Hazards, Vulnerability and Risk

Abstract

This chapter reviews the glossary, which is in use to express terms such as hazard, vulnerability, exposure, damage, intensity, risk, and the like. Then, the various methods and tools used for the assessment of the tsunami hazard, vulnerability, and risk in the European and Mediterranean region are examined. Significant progress has been made in the assessment of hazard and vulnerability, although several sources or errors and uncertainties are involved. The tsunami risk assessment is less developed; therefore, more research effort should be directed to this topic. All the various methods applied for the hazard assessment, qualitative, statistical, and probabilistic ones, agree that the most hazardous geotectonic structure is the Hellenic Arc, not only at a local level but also at remote level. On the other hand, the vulnerability and risk are strongly dependent on the degree of exposure of the community to hazard. Of crucial importance are the factors that control the time dependence of vulnerability and risk.