Definition

The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database defines a disaster as “a situation or event which overwhelms local capacity, necessitating a request to a national or international level for external assistance; an unforeseen and often sudden event that causes great damage, destruction and human suffering”.

Criteria

For a disaster to be entered into the database, at least one of the following criteria must be fulfilled:

• 10 or more people reported killed;

• 100 or more people reported affected;

• declaration of a state of emergency;

• call for international assistance.