In the past few days a bizarre message has taken WhatsApp by storm in Qatar. The message claims that a 10-meter-high tsunami will be striking Qatar’s shore soon, the message had become so viral and stricken panic among the residents to a level that the Qatar Meteorological Department had to intervene and rebut the RUMOURS.
But is there any truth to it, even an iota of truth to it makes it worth taking seriously, but is that the case?
The United Nations University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security in cooperation with Germany’s University of Stuttgart published a report title ‘World Risk Report’ for the year 2016. The report compares and analyses the risk averseness of countries based on a set of parameters in its WorldRiskIndex, which calculates the disaster risk for 171 countries by multiplying vulnerability with exposure to natural hazards (cyclones, droughts, earthquakes, floods, and sea-level rise).
The report says, “The WorldRiskIndex is calculated with28 individual indicators and rates the disaster risk for 171 countries owing to five natural hazards: Earthquakes, cyclones, floods, droughts, and sea-level rise. The disaster risk refers to a combination of potentially prone areas or countries and the social, economic and ecological conditions within the respective countries. The WorldRiskIndex does not state when and with what probability the next disaster will occur because of extreme natural events but highlights the risk of becoming a victim of disaster. The force and duration of a natural event are not always the main reasons for a disaster, rather social structures and political framework conditions often play a superordinate role.”
This report ranks Qatar 171st out of 171 countries when it comes to the risk of natural disaster striking the country, with a WorldRiskIndex of only 0.08% and an exposure percentage of 0.28%, Saudi Arabia is ranked 169th, Bahrain 165th, UAE 163rd, Egypt 158th.
The country most susceptible to natural disasters in the world is Vanuatu with a risk index of 36.28%. It is noteworthy that Philippines if placed at the 3rd place in the report for susceptibility and Bangladesh is at 5th place.
