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This study aims to compare the humanitarian supply chains and logistics of two countries in earthquake preparedness by modifying and using a previously established preparedness evaluation framework.

A European flood emergency management system (FEMS) is a seven-dimensional framework to assess a country’s preparedness for flood emergencies. The FEMS framework was modified to apply to earthquakes. Leveraging a multiple explanatory case study approach with data analysis, the authors reconstructed the events of the earthquakes in Pakistan (2005) and Japan (2011) with an applied grading (1–5). Findings were evaluated within the adopted FEMS framework. From a practitioner’s perspective, the framework is applicable and can accelerate support in the field.

Pakistan lacked emergency plans before the 2005 earthquake. In contrast, Japan possessed emergency plans before the disaster, helping minimise casualties. Overall, Japan demonstrated considerably better emergency management effectiveness. However, both countries significantly lacked the distribution of responsibilities among actors.

Practical factors in the humanitarian supply chain are well understood. However, synthesising individual factors into a comprehensive framework is difficult, which the study solves by applying and adopting the FEMS framework to earthquakes. The developed framework allows practitioners a structured baseline for prioritising measures in the field. Furthermore, this study exemplifies the usefulness of cross-hazard research within emergency management and preparedness in a real-world scenario.

Civil society organizations (CSOs) in Lebanon are among the most active groups supporting community welfare and advocating for human rights and policy reform. However, these organizations still lack the basic awareness and commitment needed to expand their role in earthquake disaster risk reduction. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the exposure of Lebanon to destructive earthquakes and to address the urgent need for CSOs to expand its contribution in earthquake disaster risk reduction supporting public awareness programs and strategic mitigation plans.

The paper sets out to alert CSOs about the seismic hazards of Lebanon and offers a discussion for an active engagement role of Lebanese CSOs in future earthquake disaster risk reduction. The focus is to outline a strategy that may facilitate the engagement of CSOs in building the resilience of Lebanese community against destructive earthquakes.

The proposed strategic plan suggests a leading role of Lebanese universities that call for the establishment of a disaster mitigation coalition leading to CSOs active involvement and effective contribution in collaborating with government and private sector to enhance the resilience capacity of the Lebanese community against future earthquake events.

The implication of the paper is beneficial to community leaders of Lebanon because it highlights the importance of direct engagement of CSOs in earthquake disaster risk reduction which has never been previously emphasized, evaluated or even discussed in the Lebanese studies.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated multi-risk identification procedure for World Cultural Heritage (WCH) sites exposed to seismic events, while considering characteristics of disasters from earthquakes in a multi-hazard context on one side and particular aspects of WCH (e.g. outstanding universal values and associated condition of authenticity and integrity) on the other.

An interdisciplinary review of current relevant approaches, methods, and practices is conducted through the existing literature of disaster risk management, heritage conservation, and seismology. Furthermore, a document analysis of concrete cases affected by seismic events supports concepts and the procedure.

This paper results in a methodology of identifying multi-risk of disasters induced by earthquakes. A bow-tie analysis diagram in combination with a risk identification matrix is developed for illustrating a multiple emergency scenario in identifying possible impacts of earthquakes’ primary effects, secondary hazards, and human-threats on tangible and intangible attributes of cultural properties.

The research aims to provide specialists and practitioners from multiple sectors engaged in pre-disaster risk mitigation and preparedness plan for cultural heritage with a practical risk identification tool. The proposed method, in a multiple hazard context, intends to enhance risk assessment procedure for determining more appropriate risk reduction strategies in the decision-making process.

This paper, through emphasising “earthquake disaster risk” rather than “earthquake risk”, illuminates the significance of quake-followed secondary hazards, potential human-induced hazards and human errors in the risk identification process, due to the fact that while a disaster may begin with a quake, its full scope might be triggered by a combination of the mentioned potential threats.

The paper illustrates how accountability of collaborative governance was constituted in the context of disaster managerial work carried out by the Government, local authorities, and Maori community organisations, after the 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquakes in New Zealand.

A case study detailing the communitarian approach to disaster recovery management by a nationalised Maori earthquake response network is contrasted with the formal emergency management infrastructure's response to the Canterbury earthquakes.

Critical analysis of the effectiveness and failures of these approaches highlights the institutional and cultural political issues that hinder the institutionalization of collaborative and accountable governance in the fields of disaster risk reduction and emergency management.

The paper contributes to the accountability research and practice in general and disaster accountability in particular by addressing a more multifaceted model of ‘accountability combined with collaborative governance’ as a way to build on and critique some of the seemingly more narrow views of accountability.

The study presents rare insights on the interactions between formal and community level accountability and collaborative governance in the context of New Public Governance (NPG).

Accra, the capital of Ghana is far away from major earthquake zones of the world, but has a history of destructive earthquakes. However, its seismic risk does not attract the requisite attention. The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of Accra's seismic risk, discuss challenges faced and risk‐reduction initiatives, and then to propose specific strategies that are necessary to reduce this risk.

The approach taken is to: give an overview of Accra's profile and seismicity; discuss disaster management structures in place and the challenges faced; discuss seismic risk‐reduction programs; discuss the risk‐reduction strategies of two cities in other developing countries, with the view of identifying specific strategies that would be helpful to Accra; and conclude with specific risk‐reduction action measures that are important for Accra.

A number of specific recommendations to reduce Accra's seismic risk are made at the end of the paper. Among these, the need to set up a national organization with the sole mandate of championing seismic risk reduction is identified as a critical step needed. Without this, and others, the paper contends that Accra would not experience any significant reduction of its seismic risk.

The paper presents a viewpoint of important action steps that need to be taken to reduce Accra's seismic risk. The points raised in the paper are considered as important first steps necessary for any form of sustainable disaster risk reduction. The paper would thus be of interest to any person or organization interested in helping reduce Accra's seismic risk.

This is the first paper to put Accra's seismic risk in a global context, and then propose action steps that are necessary to help reduce this risk.

The purposes of this article are to outline the existing seismic risk in Lebanon and to identify the crucial role of Lebanese school education in advancing both a culture of safety and the resilience of Lebanese communities to destructive earthquakes.

This paper sets out to illustrate the exposure of Lebanon to seismic hazards and to investigate the current status of Lebanese public schools in terms of their preparedness for earthquake events. Interviews were conducted with principals from 17 different schools. From these interviews emerged the following four themes: curriculum deficiency, the structural vulnerability of school buildings, a lack of preparedness for natural hazards and the need for community engagement in this regard.

School principals in Lebanon confirmed the need for schools to engage in earthquake disaster preparedness and mitigation, as well as to show an enthusiastic attitude for earthquake hazard reduction in terms of hazard education, greater preparedness and community engagement.

As this article highlights the important role of school education in promoting earthquake disaster risk reduction, it has beneficial implications for educators, policymakers, administrators and government officials.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how social capital operated in the lives of 15 respondents from Lalitpur following the massive 1934 Kathmandu Valley earthquake. Based on experiences of the survivors, it attempts to understand how individuals and families utilized their social capital in the aftermath of the earthquake, and rebuild their lives and communities.

This is a qualitative study based on non-structured interviews and discussions with disaster victims on their own locality. Following Padgett's (2008) grounded theory approach, flexible method of data collection is adopted through interactions with respondents and following up on important cues or patterns as additional data emerged.

Participants described a process through which they relied on bonding, bridging and linking social capital in different stages of earthquake response and recovery. Close ties or bonding social capital were important for immediate support, but bridging and linking social capital offered pathways to longer term survival and wider neighbourhood and community revitalization. This paper also discusses how social capital inclusion in pre-disaster communities might be helpful to strengthen their response capacity.

As the study participants were less than ten years old when the earthquake happened, they might have omitted or overlooked some important details about the event. The findings are based not only on participant's own memories, but they also shared stories told by their parents which were the indirect experiences.

This study indicates the potential value and need for including bonding, bridging and linking social capital and traditional social networks in disaster planning. A key outcome related to disaster policy would be what institutional condition or combinations of different dimensions of social capital may serve the public for better disaster response and recovery.

This study has paid attention to how social capital might be useful in disaster risk reduction both in post-disaster phase and in pre-disaster condition which may be rare in disaster studies. It also provides an insight into how community-based disaster management can take into account pre-existing social systems and traditional social networks to build local capacities.

This paper aims to explore how different risk perceptions of experts, institutions and laymen have to be taken into consideration if non-governmental organizations and donors want to include the community in disaster risk reduction. Otherwise, community-based disaster risk management will not be community-based.

This research is based on an intensive literature review, as well as a four-month felt study in Kathmandu (November 2011-February 2012). This study explores, from a social constructive point of view, the relationship among international, national and local actors in the effort to conduct disaster risk reduction in Nepal through a community-based approach.

The Kathmandu Valley is at risk of being hit by an earthquake at anytime. If an earthquake hits, it will cause total devastation. Although the Nepalese are aware of the risks of a potential earthquake, very few have begun preparations. The author finds that the lack of preparation is partly caused by different risk perceptions among experts, institutions and laymen.

Involving the community in disaster risk reduction today is widely accepted as the right way to work with disaster risk reduction. But, rarely the question is made: are we really involving the community by taking their risk perception serious, and not just accepting the risk perceptions from experts and institutions of science as being the right way to perceive disaster risk. The author finds that there is a tendency to ignore the community in community-based earthquake preparedness in Nepal.

The purpose of this paper is to increase public participation in the reduction process of growing disaster risk in developing countries by making optimum benefit from the richness of Islamic teaching toward developing an effective and scientifically sound risk communication and education plan that blends with historical traditions, religious beliefs and indigenous knowledge.

The paper presents the correlation between the guiding principle of earthquake risk reduction and the views of Islam on disaster, earthquake, God's bounty, the earth, good deeds, as well as human behavior, safety and vitality in order to clear existing misconceptions and it shows the issues of environment protection, risk management, safety and human life in terms of religious teaching.

The dissemination of this type of knowledge has helped to clear the misconceptions and increase people's understanding of and knowledge about disaster‐related issues; as a necessary step in the process of disaster risk reduction and improving safety and development, all of which can be viewed as demonstrations of God's love for humankind.

It is the first time that this noble correlation between religion and risk reduction has been explained in a paper, and it is expected to open the road for research and discussion on this topic.

This paper aims to develop an appropriate earthquake disaster management system for Iranian schools with a main focus on non‐structural problems of schools during disasters.

A framework is proposed for disaster management planning regarding earthquakes in three phases: before, during, and after an earthquake. A detailed description of the proposed management system is also presented with special application to schools, focusing mainly on non‐structural problem.

There is a need to emphasise on a national‐level contingency planning that includes developing and designing detailed plans for a proper response and training of relevant personnel. Another important issue, which needs special attention is the material which should be taught to the commanders of emergency activities at various levels in order to help them to control an effective emergency situation.

By using the “emergency management system” proposed in this paper for Iranian schools the authorities can make sure that they have utilized all of their resources for an efficient disaster risk management. It is hoped that other developing countries can also benefit from the proposed programme.

The originality of this paper is in the comprehensiveness of the “emergency management system” proposed for the schools, and the approaches it suggests for constructing the “safety culture” in society.