Central Asia and Caucasus Disaster Risk Management Initiative (CAC DRMI)
Central Asia and Caucasus Disaster Risk Management Initiative (CAC DRMI) Risk Assessment for Central Asia and Caucasus Desk Study Review The study review was developed through funding by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), a partnership between Australia, Canada, Denmark, the European Commission, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, the USAID Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, and the World Bank. The GFDRR mandate is to help developing countries reduce their vulnerability to natural hazards. ii Preface The countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus (CAC) have a history of devastating disasters that have caused economic and human losses across the region. Almost all types of natural and technological hazards are present, including earthquakes, floods, landslides, mudslides, debris flows, avalanches, droughts and extreme temperatures. Earthquakes are the most dangerous hazard, causing destruction to human life, buildings and infrastructure alike, while also triggering secondary events such as landslides, mudslides and avalanches. This mountainous region provides compelling evidence of the destructive power of such secondary events: landslides, mudslides and debris flows caused most casualties during the earthquakes in Armenia (1988 Spitak), Azerbaijan (2000 Baku), Kazakhstan (1887, 1889, and 1911 Almaty), Kyrgyzstan (1992 Jalal-Abad), Tajikistan (1949 Khait, 1989 Gissar), Turkmenistan (1948 Ashgabat) and Uzbekistan (1966 Tashkent). Climate change is expected to exacerbate disasters associated with hydro-meteorological hazards. The region is also exposed to epidemics such as bacterial infections and technological disasters including dam collapse and hazardous material release. Often these disasters transcend national borders and overwhelm the capacities of individual countries to manage them.
[Show full text]