INCREASING GEOHAZARD AWARENESS AND REDUCING RISK IN SOUTH ASIA VIA CROSS-BORDER INITIATIVES (Invited Presentation)

Natural hazard events strike rich and poor countries alike. However, analyses of data from EM-DAT, an international disaster database, show that consequences of these events are quite different. From 1996 to 2015, inhabitants of poor countries suffered more than five times the number of disaster deaths per 100,000 people than did those in wealthier countries (CRED, UNISDR). Unsafe buildings and inadequate infrastructure, more prevalent in low-income countries, play a large role in the disparity. Barriers to change may include a lack of hazard and vulnerability awareness, a paucity of acceptable solutions, and weak governance. Working together, local and international professionals can bring fresh perspectives to these challenges. They can define and describe vulnerability to local hazard threats in ways that are meaningful to the local community. And from that, devise culturally appropriate solutions to improve safety. Local champions and local ownership improves capacity and community resilience. GeoHazards International presents two case studies of multidisciplinary programs designed to reduce earthquake and landslide risk in South Asia.