8 of 10 cities most at risk from natural disasters located in Phl – study

MANILA, Philippines - Eight of 10 world cities most exposed to natural hazards are in the Philippines and more than half of the 100 cities most exposed to earthquakes, storms and other disasters are in four Asian nations, according to a research.

The study, published on Wednesday by risk analysis firm Verisk Maplecroft, analyzed the threat posed by storms, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, volcanoes and landslides in more than 1,300 cities.

The study found that the 10 cities most at risk are Port Vila in Vanuatu followed by Tuguegarao in Cagayan, Lucena in Quezon province, (4) Manila, (5) San Fernando in Pampanga, (6) Cabanatuan in Nueva Ecija, (7) Batangas, (8) Taipei, (9) San Carlos (the report did not indicate which province in the Philippines) and (10) Naga in Bicol.

The study also found that of the 100 cities with the greatest exposure to natural hazards, 21 are in the Philippines, 16 in China, 11 in Japan and eight in Bangladesh.

“Natural hazard risk is compounded in the Philippines by poor institutional and societal capacity to manage, respond and recover from natural hazard events,” the report said.

The Philippines is considered “high risk” in terms of the country’s ability to manage and mitigate the impacts of natural hazard and in part due to “entrenched corruption and high levels of poverty,” the report added.

Aside from being at risk to volcanic eruptions, quakes and floods, the Philippines is also hit by more than 20 typhoons every year.

The strongest typhoon ever recorded in the history of the world was Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), which struck the Visayas on Nov. 8, 2013. The monster storm left more than 7,000 people dead or missing and destroyed over a million houses.

The report said that disaster risk reduction strategies in the Philippines are improving after the “widely criticized” response to Haiyan.

Better communication and the evacuation of 1.7 million people meant that Typhoon Ruby (Hagupit), a category 3 storm, killed only 27 people in December 2014.