Therefore, our focus in most disaster management projects is to reduce the vulnerability and the costs involved in an area of interest. Threat is mostly beyond our control (although that is changing…). We do this by trying to minimize any of the three variables in the risk equation. The basic principle of disaster management is to reduce the risk of a hazard turning into a disaster. What is the point of disaster management?
When the risk is high enough, there is a greater chance for a hazard to turn into a disaster. More the number of humans and property, greater is the cost involved and therefore, greater is the risk. For example, the Himalayas is extremely vulnerable to earthquakes, but not a tsunami. For example, the threat of an earthquake in the Himalayas is extremely high. Scientists have come up with a risk equation to quantify this. The word is often used to quantify the probability of a hazard turning into a disaster. It is the risk that ultimately controls the possibility of converting a hazard into a disaster. Risk, is the likelihood/possibility that an area (or section of population) will be negatively affected by a hazard.
