Knowra Natural hazard Natural hazard A natural process or event that can threaten people, infrastructure, or ecosystems. It becomes a disaster when it causes severe disruption and exceeds a community’s capacity to cope.
Earthquake : A sudden release of energy in Earth’s crust that generates seismic waves and ground shaking. Fault rupture produces shaking, collapse, and secondary hazards such as landslides.
Hazard : A potential source of harm to people, property, or the environment. Natural hazards are one class of hazards, distinguished by their natural processes.
Early warning system : An integrated system that detects hazards, forecasts impacts, and communicates timely alerts for protective action. Warnings can give exposed communities time to evacuate or take shelter.
Technological hazard : A potential source of harm arising from technology, industrial activity, or infrastructure failure. Unlike a natural hazard, its initiating source is technological or human-made.
Cascading disaster : A sequence in which an initial disaster triggers further failures or hazards across interconnected systems. One natural event can disrupt infrastructure and generate additional threats.
Tropical cyclone : A rotating low-pressure storm that forms over warm tropical or subtropical oceans. Its winds, rainfall, and storm surge can threaten extensive coastlines.
Exposure (risk) : The presence of people, infrastructure, or other valued assets in places that could be affected by hazards. An event cannot directly damage assets that are not exposed to it.
Disaster risk reduction : Policies and actions that prevent new disaster risk, reduce existing risk, and manage residual risk. It addresses the conditions that turn natural events into damaging disasters.
Anthropogenic hazard : A potential source of harm caused primarily by human activity. This distinguishes hazards originating in human actions from those driven by natural processes.
Critical infrastructure : Systems and assets essential to a society’s functioning, including energy, transport, water, and communications. Damage to interconnected infrastructure can magnify and prolong hazard impacts.
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