ABSTRACT
Natural disasters have a disproportionate impact on poor people, because the risks are strongly associated with poverty. The human cost is steep – an average of 456 million people were killed or affected from 2000 to 2010 – and disasters have compounded existing problems of poverty and inequality and have reversed development gains. The highest global economic losses due to earthquakes and related consequences occurred in 2011, causing US$365 billion in damages. 1 These estimates are only the tip of the iceberg, as they are comprised of estimates of the replacement value of the physical infrastructure damaged or lost; the systemic impacts to human development are much larger. Progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is challenged in many countries by losses from disasters triggered by natural hazards. Even in regions where a comparatively smaller number of disasters have occurred, the economic impact has been signifi - cant. Countries with medium to low levels of income and weaker governance have been particularly vulnerable.
