Disaster

Readiness
and Risk
Reduction
Lesson 2- Exposure and Vulnerability
Introduction
The severity of the impacts of disasters and other extreme weather
and climate events depends strongly on the level of vulnerability and
exposure to these events. Trends in vulnerability and exposure are major
drivers of changes in disaster risk and of impacts when risk is realized.
Understanding the multi-faceted nature of vulnerability and exposure is a
prerequisite for determining how natural hazards and climate events
contribute to the occurrence of disasters, and for designing and
implementing effective adaptation and disaster risk management
strategies.
What Is Vulnerability?

Vulnerability is defined as "the characteristics and circumstances of a

community, system or asset that make it susceptible to the damaging effects
of a hazard". As indicated by United Nations International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction (UNISDR), "there are many aspects of vulnerability arising from
various physical, social, economic, and environmental factors. Examples may
include poor design and construction of buildings, inadequate protection of
assets, lack of public information and awareness, limited official recognition of
risks and preparedness measures, and disregard for wise environmental
management.
Reasons Why Certain Sectors of Society are More
Vulnerable to Disaster than Others

Vulnerability can be seen as the result of a process in which

various different things cause a population to be more vulnerable.
These can be split into demographic and socio-economic. They can
also be discussed through the level of community preparedness and
the ability of a community to manage the after effects of a hazard
event.
1. Demographic Factors
• Population density - The more dense the population, the more efficient a response
should be, considering the number of people that might be affected by a disaster.

• Age of population - Very old and very young populations are less mobile and able
to respond to hazard events well. This makes them more vulnerable compared to
others, and this requires more attention from the government and other support
agencies especially during emergency evacuation or relocation.

• Distribution of population - regardless of density, populations may be distributed

differently within the hazard area, e.g. elderly people on lower floors of apartment
buildings, or concentrations of highly vulnerable people in poorer areas of a city.
This must be seriously considered in human settlement planning and relocation
activities of the government
2. Socio-economic Factors
• Wealth- Low income populations are less likely to be well prepared.

• Education- Education programs such as the Metro Manila Development Authority's

(MMDA) shake drill can instruct populations on how to deal with hazard events, like
the "Big One" the anticipated 7.8 magnitude earthquake that may strike Metro Manila
anytime. 

• Nature of society- In highly centralized government structures, efficient emergency

response may be the result of careful planning and training of personnel.

• Understanding of the area-  Recent migrants are likely to struggle to cope

with hazard effects compared to established population. 
3. Community Preparedness
• Building codes- Rigorous and applied building codes protect most buildings from collapse
during earthquakes. This should be seriously considered by the government in the issuance
of building permits and licenses for land development. 

• Scientific monitoring and early warning systems- Established monitoring system can
prepare people for the onslaught of any kind of disaster. 

• Communication networks- Countries with good quality and widespread communication

networks allow messages to be quickly shared. Communication plays a very important and
crucial role in times of disaster. 

• Emergency planning- Preparation is the key element of prevention. Preparation for a

disaster is embodied in an Emergency Plan. Where monitoring and communication are in
place, the emergency planning is likely to prepare a person or a group (family) for such
events and take action based on data, rather than prediction.
4. Dealing with the after-effects
• Insurance cover- Another important aspect of preparation is how to deal with the after
effects of a disaster. Disasters, like earthquakes and typhoons normally inflict damages to
life, property and even to environmental sources of living. Part of their preparation,
individuals purchase insurance policies to mitigate their losses, thus preparing them better
for similar future events.

• Emergency personnel-  These are trained for community preparedness The availability of
such personnel will vary depending on the time of day and location of the hazard event.
The Philippines, being a developing country and prone to different types of disaster should
take into consideration the training of more emergency personnel as part of disaster risk
mitigation, reduction and management.

• Aid request Outside help in the form of humanitarian aid is necessary during a disaster.
However, it should be fast and efficient. Inefficiency and mismanagement of aids, especially
foreign aids, will possibly result to further deaths and loss of property. 
Vulnerability to Specific Hazards
There are many aspects of vulnerability, arising from various physical, social,
economic, and environmental factors. Examples may include:

• poor design and construction of buildings and other infrastructures

• inadequate protection measures of assets;

• lack of public information and awareness

• limited official recognition of risks and preparedness measures, and

• disregard for wise environmental management. (ADPC, 2012)

According to the UNISDR, there are four (4) main types of
Vulnerability:

1. Physical vulnerability may be determined by aspects such as population density levels,

remoteness of a settlement, the site, design and materials used for critical infrastructure and
for housing United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR).

2. Social vulnerability refers to the inability of people, organizations and societies to withstand
adverse impacts to hazards due to characteristics inherent in social interactions, institutions
and systems of cultural values.

3. Economic vulnerability- The level of vulnerability is highly dependent upon the economic
status of individuals, communities and nations. The poor are usually more vulnerable to
disasters because they lack resources to build sturdy structures and put other engineering
measure in place to protect themselves from being negatively impacted by disasters. The
same people are the least prepared due to lack of access to education and information.
4. Environmental vulnerability. Natural resource depletion and resource degradation are key
aspects of environmental vulnerability. This is one aspect that both communities and
government must be sensitive about. Mitigation measures like reforestation and natural
resource protection and conservation must be undertaken to reduce natural disaster risk and
Vulnerability.
 Risk Factors
Risk signifies the possibility of adverse effects in the future. It is derived from the interaction of
social and environmental processes, from the combination of physical hazards and the
vulnerabilities of exposed elements. The following is a discussion of the three factors of risk
presented in a Triagram*
Philippine Exposure and Vulnerabilities to Natural Disasters

According to a report, eight of 10 world cities most exposed to natural hazards are
in the Philippines and more than half of the 100 cities most exposed to earthquakes,
storms and other disasters are in four Asian nations, according to a research.
(Philippine Star, 2014)

The study, published by risk analysis firm Verisk Maplecroft, analyzed the threat posed by
storms, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, volcanoes and landslides in mare than 1,300
cities.
The study found that the 10 cities most at risk are Port Vila in Vanuatu followed by
Tuguegarao in Cagayan, Lucena in Quezon province, (4) Manila, (5) San Fernando in
Pampanga, (6) Cabanatuan in Nueva Ecija, (7) Batangas, (8) Taipei, (9) San Carlos
Pangasinan (10) Naga in Bicol Region. The study also found that of the 100 Cities with the
greatest exposure to natural hazards 21 are in the Philippines, 16 in China, 11 in Japan and 8 in
Bangtadesh.
Philippine Vulnerabilities to Natural Disasters

The following bullet statements explain why the Philippines is vulnerable to natural disasters
specifically from the effects of Climate Change (Climate Change Primer Manuscript, 2014)
• The Philippines lies in the Pacific typhoon belt and we are visited by an average of 20 typhoons
every year
• The rugged nature of our landscape makes our communities very vulnerable to landslides,
mudflows and other disasters.
• The Philippines is an archipelagic country with many small islands
• Many of our areas are also at or below sea level, and this makes us vulnerable to flooding and
worst, inundation with rise in sea level
• With one of the longest coastlines in the world at 32,400 kilometers, we have many areas that are
vulnerable to storm surges.
• The Philippines is still a primarily agricultural and fishing economy. Disruptions in agricultural and
fishery production and destruction of our ecosystems will have devastating effects on our economy
and food security.
• Natural hazard risk is compounded in the Philippines by poor institutional and societal capacity to
manage, respond and recover from natural hazard events.
• The Philippines is considered "high risk' in terms of the country's ability to manage and mitigate the
impacts of natural hazard and in part due to "entrenched corruption and high levels of poverty
(Rappler, 2014)
• Aside from being at risk to typhoons, the Philippines is also at risk to volcanic eruptions (we have
active volcanoes), quakes (several faultlines were identified) and floods (we have denuded
mountains).
Assessment Task:

1. Explain what vulnerability means.

2. Explain why certain sectors of society are more vulnerable to disaster than
others.

3. Conduct a simple research about Guadalupe Bridge in Edsa, Makati. Analyze

and explain why it is more vulnerable to earthquake as compared to other bridges
in Metro Manila.