This chapter discusses key concepts related to vulnerability and risk from natural hazards. It defines exposure as the elements at risk from hazards, such as people, buildings and infrastructure. Vulnerability is defined as the susceptibility of exposure to harm from hazards, which can be physical, social, economic or environmental. Certain sectors of society are more vulnerable due to demographic factors like age, socioeconomic factors like wealth and education, and lack of community preparedness. The chapter outlines different types of vulnerability in more detail and provides examples to illustrate each type. It concludes with learning outcomes related to identifying elements of exposure, defining vulnerability, and analyzing why some sectors and structures are more at risk.

1. CHAPTER 2

2. Learnin
g
Outcom
es
1. Enumerate elements exposed to hazards
2. Explain the meaning of vulnerability
3. Explain why certain sectors of society are
more vulnerable to disaster than others
4. Analyse why certain structures are more
vulnerable to specific hazards than others

3. The severity of the
impacts of disasters
and other extreme
weather and climate
events depends
strongly on the level
of vulnerability and
exposure to these

4. WHAT IS
EXPOSURE?
refers to the
‘elements at risk’
from a natural or
man-made hazard
event. Element at
risk include the

5. ELEMENT
S
EXPOSED
TO
HAZARD
 Human beings;
 Dwellings or households and
communities;
 Buildings and structures;
 Public facilities and
infrastructure assets;
 Public and transport system;
 Agricultural commodities;
and

6. WHAT IS
VULNERABILITY?defined as “the
characteristics and
circumstances of a
community, system, or
asset that make it
susceptible to the

7. REASONS
WHY CERTAIN
SECTORS OF
SOCIETY ARE
MORE
VULNERABLE
TO DISASTER
THAN OTHERS
1. Demographic factors
2. Socio-economic factors
3. Community
preparedness
4. Dealing with the after-
effects

8. 1. DEMOGRAPHIC
FACTORS
a. Population density – the denser the population, the
more efficient a response should be (e.g. densely
populated cities like Manila and Quezon City
require some amount of education on disaster
preparedness, government support, and relief
operations in the event of a disaster)
b. Age of population – very old and very young
populations are less mobile and able to hazard
events well
c. Distribution of population – regardless of density,
populations may be distributed differently within

9. 2. SOCIO-ECONOMIC
FACTORSa. Wealth – low income populations are most likely to be
well prepared
b. Education – education program such as the Metro Manila
Development Authority’s (MMDA) shake drill can instruct
people on how to deal with hazard events. They are
encouraging schools to make this preventive action part of
their regular activities, at least once every quarter.
c. Nature of society – in highly centralized government
structures, efficient emergency response may be the result
of careful planning and training of personnel.
d. Understanding of the area – recent migrants are likely to

10. 3. COMMUNITY
PREPAREDNESSa. Building codes – rigorous and applied building
codes protect most buildings from collapse during
during earthquakes
b. Scientific monitoring and early warning
systems – established monitoring system can
prepare people for the onslaught of any kind of
disaster.
c. Communication networks – countries with good
quality and widespread communication networks
networks allow messages to be quickly shared.
d. Emergency planning – preparation is the key

11. 4. DEALING WITH THE
AFTER-EFFECTSa. Insurance cover – part of the preparation,
individuals purchase insurance policies to
mitigate their losses, thus preparing them better
better for similar future events.
b. Emergency personnel – the Philippines, being
a developing country and prone to different types
types of disaster should take into consideration
consideration the training of more emergency
personnel as part of disaster risk mitigation,
reduction and management.
c. Aid request – inefficiency and
mismanagement of aids, especially foreign aids

12. FOUR
MAIN TYPES
OF
VULNERABILIT
Y
1. Physical
Vulnerability
2. Social
Vulnerability
3. Economic
Vulnerability
4. Environmenta
l Vulnerability

13. 1. PHYSICAL
VULNERABILITY- May be determined by aspects such as
population density levels, remoteness of a
settlement, the site, design and materials
used for critical infrastructure and for
housing United Nations International
Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR).
Example: Wooden homes are less likely
to collapse in an earthquake but are
more vulnerable to fire. Houses built
with light materials may not be a

14. 2. SOCIAL
VULNERABILITY
- refers to the inability of people, organizations and societies
to withstand adverse impacts to hazards due to
characteristics inherent in social interactions, institutions,
and systems of cultural values. It includes aspects related to
levels of literacy and education, the existence of peace and
security, access to basic human rights, systems of good
governance, social equity, positive traditional values, customs
and ideological beliefs and overall collective organizational
systems (UNISDR).
Example: When flooding occurs some citizens, such as
children, elderly and persons with disability (PWD’s), may be
unable to protect themselves or evacuate if necessary.
Educated and well-informed are more likely to survive when
disaster strikes. There would be lesser casualty in

15. 3. ECONOMIC
VULNERABILITY
- the level of vulnerability is highly dependent upon the
economic status of individuals, communities, and nations.
The poor are usually more vulnerable to disasters because
they lack the resources to build sturdy structures and put
other engineering measures in place to protect themselves
from being negatively impacted by disasters. The same
people are the least prepared due to lack of access to
education and information.
Example: Poorer families may live in squatter
settlements because they cannot afford to live in safer
(more expensive) areas. In Metro Manila the so-called
“urban poor” build their shanties or improvised houses

16. 4. ENVIRONMENTAL
VULNERABILITY- natural resource depletion and resource degradation are
key of aspects of environmental vulnerability. This is one
aspect that both communities and government must be
sensitive about. Mitigation measures like reforestation
and natural resource protection and conservation must be
undertaken to reduce natural risk and vulnerability.
Example: Wetlands, such as Agusan Marsh, are
sensitive to increasing salinity from sea water, and
pollution from storm water runoff containing
agricultural chemicals, eroded soils, etc.
Deforestation of mountains due to illegal logging is

17. ASSESSMENT:
1. Enumerate the different elements exposed to
hazards
2. Explain what vulnerability means
3. Explain why certain sectors of society are
more vulnerable to disaster than others

18. A. Conduct a simple research about
Guadalupe Bridge in EDSA, Makati.
Analyse and explain why it is more
vulnerable to earthquake as compared to
other bridges in Metro Manila
B. Interpret the diagram below;
OUTPUT:
RISK
Exposu
re

19. END OF
CHAPTER 2