Defining the difference between a hazard event and a disaster is extremely tricky. Below are two definitions, one from the UN and one from the IB. The UN definition is slightly clearer because it applies figures to number of deaths and the number of people affected. The IB definition is much more subjective. However, stating that 10 people have to die for a hazard event to become a disaster seems to diminish the importance of just one death, which in reality is a disaster for the friends and family who loved the victim.
IB Definitions
Disaster: A major hazard event that causes widespread disruption to a community or region that the affected community is unable to deal with adequately without outside help.
Hazard: A threat (whether natural or human) that has the potential to cause loss of life, injury, property damage, socio-economic disruption or environmental degradation.
Hazard event: The occurrence (realisation) of a hazard, the effects of which change demographic, economic and/or environmental conditions.
Remember a natural hazard is only a hazard if it is a threat to humans or there property, so if no humans are endangered and no property is damaged it is just a natural process or event e.g. an avalanche on an Antarctic mountain where no one lives.
UN Definition
"A disaster is a sudden, calamitous event that causes serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic and/or environmental issues which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own level of resources".
For a disaster to be entered into the database of the UN's ISDR (International Strategy for Disaster Reduction), at least one of the following criteria must be met:
A report of 10 or more people killed
A report of 100 people affected
A declaration of a state of emergency by the relevant government
A request by the national government for international assistance
Definition
Defining the difference between a hazard event and a disaster is extremely tricky. Below are two definitions, one from the UN and one from the IB. The UN definition is slightly clearer because it applies figures to number of deaths and the number of people affected. The IB definition is much more subjective. However, stating that 10 people have to die for a hazard event to become a disaster seems to diminish the importance of just one death, which in reality is a disaster for the friends and family who loved the victim.
IB Definitions
Disaster: A major hazard event that causes widespread disruption to a community or region that the affected community is unable to deal with adequately without outside help.
Hazard: A threat (whether natural or human) that has the potential to cause loss of life, injury, property damage, socio-economic disruption or environmental degradation.
Hazard event: The occurrence (realisation) of a hazard, the effects of which change demographic, economic and/or environmental conditions.
Remember a natural hazard is only a hazard if it is a threat to humans or there property, so if no humans are endangered and no property is damaged it is just a natural process or event e.g. an avalanche on an Antarctic mountain where no one lives.
UN Definition
"A disaster is a sudden, calamitous event that causes serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic and/or environmental issues which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own level of resources".
For a disaster to be entered into the database of the UN's ISDR (International Strategy for Disaster Reduction), at least one of the following criteria must be met:
UN - ISDR Website