On the historical account of disastrous landslides in Mexico: the challenge of risk management and disaster prevention

International audienceLandslides disasters in Mexico caused more than 3500 deaths between 1935 and 2006. Such disasters have been mainly associated to intense precipitation events derived from hurricanes, tropical storms and their interactions with cold fronts, although earthquake triggered landslides have also occurred to a lesser extent. The impact of landsliding in Mexico is basically determined by the geomorphic features of mountain ranges and dissected plateaus inhabited by vulnerable communities. The present contribution provides a comprehensive temporal assessment of historical landslide disasters in Mexico. Moreover, it aims at exploring the future directions of risk management and disaster prevention, in order to reduce the impact of landslides on populations as a result of climatic change, urban sprawl, land use change and social vulnerability

Vulnerability to natural disasters in Serbia: spatial and temporal comparison

The frequency of natural disasters and the extent of their consequences at a global level are constantly increasing. This trend is partially caused by increased population vulnerability, which implies the degree of population vulnerability due to high magnitude natural processes. This paper presents an analysis of vulnerability to natural disaster in Serbia in the second half of the twentieth and the early twenty-first century. Vulnerability changes were traced on the basis of demographic–economic indicators derived from statistical data for local government units (municipalities) provided by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. Calculations were performed in the geographical information system environment. The results of the study show that spatial and temporal vulnerability variations are causally correlated with changes in the selected components. Significant rise of vulnerability is related to urban areas, while lower values are characteristic for other areas of Serbia; this is primarily a consequence of different population density