In general, earthquake disasters in urban areas can hardly be handled by the operable disaster response teams of the affected region. An efficient and integrated disaster management could support their activities and help to limit human losses. Based on EQSIM, a damage estimation tool developed within the German Collaborative Research Centre 461: “Strong Earthquakes, a Challenge for Geosciences...

This paper summarizes our effort towards managing the multi-disciplinary disaster-related data from the Great East Japan Earthquake, which happened on March 11, 2011 off the coast of northeast Japan. This earthquake caused the largest tsunami in the recorded history of Japan, killed many people along the coast, and caused a nuclear disaster in Fukushima, which continues to affect a large area o...

OBJECTIVE Unremitting natural disasters, deliberate threats, pandemics, and humanitarian suffering resulting from conflict situations necessitate swift and effective response paradigms. The European Union's (EU) increasing visibility as a disaster response enterprise suggests the need not only for financial contribution but also for instituting a coherent disaster response approach and manageme...

Although quantitative analytical information systems are an important resource for supporting decision-making in disaster operations management, not all aspects of a disaster situation can be easily quantified. For example, although the concept of the disaster resilience of a community has a technical dimension within which one can measure the resistance of the infrastructure against, and the s...

The spread of mobile communication equipment offers new opportunities for disaster management referring to civilians. At the same time, location based services are regarded as privacy invading, and are regulated in many countries by specific legislation. We analyze the requirements of a LBS-based disaster management scenario that enables the timely notification of civilians. In addition, we pro...

Session 1 – Disaster Risk Management as Global Development Agenda This introductory presentation explains why disaster risk reduction is considered a development challenge. It reviews the trends in disaster occurrence, its impact, frequency and regional distribution. It also highlights the interrelation between disaster risk reduction and poverty alleviation and Millennium Development Goals. Th...

The area of disaster management receives increasing attention from multiple disciplines of research. A key role of computer scientists has been in devising ways to manage and analyze the data produced in disaster management situations. In this paper wemake an effort to survey and organize the current knowledge in the management and ccepted 6 April 2010 vailable online 15 June 2010

In Africa, hydro-meteorological disasters (HMDs) have hit with increasing frequency and magnitude in recent years, with detrimental impacts on local livelihoods. African countries display a patchwork of national policies and institutional frameworks to address these rising HMDs. This paper examines the heterogeneity that exists within Africa′s institutional arrangements for climate-related disa...

The Disaster Information Management Research Center (DIMRC) develops and provides access to health information resources and technology for disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. DIMRC focuses on maintaining access to health information at all phases of disasters, developing innovative products and services for emergency personnel, conducting research to support disaster health informat...