Natural and Conflict Related Hazards in Asia-Pacific: Risk assessment and mitigation measures for natural and conflict related hazards in Asia Pacific

Natural hazards, driven by geological and hydrological processes, affect many countries in Asia because of their geographical setting. According to a recent publication by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) in Bangkok, loss of life from natural hazards in Asia amounted to two-thirds of the total global mortality due to natural hazards in the period 1980-2000. Just in the past five years, the region has experiences two catastrophic tsunamis (December 2004 and July 2006), two catastrophic earthquakes (Pakistan in October 2005 and Sichuan, China in May 2008) and several catastrophic typhoons (e.g. typhoon Nargis in May 2008). In addition to the risk posed by natural hazards, many of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region are exposed to the risk of civil conflict. New data from International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO) show that Asian countries accounted for 1/3 of all battle-related casualties during the past 25 years. Almost half of the on-going armed intrastate conflicts in the world today are fought in the Asia Pacific region. While the rest of the world has been experiencing a decline in the number of civil conflicts since the early 1990s, little discernable trend is evident in the Asia Pacific. This report presents the results of a study that aimed to quantify the risk posed by earthquake, flood (and storm surge), landslide, cyclone and tropical storm, tsunami, drought, and social unrest in form of intrastate armed conflict in the Asia-Pacific countries. The study was commissioned by the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok; and financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs