Abstract: The frequent occurrences of debris flow disasters have caused great damage in some regions of China during recent years. Yet it is difficult to forecast such disasters accurately due to its big quantity in large area and sudden outbreak. Therefore it is especially urgent to pre-evaluate debris flow disaster risk. This paper reviewed the research on debris risk assessment in the past decades, including its conceptual constituents, hazard assessment and vulnerability evaluation. It was found that a tangible disaster risk assessment formula had been formed and debris flow hazard assessment methods had been successfully established. However, there were still some problems which need to be further explored, such as the mechanism analysis of the damage risk to hazard-bearing items, the effective transition from the point evaluation to the regional one, the neglected vulnerability research. Hence, it might be necessary to strengthen research in these aspects in the future, which might consequently enhance the reliability of the risk assessment results and improve its practicality.

Key words: debris flow hazard, debris flow risk, risk assessment, vulnerability of hazard-bearing items