system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: It seems that when devastating disasters happen in North America, less than a hundred are killed, but how come in countries in the Middle East, Asia and the Far East suffer far more casualties for similar disasters?

Some examples i've seen are massive earthquakes in the US causing only a hundred or so casualties yet when an earthquake of similar magnitude strikes the other side of the world, casualties are in the thousands. Then more recently, flooding in Texas has killed about 20-25 people and then in south Asia about 1200 people have died in floods.
gpt
that's easy, it comes down to primarily two things:

- Money

- the number of people living there (population density)

While the US are huge, they're not as densely populated as other areas, especially in Asia or the Middle East. In Texas you got an average of 40 people per square kilometer (or roughly 100 per square mile). The worlds average is about 60 (thats including the deserts, greenland, etc). Pakistan for example has a density of about 250 people per square kilometer.

And then, more money means better houses, better infrastructure, better governments with better (and better enforced) safety regulations when it comes to building/maintaining stuff. It means having the option to leave an endangered area and go somewhere else, etc.