability happens due to inability of people, organization, and societies to prevent
severe effects from hazards because of the expected behavior in social interactions, institutions, and
system of cultural values. For example, during typhoon the line of communications were cut off when
cell sites shutdown or disruption of transport system due to inability of small vehicles to pass through
the flooded areas or unpassable roads and bridges. With some difficulties in the delivery of services
such as relief goods and medicines, a lot of problems occurred like shortage of food and spread of
infectious diseases. Therefore, when social elements were exposed to hazard, these may lead to
disruption of normal processes and activities in the community.
Level of economic vulnerability is based on the economic status of individuals, communities,
and nations. The poorer the country, the more vulnerable to disasters because they lack the funds
or budgets to build sturdy structures and put other engineering measures in place which protect them
from being affected by disasters. So, we can say that Philippines is more vulnerable to an event such
as earthquake compared to Japan. Though both countries are exposed to earthquake hazard because
both are located in the Pacific ring of fire, but due to differences in economic status, Japan is more
resilient because of its ability to afford changes in architectural and engineering designs of building
and infrastructures to make them less vulnerable to earthquake. Another example is the Covid-19
pandemic wherein the most affected are those who belong to low income and informal workers.
Social and economic vulnerability can be combined also known as socioeconomic
vulnerability.
Environmental vulnerability is caused by natural resources depletion and destruction.
Organisms like humans, animals, and plants are all dependent on the environment for survival.
Human activities like deforestation, burning of fossil fuels, and kaingin affect the natural abilities of
the environment to protect itself from any natural hazard due to absence of trees which may cause
landslide and flashfloods. Sometimes the effects are irreversible.
Quantifying vulnerability is used in estimating how much mitigation and preparedness
measures will be applied. Computation is based on the previous hazard events and severity of their
effects. Vulnerability can be expressed as: 0 = lowest degree of vulnerability and 1 as the highest
degree. Vulnerability of people is the ratio of casualties or injured to the total population.
Vulnerability of buildings is expressed as a repair cost or degree of damage.
The Philippines has high vulnerability due to the following reasons:
• It lies in the Pacific typhoon belt and we are visited by an average of 20 typhoons
every year.
• Rugged nature of the landscape makes it vulnerable to landslide, mudflows, and other
disasters.
• It is an archipelagic country with many small islands where some areas are at below
sea level.
• It has the longest shoreline in the world at 32,400 km making it vulnerable to storm
surges.
 • It is still a primary agricultural and fishing economy.
• With poor institutional and social capacity to manage, respond, and recover from
natural hazard events.
• With high level of poverty
• Aside from typhoon, it is also at risk to volcanic eruptions, quakes, and floods.

VIII. EFFECTS OF HAZARD, EXPOSURE AND VULNERABILITY TO DISASTER RISKS

A. Hazards, Exposure, and Vulnerabilities from actual situations

Hazard is a harmful condition, substance, human behavior or condition that can cause loss
of life, injury or other health effects, harm to property, loss of livelihood and services, social and
economic disruption or damage to the environment. Any risk which is imminent is threat.
Exposure is the presence of elements at risk or chance of being harmed from a natural or
man-made hazard event. Elements include the individuals, households or communities, properties,
buildings and structures, agricultural commodities, livelihoods, and public facilities, infrastructures
and environmental assets present in an area that are subject to potential damage or even losses.
The more a community is exposed to hazard factors, the higher is the disaster risk or higher chance
disaster occurrence.
Vulnerability means the characteristics and circumstances of a community, system, or
asset, that will make it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard and inability of a
community to prevent, mitigate, prepare for and respond to hazardous events.
Risk implies the probability of possible adverse effects. This results from the interaction of
social and environmental systems, from the combination of physical danger, and exposed item
vulnerabilities.
Disaster is a serious disruption to the functioning of a community or society which causes
widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses that exceed the capacity of the
community or society concerned to cope with the use of their own resources. It results from the
mix of hazards, risk conditions and inadequate capability or measures.
Exposure and vulnerability, on the other hand, are distinct. A certain community can be
exposed but it does not mean that it is vulnerable. Buildings and structures in Japan are exposed to
earthquake, but they are not vulnerable since their architectural and engineering designs are
earthquake proof or resistant. However, to become vulnerable, it must be exposed to hazard first.
Exposure to hazard can make a community vulnerable. But not all communities that are
exposed to hazard can be considered vulnerable. Vulnerability depends on the preparedness and
readiness to a hazard of the community. It depends mostly on how they mitigate, respond, and
recover. If a certain community has the ability to reduce the vulnerability by reducing the risk, the
said community is already considered as less vulnerable or resilient.
 Physical elements Population

Buildings: Urban land use, construction types, Density of population, distribution in

building height, building age, total floor space, space, distribution in time, age
replacement costs. distribution, gender distribution,
handicapped, income distribution
Monuments and cultural heritage

Essential facilities Socio-economic aspects

Emergency shelters, Schools, Hospitals, Organization of population, governance,

Fire Brigades, Police, community organization, government support,
socio-economic levels. Cultural heritage and
traditions.

Transportation facilities Economic activities

Roads, railway, metro, public transportation Spatial distribution of economic activities,

systems, harbor facilities, airport facilities. input-output table, dependency, redundancy,
unemployment, economic production in various
sectors.

Life lines Environmental elements

Water supply, electricity supply, gas supply, Ecosystems, protected areas, natural parks,
telecommunications, mobile telephone environmentally sensitive areas, forests,
network, sewage system. wetlands, aquifers flora, fauna, biodiversity.

Disaster mitigation measures are those that eliminate or reduce the impacts and risks of
hazards by means of proactive measures taken before an emergency or disaster takes place.
Mitigation is the action of reducing something's severity, seriousness, or painfulness.