Using publicly available disaster database
DesInventar from 1971 – 2011, we analyzed which hazard contributes the most to
fatalities in Nepal; how mortality is clustered at the village level; and how
they are distributed across temporal scale. It is published in peer-reviewed journal Environmental Hazards and can be
downloaded from the below link.
Sanam K. Aksha, Luke Juran, & Lynn M. Resler
Abstract:
The impacts of natural hazards are typically measured in terms of loss of
human lives and economic damage, and recent studies demonstrate that deaths
attributed to natural hazards have increased. Using the publicly available
DesInventar database, we examined spatial and temporal patterns of natural
hazard mortality from 1971 to 2011 at the district and village levels of Nepal
and identified natural hazards that contributed most to mortality. Spatial
clusters of mortality at the district and village levels were detected using
local and global spatial autocorrelation measures (Moran’s I). Landslides
(41.91%) and floods (32.52%) accounted for approximately three quarters of
natural hazard mortalities over the study period. A Global Moran’s I test
positively confirmed clustering at both the district (0.199, p < 0.001) and
village (0.256, p < 0.001) levels, whereas a Local Moran’s I test further
detected clustering in the central and terai regions, where dynamic geologic
and geomorphic processes combined with human-environment interaction constitute
major risk factors. A better understanding of multihazard mortality patterns
across geographic landscapes and time has the potential to aid policy makers,
planners, and local officers to more efficiently allocate scarce capital and
human resources to reduce mortality.
