What's The Difference Between a Hazard, Disaster, and a Catastrophe?

When we talk about hazards, disasters, and catastrophes they all have that one major similarity, causing danger or damage to mother earth and/or us individuals. When I hear the word hazard I envision a bright yellow sign that can illustrate a flame, poison, and even lightning. Moreover, these yellow signs give us a warning, therefore, a natural hazard is basically a minor warning that a disaster might be approaching. As stated in the book Natural Hazards by DeVecchio and Keller, "Natural hazards vary greatly in their potential to cause a catastrophe." So let’s say a non-minor nor major earthquake occurs, which is a natural hazard that can cause an excess of $1.5 billion in damage each year, what happens after that earthquake? Well here comes a tsunami, in this case a disaster. A disaster results in minimal major damage that could possibly need assistance from all over the country. Therefore, needing shelter, or food till the environment is A okay. Moreover, to be considered a disaster is must've killed atleast ten people or more, and have affected more than 100 individuals. Lastly, we have catastrophe, which can be a hurricane, blizzard, and even a tsunami if earthquakes keep reaching the sea floor at high levels. Catastrophes not only affect the individual, or environments, but affect homes and so forth for a long period of time costing roughly billions of dollars in damage. Just think of a catastrophe as a situation where the area won’t be able to live as they once were for a while until a long term recovery. which means, hundreds of billions of dollars in damages.

Keller, Edward A. "Introduction to Natural Hazards." Natural Hazards. Ed. Duane E. DeVecchio. Fourth Edition ed. 8. Print.