A natural disaster is a major adverse event resulting from natural processes of the Earth; examples include firestorms, duststorms, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, storms, and other geologic processes. A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property, and typically leaves some economic damage in its wake, the severity of which depends on the affected population's resilience and on the infrastructure available. In modern times, the divide between natural, man-made and man-accelerated is quite difficult to draw with human choices like architecture, fire, resource management or even climate change potentially playing a role. An adverse event will not rise to the level of a disaster if it occurs in an area without vulnerable population. In a vulnerable area, however, such as Nepal during the 2015 earthquake, an adverse event can have disastrous consequences and leave lasting damage, which can take years to repair. The disastrous consequences also impact the mental health of affected communities, often leading
Un desastre natural es un evento adverso importante resultante de los procesos naturales de la Tierra; ejemplos incluyen tormentas de fuego, tormentas de polvo, inundaciones, huracanes, tornados, erupciones volcánicas, terremotos, tsunamis, tormentas, y otros procesos geológicos. Un desastre natural puede causar pérdida de vida o daños a la propiedad, y por lo general deja algún daño económico en su seguimiento, cuya severidad depende de la resiliencia de la población afectada y de la infraestructura disponible. En los tiempos modernos, la brecha entre el natural, el hombre-made y el hombre-acelerado es bastante difícil de trazar con opciones humanas como la arquitectura, el fuego, la gestión de recursos o incluso el cambio climático potencialmente desempeñando un papel. El evento adverso no aumentará al nivel de un desastre si ocurre en una zona sin población vulnerable.