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Difference Between Hazard and Disaster

June 12, 2011 Posted by koshal

Hazard vs Disaster
 

To understand the difference between hazard and disaster one should pay attention to their nature. Despite all the advances in science and technology, man is helpless in the face of natural calamities that are termed as disasters because of the trail of destruction in terms of loss of lives and property caused by them. But disasters are not always natural, and there are manmade disasters too. Disaster is the result of a hazard that may be natural or manmade, and in this article we shall differentiate between the two.

What is a Hazard?

A hazard is a situation where there is a threat to life, health, environment, or property. Earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, wildfires, landslides, droughts, and volcanic eruptions are natural hazards that cause a lot of destruction. They are natural phenomenon that take place without regard to humans and do not strike a place taking into account the built environment or the population. When any of these hazards takes place in an area that is desolate, it causes no harm to human lives or property. Hence, it is not called a disaster though technically it is the same phenomenon that would have raised an alarm had it taken place in an area that was thickly populated. It is clear then that a hazard is an event that has the potential to cause widespread destruction and loss of lives and property. But, when a hazard strikes an area that has no human population, though it still has destructive properties, it is not termed as a disaster.

Difference Between Hazard and Disaster

When there are natural hazards, they cannot be prevented. But, we can certainly learn to live in harmony with nature by not taking steps that can turn hazards into major disasters. If one takes into account the cost that we finally pay when a disaster strikes and the cost of averting it, we come to a conclusion that it is prudent to be prepared rather than inviting the wrath of nature on a very large scale.

When it comes to hazards, there are several types of hazards. They are Physical (heat, noise, vibration), Chemical (leakages of chemical compounds, fires), Biological (parasites, viruses, bacteria), Psychological, and Radiation Hazards.

What is a Disaster?

A disaster is an event that completely disrupts the normal ways of a community. It brings on human, economical, and environmental losses to the community which the community cannot bear on its own. Earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, wildfires, landslides, droughts, and volcanic eruptions are termed as disasters when they occur in places that are heavily inhabited areas. Tornados and typhoons occur frequently in many parts of the world but are labeled as disasters only when they take place where there is built environment and human population.

There are factors that are manmade and that help in turning a hazard into a disaster. The way and the speed in which deforestation is taking place in many parts of the world have resulted in an increased frequency of floods that lead to widespread destruction. Earthquakes in seismic zones that are prone to them cannot be prevented but high concentration of human population and inadequately built houses that cannot withstand earthquakes lead to disasters at a very high level resulting in loss of valuable lives.

Hazard vs Disaster

Ruins from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake

Also, for manmade disasters we can give examples such as fires, transport accidents, nuclear radiation, explosions, etc.

What is the difference between Hazard and Disaster?

• A hazard is a situation where there is a threat to life, health, environment or property.

• A disaster is an event that completely disrupts the normal ways of a community. It brings on human, economical, and environmental losses to the community which the community cannot bear on its own.

• Hazards are natural or manmade phenomenon that are a feature of our planet and cannot be prevented. In their dormant state, hazards just pose a threat to life and property.

• These hazards are termed as disasters when they cause widespread destruction of property and human lives. Once a hazard becomes active and is no longer just a threat, it becomes a disaster.

• Both hazards and disasters are natural as well as manmade.

• We can prevent hazards becoming disasters if we learn to live in harmony with nature and take precautionary steps.

These are the difference between hazard and disaster.

 

Images Courtesy: Biological hazard and Ruins from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake via Wikicommons (Public Domain)

Related posts:

Difference Between Hazard and RiskDifference Between Hazard and Risk Difference Between Flood and Flash Flood Difference Between Earthquake and Tsunami Difference Between 2004 Tsunami and 2011 Tsunami Difference Between Tsunami and Flood

Filed Under: Disasters Tagged With: calamities, calamity, deforestation, disaster, disaster and hazard, disaster definition, disasters, Hazard, hazard and disaster, hazard definition, hazards, manmade hazard, natural hazard, natural phenomenon

About the Author: koshal

Koshal is a graduate in Language Studies with a Master's Degree in Linguistics

Comments

  1. Mozammel90 says

    August 20, 2011 at 5:05 am

    best answer

    Reply
  2. amjad rahi says

    November 12, 2012 at 5:50 pm

    plz discuss criminology & research methodology in detail

    Reply
    • Chhavin Gupta says

      June 6, 2017 at 6:38 am

      How is it related to scientific study of crime(criminology) and criminals? This is difference between Hazard and Disaster

      Reply
  3. Prussia Beilshmidt says

    November 10, 2016 at 7:28 am

    Exactly what I needed to finish this goddamn report. Thanks!

    Reply
  4. junim says

    June 18, 2017 at 11:00 am

    nice answer…. thank you I use this in my assignment hoohoohho

    Reply
  5. aditya kumar junwal says

    June 22, 2017 at 5:02 pm

    i like the answer

    Reply
  6. Deepak agrawal says

    June 29, 2017 at 2:30 pm

    Useful for those who are interested to learn in detail

    Reply
  7. Bien says

    October 16, 2017 at 9:59 am

    Easy to understand. Thanks!

    Reply
  8. Shyamal das says

    November 26, 2017 at 2:49 am

    Very very nice answer.I liked it.

    Reply
  9. Soni says

    December 30, 2017 at 6:53 pm

    Vry gud answer

    Reply
  10. simi says

    February 12, 2018 at 2:45 am

    Useful information

    Reply

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