What is the difference between hazard and disaster

All disasters are hazards, but all hazards are not disasters. Now THAT will definitely be a disaster. Rate this:. Help your friends and family become eco-intelligent today! Like this: Like Loading Author: Saurab Babu Usually found sitting with a good book, nibbling on a piece of dark chocolate. Prev How does tourism affect the coastal ecosystems? Next Coastal Dead Zones: Killing coastal ecosystems worldwide. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:.

Email required Address never made public. Name required. Search for: Search. This refers to acts of nature, like earthquakes or tsunamis. For example, a chemical leak or the explosion of a power station could easily be disaster-type situations. Sometimes man-made structures add to the impact of a hazard and together they create an even bigger disaster. In Japan, a nuclear power station was damaged by an earthquake and exploded. The combination of a natural hazard and a man-made structure resulted in a massive disaster that killed people and destroyed property.

Article Continued Below. Hazard is a general occurrence that is risky or dangerous to the affected people. Therefore, they are naturally occurring situations in the world, which cannot be avoided.

Furthermore, they pose a threat to our lives. There are two types of hazards as geophysical and biological. Some geophysical hazards are earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, droughts, floods, and some biological hazards are disease, infection, etc. Based on their severity and the place of occurrence, hazards can be classified as disasters or not. Hazards have the potential to disrupt the living conditions of the humans; however, necessary precautions to avoid dangerous results can be taken before the hazard aggravates into a disaster.

Figure 1: Biological Hazards Sign. Therefore, it can be assumed that hazard can also be a precursor to a disaster. What are hazards? Natural hazards are naturally occurring physical phenomena.

While hazards may be natural and inevitable, disasters are not. Learn about different hazards. Volcanic eruptions. Cold waves.