Natural Disasters in Oceania

Abstract

Key Ideas Oceania is a huge area with a wide range of cultures and countries of different socioeconomic conditions. Oceania experiences some of the most severe natural hazards in the world, but many of its countries rarely appear in world lists of disasters because they are small in land area and population. Disasters, which are relatively small on the world scale, have a huge impact on the small economies of Pacific Island countries. Much of the warning and monitoring infrastructure established in the Pacific is of little use to the people who live there, as it does not address the basic vulnerability.