Natural hazards are natural processes/ events that are a potential threat to human life or property. This can come in the form of natural processes like earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, volcanoes etc. A disaster is classified as such when the loss of human life is 10 people or more with 100 or more being affected by the natural hazard (s). In such cases, a state of emergency is declared by officials and a request for international assistance is placed. A catastrophe is on a much larger scale in terms of natural processes threatening human life and property. Catastrophes are massive disasters that incur significant financial costs and take an incredibly long time (years) to recover from.
Source: Earth Catastrophes, Chapter 1 Intro. Lecture by Dr. Ana Garcia-Garcia
