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Disaster risk: Conditions, trends and impacts191Number of events Mortality People affected (thousands) Economic loss (US$million, 2005 value)Avalanches/landslides 112 5464 1579 1265Drought/famines 87 216,923 639,190 16,380Earthquakes/tsunamis 171 364,651 33,392 70,060Extreme temperatures 48 9854 895 3650Floods 472 42,570 1,255,118 129,055Volcanic eruptions 13 3 211 3Windstorms 340 31,900 289,215 62,449Industrial accidents 361 10,056 716 696Miscellaneous accidents 220 8401 172 14Table 7.11Disaster incidence andimpacts in Asia(1996–2005)Note: For all disaster types,small events with less than 10mortalities or 100 affectedpeople are not included.Source: EM-DAT, CREDdatabase, University ofLouvain, Belgium, www.emdat.netresilience to natural and human-made hazards, as was seenin the failed state response and recovery efforts duringHurricane Katrina in 2005. Technical capacity for disasterrisk reduction in the region is very high.South America is highly urbanized and predominantlymiddle income. There is large aggregate economic capacity,but also great socio-economic inequality in the cities of theregion. Financial and political instability have underminedresilience at all scales. Colombia is worst affected andsuffers from significant internal conflict. Despite this, thecountry has also demonstrated regional leadership in urbanplanning for risk reduction, saving lives from landslide andearthquake hazards, in particular. Technical capacity is highand, in some countries, this is matched by strong civilsociety action to build physical and social resilience. Wherethere is state capacity, industrial hazard is containedthrough regulation. Earthquake, flood, drought, fire,windstorm and temperature shock are the most importantnatural hazards for this region.Central America and the Caribbean comprise thepoorest sub-region in the Americas. Urbanization levels arehigh and cities are characterized by high levels of povertyand inequality. Past political tensions have made for strainedcivil society–state relations; but there is capacity forcoordinated top-down and bottom-up risk reduction.Industrialization is high, with potential for industrial hazard,but is spatially disbursed. Resilience comes from a strongregional level of governance, which reinforces state capacityfor early warning and response capacity. Earthquakes, hurricanesand flooding are the primary hazards for this region.AsiaAsia is the most disaster-prone region. The incidence ofdisasters associated with avalanches or landslides, earthquakesor tsunamis, floods, windstorms and industrialaccidents is higher than for any other region. The highdensity population means that mortality is highest in thisregion for all disaster types, with the exception of volcaniceruptions. The number of people affected is also highest inthis region, with the exception of volcanic eruptions andextreme temperatures (where more people in the Americasare affected). Economic loss is similarly the highest in thisregion for all disasters, except for extreme temperatures,volcanic eruptions, industrial accidents (Europe has thehighest) and miscellaneous accidents (the Americas have thehighest).Table 7.11 shows the diversity of incidence and impactswithin the region. Flooding is the most frequent naturalhazard affecting the largest number of people and causing thegreatest economic losses. Earthquakes and tsunamis cause thegreatest mortality, with the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunamiaccounting for around 230,000 deaths. 104 Human-made disastersare also high in their incidence and human impact.The region’s high economic and population growthrates make it set to be a major net contributor to globalenvironmental change. Inequality in the region means thatthis is also a region at high risk from the local impacts ofglobal environmental change.Southeast Asia, from China to Indonesia, is middleincome, with high levels of urbanization and urban growthrates. This region contains many countries with the highestlevels of exposure to natural and industrial hazards, but alsowith great experience of risk management. Capacity forbuilding resilience is limited by governance, with tensionsbetween civil society and state actors found across theregion. Political tensions, weaknesses in governance,economic inequality and rising levels of chronic illness arethe chief barriers to resilience.South Asia covers the Indian subcontinent and is amiddle- to low-income sub-region. Urbanization is variable,with many large cities and megacities, but also with substantialnumbers of intermediate and small settlements. With theexception of Afghanistan, strong states with good administrativecapacity have led disaster management. During recentyears, civil society has gained in strength, and in India, inparticular, partnerships with the state have built resilience.Political tensions in the region and within countriesconstrain risk reduction capacity.West and Central Asia includes middle-income states,from Turkey to Uzbekistan and Iran, as well as high-incomeoil-producing Gulf states. Urbanization and industrializationlevels are high. The region is characterized by strong statesand weak civil societies. A consequence of this is that riskreduction has tended to be delivered in a top-down mannerand is dominated by engineering solutions. There is limitedscope for bottom-up initiatives that seek to reduce riskthrough the building of social and economic capacity.Questions of governance constrain the extent to which topdownrisk reduction policies have been effective in reachingthe poorest and most marginalized populations with thehighest levels of vulnerability. Regulation of industrialstandards is similarly weakened, increasing risk from industrialhazard.Asia is the mostdisaster-proneregion