RTUComputer ScienceYr 2023 · Sem 82023

Q2Disaster Management

Question

2 marks

Differentiate between a natural hazard and a disaster.

Answer

A natural hazard is a physical phenomenon (like a magnitude 8.0 earthquake in an unpopulated desert), whereas a disaster is the catastrophic intersection of a hazard with a highly vulnerable human population.

Mathematically: . If a massive tsunami hits an entirely uninhabited island, it remains strictly a natural hazard because the physical loss of human life and economic infrastructure is exactly zero.

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