This document provides an overview of disaster management concepts taught in a course at Jahangirnagar University in Bangladesh. It defines key terms like hazard, disaster, risk, vulnerability and resilience. It describes major historical disasters like the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh. The document also outlines the four phases of modern disaster management: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. It traces the history and evolution of disaster management from ancient civilizations to modern global frameworks and initiatives.

1. C O U R S E T E A C H E R :
MOHAMMAD SAJEDUR RAHMAN
A S S O C I AT E P R O F E S S O R
D E PA R T M E N T O F G O V E R N M E N T & P O L I T I C S
J A H A N G I R N A G A R U N I V E R S I T Y, S AVA R , D H A K A
C O N T R A C T: 0 1 7 3 3 2 4 8 3 3 4
Course tittle:
Disaster Management
(MGDS 702)

2. COVID-19 pandemic
 The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus
pandemic, is an ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease
2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome
coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
 It was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China.
 The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a Public
Health Emergency of International Concern in January 2020 and a
pandemic in March 2020.
 .

5. GDP growth in Bangladesh

6. SOME MAJOR
DISASTERS
IN THE HISTORY
Disasters & Management

7. 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

8. 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

9. 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
 11 March 2011 earthquake and tsunami of Japan was the most powerful
earthquake ever recorded to have hit Japan………… and ….the fourth most
powerful earthquake in the world since modern record-keeping began in 1900.
 On 10 March 2015, a Japanese National Police Agency report
15,894 deaths, 6,152 injured, and 2,562 people missing across twenty regions,
228,863 people living away from their home in either temporary housing or due
to permanent relocation.
 A 10 February 2014 agency report listed…..
 127,290 buildings totally collapsed,
 272,788 buildings "half collapsed",
 747,989 buildings partially damaged.

10. April 2015 Nepal earthquake

11. April 2015 Nepal earthquake
 The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the
Gorkha earthquake) killed more than 8,000 people and
injured more than 21,000.
 It occurred at 11:56 Nepal Standard Time on 25
April,2015 with a magnitude of 7.8.
 Hundreds of thousands of people were made homeless
and many centuries-old buildings were destroyed at
UNESCO World Heritage sites in the Kathmandu Valley.

12. 2013 Rana Plaza Building Collapse

13. 2013 Rana Plaza Building Collapse

14. 2013 Rana Plaza Building Collapse
 The 2013 Rana Plaza collapse was occurred on
Wednesday, 24 April 2013 in Savar, Bangladesh.
 1,129 people were killed and approximately 2,500 injured
people were rescued from the building .
 It is considered the deadliest garment-factory accident in
history, as well as the deadliest accidental structural
failure in modern human history.

15. LOOK BACK TO
HISTORY
Disasters & Management

16. DISASTERS THROUGHOUT HISTORY
• Disasters have adversely affected humans since the
dawn of our existence.
• Many of history’s great civilizations, including the Mayans, the
Norse, the Minoans, and the Old Egyptian Empire, were ultimately
brought to their knees not by their enemies but by the effects of
floods, famines, earthquakes, tsunamis, El Niño events, and other
widespread disasters.
• 50 percent population across Europe during the fourteenth century
was declined due to the bubonic plague (Black Plague) pandemic.

17. Selected Notable Disasters throughout History
Disaster Year Number Killed

18. Deaths due Disaster (1900-1999)

19. Causes of Deaths (1900-1999)

20. NECESSARY
CONCEPTS
&
DEFINITIONS
Disaster Management

21. HAZARD
 There is dispute about the origin of the word hazard.
 It might be derived from French word hasard, (a game
of dice predating craps), or the Arabic word al-zahr,
which means “the die.”
 …..hazards are events or physical conditions that have
the potential to cause fatalities, injuries, property
damage, infrastructure damage, agricultural loss,
damage to the environment, interruption of business,
or other types of harms or losses…..

22. DISASTER
 The term disaster is derived from the Latin roots dis- and astro, meaning
“away from the stars” or, unfortunate astrological configuration.
 Disasters occur when a hazard risk is realized.
 A disaster can be defined as a situation resulting from an environmental
phenomenon or armed conflict that produces stress, personal injury, physical
damage, and economic disruption of great magnitude.
 Disasters are measured in terms of the lives lost, injuries sustained, property
damaged or lost, and environmental degradation.
 A disaster is not the event itself. For example, an earthquake is a natural
phenomenon; if it does not strike a populated area with weak buildings, it is
not likely to be a disaster.

23. What is the difference between Hazard and Disaster?
 A hazard is a situation where there is a threat to life, health, environment or property.
 A disaster is an event that completely disrupts the normal ways of a community. It brings on
human, economical, and environmental losses to the community which the community
cannot bear on its own.
 Hazards are natural or manmade phenomenon that are a feature of our planet and cannot be
prevented. In their dormant state, hazards just pose a threat to life and property.
 These hazards are termed as disasters when they cause widespread destruction of property
and human lives. Once a hazard becomes active and is no longer just a threat, it becomes a
disaster.
 Both hazards and disasters are natural as well as manmade.
 We can prevent hazards becoming disasters if we learn to live in harmony with nature and
take precautionary steps.

24. SOD( STANDING ORDERS ON DISASTER)
Disaster
A serious disruption to a community caused by the impact of an event that
requires a significant coordinated response by the Government and other
entities to help the community to recover from the disruption.
Disasters are usually associated with severe damage to infrastructure and utilities,
death, injuries and homelessness, and can be widespread or contained within a
particular sector or subsector.
Hazard
An event that has the potential to cause a disaster, and can be either
natural (e.g. flood, cyclone, tsunami), human-induced (e.g. chemical spill,
fire), biological (e.g. SARS, Bird Flu) or technological in nature (e.g.
nuclear generator failure).

25. Hazard vs Disaster
 Disasters are often defined as large-scale, stressful and traumatic
events. Unfortunately, it is not easy to define a large impact.
 There are no agreed-upon boundaries to determine exactly when a
threshold has been reached such that one can categorically say,
“This constitutes a disaster.”
 Hazard researchers have made attempts to quantify disaster impacts
in terms of the number of deaths, injuries, or the extent of damage.
 Sheehan and Hewitt (1969) defined disasters as events leading to at
least 100 deaths, 100 injuries, or US$1 million in damages.
Glickman et al. (1992) used 25 deaths as their threshold to consider
an event a disaster.

26. Classification of disaster by Gad-el-Hak

27. Types of disasters
 Natural Disasters
 The term "natural disasters" refers to those disasters that are triggered
by natural phenomena.
 These phenomena (such as earthquakes, cyclones, floods, etc.) are
known technically as natural hazards.
 if settlements or farms were not located in flood plains, disasters would
not result from floods. If housing were built to earthquake- and cyclone-
resistant standards, these hazards would be of scientific interest only
and not result in disasters.

28. Types of disasters
 Man-made Disasters
 The term "man-made disasters" usually refers to disasters resulting from
man-made hazards. Man-made disasters can be divided into three
categories:
 Armed Conflicts and Civil Strife.
 Technological Disasters.
 Technological disasters are a result of accidents or incidents occurring in
the manufacture, transport, or distribution of hazardous substances such
as fuel, chemicals, explosives, or nuclear materials.
 Disasters In Human Settlements.
 The principal disaster of this type is urban fire. When fires break out in
Third World shantytowns they can have a devastating effect.

29. RISK
 What determines whether a hazard becomes a disaster are
risk and vulnerability.
 There is no single accepted definition for the term.
 Risk = Likelihood × Consequence
 Likelihood is expressed either as a probability (e.g., 0.15;
50 percent) or as a frequency (e.g., 1 in1,000,000; five
times per year)
 Consequences are a measure of the effect of the hazard on
people or property.

30. Categories of Risk
Involuntary risks are those associated with activities that happen to us
without our prior knowledge or consent. As such they are often seen as
external to the individual. So-called ‘Acts of God’, such as fires or
being struck by lightning or a meteorite are considered to be
involuntary risks, as is exposure to environmental contaminants.
Voluntary risks are those associated with activities that we decide to
undertake, such as driving a car, riding a motorbike or smoking
cigarettes. These risks, which are willingly accepted by a particular
individual, are generally more common and controllable. Also, since
they are undertaken on an individual scale, they have less catastrophe-
potential.

31. VULNERABILITY
 Vulnerability is the inability to resist a hazard or to
respond when a disaster has occurred. For instance,
people who live on plains are more vulnerable to floods
than people who live higher up.
 For example…..Two earthquakes, of almost
equal magnitude and intensity, caused less than
100 deaths in Los Angeles but over 20,000 in
Gujarat, India (2001). The answer to all of these
issues is vulnerability.

32. Disaster resilience
Disaster resilience is the ability of individuals, communities,
organizations and states to adapt to and recover from hazards,
shocks or stresses without compromising long-term prospects for
development.
Earthquakes Don't Kill People, Buildings Do.
Japan has developed resiliency in copping with disasters by
constructing earthquake resistant buildings!

33. SAFE
 Sometime the word “safe” implies that all risk
has been eliminated. However, such an absolute
level of safety is virtually unattainable in the real
world
 A realistic definition is provided by Derby and
Keeney, who contend that a risk becomes “safe,”
or “acceptable,” if it is “associated with the best of
the available alternatives, not with the best of the
alternatives which we would hope to have
available”

34. Definition of Disaster Management
 Disaster Management can be defined as the organization and management of resources
and responsibilities for dealing with all humanitarian aspects of emergencies, in
particular preparedness, response and recovery in order to lessen the impact of
disasters.

35. MODERN DISASTER MANAGEMENT – A FOUR-PHASE APPROACH
Comprehensive disaster management is based upon four distinct components: mitigation,
preparedness, response, and recovery.
1. Mitigation. Also called Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), mitigation involves reducing or
eliminating the likelihood or the consequences of a hazard, or both.
2. Preparedness. This involves equipping people who may be impacted by a disaster or who
may be able to help those impacted with the tools to increase their chances of survival and to
minimize their financial and other losses.
3. Response. This involves taking action to reduce or eliminate the impact of disasters that have
occurred or are currently occurring, in order to prevent further suffering, financial loss, or a
combination of both.
4. Recovery. This involves returning victims’ lives back to a normal state following the impact
of disaster consequences.

36. Disaster Management Cycle( Basic Format)

37. The disaster management cycle( Alternative format)

38. Disaster management cycle :
Segments can overlap
 Each activity segment is not clearly and precisely divided from
adjacent ones.
 Segments generally tend to overlap and/or merge. For instance,
some response activities may be initiated prior to disaster impact—
that is, during the preparedness segment. Such activities might
include the precautionary movement of threatened persons or
communities to safe havens prior to the impact of a cyclone.
 Similarly, recovery action often begins while the emergency
response period is still operative. For example, a technical advisory
team would probably begin collecting information immediately after
impact and such information would be used for both response and
recovery purposes.

39. THE HISTORY OF DISASTER MANAGEMENT
 Archeological discovery has shown that our prehistoric ancestors faced many
of the same risks that exist today: starvation, inhospitable elements, dangerous
wildlife, violence at the hands of other humans, disease, accidental injuries,
and more.
 The story of Noah’s ark from the Old Testament, for example, is a lesson in the
importance of warning, preparedness, and mitigation.
 Evidence of risk management practices can be found as early as 3200 BC. In
what is now modern day Iraq lived a social group known as the Asipu. The
Asipu, using a process similar to modern-day hazards risk management, would
first analyze a problem at hand, then propose several alternatives, and finally
give possible outcomes for each alternative .
 In AD 79 the volcano Vesuvius began erupting, two towns were destroyed—
Herculaneum and Pompeii—The citizens of Pompeii had several hours before
the volcano covered their city in ash, and evidence suggests that the city’s
leaders organized a mass evacuation.

40. Disaster management: Roots
 In Egypt during the reign of Amenemhet III (1817–1722 BC),
history’s first substantial river control project was implemented.
 Emperor Augustus established a formal, city-wide firefighting
unit from within the Roman army called the Corps of Vigiles
2,000 years back .
 The Incas during the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, developed
an innovative form of land terracing that not only conserved
water in their unpredictable climate but also protected their
crops—and thus their existence—from the landslides that
occurred during periods of heavy precipitation.

41. CIVIL DEFENSE: THE BIRTH OF MODERN EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT
 Modern disaster management, in terms of the emergence of global
standards and organized efforts to address preparedness, mitigation,
and response activities for a wide range of disasters, did not begin to
emerge until the mid-twentieth century.
 In response to the threat posed by air raids and the ever-present and
dreadful prospect of a nuclear attack, many industrialized nations’
governments began to form elaborate systems of civil defense.
 These systems included detection mechanisms, early warning alarms,
hardened shelters, search and rescue teams, and local and regional
coordinators. Most nations’ legislatures also established legal
frameworks to guide both the creation and maintenance of these
systems through the passage of laws, the creation of national-level civil
defense organizations, and the allocation of funding and personnel.

42. Global initiatives for Disaster Management
 National emergency management capacity began to
take a more centralized role in the 1970s and ‘80s as
countries focused on the creation of national-level
emergency management systems.
 THE INTERNATIONAL DECADE FOR NATURAL DISASTER
REDUCTION On December 11, 1987, the United
Nations General Assembly declared the 1990s to be
the “International Decade for Natural Disaster
Reduction” (IDNDR). This action was taken to promote
internationally coordinated efforts to reduce material
losses and social and economic disruption caused by
natural disasters, especially in developing countries,
through capacity building.

43. Global initiatives for Disaster Management
 THE YOKOHAMA STRATEGY – GLOBAL RECOGNITION OF THE
NEED FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT In May 1994, UN member
states met at the World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction in
Yokohama, Japan, to assess the progress attained by the IDNDR.
Countries agreed that Disaster prevention, mitigation, and
preparedness are better than disaster response in achieving disaster
reduction goals.
 THE UN INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR DISASTER
REDUCTION( 1999) ISDR was created to help create nations,
organizations, and communities that are “disaster resilient” by
espousing the idea that disaster reduction must be fully interlinked with
development. To achieve these goals, the ISDR promoted four
objectives as tools toward reaching “disaster reduction for all”

44. Hyogo Framework for Action & Bangladesh
The Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) is the first
internationally accepted framework for Disaster Risk Reduction
(DRR) adopted in January 2005 by 168 countries in Kobe,
Hyogo, Japan for 2005-2015.
The HFA outlines five priorities for action, and offers guiding
principles and practical means for achieving disaster resilience.
 Making disaster risk reduction a priority;
 Improving risk information and early warning;
 Building a culture of safety and resilience;
 Reducing the risks in key sectors;
 Strengthening preparedness for response

45. Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk
Reduction
The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030) is an
international document which was adopted by UN member states between
14th and 18th of March 2015 at the World Conference on Disaster Risk
Reduction held in Sendai, Japan and endorsed by the UN General Assembly
in June 2015
It is the successor agreement to the Hyogo Framework for Action (2005–
2015), which had been the most encompassing international accord to date on
disaster risk reduction.
The Sendai Framework sets four specific priorities for action:
 Understanding disaster risk;
 Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk;
 Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience;
 Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response, and to "Build Back
Better" in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

46. DISASTERS, POVERTY, AND DEVELOPMENT
 There exists a strong correlation between
disasters and poverty.
 In 2001, earthquakes occurred in both El Salvador
and the United States (Seattle), each causing
approximately $2 billion in damages. While this
amount had little or no noticeable impact on the
US economy, the financial consequences in El
Salvador amounted to 15 percent of that country’s
GDP.
 The tsunami of 2004 caused a 20-year setback in
the development of Maldives, according to an
estimate.

47. DISASTER TRENDS
 Recent trends indicate :
 The number of people affected by disasters is
rising.
 Overall, disasters are becoming less deadly.
 Overall, disasters are becoming more costly.
 Poor countries are disproportionately affected by
disaster consequences.
 The number of disasters is increasing each year.

48. TREND 1: THE OVERALL NUMBER OF PEOPLE AFFECTED BY
DISASTERS IS RISING
 Rising population and growth of urbanization create the world
more risky place of disasters.
 In 1950, less than 30 percent of the world’s 2.5 billion
people lived in an urban setting. By 1998, the number
of people on earth had grown to 5.7 billion, and 45
percent of them lived in cities. UN estimates state that
by 2025 there will be 8.2 billion people on earth, and
more than 60 percent of them will live in cities.
 As of the year 2000, it was estimated that at least 75
percent of the world’s population lived in areas at risk
from a major disaster.

49. Total number of people affected by disasters worldwide from 1900 to
2011.

50. TREND 2: OVERALL, DISASTERS ARE BECOMING LESS DEADLY
 Earthquakes don’t kill people, buildings do”
 the number of disasters has more than tripled since the
1970s, the number of people worldwide who have
perished has fallen by 50 percent.
 Globalization and increased international cooperation
have helped the world community to more effectively
address risk reduction and limit the human impacts of
disasters.

51. Total number of natural disaster-related deaths reported in the world from
1900 to 2011

52. TREND 3: OVERALL, DISASTERS ARE BECOMING MORE COSTLY
 The cost of disasters worldwide is increasing at an alarming rate.
 By the year 2000, the cost of disasters worldwide had topped $60
billion per year, as measured by the international reinsurance firm
Munich Re.
 There are more people in the world, there are more
disasters, people are more concentrated together. The
people continue to move toward urban centers, build
expensive structures and infrastructure in the path of
hazards, and try to overcome the risk of disaster by
building structures designed to resist damage.

53. Total amount of reported damages (billion USD at 2009 prices) in the
world from 1900 to 2012.

54. TREND 4: POOR COUNTRIES ARE DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECTED
BY DISASTER CONSEQUENCES
 Disasters of all kinds strike literally every nation of the world; they do
not differentiate between rich and poor countries. However, developing
countries suffer the greatest impact and also most often experience
subsequent internal civil conflict that leads to complex humanitarian
emergencies
 The United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported
in 2011 that 95 percent of the deaths caused by disasters occur in poor
countries.
 on average, 90 percent of disaster-related injuries and deaths are
sustained in countries with per-capita income levels that are below
$760 per year

55. Total number of deaths and people affected by natural disasters per
100,000 inhabitants from 1974 to 2003.

56. Differences in Disaster Impact between Rich and Poor
Countries
Rich Countries Poor Countries
Tend to suffer higher economic losses, but have
mechanisms in place to absorb these costs.
Employ mechanisms that reduce loss of life, such
as early warning systems, enforced building
codes, and zoning.
Have immediate emergency and medical care
that increase survivability and contain the spread
of disease
Transfer much of personal, private, and public
risk to insurance and reinsurance providers
Have less at risk in terms of financial value, but maintain
little or no buffer to absorb even low financial impacts.
Economic reverberations can be significant, and social
development ultimately suffers.
Lack the resources necessary to take advantage of
advanced technologies, and have little ability to enforce
building codes and zoning even if these mechanisms do
exist.
Sustain massive primary and secondary casualties.
Generally do not participate in insurance
mechanisms. Divert funds from development programs to
emergency
relief and recovery.

57. TREND 5: THE NUMBER OF DISASTERS IS INCREASING EACH
YEAR
 There are two primary explanations for the
increasing number of annual disasters.
 1) climate change (both natural and human-
influenced) and environmental degradation are
together resulting in a greater overall number of
hazard events.
 2) humans congregate in more urbanized centers,
their collective vulnerability to disasters of all
origins increases as a result.

58. Total number of natural disasters reported in the world
between 1900 and 2011

59. Food for Brain Storming ?!?
 Why should we study Disaster management?
 How could we differentiate the event hazards and
disasters in Bangladesh perspective?
 How many kinds of hazard/disaster risks existed in
Bangladesh?

60. S E E Y O U N E X T W E E K
Thank you