one may also counterargue, this factor by saying that the resilience and recovery capacity of less economically advanced areas tends to be particularly low as was seen in the case of the disastrous typhoon that hit the Irrawaddy delta in 2008. Yet, one might also argue that the enormous material damage – including the nuclear power plant disaster at Fukushima – caused by the east coast of Honshu in Japan that occurred in March 2011 was an alert of the vulnerability of a highly prosperous society to natural calamities. Although the use of quantitative indicators and the compilation of vulnerability profile involve dramatic simplifications (Molle & Mollinga,2003), they have a major role in conveying messages, improving communication and raising awareness.