The Component 4: Extreme Events and Disasters of the Compendium of Philippine Environment Statistics (CPES) compiles statistics on the occurrence of extreme events and disasters and their impacts on human well-being, and the infrastructure of the human subsystem.

4.1 Natural Extreme Events and Disasters

This subcomponent organizes statistics on the frequency and intensity of extreme events and disasters deriving from natural phenomena and their impact on human lives. The occurrence of natural extreme events and disasters include statistics on type of disaster, location, magnitude, date of occurrence, and duration. Meanwhile, impact of natural extreme events and disasters contain information on economic and physical losses, number of people killed, injured, homeless, and affected.

In 2023, 208 natural extreme events and disasters occurred. Of the total occurrences, 37.0 percent were due to geophysical disasters, followed by 29.3 percent due to meteorological disasters. Among the minor natural extreme events and disasters or minor natural incidents, geophysical disasters such as earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic activity, among others, recorded 73 occurrences or 37.6 percent of the total 194. Meanwhile, out of the 14 total major natural extreme events and disasters or major natural disasters recorded in 2023, meteorological disasters such as Low Pressure Area (LPA) and tropical cyclones recorded the highest number of occurrences at 8 or 57.1 percent. (Tables 4.1.1 and 4.1.2)

A total of 157 died due to natural extreme events and disasters in 2023. Minor natural incidents, such as disease or epidemic outbreak, landslides, flashfloods or flooding, Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), among others, recorded 57 deaths. Meanwhile, major natural disasters such as earthquakes, LPA, northeast monsoon, shearline, and tropical cyclones recorded 100 deaths. (Tables 4.3.1 and 4.3.2)

The families and persons affected by natural extreme events and disasters in 2023 reached 3 million and 13 million, respectively. Among the minor natural incidents recorded, ITCZ affected 124 thousand families or 30.4 percent of the total affected families or around 588 thousand persons or 47.6 percent of the total affected persons. On the other hand, of the total major natural disasters, Tropical Cyclones affected 2 million families or 63.3 percent of the total affected families, which is equivalent to 7 million persons or 62.1 percent of the total affected persons. (Tables 4.9.1 and 4.9.2)

Natural extreme events and disasters damaged 130 thousand houses in 2023. Minor natural incidents totally and partially damaged 1,467 houses and 8,177 houses, respectively, in 2023. Meanwhile, 8,582 houses were totally damaged while 112 thousand houses were partially damaged by major natural disasters in 2023. (Figure 1, and Tables 4.11.1 and 4.11.2)

In 2023 natural extreme events and disasters posted Ph. 24.49 billion total damages in 2023, 17.5 percent lower than the PhP 29.68 billion recorded in 2022. (Tables 4.13.1 and 4.13.2)

The total damages due to minor natural incidents reached PhP 1.24 billion in 2023, a 33.4 percent increase from PhP 0.93 billion in 2022. Infrastructure incurred the largest damage at PhP 0.63 billion or 50.7 percent of the total damages. This was followed by agriculture at PhP 0.53 billion or 42.4 percent of the total damages. (Table 4.13.1)

Infrastructure also suffered the largest damage due to major natural disasters in 2023. It registered PhP 13.37 billion or 57.5 percent of the total damages due to major natural disasters. Agriculture had the second largest damage, recording PhP 9.76 billion or 42.0 percent. Major natural disasters posted PhP 23.25 billion total damages in 2023, 19.1 percent lower than PhP 28.75 billion in 2022. (Figure 2 and Table 4.13.2)

4.2 Human-Induced Disasters¹

Human-induced disasters organizes statistics on extreme events resulting from human intent, negligence or error, and/or faulty or failed technological applications.

In 2023, 448 human-induced disasters occurred. Minor human-induced incidents recorded 447 occurrences. Of the total minor human-induced incidents, 194 or 43.4 percent were fire incidents. Meanwhile, only one major human-induced disaster, an oil spill, was reported. (Tables 4.2.1 and 4.2.2)

Minor human-induced incidents resulted in 340 deaths in 2023. Among these incidents, 92 or 27.1 percent were due to vehicular accidents. No deaths were reported due to major human-induced disasters in 2023. (Tables 4.4.1 and 4.4.2)

A total of 100 thousand families or around 351 thousand persons were affected due to human-induced disasters. Due to minor human-induced incidents, 56 thousand families or around 151 thousand persons were affected in 2023. Among the human-induced incidents, armed conflicts/fire incidents affected 60.9 percent of the total families affected while fire incidents affected 41.8 percent of the total persons affected. Meanwhile, oil spill, the only major human-induced disaster recorded in 2023, affected 44 thousand families which is equivalent to 200 thousand persons. (Tables 4.10.1 and 4.10.2)

Human-induced disasters posted PhP 9.29 billion total damages in 2023, PhP 4.93 billion or 53.1 percent of which was due to oil spill. The reported oil spill in various regions resulted in damages in the agriculture sector. On the other hand, minor human-induced incidents such as armed conflicts/firefight and fire incidents reached PhP 4.36 billion total damages in 2023. The total damages in infrastructure amounted to PhP 4.31 billion or 98.7 percent of the total damages due to minor human-induced incidents. (Figure 3, and Tables 4.14.1, 4.14.2, and 4.17)

While no house was damaged due to major human-induced disasters, 9,109 houses were totally and partially damaged by minor human-induced incidents such as armed conflicts/firefight and fire incidents. (Tables 4.12.1 and 4.12.2)

¹ Also known as Technological Disasters