Emerging economies in Southeast Asia face highest natural-disaster risk

BBC : The Natural Hazards Risk Atlas, created by risk analysis firm Maplecroft, is a tool to evaluate a nation’s financial risk in the event of a natural disaster. Rankings are based on a country’s economic activity and exposure to natural hazards, such as floods and earthquakes, and the ability of each nation to respond to such disasters. By overlaying a nighttime lighting map with a map of where natural hazards are most likely to occur, Maplecroft was able to determine which nations had the most areas of economic production most likely to be affected by natural disasters. Highly industrialized nations such as the US, Japan, China, and Taiwan had some of the highest levels of economic exposure. However, because of their established infrastructure, disaster preparation plans, and building regulations, their overall risk level was much lower than that of nations such as Thailand, Bangladesh, India, and Indonesia.