Disaster Vulnerability: Outer Concept versus Inner Condition

There are signs of a small shift of emphasis, amongst some agencies, from a total concern for disaster relief towards policy inclusions for the instigation of measures for disaster preparedness; the paramount distinction, however, between relief as an external operation mobilized by outsiders in response to internationally significant events, and preparedness measures initiated or undertaken by indigenous authorities for all hazards regardless of magnitude, but of local significance, has yet to be generally understood.