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Differences between Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes

The planet is often riddled with Natural Processes , proof of the earth moving and changing. It is not until a process occurs near/or affecting humans that it is deemed a Natural Hazard . This is when a natural process such as an earthquake transpires and the damage potentially threatens human lives or property. A hazard is classified as a Natural Disaster when a hazardous process occurs in a concentrated space and time and either kills 10+ people, affects 100+ people, a state of emergency is declared, and/or the area requests international assistance. A disaster is considered a Catastrophe  if it requires years to recover at a significant cost.  An interesting tidbit I found as I was deciding to study Japan was that the  2011 Tōhoku earthquake is often written about as a disaster despite being the largest earthquake recorded in Japanese history (9.0 magnitude), the following and unpredicted Tsunamis, the damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant cooling ...