Disaster Risk Assessment and Analysis of Physical Infrastructure: A Comprehensive Review of Scientific Methods and Techniques

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Physical infrastructure plays a crucial role in fostering economic development and societal well-being. However, they are susceptible to potential impacts when exposed to various hazards, which makes risk assessment and analysis essential for ensuring resilience. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the extant literature to provide an in-depth understanding of the research landscape developed to assess and analyze disaster risk to physical infrastructure. The objectives of this study are 1) to comprehend the disaster risk assessment methods and techniques from the global literature, 2) to analyze the trend and growth pattern of research on disaster risk assessment and 3) to identify the nuances in the methods for assessing disaster risk. This study employs bibliometric analysis along with a comprehensive literature review of selected papers extracted from the Scopus database. The study realized that research focusing on disaster risk assessment is scarce in developing countries at risk, especially India, Bangladesh, China, and Pakistan. Existing studies have attempted to develop conceptual as well as theoretical frameworks for risk assessment, and also employed assessment methods such as digital twins, risk indices, risk curves, and the like. Furthermore, the study realized that a higher emphasis on assessing the risk of transportation infrastructure disregards the other major physical infrastructure. The bibliometric analysis further indicates the need for a comprehensive and robust risk analysis tool for physical infrastructure with a standardized quantitative analysis model that can analyze the impacts of hazards. Deep learning coupled with GIS and remote sensing techniques can be considered a promising approach for risk assessment in future research. In conclusion, this comprehensive bibliometric analysis provides a detailed overview of the research landscape of physical infrastructure risk assessment and analysis. The insights derived from this analysis can help to identify the research gap in the disaster risk assessment globally highlighting the potential methods and techniques for the same.