Types of Disasters and Hazards – United States

A disaster or hazard produced primarily by forces of nature that result in human or property impact of sufficient severity to be deemed an emergency.
Natural disasters or hazards include hurricanes, tornados, storms, floods, high water, wind‐driven water, tidal waves, earthquakes, droughts, fires, infectious disease epidemics, and other events

A disaster or hazard created primarily by manmade technology or unplanned and non‐malicious actions, which result in human or property impact of sufficient severity to be deemed an emergency.
Technological disasters or hazards include:
- Industrial accidents
- Nuclear accidents
- Transportation accidents
- Unintentional natural gas and other explosions,
- Conflagration
- Building collapse from primary structural failure (insufficient supports during construction or renovation, corrosion or other predictable materials deterioration, overload of structural elements)
- Power failure
- Financial and resource shortage
- Oil and other hazardous materials spills, and
- Other injury‐threatening environmental contamination

A disaster or hazard produced primarily by threatened or executed intentional actions, threatening or resulting in human or property impact of sufficient severity to be deemed an emergency
Intentional disasters or hazards cover a very wide range of forces (chemical, biological, radiation, incendiary and explosive, cyber, disruption of services or products, and others)
The intent may be sabotage, criminal actions, conflict and civil disobedience or disturbance, or acts of terrorism

A structural collapse caused by an earthquake is a natural hazard emergency
A structural collapse caused by a construction error is a technological hazard emergency
A structural collapse caused by a deliberate methane explosion is an intentional hazard emergency