Towards integrated multi-risk reduction strategies: A catalog of flood and earthquake risk mitigation measures at the building and neighborhood scales

Abstract

The integration of risk reduction measures for earthquakes and floods is a promising concept in the field of multi-hazard disaster risk reduction. However, existing studies mostly discuss it conceptually, often missing a focus on decision-making. This paper introduces a novel approach by examining synergies and trade-offs between earthquake and flood risk reduction measures. The paper first conducts a detailed analysis of selected measures for these two hazards. It then explores how these individual risk mitigation measures can be strategically integrated at the building level to maximize synergies, potentially resulting in time and cost savings. Furthermore, it discusses the limitations of current decision-making procedures for single-hazard risk mitigation selection when applied to multi-hazard risk (MHR) scenarios. To address these challenges, the study proposes new decision variables to be incorporated into existing Multi-Criteria Decision-Making frameworks with the aim of facilitating strategic risk reduction prioritization for MHR scenarios, ensuring sustainability and community resilience. To aid implementation (i.e., the phase in which the measure would be selected and tested in a series of case study buildings), a catalog of analyzed risk reduction measures is developed and provided as Supplementary Material. In future developments, this catalog will facilitate the integration of these measures into decision-support tools for evidence-based multi-hazard disaster risk reduction.