Disaster Risk Reduction and Hazard Analysis
Disaster risk reduction (DRR) rests on the relationship Risk = Hazard × Exposure × Vulnerability ÷ Capacity. Candidates must be able to separate these components: a hazard is a potentially damaging physical event (flood, earthquake, cyclone), exposure is who and what is in harm's way, vulnerability is the propensity to be harmed (physical, social, economic, environmental), and capacity is the resources that reduce risk. Hazard analysis includes hazard identification, frequency–magnitude analysis, return periods, and intensity–duration thresholds; risk analysis adds likelihood and consequence. Know the progression from hazard → risk assessment → risk reduction measures, and distinguish structural (embankments, retrofitting, drainage) from non-structural (land-use planning, building codes, early warning, insurance) measures. Familiarity with the Sendai Framework's four priorities and its shift from disaster management to disaster risk management is essential.
Common traps: confusing hazard with disaster (a hazard only becomes a disaster when it intersects vulnerability and overwhelms capacity); treating exposure as identical to vulnerability; assuming a low-probability hazard is low-risk when consequences are catastrophic; mislabeling mitigation as preparedness.
Rule of thumb: If a question asks what reduces risk before an event by changing the physical or planning environment, it is mitigation/DRR; if it asks about readiness to respond, it is preparedness. When a scenario names a community with high exposure but strong capacity, the correct answer usually stresses residual vulnerability rather than declaring the risk zero. Always ask which term in the equation the intervention is actually changing.