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This collection addresses the significance of adopting a broader systematic approach to understanding disaster risk, considering hazards, vulnerability, exposure, capacity, and cascading interactions. Implementing this approach can lead to informed decision-making to effectively reduce disaster risks. We welcome contributions that include but are not limited to cascading events, compound disasters, and systemic perspectives to understand and reduce disaster risk.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, resulting from the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami, is a well-known example of cascading effects. The earthquake, with a magnitude of 9.0, triggered the tsunami and was presumably amplified by a submarine landslide produced by the earthquake. To fully understand the complexity of such compound disasters, disaster risk drivers, including hazard dynamics and vulnerability and exposure factors, must be considered. A thorough investigation of hazards' direct and indirect connections and impacts is also crucial to identify and comprehend the risks of complex and cascading hazards.