Disasters can be categorised into various types based on the speed and origin/ cause.
A. Based on speed, a disaster can be termed as slow or rapid.
1. Slow onset disaster:
A disaster that prevails for many days, months or even years like drought, environmental degradation, pest infection, famine are some examples of a slow onset disaster.
2. Rapid onset disaster:
A disaster that is triggered by an instance causes shock. The impact of this disaster may be short lived or long-term. Earthquake, cyclone, flash floods, volcanic eruptions are some examples of rapid onset disasters.
B. Based on the cause, disaster can be natural or human induced.
1. Natural disaster:
A natural disaster is an event that is caused by nature and leads to human, material, economic and environmental losses. The types of natural disasters:
1. Earthquakes
2. Cyclones
3. Floods
4. Droughts
5. Tsunamis
6. Land slides
7. Volcanoes etc.
2. Human induced disasters:
A serious disruption of normal life triggered by human- induced hazard causing human, material, economic and environmental losses, which exceed the ability of those affected to cope. Some examples are the 1984 Bhopal Gas tragedy, the 1997 Uphaar Cinema fire in Delhi, Rajdhani Express train derailment in 2002, Kumbakonam school fire tragedy in 2003, Jaipur serial blasts in 2008 etc.