What is vulnerability ?
Vulnerability ; “The extent to which a community, structure, services or
geographic area is likely to be damaged or disrupted by the impact of particular
hazard, on account of their nature, construction and proximity to hazardous terrains
or a disaster prone area.”
Vulnerabilities can be categorized into physical and socio-economic vulnerability.
1. Physical Vulnerability: It includes notions of who and what may be
damaged or destroyed by natural hazard such as earth-quakes or floods. It is based
on the physical condition of people and elements at risk, such as buildings,
infrastructure etc; and their proximity, location and nature of the hazard.
It also relates to the technical capability of building and structures to resist the
forces acting upon them during a hazard event.