FIGURE 1.2 Societal response to disaster.

is a process model of societal response to disaster within which the physical and social impacts of catalytic events are a function of conditions of systemic vulnerability, disaster event characteristics, and what has been termed the hazards and disaster management system. As represented in Figure 1.2, specific disaster events (whether environmental, technological, or willful) are placed in the center circle as social catalysts of collective action before, when, and after they occur. Represented to the left, the events circle is the causal importance of antecedent conditions of hazard vulnerability (hazard exposure, physical vulnerability, social vulnerability). Represented below, the events circle is the causal role of key defining features of disasters (frequency, predictability, controllability, length of forewarning, and magnitude, scope, and duration of impact) that allow for comparisons of environmental, technological, and willful events of various types. Represented above, the events circle is the causal relevance of the hazards and disaster management system. That system is represented as the intersection of pre-impact interventions (disaster mitigation and preparedness practices) and post-impact responses (planned and improvised emergency and recovery activities).

Viewing Figure 1.2 in its totality, the hazards and disaster management