WHAT ARE HAZARDS, DISASTERS, and CATASTROPHES?

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HAZARDS, DISASTERS, and CATASTROPHES

For an individual outside of the scientific community, the terms hazard, disaster, and catastrophe can be used synonymously or be interpreted interchangeably.

An event such as an earthquake for instance can occur at any given area, but depending on its effects or aftermath can be classified as either a hazard, disaster, or catastrophe. 

So what's the real score among these three?

The level of severity or effects of an event determines its classification.



Hazard

A hazard is any natural process or event that poses a direct threat to the human environment. The event itself is not a hazard; rather, a process or event becomes a hazard when it threatens human interests. 


Disaster

A disaster is the effect of a hazard on society, usually as an event that occurs over a limited time in a defined geographic area. The term disaster is used when the interaction between humans and a natural process results in significant property damage, injuries, or loss of life. 

An event will be considered a disaster when one of the following occurs:

  • at least 10 people lose their life as a result;
  • one hundred or more people are affected;
  • a state of emergency is declared; or
  • international assistance is requested

ALL DISASTERS ARE HAZARDOUS EVENTS, 
BUT NOT ALL HAZARDOUS EVENTS ARE DISASTERS!!!


Catastrophe

A catastrophe is a massive disaster that greatly impacted the human environment and requiring significant expenditure of time, money, and resources for response and recovery.



As an example, the 9.1 magnitude earthquake that struck off the the coast of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia on December 26, 2004 triggered a massive tsunami across the Indian Ocean about seven hours after.  The giant waves devastated  coastal areas in the region reaching as far as East Africa and killed at least 225,000 people in about a dozen of countries. Indonesia sustained the most casualties(200,000+), along with thousands more in Sri Lanka, India, Maldives, and Thailand.  This event is considered to be a catastrophe because of the extent of devastation to life, property, and economy of the affected countries.



South-west suburb of Banda Aceh, Sumatra on 2 January 2005.


Related Videos

I am including some YouTube videos for further information about this topic along with how the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) respond to various disasters here in the United States.

Natural Hazards vs Natural Disasters YouTube Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NfOIvenFDU


How a Disaster Gets Declared YouTube Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPU2uGgdg5A


References:

https://www.oercommons.org/courses/natural-disasters-new-version-coming-soon/view

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mjIRub-Xbw


Photo Credits:

https://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/nh/2021/06/28/artificial-intelligence-for-disaster-management-thats-how-we-stand/

https://reliefweb.int/map/indonesia/impact-south-asia-earthquake-26-december-2004

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_and_tsunami





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