Global Report on Human Settlements 2007 - PoA-ISS

172
Natural and human-made disasters
Table 7.4
Selected recent
human-made disasters
affecting human
settlements
(1984–2006)
Note: Transport disasters and
traffic accidents are included.
Year Location/area Country Hazard Mortality Comment
2006 Lagos Nigeria Explosion in an oil pipeline 200
2005 Jilin China Explosion in a chemical plant >10,000 people evacuated; an 80km
long toxic slick resulted
2001 Toulouse France Explosion in a 31 650 seriously injured
fertilizer factory
1999 New Jalpaiguri India Two trains collide >200
1995 Seoul South Korea Department store collapsed 421 >900 injured
1994 Baltic Sea Estonia Sinking of ferry 859 Worst post-war European
maritime disaster
1993 Bangkok Thailand Fire 188 500 seriously injured; most casualties
were women
1986 Chernobyl Russia Nuclear power plant 56 Evacuation and resettlement of
explosion
336,000 people; continental radiation
impact
1984 Bhopal India Accidental release of toxic gases >15,000 Up to 60,000 injuries
Since 1975, there
has been a fourfold
increase in the
number of recorded
natural disasters
globally
Figure 7.2
<strong>Global</strong> distribution of
highest risk disaster
hotspots indicated by
mortality (1980–2001) 10
Source: Dilley et al, 2005
INCIDENCE OF NATURAL
AND HUMAN-MADE
DISASTERS
This section reviews available data in order to assess the
distribution of disaster risk, which unfolds at a range of
scales, from the global to the local. The lack of data on
vulnerability, hazard and disaster loss at the city level means
some inference from national data is required. The first level
of analysis is at the global scale, followed by a comparison of
disaster loss by levels of national development. Differences
in city-level risk profiles are then analysed.
The global incidence of disaster risk and loss
Since 1975, there has been a fourfold increase in the
number of recorded natural disasters globally. Each of the
three years with the highest number of recorded disasters
has been during the current decade, with 801 disasters in
2000, 786 in 2002 and 744 in 2005. 8 While all continents
now report more natural disaster events, on average, the rate
of increase has been highest for Africa, where a threefold
increase in natural disaster events has been experienced in
the last decade alone. 9 Human-made disasters have seen a
tenfold increase from 1975 to 2006, with the greatest rates
of increase in Asia and Africa.
An outline of recent natural and human-made disaster
incidents that have affected human settlements globally goes
some way to indicate their destructive powers (see Tables
7.3 and 7.4). This is by no means a complete list; but, rather,
attempts to indicate the scale of loss and diversity in hazard
and settlement types that will be examined in detail throughout
this <strong>Global</strong> <strong>Report</strong>. The best documented are large-scale
natural disasters. The great diversity in types of hazards and
disaster impacts across various human settlements is
evident.
■ Natural disasters
A global geography of natural disaster risk based on exposed
populations and past losses (1980 to 2001) illustrates that
both predominantly rural and urban world regions are at risk