Using the scorecard approach to measure seismic social resilience in Nablus, Palestine

Abstract

Social vulnerability helps to explain why communities experience the consequences of an earthquake differently, even though they are subjected to similar levels of ground shaking. The differential impacts of an earthquake can be a consequence of social vulnerability and, for this reason, it is a critical element for fostering mitigation plans and developing policies to reduce earthquake risk. Measuring resilience is not an easy task and, in this study, is performed through the Scorecard Approach. The latter is a self-assessment and participatory tool that measures resilience with qualitatively derived information at two different urban levels: population and local administration. The case study is the city of Nablus in the Palestinian region which is not only affected by seismic events but also by political conflicts. The provided results enable the resilience assessment of different districts of Nablus concerning several themes of disaster risk reduction. These will help to better understand how different variables – such as gender, age, educational level, monthly income and membership neighbourhood influence the vulnerability assessment.