Chapter 1:

INTRODUCTION TO
DISASTERS AND DISASTER
RISKS
 Learning Competencies
• Explain the meaning of disaster.
• Differentiate the risk factors underlying disasters.
• Describe the effects of disasters on one’s life.
• Analyze disaster from the different perspectives (physical,
psychological, socio-cultural, economic, political, and
biological).
 Trivia

• Did you know that?!

“Earthquake proof”
Palawan is allegedly the
safest part in the
Philippines when ‘The
Big One’ earthquake hits.
 Key Terms
• Hazard – a dangerous phenomenon, substance, human activity or
condition that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts,
property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic
disruption, or environmental damage.
• Disaster – 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.
• Risk – the possibility that something bad or unpleasant will happen.
Learning Competencies
 Answer
A natural hazard is a threat of naturally occurring event will
have a negative effect on humans. This negative effect is what
we call a natural disaster. In other words when the hazardous
threat actually happens and harms humans, we call the event a
natural disaster.

A natural disaster is a natural event, such as an earthquake,

flood, or hurricane, which negatively affects society, either
through damage to property or through loss of life, while a
natural hazard is a disaster that has not yet occurred.
 Meaning of Disaster
• Disaster was originated from the French word “desastre”
which is a combination of the words “des” meaning bad and
“aster” meaning star. From this, it can be inferred that
disaster literally means bad star.
• Disaster is a serious and tragic event that causes loss of lives,
human suffering, and great damages to properties and
environment.
• It disrupts the current state of communities, affecting wide-
ranging aspects of community life.
• Disaster happens when communities lack the capacity to
adapt to disruptions that further affect the socio-economic,
political, psychological, and cultural state of individuals and
families in communities.
Figure 1: Mechanism behind emergence of natural disasters

Hazards: Exposure:
Waves, storms, erosion, sea Population and infrastructure
level rise situated in lowly-lying coastal
areas
Risk

Vulnerability:
Susceptibility to damage and
capacity to cope and/or adapt
 Explanation
• Although caused by nature, the role of humans greatly affects the
impacts of disasters. Disaster occurs when a hazard targets vulnerable
people. That is, when hazard, vulnerability, and lack of capacity
interplay which lead to increased risks (Figure 1). Disasters are in fact
the convergence of hazards and vulnerabilities. In brief, hazards
pertain to a dangerous phenomenon that may cause loss of lives and
negatively affect social, economic, and environmental concerns.
Meanwhile, vulnerability is the level of susceptibility of a community
to such hazards.
 Disaster Risk
• According to United Nations International Strategy on
Disaster Reduction (ISDR), disaster risk is the potential loss in
lives, health status, livelihoods, and various assets which are
often challenging to qualify.
• Disaster risks can be categorized as either intensive or
extensive.
 Disaster Risk
• Intensive risks involve the exposure of large number of
people in a specific geographical area to extreme events that
can further lead to catastrophic disaster impacts involving
high mortality rate and asset loss.
• Extensive risks is concerned more on the exposure of
dispersed populations to various hazards of low or moderate
intensity.
 Disaster Risk
• Disasters can be considered as “acute” or “slow” at their
onset.
– Natural disasters with acute onset include events such as
earthquake, flood, hurricane or typhoon, tornado, fire,
tsunami or storm surge, avalanche, volcanic eruption,
extreme cold or blizzard, and heat wave.
– Disasters with a slow or gradual onset include drought,
famine, desertification, deforestation, and pest infestation.
 Disaster and Human Populations
• In the past decade, the Philippines, along with China, US, India, and
Indonesia were among the top five countries that are mostly
frequently hit by natural disasters.
• For instance, China in
2012 experienced 13
floods and landslides, 8
storms, 7 earthquakes,
and a period of extreme
temperature.

• A total of 357 natural disasters were recorded in 2012, which was less than
the 394 average number of annual from 2002 to 2011. They account to
9655 people killed with an annual average of 107 000 and 124.5 million
victims worldwide.
• The strongest earthquake to hit Haiti
since 1770 happened in January 12,
2010. The epicenter of the
earthquake was located southwest of
Port Au Prince. The recorded
strength of the main shock was 7.0
magnitude.

• The deadliest hurricane to hit the

Gulf Coast in 2005 was ranked as
the sixth strongest overall to hit
the US. Property damages of US
$81 billion.
 Hazards
• Natural hazards are phenomena that may cause severe death
roll, damage property, environment, and socio-economic
condition of communities.
• Human-induced hazards is the kind of hazard sprouts from
technological or industrial conditions which include
infrastructure failures or specific human activities.
 Natural Hazards

Coronavirus Earthquake
 Natural Hazards

Volcanic eruption

Landslide
 Natural Hazards

Water spout

Tornado
 Human-induced Hazards

Chemical spills
Accident
 Different Types of Natural Hazards
(depending on their precursors)

• Biological hazard. This is directly to an organic origin caused

by exposure of living organisms to toxic substances and
microorganisms that cause sickness.
• Geological hazard. Events that originated in solid ground
count as major precursor.
• Hydrometeorological hazard. This hazard involves
phenomena that are of atmospheric, hydrological or
oceanographic nature.
 Exposure
• Exposure is another concept in disaster risk. This is refers to
people and properties that are affected by hazards.
• Exposure can be measured by the number of people or types
of assets in an area.
• Magnitude of exposure varies depending on location and
interaction of elements.
 Sensitivity
• The concept of sensitivity is also prevalent when we talk
about disaster risk.
• This is the degree to which a certain community can be
affected by hazards.
For instance:
A community dependent on rain-fed agriculture is more sensitive to
rainfall pattern changes than a community where mining is the
primary source of income.
 Adaptive capacity
• When we say capacity, it is the combination of all the assets
present in a community. These assets can be the resources
available within the community which may include infrastructure
and physical means.
• Capacity is also sometimes referred to as capability.
• From this, we can define adaptive capacity as the ability of an
individual or a community to withstand and adapt to continuous
environmental changes.
Susceptibility Helplessness
Weakness

Absence of protection Defenselessness

Vulnerability

The quality or state of being exposed possibility of being

attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally.
(Oxford Lexico)
 I am
VULNERABLE
to
???
 Vulnerability
• The concept of vulnerability explains how people and the
differences among them contribute to the situation or
context wherein they operate.

• Vulnerability comes in many types, namely: social,

psychological, and physical vulnerabilities.
 Vulnerability
• Social vulnerability, situations such as lack of inclusion of
women in decision-making make lead to more vulnerable
communities.
• Psychological vulnerability pertains to the trauma of loss
that may translate to an unhealthy condition.
• Physical vulnerability includes physical assets such as money
and houses.
Example of social vulnerability
 Vulnerability
• Vulnerability can be seen in various ways:

▪ Economic factors associated with levels of savings, debt,

and availability of credit and insurance;
▪ Physical vulnerabilities including geographical location and
infrastructures; and
▪ Social vulnerabilities such as education, peace and order,
good governance, health and nutrition, and religion, and
culture, among others.
 Impacts of disasters
• The impact of disasters can be identified as direct, indirect, and
intangible losses on environmental and society as a whole.
• Direct losses include physical effects such as destruction and
changes that reduce the functionality of an individual or
structure.
• Indirect losses affect society by disrupting or damaging utility
services and local business.
• Intangible losses include psychological challenges caused by both
direct and intangible losses that individuals suffer from a disaster.
 Social Impacts
• The primary damage of disasters could be the destruction of
buildings and infrastructures.
• Housing. The destruction of houses which may be brought by
floods and earthquakes can lead to homelessness.
• Health. Health care infrastructures in most parts of the
developing world are vulnerable to hazards because of poor
facilities.
• Education. In the Phil., school facilities often serve as
evacuation and relief centers when a disaster strikes.
 Economic Impacts
• Several experts say that the basic structure of the economy is
a major determining factor on the degree of vulnerability to
hazards.
• Natural disasters tend to have stronger impact on countries
with major debt and poverty problems.
• Essentially, an area that operates industrial and high-income
economy tends to have greater economic impact than those
that have fewer assets.
 Environmental Impacts
• Disasters create substantial environmental degradation and
ecological imbalance which lessens the quality of people’s
lives.
• Trees can be uprooted due to typhoons, hurricanes, and
strong winds, and there could be forest fires when lightning
hits a dry land.
• Natural disasters are by definition degrading to society.
However, disasters can also be beneficial in an ecological
sense.
 Formative test
Quick Check:
1. What makes communities vulnerable to disasters?
2. In your own opinion, how can people help reduce the
impact and damages brought by disasters to communities?
3. How can communities increase their capacity to adapt to
environmental changes and disasters?
4. How can disasters be beneficial in an ecological sense?
5. What makes the Philippines very vulnerable to natural
disasters?
 Asynchronous Activity

Give an example of a disaster happened in the Philippines.

Search for the information about that phenomenon.

Send your answer via Google Classroom.