ASIA - PACIFIC
The destruction of Avarua on Raratonga in the Cook Islands by Cyclon Sally in January 1987 was a rare reminder of an infrequent hazard. With only twenty-two cyclones in the Cook since 1841, they are clearly not an everyday experience there. Through tiny islands may be missed even by massive cyclones, they can be totally wrecked when they are in the path of quite small ones.
Culture as shared, learned and transmitted body of knowledge, beliefs and practices plays a very important role in our (here by ‘our’ I mean all the stakeholders in a situation of disaster) perception, understanding and activities undertaken to mitigate, manage and face the disaster. In the very idea of culture is enshrined the notion of social group as culture is a product of the society, the...
In late 2007, climate change receive extensive international prominence with the Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change (IPCP) and former US Vice President Al Gore being aware the Nobel Prize for their climate change work. This award focusing exclusively only on climate change, obscured the tireless research and practice of many other dedicated to linking climate change, other climate topics...
Hussaini Village is situated in Hunza valley, 145 km North of Gilgit and 45 km from Ali Abad in Central Hunza. Hunza River flows in to the east while the Karakoram Highway (KKH) passes to its west.Hussaini Village is situated on 74°52'23.42" East longitude and 36°25'29.14" North latitude at an altitude of 2556 meters (Source-GPS) above sea level. The old main village is on...
This study focuses on the adjustment of two lowland ethnic groups of the Philippines, i.e. the Kapampangans and the Ilokanos, to the resettlement program set up in the aftermath of the 1991 Mt Pinatubo eruption and lingering lahars. Victims from both ethnic groups challenged the layout of the resettlement site and the design of the houses. However, the Kapampangans maintained strong links with...
The 26 December 2004 earthquake and tsunami unfairly hit the different ethnic groups of Aceh, Indonesia. About 170,000 Acehnese and Minangkabau people died in the Northern tip of Sumatra while only 44 Simeulue people passed away in the neighbouring Simeulue island located near the earthquake epicentre. Such a difference in the death toll does not lie in the nature of the hazard but in...
Purpose – This article sets out to address the response of traditional societies in facing natural hazards through the lens of the concept of resilience.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper considers that resilient societies are those able to overcome the damage caused by the occurrence of natural hazards, either through maintaining their pre-disaster social fabric, or through...
This article explores the response of traditional societies in the face of natural hazards through the lens of the concept of resilience. Resilient societies are those able to overcome the damages brought by the occurrence of natural hazards, either through maintaining their pre-disaster social fabric, or through accepting marginal or larger change in order to survive. Citing the case of the...
The literature on people's response to volcanic hazards tends to be split between two paradigms. The first argues that the choice of adjustment depends on how people perceive rare and extreme volcanic phenomena and the associated risk. The second considers that people's behavior in the face of natural hazards is constrained by social, economic and political forces beyond their...
The presentation slides describe natural risks in Lower Gojal, Hunza, Pakistan. The region is affected by many disasters such as glaciers advancement, GLOFs and erosion. People are working on daily basis to channelize the glaciers to reduce its impact.
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