Regional Trends of Natural Disasters in Asia and Oceania From EM-DAT Database (1923-2023)

Introduction: As climate change worsens, there is growing concern about the intensification of extreme weather events and complex disasters. Catastrophic events such as tropical storms and floods have enormous impacts on human health in the affected areas. Furthermore, the regional burden of natural disasters has been unclear. This study aims to understand the trend of natural disasters in Asia and Oceania over the past 100 years. Methods: A descriptive analysis was performed using the public EM-DAT database (CRED/UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium, version 20241.0). The study period was from 1923 to 2023. Disaster categories were geophysical, hydrological, meteorological, climatological, biological, and extraterrestrial based on the Peril Classification 6 families (2014). We used R 4.4.2 for data analysis. Results: The total number of natural disasters was 7,523. By disaster subgroup, 3,144 hydrological disasters (42%) were registered, followed by 2,518 meteorological (33%), 1,137 geophysical (15%), 382 biological (5%), and 342 climatological (5%) disasters, with no extraterrestrial disasters reported. The most common subregions were Southern Asia (2,182, 29%), South-eastern Asia (2,094, 28%), and Eastern Asia (1,843, 24%). The total number of deaths by type of disaster was highest for drought, flood, earthquake, storm, and epidemic, in that order. The total number of affected people by type of disaster was highest for floods, droughts, storms, earthquakes, and extreme temperatures, in that order. Conclusion: In Asia and Oceania, the proportion of hydrological and meteorological disasters is higher than that of other types of disasters, and the number of these disasters has increased in recent years. Although there was a reporting bias with pre-2000 data, it suggested that demands for medical, financial, and social support have increased. It is crucial to prepare adequate responses to the growing demand regarding each type of disaster risk. Mitigation and adaptation to all types of disaster risk are important.