GG231 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake And Tsunami, United States Geological Survey, Lionsolver
Document Summary
Hazard is the probability that a specific damaging event will happen within a particular period of time. Risk is commonly a subject of social sciences because it is rooted not only in hazard but in vulnerability and coping capacity. Definitions of risk are legion, risk can be expressed by the following function: hazard, exposure, vulnerability, coping capacity. Vulnerability is the susceptibility of people and property to a hazardous event and is commonly thought of as having technological and human dimensions. Coping capacity is the ability of a population to respond to and reduce the negative effects of a hazardous event. Exposure is the overlap in space and time of a hazardous process and infrastructure or population. Disasters may be regional or even national in scope, whereas catastrophes commonly have consequences far beyond the area that is directly affected and require huge expenditures of time and money for recovery.
