Mapping Disastrous Natural Hazards Using Global Datasets

The increased interest for categorising countries at risk calls for an improved methodology allowing comparison of natural hazard impacts at a global level. A disaster is the intersection between a hazardous event, the elements at risk (population, infrastructures) and their vulnerability. In order to associate reported impacts with affected elements and socio-economic or geophysical contextual parameters, geographical location and extent of hazards is needed. The scope of this paper is to present improved automated procedures for a rapid mapping of large disastrous hazard events (floods, earthquakes, cyclones and volcanoes) using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and available global datasets. Up to 82% of the events and 88% of the reported victims could be geo-referenced and the results highlight both the potentialities and limitations of the methods applied.