In this Topic, we will introduce the Hazards, Exposure, and Vulnerabilities of the Actual Situation.
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A hazard is any unfavorable factor, substance, or conduct of a person that has the potential to endanger life, inflict harm on property, jeopardize livelihood and services, disturbing the social and economic order, or endanger the environment. Threats include all urgent risks.
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The term "exposure" refers to the presence of substances that might be harmful as a result of a natural or artificial hazard occurrence. A region's elements comprise any people, homes or communities, properties, buildings and structures, agricultural products, livelihoods, public facilities, infrastructures, and environmental assets that might sustain losses or damage. A community is at a higher risk of experiencing a disaster or has a higher possibility of doing so the more risk factors it is exposed to.
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The inability of a community to avoid, mitigate, plan for, and respond to hazardous occurrences is referred to as vulnerability. Vulnerability also refers to the qualities and conditions of a community, system, or asset that make them vulnerable to the negative impacts of a hazard.
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Risk denotes the likelihood of potential negative outcomes. This is the outcome of the interplay between social and environmental systems, as well as the presence of both physical risk and item vulnerabilities.
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A disaster is a significant disturbance to a community or society's ability to operate that results in widespread losses of people, property, money, or the environment that are more than what the community or society may reasonably expect to be able to handle by using its own resources. It happens as a result of a combination of risks, risky circumstances, and insufficient resources or controls.
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On the other hand, exposure and vulnerability are two different things. Even while a community may be exposed, that does not make it susceptible. Despite being exposed to earthquakes, buildings and structures in Japan are not at risk because of their earthquake-proof or -resistant architectural and engineering designs. However, it must first be exposed to risk in order to become susceptible.
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A community may become susceptible if it is exposed to risk. However, not all groups that are at risk may be categorized as vulnerable. The community's preparedness and readiness for a threat determine vulnerability. It mostly depends on how they reduce risk, react, and recover. A community is already thought of as less susceptible or resilient if it has the capacity to lessen vulnerability through risk reduction.