Multi-Hazard Risk Assessment of Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

Rajesh Khatakho, Dipendra Gautam, Komal Raj Aryal, Vishnu Prasad Pandey, Rajesh Rupakhety, Suraj Lamichhane, Yi-Chung Liu, Khameis Abdouli, Rocky Talchabhadel, Bhesh Raj Thapa and Rabindra Adhikari
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Rajesh Khatakho: Interdisciplinary Research Institute for Sustainability, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal
Dipendra Gautam: Interdisciplinary Research Institute for Sustainability, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal
Komal Raj Aryal: Faculty of Resilience, Rabdan Academy, Abu Dhabi 114646, United Arab Emirates
Vishnu Prasad Pandey: Interdisciplinary Research Institute for Sustainability, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal
Rajesh Rupakhety: Earthquake Engineering Research Center, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Iceland, Austuryegur 21, 800 Selfoss, Iceland
Suraj Lamichhane: Interdisciplinary Research Institute for Sustainability, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal
Yi-Chung Liu: National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction, New Taipei City 23143, Taiwan
Khameis Abdouli: Faculty of Resilience, Rabdan Academy, Abu Dhabi 114646, United Arab Emirates
Rocky Talchabhadel: Interdisciplinary Research Institute for Sustainability, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal
Bhesh Raj Thapa: Interdisciplinary Research Institute for Sustainability, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal
Rabindra Adhikari: Interdisciplinary Research Institute for Sustainability, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-27

Abstract: Natural hazards are complex phenomena that can occur independently, simultaneously, or in a series as cascading events. For any particular region, numerous single hazard maps may not necessarily provide all information regarding impending hazards to the stakeholders for preparedness and planning. A multi-hazard map furnishes composite illustration of the natural hazards of varying magnitude, frequency, and spatial distribution. Thus, multi-hazard risk assessment is performed to depict the holistic natural hazards scenario of any particular region. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, multi-hazard risk assessments are rarely conducted in Nepal although multiple natural hazards strike the country almost every year. In this study, floods, landslides, earthquakes, and urban fire hazards are used to assess multi-hazard risk in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), which is then integrated with the Geographical Information System (GIS). First, flood, landslide, earthquake, and urban fire hazard assessments are performed individually and then superimposed to obtain multi-hazard risk. Multi-hazard risk assessment of Kathmandu Valley is performed by pair-wise comparison of the four natural hazards. The sum of observations concludes that densely populated areas, old settlements, and the central valley have high to very high level of multi-hazard risk.

Keywords: multi-hazard; risk assessment; earthquake; flood; landslide; fire; Kathmandu Valley (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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