Natural hazard = natural event that threatens people/has the potential to cause damage/destruction/death
● Natural disaster = natural event that causes great damage/loss of lives
○ Causes potential risk of damage to property and loss of lives
■ The more humans that come into contact with natural events , the potential risk of natural
hazard increases
■ The more severe or more vulnerable the population , the higher the potential risk
● Hazards are classified by their physical processes /what caused the hazard to occur
○ Tectonic hazards
■ eg/ earthquake, tsunami → involve movement of tectonic plates in Earth’s crust
○ Atmospheric hazards
■ eg/ hurricanes, droughts → weather
○ Geomorphological hazards
■ eg/ flooding → occurs on Earth’s surface
○ Biological hazards
■ eg/ forest fire → involves living organisms
● Categories are closely linked → one can cause another
○ eg/ tsunamis (tectonic hazard) could be caused by landslide – displaces a
large body of water
● Some regions around the world are more vulnerable to natural hazards than others
Risk:
● Risk = potential/probability for natural hazard to become natural disaster
○ Differs from place to place due to a number of factors
■ Urban/rural areas
■ Development of the country
■ Population density
■ Effective management