Hazards
There are two types of hazards: natural hazards that can be recognized as tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes etc. and then there are man made hazards that are events caused by human activity such as industrial accidents. Both hazards are recognized as causing harm to human population and cause environmental damage. There is uncertainty when or where these hazards will occur and the damage that they will inflict on society.
Disasters
When a natural phenomena or human caused event occurs and the magnitude of the event exceeds what a community can handle that is known as a disaster. A good example are the tornadoes that swept through Joplin Missouri a few years back. The small town was not capable of handling a disaster of that magnitude and had to bring outside resources to help cope with the aftermath. Help such as medical, food resources, clean up, and search and rescue were among those resources necessary.
Emergencies
Two ways this term can be used the first being emergencies refers to the imminence of an event rather than the severity of its consequences; an emergency is a situation in which there is a higher than normal probability of an extreme event occurring (FEMA ). The second usage being emergency events that occur on a regular basis such as car crashes, fires, and medical emergencies.
Catastrophes
Is the disruption of everyday life of a community and can be caused by both types of hazards. In most instances it would take a long period of time to get the community back to its normal functionality.
Sources
http://training.fema.gov/hiedu/aemrc/booksdownload/fem/Chapter 1
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