Vulnerabilities of cities to disaster: the 2003 earthquake in Boumerdes (Algeria)

Abstract

This study attempts to explain, through the analysis of the 2003 earthquake in the province of Boumerdes. The unequal distribution of damages between one city and another by testing the risk management model according to which social and physical vulnerabilities are directly linked to places. To assess physical and social vulnerabilities before and after this disaster, we selected a set of indices based on a deductive approach, and adopted GIS to spatialize these vulnerabilities. The results show that the degree of the population vulnerability to hazards does not depend exclusively on the proximity of the source or the physical nature of the hazard, but that the most vulnerable municipalities, in terms of acquired social status, are positively associated with the damage caused by the disaster. We have confirmed the intersection of physical and social vulnerability levels, and most socially vulnerable societies live in areas of high physical vulnerability. This research reinforces the idea that disasters are the result of an interaction between physical and social vulnerabilities, and the importance of understanding the different impact of hazardous events is crucial to reducing the negative impact of natural disasters in Algeria and globally.