UNISDR's Mami Mizutori and Debarati Guha-Sapir of CRED summarise the impact of disasters in 2018

GENEVA, 24 January, 2019 – Earthquakes and tsunamis accounted for the majority of the 10,373 lives lost in disasters last year while extreme weather events accounted for most of 61.7 million people affected by natural hazards, according to analysis of 281 events recorded by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) in its EM-DAT (International Disaster Database).

Mami Mizutori, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, said: “No part of the globe was spared from the impact of extreme weather events last year. Examined floods, droughts, storms and wildfires affected 57.3 million people, underlining once more that if we want to reduce disaster losses, then we must improve how we manage disaster risk.   

“Time is running out for limiting global warming to 1.5˚C or 2˚C. We have to be equally active about climate change adaptation which means reducing disaster risk in our cities, avoiding the creation of new risk by better land use, stronger planning regulations and building codes, safeguarding protective eco-systems, reducing poverty, and taking active measures to reduce exposure to rising sea levels.”

The 2018 toll of 10,373 lives lost compares with an annual average of 77,144 deaths recorded between 2000 and 2017, averages which are inflated by large-scale loss of life in catastrophic events such as the Indian Ocean tsunami (2004), Cyclone Nargis (2008) and the Haitian earthquake (2010). There were no such mega-disasters in 2018 but loss of life from major natural hazards appears to be on the decline likely due to improving standards of living and better disaster risk management.

Seismic activity including earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic activity disrupted the lives of 3.4 million people last year and claimed more lives than any other hazard type, including Indonesia (4,417), Guatemala (425) and Papua New Guinea (145).

Floods continued to affect the largest number of people, 35.4 million people, including 23 million people in Kerala, India.  They caused 2,859 deaths including India (504), Japan (220), Nigeria (199), and Korea DPR (151).