Natural Disaster Hotspots:A Global Risk Analysis

In this report we assess the risks of two disaster-related outcomes: mortality and economic losses. We estimate risk levels by combining hazard exposure with historical vulnerability for two indicators of elements at risk— gridded population and gross domestic product (GDP) per unit area—for six major natural hazards: earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, floods, drought, and cyclones. By calculating relative risks for grid cells rather than for countries as a whole, we are able to estimate risk levels at subnational scales.