An event of force of nature that has catastrophic consequences, such as a hurricane, earthquake, tornado, flood, lightning, or wildfire, is called what?

• A. Natural disaster
• B. Human-instigated disaster
• C. Technological disaster
• D. Environmental event

Answer: (A)

The concept here is disasters caused by natural forces. A natural disaster is a catastrophic event that originates from natural hazards such as storms, earthquakes, floods, wildfires, or other force-of-nature phenomena, and that results in major harm to people, property, or infrastructure. The term emphasizes that the driver is a natural process, not human action, and that the resulting damage is widespread or severe.

Other terms don’t fit as well because they describe different origins or scopes. A human-instigated disaster points to disasters caused by human actions, a technological disaster to failures in technology or industry, and an environmental event is too broad and doesn’t necessarily imply catastrophic impact.