GNGTS 2023 - Atti del 41° Convegno Nazionale

Session 2.2 GNGTS 2023 Figure 3 – Expected annual losses per square meter disaggregated across the three different income level classes. Conclusion We have proposed a risk index (RI) that enables areas with the most need for disaster risk reduction strategies to be identified and prioritised based on a multidimensional representation of risk that considers physical and social factors. A prominent advantage of the proposed index is that it is relatively simple and may be easily applied for practical risk decision support across any national or transnational context of interest. This tool is also suitable for use in multi-hazard risk applications (i.e., for identifying regions most affected by multiple risks), as more hazards could be easily accounted for with additional terms in Eq. (1). Another advantage of the RI is that it directly integrates relevant subjective perspectives, through the weights that feature as part of the calculation. Participatory methods such as the BAP may be used to account for expert and decision-makers’ opinions and assign suitable weights for each indicator based on the defined aims. A more detailed risk analysis conducted for the town of Portici, which has the highest RI score for the Campania region of Italy, confirms that low-income people experience the largest expected annual losses per square metre for earthquake events. However, adopting risk mitigation measures through hard or soft policies would help to reduce these losses in particular. These types of analyses are likely to represent a helpful tool for decision-makers, enabling them to select appropriate, cost-effective mitigation or preparedness measures that directly target those most in need. References Aljawhari K., Gentile R., Galasso C.; 2022: A fragility-oriented approach for seismic retrofit design. Earthquake Spectra;38(3):1813-1843. Cutter S.L., Boruff B.J., Shirley W.L.; 2003: Social vulnerability to environmental hazards. Social Science Quarterly 84(2): 242–261. Cutter S. & Finch C.; 2008: Temporal and Spatial Changes in Social Vulnerability to Natural Hazards. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 105. 2301-6. 10.1073/pnas.0710375105.