Natural and Man-Made Hazards

What are Natural and Man-Made Hazards

​Emergency preparedness means understanding local hazards, equipping loved ones, and planning ahead to save lives, protect property, and bring peace of mind when facing natural, man-made, or health crises. Natural disasters affect thousands of people annually, while man-made hazards often strike with little to no warning. Familiarizing yourself with local threats and equipping your household with basic supplies and emergency planning are essential steps to lessen these immediate dangers.

Natural hazards originate from different atmospheric, geological, or biological processes within the Earth's ecosystem:

  • Geological Hazards: Internal Earth processes or structural movements, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, mudslides, and tsunamis.
  • Meteorological & Climatological Hazards: Short-term weather patterns or long-term atmospheric shifts, including hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, severe heatwaves, and prolonged droughts.
  • Hydrological Hazards: The violent, rapid, or unexpected movement of water, most notably flash floods, river floods, and coastal storm surges.
  • Biological Hazards: Ecological imbalances or organic threats, such as wildfires, locust swarms, or disease outbreaks (epidemics and pandemics). Pandemic occurs when a new virus emerges globally with no existing human immunity. Severe outbreaks, like Pandemic Influenza and COVID-19, can arrive in waves lasting for months, causing widespread illness, high mortality, severe economic loss, and deep social disruption.

Man-made hazards are threats of or dangerous conditions caused by human intent, negligence, error, or systemic failure. Unlike natural hazards, these are direct byproducts of human activity, technology, or societal conflict, and often occur with little to no warning.

  •   Technological & Industrial Hazards: Accidents stemming from manufacturing or engineering processes, such as chemical spills, 
      radiation leaks, and structural failures.
  •   Environmental Pollution: Ecosystem degradation caused by human activity, including oil spills, severe air pollution, and toxic 
      contamination of water supplies.
  •   Societal & Civil Hazards: Disruptions caused by conflict or criminal activity, such as terrorism, cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, and mass civil unrest.
  •   Transport Accidents: Major failures within transit networks, including train derailments, aviation crashes, and maritime shipping collisions.

 

For additional information on Natural and Man-made hazards visit Ready.gov Preparedness Materials for All Disasters & Hazards