Natural disasters are not caused by humans they are caused by natural events however they can be considered human disasters as human actions can interfere with nature and often exaggerate the effects of the disaster. Although natural disasters can really only be classed a disaster if it affects humans as otherwise its impact would not necessarily be relevant so in effect all natural disasters are in effect human disasters. Seismic events, otherwise known as earthquakes, are a sudden violent shaking of the ground typically causing, as a result of the movement of tectonic plates in the earth’s crust or volcanic action. The result of seismic events is often destruction of buildings and infrastructure, which can claim many lives, thus often making them human disasters as they have such a grave impact on the human population. Although, location influences the impact seismic events have upon humans as the more populated the area the more lives that are likely to be lost, and whether the event occurs within an LEDC or an MEDC as the death rate due to a seismic event is likely to be higher in an LEDC than an MEDC. This is due to a multitude of factors including the strength and quality of buildings and infrastructure and the knowledge to prepare for large seismic events, as well as the resources available to respond to any disasters that may occur.

Planning for a seismic event can have a huge impact on to what extent a natural disaster is also considered a human disaster, as if a country does not have sufficient plans in place for what would happen in the event of an earthquake or if one is predicted, the population would be a lot more vulnerable as they would not be properly prepared. For example, if a country has resources in place for predicting seismic events as well as evacuation plans any natural disaster that may occur would be considered a lot less of a human disaster than if they did not as if everyone had been evacuated before the earthquake there would be no one left in the vicinity for it to effect therefore meaning it would not have the opportunity to claim the lives needed to class it as a human disaster. Similarly, the knowledge of what a seismic event actually is and how they occur would greatly reduce the hazard, and would also aid planning. Planning can be instigated in multiple ways including through education of the population, but also through building plans as if buildings were designed and built to earthquake standards (so they are more ‘flexible’ and can move with the ground shaking) they are less likely to collapse in the event of an earthquake and therefore reducing the death toll greatly. This is evidenced by the Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand, this earthquake had a magnitude of 7.1 on the Richter scale but in fact did not cause much devastation to the human population, it was the aftershock that occurred in 2011 with a magnitude of 6.3 that had the most devastating impact. It was this aftershock that resulted in the deaths of 181 people and injured over 2 000. However, New Zealand is a MEDC and this is comparison to a seismic event in an LEDC is only minor. For example, the earthquake in Haiti killed over 316 000 people and affected over 3 million. This largely due to the fact that the buildings in New Zealand were more structurally sound as they had more money than Haiti to build them to earthquake proof specification, additionally Port-au-Prince (where the Haiti earthquake mainly affected) was a lot more densely populated as large families were forced to live together due to lack of money, so there were more people for the earthquake to affect than there was in Christchurch.
Although it is not only planning that occurs before the event that influence the degree to which a natural disaster becomes a human disaster, the human response after the event also has a large impact on the disaster. In MEDC’s there is more likely to be the resources in place to deal with the aftermath of the event and help rescue those injured or trapped. There is also a higher likelihood of having the funds to set up temporary relief camps to provide shelter and treatment for those affected. However, as Haiti was an LEDC they did not have the funds or the resources to do this and lack of planning meant rescue attempts were not launched properly. However, one advantage of being an LEDC you are more likely to receive international aid from charities meaning you can spend what money you do have on rebuilding.

To conclude, the natural disasters are still in fact natural disasters as they are caused by a series of natural events which can be exaggerated by human actions. However, they are often considered human disasters due to the large number of humans that they effect. The extent to which a disaster is a human disaster is also down to planning for a seismic event and their actions after.