A global outlook on multi-hazard risk analysis: A systematic and scientometric review

Abstract

Multi-hazard risks pose manifold challenges in the world due to different spatial and temporal scales of hazardous incidents and possible interactions between socio-economic activities and several hazards. In this area of study, there has been very little effort, if any, that provides researchers with systematically evaluated information regarding the state of the multi-hazard risk assessment (MHRA) field. To fill this gap, this paper leveraged several state-of-the-art tools (i.e., Bibliometrix R-tool and VOSviewer) for an extensive review analysis. Furthermore, multi-perspective insights based on publication sources, co-citation networks, thematic evolution, and international collaborations are provided regarding the MHRA research field. The results indicate that while a reasonable amount of MHRA-related scholarly work has been produced, no international collaboration is identified for the scholars in the south Asian region, Australia, and South America despite being impacted by multiple hazards and climate change. Such a situation represents a large gap regarding international collaboration, which needs the attention of research institutes, governments, and scholars to advance the field of MHRA research. Even though the number of published articles gradually increased between 2019 and 2022, the major focus of the MHRA field remained on landslide hazards highlighting an under-representation of other geophysical, meteorological, and hydrological hazards. This review paper provides an organized in-depth, detailed network, and a clear roadmap of current development in multi-hazards risk studies to serve as a reference for researchers, risk analysts, environmental engineers, disaster managers, decision-makers, and practitioners in the MHRA research field.