Basic Terminologies

HAZARDS
- threatening phenomena, events or occurrences that have the potential for causing injury to life or damage to property and environment.
- Examples: Typhoon, Flood, Drought, Epidemic, Armed Conflict

VULNERABILITY
- weaknesses; physical, social, economic, cultural and environmental factors and conditions which increase the individual, family or community's susceptibility to disaster.
- Examples: Houses made of light materials, attitude of helplessness and dependence, conflict in the community

CAPACITY
- knowledge, skills, resources, abilities, strengths present in individuals, households and the community which enable them to prevent, prepare for, withstand, survive and recover from a disaster.
- Examples: Permanent houses, ownership of land, adequate food and income sources

DISASTER RISK
- the likelihood or probability of a hazard striking a vulnerable community, causing injury, damage and loss.

RISK
- the probability of harmful consequences, or expected losses (deaths, injuries, property, livelihoods, economic activity disrupted or environmental damaged) resulting from interactions between natural or human-induced hazards and vulnerable conditions.

DISASTER
- a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic (assets, goods and services) or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected community/society to cope using its own resources (UNISDR).

DISASTER RISK REDUCTION (DRR)
- the conceptual framework of elements considered with the possibilities to minimize vulnerabilities and disaster risks throughout a society, to avoid (prevention) or to limit (mitigation and preparedness) the adverse impacts of hazards, within the broad context of sustainable development.

DISASTER RESILIENCE
- the capacity of a system, community or society to resist or to change in order that it may obtain an acceptable level in functioning and structure.
- determined by the degree to which the social system is capable of organizing itself, and the ability to increase its capacity for learning and adaptation, including the capacity to recover from a disaster.