Community Crisis Response Team Training Manual:  Second Edition

Appendix B:  Disaster Typology

A Typology of Disasters

Causes:

                Natural			     		Industrial			       		Human

Elements:
	
Earth:		Avalanches		     		Dam failures					Ecological irresponsibility
		Earthquakes		     		Ecological neglect		        	Road and train accidents
		Erosions				Outer-space debris fallout
		Eruptions				Radioactive pollution
		Toxic mineral deposits			Toxic waste disposal
		Volcanoes
		Landslides

Air		Blizzards				Acid rain					Aircraft accidents
		Cyclones				Chemical pollution				Hijacking
		Dustomes				Exposions above-and below-ground		Spacecraft accidents
		Hurricanes				Radioactive cloud & soot
		Meteorite and planetary activity	Urban smog
		Thermal shifts
		Tornadoes

Fire		Lightening				Boiling liquid/expanding vapor accidents	Fire-setting
							Electrical fires
							Hazardous chemicals
							Spontaneous combustion

Water		Drought					Effluent contamination				Maritime accident
		Floods					Oil spills
		Storms					Waste disposal
		Tsunamis

People		Endemic disease				Construction accidents				Civil strife
		Epidemics				Design flaws					Criminal violence
		Famine					Equipment problems				Guerilla warfare/terrorism
		Overpopulation				Illicit drug-making, -taking			Sports crowd violence
		Plague					Plant accidents					Warefare

Disaster classification chart derived from A.J.W. Taylor, Disasters and Disaster Stress, AMS Press, New York, 1989
<br>
Copyright -  1987, 1994, 1998 by the National Organization for Victim Assistance, Washington, D.C.