Risk factors for mortality during the 2002 landslides in Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia

Abstract

This study examines health effects resulting from landslides in Chuuk during Tropical Storm Chata'an in July 2002, and suggests strategies to prevent future mortality. In August 2002, we conducted a cross-sectional survey to identify risk factors for mortality during landslides, which included 52 survivors and 40 surrogates for 43 decedents to identify risk factors for death. Findings suggest that 1) females had a higher mortality rate from this event than males, and 2) children aged 5-14 years had a 10-fold increase in mortality when compared with annual mortality rates from all causes. Awareness of landslides occurring elsewhere and knowledge of natural warning signs were significantly associated with lower risks of death; being outside during landslides was not associated with reduced mortality. In Chuuk, improving communication systems during tropical storms and increasing knowledge of natural warnings can reduce the risk for mortality during landslides.

Socio-demographic Characteristics and Leading Causes of Death Among the Casualties of Meteorological Events Compared With All-cause Deaths in Korea, 2000-2011

“…Deaths by natural disaster have increased at least three-fold during the last 20 years, the highest rate of increase among all the diseases and injuries [16], and despite this rapid increase in the effects of meteorological disasters, few health science studies have been performed to identify groups vulnerable to meteorological disasters. The existing studies of deaths by meteorological disasters have focused on a single large-scale disaster or quantitative subjects such as changes in the death rate or morbidity of diseases, and few studies have performed a comprehensive analysis of sociodemographic characteristics or causes of death of vulnerable groups in meteorological disasters over the period of a decade or so [8,10]. Myung and Jang [4] reported on an analysis of the characteristics of groups of individuals who died in meteorological disasters in Korea between 1998 and 2008 using the data of reports on damage to humans by the National Emergency Management Agency, but the study was limited in that it did not analyze sociodemographic characteristics of those who died beyond gender and age.…”

“…However, few studies of vulnerable groups in meteorological disasters have been published in the health sciences, and most of the related previous studies were limited to specific disaster events, resulting in difficulty in identifying groups vulnerable to meteorological disasters and their sociodemographic characteristics [8,9]. In Korea, health surveys related to meteorological disasters have only computed the total number of deaths, and these calculations have a risk of underestimation because they depend on residents' reports.…”

Global patterns of loss of life from landslides

“…In so doing, landslides can directly impact humans (Alexander, 2004). Because the ability of the unprotected human body to withstand burial and/or impact by debris is limited, fatalities frequently result (Sanchez et al, 2009;Petley, 2010a), compounded by the roles that humans play in increasing landslide occurrence.…”

Mortality Patterns of Hydro‐Geomorphologic Disasters

“…However, there is no common source of hazard mortality data . Features of fatalities caused by different types of hazards can be found in the following sources: (i) natural hazard databases (e.g., EM‐DAT, DISASTER, SHELDUS, SICI) based on documental sources; (ii) demographic statistics; (iii) death certificates from hospitals; (iv) civil protection authorities; and (v) nongovernmental agencies (e.g., Red Cross, United Nations).…”

“…Demographic statistics and death certificates generally refer to the main medical cause of death and do not connect the fatality with a specific natural hazard. In the case of floods, there is a consensus on the main causes of death, which are drowning, electrocution, and physical trauma . In the case of landslides, suffocation and physical trauma are the main causes of death …”