A disaster is a sudden, calamitous event that seriously disrupts the functioning of a community or society and causes human, material, and economic or environmental losses that exceed the community’s or society’s ability to cope using its own resources. Though often caused by nature, disasters can have human origins.
(VULNERABILITY+ HAZARD ) / CAPACITY = DISASTER
poverty
A disaster occurs when a hazard impacts on vulnerable people.
The combination of hazards, vulnerability and inability to reduce the potential negative consequences of risk results in disaster.
Vulnerability in this context can be defined as the diminished capacity of an individual or group to anticipate, cope with, resist and recover from the impact of a natural or man-made hazard. The concept is relative and dynamic. Vulnerability is most often associated with poverty, but it can also arise when people are isolated, insecure and defenceless in the face of risk, shock or stress.
Earthquake victims and deaths from
ground movements & tsunamis, 1996-2015
International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR)
A disaster is not a single event; it may have various causes and consequences, and so each disaster is unique.