Developing a harmonized strategy for multi-hazard risk reduction and resilient societies in Europe

  • Malith Senevirathne (Speaker)
  • Dilanthi Amaratunga (Contributor to Paper or Presentation)
  • Richard Haigh (Contributor to Paper or Presentation)

Activity: Talk or presentation typesOral presentation

Description

Abstract: Earthquakes and tsunamis are unpredictable and rare incidents which can potentially develop into natural disasters causing the highest number of victims per event. The probabilistic tsunami risk analysis methods have been proven successful in reducing tsunami risks, however, the published literature demonstrates large gaps and uncertainties exist in many phases of the risk analysis methods, especially in hazard perception and theoretical foundation. The methods contain varying maturities, from advanced probabilistic tsunami hazard analysis to less mature probabilistic risk analysis. These include the limitations in identifying multi-hazard perspectives of vulnerable categories, cascading effects, risk information/misinformation and warning mechanisms. Even though the European coastal cities such as Cadiz, and the banks of the Lyngen are exposed to tsunami risks, the official risk reduction strategies do not comprehend the potential threat that a rapid onset of events could pose to the exposed local population and livelihoods. This highlights the need for an integrated regional Tsunami Early Warning System, which reduces the vulnerability of regions exposed to rapid onset hazards in Europe (EU). Under this viewpoint, the CORE project funded by the Horizon2020 program investigates such complex characteristics, to develop a harmonized resilience approach for strengthening the crisis management capacities of EU countries via the involvement of transdisciplinary scientific communities. This research aims to outline how tsunami risks could be assessed to yield important information to systematically improve the societal response capacities of EU cities and their inhabitants to potential multi-hazardous risks.
Period8 Dec 2022
Event titleUnited Kingdom Alliance for Disaster Research Conference 2022: Disaster Research and Innovation at a Time of Global Uncertainty
Event typeConference
LocationEdinburgh, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of RecognitionInternational