Journal ArticleDOI
Seismic and volcanic hazards in Peru: changing attitudes to disaster mitigation
Martin Degg,David K. Chester +1 more
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In this article, the authors trace the development of this new understanding with reference to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in Peru, one of the most hazardous countries in South America, and highlight the need to build on this research to produce more inclusive, incultured and unified strategies of disaster mitigation at the local, national and international levels.Abstract:
Over the last 15 years there have been dramatic shifts in the consensus over how best to cope with natural hazards in economically developing regions such as South America. One very positive outcome of the United Nations sponsored International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR 1990–2000) has been that there is now greater interchange between the work of earth scientists examining the processes and mechanics of hazard occurrence and impact, and social scientists exploring the causes of human vulnerability to hazard – and thereby disaster. This paper traces the development of this new understanding with reference to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in Peru, one of the most hazardous countries in South America. Particular focus is placed on the excellent progress currently being made by scientists in better understanding the physical dimensions of natural hazard exposure, and the ground-breaking work by social scientists in promoting new approaches to understanding and mitigating human vulnerability to disaster. The paper concludes by emphasizing the need to build on this research to produce more inclusive, incultured and unified strategies of disaster mitigation at the local, national and international levels.read more
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Journal ArticleDOI
The Gendered Nature of Natural Disasters: The Impact of Catastrophic Events on the Gender Gap in Life Expectancy, 1981–2002
Eric Neumayer,Thomas Plümper +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of disaster strength and its interaction with the socioeconomic status of women on the change in the gender gap in life expectancy was analyzed in a sample of up to 141 countries over the period 1981 to 2002.
The Gendered Nature of Natural Disasters: The Impact of Catastrophic
Eric Neumayer,Thomas Plümper +1 more
Abstract: Abstract Natural disasters do not affect people equally. In fact, a vulnerability approach to disasters would suggest that inequalities in exposure and sensitivity to risk as well as inequalities in access to resources, capabilities, and opportunities systematically disadvantage certain groups of people, rendering them more vulnerable to the impact of natural disasters. In this article we address the specific vulnerability of girls and women with respect to mortality from natural disasters and their aftermath. Biological and physiological differences between the sexes are unlikely to explain large-scale gender differences in mortality rates. Social norms and role behaviors provide some further explanation, but what is likely to matter most is the everyday socioeconomic status of women. In a sample of up to 141 countries over the period 1981 to 2002 we analyze the effect of disaster strength and its interaction with the socioeconomic status of women on the change in the gender gap in life expectancy. We find, first, that natural disasters lower the life expectancy of women more than that of men. In other words, natural disasters (and their subsequent impact) on average kill more women than men or kill women at an earlier age than men. Since female life expectancy is generally higher than that of males, for most countries natural disasters narrow the gender gap in life expectancy. Second, the stronger the disaster (as approximated by the number of people killed relative to population size), the stronger this effect on the gender gap in life expectancy. That is, major calamities lead to more severe impacts on female life expectancy (relative to that of males) than do smaller disasters. Third, the higher women's socioeconomic status, the weaker is this effect on the gender gap in life expectancy. Taken together our results show that it is the socially constructed gender-specific vulnerability of females built into everyday socioeconomic patterns that lead to the relatively higher female disaster mortality rates compared to men.
Book ChapterDOI
Climate change: New dimensions in disaster risk, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience
Allan Lavell,Michael Oppenheimer,Cherif Diop,Jeremy J. Hess,Robert J. Lempert,Jianping Li,Robert Muir-Wood,Soojeong Myeong,Susanne C. Moser,Kuniyoshi Takeuchi,Omar D. Cardona,Stephane Hallegatte,Maria Carmen Lemos,Christopher M. Little,Alexander Lotsch,Elke Weber +15 more
TL;DR: Barke et al. as mentioned in this paper, 2010: Adaptation to climate change: A review of challenges and tradeoffs in six areas, including vulnerability, exposure, vulnerability, resilience, exposure and resilience.
Journal ArticleDOI
Post-disaster recovery dilemmas: challenges in balancing short-term and long-term needs for vulnerability reduction
TL;DR: In this paper, the impacts of the buffer zone policy from its inception, days after the 26 December 2004 tsunami hit the island, until its revision, approximately 10 months following the disaster.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
At Risk: Natural Hazards, People's Vulnerability, and Disasters.
TL;DR: The authors argue that the social, political and economic environment is as much a cause of disasters as the natural environment and that the concept of vulnerability is central to an understanding of disasters and their prevention or mitigation, exploring the extent and ways in which people gain access to resources.
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Identifying and mapping community vulnerability.
TL;DR: This article extends the argument using American demographic trends that certain categories of people, such as the poor, the elderly, women-headed households and recent residents, are at greater risk throughout the disaster response process.
Journal ArticleDOI
Rupture zones of large South American earthquakes and some predictions
TL;DR: In this article, the authors attempt to forecast likely locations for large shallow South American earthquakes in the near future by examining the past space-time pattern of occurrence of large (M ≥ 7.7) earthquakes, the lateral extent of their rupture zones, and, where possible, the direction of rupture propagation.
Journal ArticleDOI
Subduction of the Nazca Plate under Peru as evidenced by focal mechanisms and by seismicity
TL;DR: The focal mechanisms of 40 earthquakes in Peru and Ecuador, together with the seismicity of the region, indicate particular features of the subduction of the oceanic plate beneath this portion of South America.