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Disaster
Readiness and Risk
Reduction
Quarter 1 – Module 1
Basic Concept of Disaster and
Disaster Risk

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 What I Need to Know

This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to help you understand
the Basic Concept of Disaster and Disaster Risk. This module provides discussions and activities
that will help you learn the concepts, ideas, and relevant information about the lesson. This
module emphasizes the guidelines, and importance of disaster readiness, risk reduction, and
management.

The module is all about the Basic Concept of Disaster and Disaster Risk.

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. Explain the meaning of disaster.

2. Differentiate the risk factors underlying disasters.

What I Know
Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter on a separate sheet of paper.

1. What is a process, phenomenon or human activity that may cause loss of life, injury or other
health impacts, property damage, social and economic disruption or environmental
degradation?
A. Hazard C. Emergency
B. Disaster D. Vulnerability

2. Which is NOT a risk driver?

A. Weak governance C. Environmental degradation
B. Poverty and inequality D. Properly planned urban
development

3. What are the variables that amplify the effects of hazards, thus affecting the degree or scope
of a disaster?
A. Exposure C. Risk drivers
B. Elements at risk D. Vulnerability

4. Which among the following is not a result of disasters? A. Displacement of populations.

B. Damage to the ecological environment.

C. Destruction of a population’s homeland.
D. Adequate supply of goods and services.

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5. An event, whether natural or human-induced, becomes a disaster EXCEPT on what
situation?
A. It occurs in an area with no exposure.
B. It causes widespread material or environmental losses.
C. Community cannot provide the residents their basic needs.
D. Communities experience severe danger and incur loss of lives.

6. Which of the following situations pertain to a disaster risk? A. A landslide at the foothill of
a deserted mountain.
B. A landslide in Benguet that destroyed a mountain village.
C. An isolated volcano erupting in the middle of Pacific Ocean.
D. Typhoon Haiyan passing over a remote and unpopulated island.

7. What is the difference between a disaster and a disaster risk?

A. Disaster is a process, phenomenon, or human activity that may cause loss of life,
injury or other health impacts, property damage, social and economic disruption or
even environmental degradation; whereas a disaster risk is the situation of people,
infrastructure, housing, production capacities and other tangible human assets
located in hazard-prone areas.
B. Disaster is the combination of all strengths, attributes, and resources available
within an organization, community, or society to manage and reduce disaster risks
and strengthen resilience; whereas a disaster risk is the potential loss of life, injury,
or destroyed/damaged assets which could occur to a system, society, or a community
in a specific period, determined probabilistically as a function of hazard, exposure,
vulnerability, and capacity.
C. Disaster is defined as a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a
society at any scale due to hazardous events interacting with variety of conditions;
whereas the latter is the potential loss of life, injury, or destroyed/damaged assets
which could occur to a system, society, or a community in a specific period,
determined probabilistically as a function of hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and
capacity.
D. None of the choices.

8. Which among the following is not an example of a natural disaster?

A. Sinkholes C. Nuclear war
B. Insect infestation D. Storm surge

9. What is the condition determined by physical, social, economic, and environmental factors
or processes that increases the susceptibility of an individual, a community, assets or
systems to the impacts of hazards?
A. Vulnerability C. Resilience
B. Hazard D. Capacity

10. Which risk driver shows the inefficient, and incompetent protection of human rights, and
failure to provide public services?
A. Poverty C. Weak Governance
B. Lack of awareness D. Climate change
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 Lesson
Basic Concept of Disaster
1 and Disaster Risk

Do you feel scared or shocked when you hear news about typhoons, floods, fire,
earthquakes, landslides, terrorism, kidnapping, and epidemic diseases? When these happen, you
hear terrible deaths, witness many injured or sick people, see massive infrastructure destruction,
or experience economic loss. In this world, we always face these threats. Are there ways on how
you can become prepared for these threats? With this first module, you will be equipped with
knowledge, and information about disasters.

What’s In

When was the last time you experienced a disaster? What are the effects of this disaster to
you or probably to your family or community? How did you respond to it?

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 What’s New

Activity 1. The Pandemic Rises

Analyze the picture shown in Figure 1, then answer the questions given. You can use a separate
sheet in answering this activity.

Figure 1

Source: https://onenews.ph/covid-19-outbreak-expected-to-impact-on-the-local-economy-doh-bracing-for-local-
transmission

Answer the following questions:

1. What disaster is currently happening that makes the people in the picture wear masks?

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. How can the people shown in Figure 1 be vulnerable in their current situation?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

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 ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

3. What do you think will be the outcome of the disaster?

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

What is It

The Concept of Disaster and Disaster Risk

The terminologies listed below are defined by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk
Reduction (UNDRR), also known as the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction (UNISDR).

A disaster is defined as a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society

at any scale due to hazardous events interacting with conditions of exposure, vulnerability, and
capacity, that may lead to one or more of the following: human, material, economic, and
environmental losses and impacts. An event is already a disaster if a hazard has already affected
a population making them vulnerable.

A disaster risk is the potential loss of life, injury or destroyed or damaged assets which
could occur to a system, society, or a community in a specific period, determined probabilistically
as a function of hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and capacity.

The disaster risk formula is shown below:

Disaster Risk = Hazard x Exposure x Vulnerability

Capacity
A hazard is a process, phenomenon, or human activity that may cause loss of life, injury
or other health impacts, property damage, social and economic disruption or even environmental
degradation.
An exposure is the situation of people, infrastructure, housing, production capacities and other
tangible human assets located in hazard-prone areas.

Vulnerability is a condition determined by physical, social, economic, and environmental factors

or processes which increases the susceptibility of an individual, a community, assets or systems
to the impacts of hazards.

To determine disaster risk, the capacity of the community must be analyzed. Capacity is the
combination of all strengths, attributes, and resources available within an organization,
community, or society to manage and reduce disaster risks and strengthen resilience. The capacity
of a community may include the knowledge and skills of people, leadership and management of
the local government, and the infrastructure and facilities available to the community.
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 Disaster risk can be presented with this diagram:

Figure 2: Disaster Risk

Source: https://niwa.co.nz/natural-hazards/hazards/risk-and-vulnerability

Nature of Disaster
1. Natural Hazards and Disasters – are the results and outcomes of naturally occurring
processes that occurred throughout Earth’s history.

Examples: Flood, volcanic eruption, insect infestation, tropical cyclone, earthquake,

tsunami, landslide, hurricane, tornado, sinkhole, drought, storm surge etc.

2. Man-made/Human-induced/Anthropogenic Hazards and Disasters – occur as a result

or an outcome of human actions and interactions with other people and the environment.

Examples: Chemical threat, hazardous material, nuclear blast, cyber-attack, terrorism, civil
unrest, bioweapon etc.

Disaster Risk Drivers

Disaster risk drivers are factors that promote or increase the risk of a disaster. The following
are some disaster risk drivers:

1. Climate change – this can amplify disaster risk while weakening the resilience of the
community.
2. Poverty – extreme poverty equates to greater disaster impact.
3. Socio-economic inequality – can result to limited capacity of households and communities
to manage the risk and improve their resilience
4. Increase population density/growth – the higher the population, the greater vulnerability
to disasters
5. Rapid and unplanned urbanization – can result to an increased severity of disasters
6. Environmental degradation – can reduce the environmental capacity to provide social and
ecological needs

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 7. Lack of awareness – households, communities, and societies who have lack of awareness
on disasters are not disaster prepared thus can aggravate disaster risk
8. Weak governance – inefficient, and incompetent protection of human rights, and failure to
provide public services can happen due weak governance

What’s More

Activity 2. My Disaster Diary

Answer this activity in a separate sheet. Fill in the table by writing in the first (1 st) column
the disasters you experienced, year it happened in the second (2nd) column, and what you felt and
experienced during these disasters in the third (3rd) column.

Disasters Year these Happened Thoughts and

Experiences

1.

2.

3.

4.

Activity 3. Recalling the Challenging Times

Read the article provided on this activity about a disaster that recently happened in the
Philippines. Answer the given questions on a separate sheet.

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 30) — The Philippines has confirmed its first case of
novel coronavirus or 2019-nCoV.
The Department of Health announced Thursday that a 38-year-old female Chinese national
who travelled to the Philippines from Wuhan — the Chinese city where the coronavirus outbreak
originated — via Hong Kong tested positive for the virus. She arrived in the country on January 21,
the DOH said.
The DOH further disclosed that she consulted with a doctor after experiencing mild cough.
She is no longer exhibiting any symptoms of coronavirus infection.
DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III confirmed to CNN Philippines' Newsroom that the woman
has been confined at the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila, a special national hospital for infectious
diseases.
“We are working closely with the hospital where the patient is admitted and have activated
the incident command system of the said hospital for appropriate management, specifically on
infection control, case management and containment. We are also implementing measures to
protect the health staff providing care to these patients,” Duque said in an earlier press briefing.

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 Further, Duque told Newsroom that the Chinese nationals admitted in San Lazaro Hospital
were put in isolation.
"They are in isolation room, absolutely sealed off form anybody, except the health care
workers taking care of them and they are in their full gear," the Health chief assured.
DOH Epidemiology Bureau Director Ferchito Avelino said they are also looking at places
where the woman stayed in Cebu and Dumaguete. He added that they are working to identify and
quarantine employees at establishments who had close contact with the woman
Avelino also said they are also working with the Bureau of Quarantine to determine what
flights the Chinese woman took to the Philippines. He said they will track down the four passengers
nearest to the front, back and sides of the patient, contact them and advise them accordingly.
The Philippine National Police has vowed to assist the DOH in monitoring all major entry
points in the country. It said that local police are also on standby to track down other people who
may have been infected with 2019-nCoV.
The city government of Manila will also distribute around 400,000 face masks to students
in public schools in the Philippine capital, Mayor Isko Moreno said.
"We ask the public not to panic and to remain calm as the government, especially the DOH,
is on top of the situation," Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar
said. "We would like to assure them that the relevant health, research, and law enforcement
agencies are working together to prevent the disease from spreading."

Travel ban sought

The DOH said that it is now investigating 29 people suspected of 2019-nCoV infection.
Eighteen of them are in Metro Manila, four are in Central Visayas, three in Western Visayas, and
one each in Mimaropa, Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao and Davao.
One person who had been under investigation for the coronavirus has died of pneumonia.
Health officials said that the 39-year-old man has not yet tested positive for 2019-nCoV, but has
tested positive for HIV, which if untreated can leave the body susceptible to all kinds of infections.
Duque said he will recommend to the task force on emerging diseases to ban the entry of all
travellers from China's Hubei province, where Wuhan is located.
“But I believe that will still change. It could expand, increase the number of places depending
on the assessment that is going to be done by the WHO (World Health Organization),” he said.
Some areas in the country have enforced stricter entry rules, with Samal Island in Davao
del Norte barring entry of all people who came from countries which have reported cases of 2019-
nCoV. Cebu, meanwhile, is seeking to enforce a 14-day quarantine for tourists coming from China.
Some lawmakers are also calling for the government to temporarily ban all people who came
from China from entering the country.
Among them is Senator Risa Hontiveros who wants a 30-day travel ban on all individuals
travelling to the Philippines who passed through China in the past two weeks.
“If Hong Kong has drastically reduced high-speed train and ferry services from China, then
why can’t we do the same?" said Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, who is also seeking
a travel ban.
The DOH advised the public to practice good hygiene, drink lots of water, eat food rich in
vitamins A, C, E and the mineral zinc, avoid crowded places and to wear a surgical mask if they
feel any flu-like symptoms.
Some of the common symptoms of a 2019-nCoV infection are headache and weakness,
runny nose, cough or sore throat, and muscle pain. It may also cause high fever, trouble breathing,
pneumonia, sepsis and even death.
Worldwide, the number of people infected with 2019-nCoV has exceeded the count during
the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak, with now more than 7,700 confirmed cases
in mainland China, including 170 deaths, CNN reported.
This marks an increase of almost 30 percent in the number of cases from the previous day.
Cases have also been reported in countries including Thailand, South Korea, Japan,
Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Sri Lanka, India
and Australia.

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 CNN Philippines Correspondent Triciah Terada contributed to this report.
Source: https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/1/30/Philippines-coronavirus-case.html

Answer the following questions:

1. What disaster is being discussed in the article? Give a brief description of the disaster.
2. What will be affected by the disaster? List all the possibilities and justify why.
3. What negative implications can this disaster bring?

Activity 4. Everything Around Us

Try to remember a disaster that happened in the past, or is currently happening. Try to
identify how did the risk drivers magnified disasters. Write the risk drivers in the first (1 st) column,
and explain how these answers magnified the risk of a disaster in the second (2nd) column.

Risk Drivers Magnified Results

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

What I Have Learned

1. A disaster is a serious disruption in the functioning of a community or a society due to a

hazardous event.
2. The factors of disaster risk are hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and capacity.
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 3. Disasters can be natural, such as earthquake, typhoon, and flood, or manmade such as
hazardous material and chemical threat.
4. Disaster risks can be promoted or aggravated by poverty, rapid and unplanned
urbanization, increased population density, climate change, environmental destruction,
socio-economic inequality, weak governance and lack of awareness.

What I Can Do

Pollution is a man-made disaster in the environment brought about by irresponsible actions

and activities. Pollution can harm people, animals and plants. As a student, how can you help in
solving the problem on pollution?

Assessment

Multiple choice. Choose the best answer. Answer on a separate sheet of paper.

1. Which is NOT a risk driver?

A. Weak governance C. Environmental degradation
B. Poverty and inequality D. Properly planned urban
development

2. What is a process, phenomenon or human activity that may cause loss of life, injury or
other health impacts, property damage, social and economic disruption or environmental
degradation?
A. Hazard C. Emergency
B. Disaster D. Vulnerability

3. What are the variables that amplify the effects of hazards, thus affecting the degree or scope
of a disaster?
A. Exposure C. Risk drivers
B. Elements at risk D. Vulnerability

4. An event, whether natural or human-induced, becomes a disaster EXCEPT on what

situation?
A. It occurs in an area with no exposure.
B. It causes widespread material or environmental losses.
C. Community cannot provide the residents their basic needs.
D. Communities experience severe danger and incur loss of lives.

5. Which among the following is not a result of disasters? A. Displacement of populations.

B. Damage to the ecological environment.
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 C. Destruction of a population’s homeland.
D. Adequate supply of goods and services.

6. Which of the following situations pertains to a disaster risk? A. A landslide at the foothill of
a deserted mountain.
B. A landslide in Benguet that destroyed a mountain village.
C. An isolated volcano erupting in the middle of Pacific Ocean.
D. Typhoon Haiyan passing over a remote and unpopulated island.

7. Which among the following is not an example of a natural disaster?

A. Sinkholes C. Nuclear war
B. Insect infestation D. Storm Surge

8. What is the condition determined by physical, social, economic, and environmental factors
or processes which increases the susceptibility of an individual, a community, assets or
systems to the impacts of hazards?
A. Vulnerability C. Resilience
B. Hazard D. Capacity

9. Which risk driver shows the inefficient, and incompetent protection of human rights, and
failure to provide public services?
A. Poverty C. Weak Governance
B. Lack of awareness D. Climate change

10. What is the difference between a disaster and a disaster risk?

A. Disaster is process, phenomenon, or human activity that may cause loss of life, injury
or other health impacts, property damage, social and economic disruption or even
environmental degradation; whereas a disaster risk is the situation of people,
infrastructure, housing, production capacities and other tangible human assets located
in hazard-prone areas.
B. Disaster is the combination of all strengths, attributes, and resources available within
an organization, community, or society to manage and reduce disaster risks and
strengthen resilience; whereas a disaster risk is the potential loss of life, injury, or
destroyed/damaged assets which could occur to a system, society, or a community in a
specific period, determined probabilistically as a function of hazard, exposure,
vulnerability, and capacity.
C. Disaster is defined as a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society
at any scale due to hazardous events interacting with variety of conditions; whereas the
latter is the potential loss of life, injury or destroyed/damaged assets which could occur
to a system, society, or a community in a specific period, determined probabilistically as
a function of hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and capacity. D. None of the choices.

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 Additional Activities

1. Interview your parents about disasters they can remember that occurred in
your community. Create a timeline about the disasters.

2. Watch this video with the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSWl3J1aQc for

additional information.

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