An integrated vulnerability assessment of earthquake and flood prone area: A case study of Muzaffarabad

Abstract

All around the globe, natural hazards like earthquakes and floods are on the rise, posing a danger to people and infrastructure and significantly increasing the life losses and economic issues related to them. Some areas are prone to more than one hazard at a time, making it very essential to assess the vulnerability of that area collectively, considering all the hazards and different aspects of vulnerability. Physical and social dimensions of vulnerability may influence the vulnerability against one hazard directly and the other indirectly. This research explores the physical and social aspects of vulnerability against both earthquakes and floods in Muzaffarabad, as it is prone to both hazards. For this, well-established indicators were used. The sample size was calculated using Yamane’s method, and 420 questionnaires were collected. The RVS (Rapid Visual Survey) method was used for physical vulnerability indicators. Indices were made using selected indicators for physical vulnerability against flood, physical vulnerability against earthquake, total physical vulnerability, social vulnerability, and overall total vulnerability. Then these indices were compared for urban and rural areas. Results show that the people in urban areas are physically more vulnerable to earthquakes than rural areas. Whereas people in rural areas are socially more vulnerable than in urban areas. There is not much difference in the physical vulnerabilities of both areas against flood. The results imply an urgent need to formulate and implement updated disaster risk reduction strategies