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172Natural and human-made disastersTable 7.4Selected recenthuman-made disastersaffecting humansettlements(1984–2006)Note: Transport disasters andtraffic accidents are included.Year Location/area Country Hazard Mortality Comment2006 Lagos Nigeria Explosion in an oil pipeline 2002005 Jilin China Explosion in a chemical plant >10,000 people evacuated; an 80kmlong toxic slick resulted2001 Toulouse France Explosion in a 31 650 seriously injuredfertilizer factory1999 New Jalpaiguri India Two trains collide >2001995 Seoul South Korea Department store collapsed 421 >900 injured1994 Baltic Sea Estonia Sinking of ferry 859 Worst post-war Europeanmaritime disaster1993 Bangkok Thailand Fire 188 500 seriously injured; most casualtieswere women1986 Chernobyl Russia Nuclear power plant 56 Evacuation and resettlement ofexplosion336,000 people; continental radiationimpact1984 Bhopal India Accidental release of toxic gases >15,000 Up to 60,000 injuriesSince 1975, therehas been a fourfoldincrease in thenumber of recordednatural disastersgloballyFigure 7.2Global distribution ofhighest risk disasterhotspots indicated bymortality (1980–2001) 10Source: Dilley et al, 2005INCIDENCE OF NATURALAND HUMAN-MADEDISASTERSThis section reviews available data in order to assess thedistribution of disaster risk, which unfolds at a range ofscales, from the global to the local. The lack of data onvulnerability, hazard and disaster loss at the city level meanssome inference from national data is required. The first levelof analysis is at the global scale, followed by a comparison ofdisaster loss by levels of national development. Differencesin city-level risk profiles are then analysed.The global incidence of disaster risk and lossSince 1975, there has been a fourfold increase in thenumber of recorded natural disasters globally. Each of thethree years with the highest number of recorded disastershas been during the current decade, with 801 disasters in2000, 786 in 2002 and 744 in 2005. 8 While all continentsnow report more natural disaster events, on average, the rateof increase has been highest for Africa, where a threefoldincrease in natural disaster events has been experienced inthe last decade alone. 9 Human-made disasters have seen atenfold increase from 1975 to 2006, with the greatest ratesof increase in Asia and Africa.An outline of recent natural and human-made disasterincidents that have affected human settlements globally goessome way to indicate their destructive powers (see Tables7.3 and 7.4). This is by no means a complete list; but, rather,attempts to indicate the scale of loss and diversity in hazardand settlement types that will be examined in detail throughoutthis Global Report. The best documented are large-scalenatural disasters. The great diversity in types of hazards anddisaster impacts across various human settlements isevident.■ Natural disastersA global geography of natural disaster risk based on exposedpopulations and past losses (1980 to 2001) illustrates thatboth predominantly rural and urban world regions are at risk