Social Vulnerability Index Assessment: Identifying Gaps and Enhancing Local Capacity in Natural Disaster Management

Taiwan is a high-risk area for natural hazards such as earthquakes, floods, and landslides. The social vulnerability index (SVI) is a virtual element in risk analysis in disaster management. The purpose of this research is to develop a system for assessing the SVI in natural hazards. The framework of SVI includes4 categories (such as exposure, preparedness, response, and recovery), 12 subcategories, and 33 specific quantitative indicators, used to assess the potential damage a region may face from natural disasters (such as earthquakes, floods, etc.), as well as its capacity to respond, resist, and adapt. The SVI by country and township level, it quickly identifies the gaps on disaster management. At 2024, 5 cities and 17 countries in Taiwan elevated the SVI by township, and then 22 local governments made strategies to fix gaps and enhance the capacity in disaster. For example, Taoyuan City uses SVI results to reveal gaps in disaster prevention and mitigation, specifically shortages of rescue equipment and volunteers.

Our flexible SVI assessment system empowers users to customize their SVI calculations by selecting the most relevant indicators for their specific needs. The system visualizes the resulting SVI scores on a map, showing their spatial distribution, and also provides historical trend data for both the overall SVI and each indicator. This research selects 8 indicators (such as number of the resident population, ratio of infrastructure in disaster-prone areas, number of soil and water conservation engineering, number of buildings with low seismic resistance, number of isolated islands, number of healthcare personnel per 10,000 people, average disposable income per household and coverage rate of earthquake insurance) to assess SVI of earthquake by county level, the result show that SVI is lower in highly urbanized areas because these regions have more abundant disaster prevention and response resources, well-developed infrastructure, greater healthcare capacity, and more comprehensive disaster risk reduction preparedness. SVI is higher in rural and eastern counties due to a lack of medical resources and limited external transportation routes, leading to more isolated areas. Regions with elevated SVI scores demonstrate heightened social vulnerability. Consequently, local governments must enhance their capacities in disaster prevention, response, and recovery to mitigate potential damage from earthquakes.

Keywords: Social Vulnerability Index, local government, specific needs, earthquake