Disaster risk refers to the likelihood of loss or harm due to a serious disruption of the community’s normal functioning; it's not only dictated by the strength of a hazard like earthquake, but also on how vulnerable the community is. This paper developed a tool for quantifying the Seismic Risk Index (SRi) of a community at micro-scale. The SRi is taken as a function of various parameters including the severity of earthquake in the area, population density, structural vulnerability, as well as other physical and socio-economic factors.

An actual application has been made to the case of Barangay Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. The basic unit is the barangay’s political zone since it’s the most fundamental unit in government where policy change may be enacted. Results show that Zones 2, 5 and 9 are at High Risk. These same zones are also the top three densely populated areas. In addition, Zones 2 and 5 are swarmed with structures literally adjacent to the Cagayan de Oro River, while Zone 9’s slopes are mushroomed with structures. Also, the Structural Seismic Vulnerability Score (SSVs) of Zones 2 and 5 are beyond the cut-off score, which suggests that many of the structures in these zones are potentially seismically hazardous; and this is mainly due to the presence of many non-engineered structures. To aid in the presentation to the local stakeholders, maps have been generated. To reduce the community’s vulnerability, it is recommended that a committed effort in implementing code compliance be done.