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Synapse
March 21, 2026Scientific Data4 citationsOpen Access

Disaster Storylines and Knowledge Graphs from Global News with Large Language Models and Retrieval-Augmented Generation

MRMichele RoncoLBLuca BandelliLBLorenzo Bertolini

Key Points

  • The research aims to create a dataset from global disaster events, employing advanced semantic extraction methods for analysis.
  • Extracted over 3,000 disaster events from news using a combination of large language models and retrieval-augmented generation.
  • Generated structured storylines outlining hazard characteristics, drivers, impacts, and responses.
  • Developed knowledge graphs for analysis of relationships and inter-hazard dynamics, supported by domain expert evaluation and independent assessments.
  • Structured storylines reveal insights into hazard dynamics and human-environment interactions.
  • Quantified precision and inter-annotator agreement in knowledge graph assessments.
  • The dataset aids in retrospective analysis and supports disaster risk management decisions.

Abstract

We present a dataset of over 3,000 global disaster events from 2014 to 2024, derived from the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT). Events are extracted from news using a pipeline combining Large Language Models (LLMs) and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) for semantic extraction. The corpus is the Europe Media Monitor (EMM), aggregating content from millions of news outlets. For each event, structured storylines are automatically generated, summarizing hazard characteristics, drivers, impacts, and responses, and transformed into knowledge graphs. This enables analysis of relationships, inter-hazard dynamics, and human-environment interactions often missed in traditional records. A small subset of knowledge graphs was evaluated by domain experts in a workshop, while a larger sample of extracted triplets was independently assessed to quantify precision and inter-annotator agreement. The dataset supports retrospective analysis and multi-hazard risk assessment, complementing resources like the Hazard Information Profiles (HIPs). All data, code, and workflows are openly available, with an interactive dashboard for exploration. This resource advances data-driven approaches to disaster scenario modeling, impact analysis, and decision support in disaster risk management.

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Cite This Study

Ronco et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69be35166e48c4981c6733b8https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-07036-2
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Also Consider

Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context:

  1. 1From headlines to databases: leveraging LLMs for structured disaster event extraction2026
  2. 2Spatial and Temporal Patterns for Disaster Prediction Using the Global Disaster Dataset2025
  3. 3Harnessing large language models to build knowledge graphs from earthquake news2025
  4. 4Construction of Knowledge Graph for Emergency Resources2024 · 2 citations
  5. 5Constructing Spatio-temporal Disaster Knowledge Graph from Social Media2024 · 1 citations