Morbidity and Mortality Associated with Disasters

Disasters disrupt the natural, built, and social environments, affecting communities and the people within them. Disasters can be triggered by climatic, geophysical, technological, or human-initiated events, or a combination of these. Their impact on the health of a community can be immediate or delayed, and changes in health status may be attributable to the original event or result from events subsequent to the disaster. Deaths, injuries, and other health outcomes of a disaster are usually caused by the destruction of the built infrastructure. In the absence of people living in built communities, disasters do not occur.