ABSTRACT
On average, twenty-seven earthquakes and four or five volcanic eruptions cause disasters each year. The earthquakes kill about 19, 000 people and injure 26, 000, while the eruptions kill 1000 and injure fewer than 300. These figures represent less than 10 per cent of natural hazard mortality, although nearly 50 per cent of morbidity; and although more than 2 million people are directly affected each year in some way by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, they are only 1.5 per cent of all people who suffer the effects of natural catastrophe, as many more are affected by floods and droughts (IFRCRCS 1997).
