A catastrophe is a disaster or fatality.
A catastrophe is a fateful event that alters the regular order of things . The term comes from the Latin catastrŏphe, and this from a Greek word that means "to destroy" or "to destroy." The catastrophe can be natural , such as a tsunami , drought or flood , or man-made, such as a war .
The concept of catastrophe is associated with disaster . These are events that negatively affect life and sometimes produce permanent changes in society or the environment.
In this sense, a catastrophe is the sudden change in the state of a dynamic system , which takes place due to the alteration of one of its parameters.
Great historical catastrophes
One of the largest natural disasters in recent decades was the tsunami that hit Southeast Asia in 2004 , which killed nearly 230,000 people . This tsunami originated from an earthquake measuring 9.3 points on the Richter scale, a number that makes it the second largest earthquake since the invention of the seismograph.
However, we must not forget the existence of another series of catastrophes that have become regrettable milestones in our world history . This would be the case, for example, of the nuclear accident that took place on April 26, 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, located in Ukraine . A hydrogen explosion in said facility was the one that led to a total of 31 deaths, although since then, and as a consequence of that, it is estimated that more than 4,000 people have been victims of it.
In the same way, another similar catastrophe should not be overlooked. We are referring to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that took place by the United States in both areas of Japan . Within the Second World War, the same attacks were carried out, specifically in August 1945 , which resulted in more than 200,000 victims.
Fires, earthquakes or attacks are other of the most important and tragic catastrophes that can take place. In this case, the last section can encompass three attacks that in recent years have marked the world's population: the 9/11 attacks in 2001 in New York City where more than 3,000 people died; the attacks of March 11, 2004 in Madrid where 191 people died; and the July 7, 2005 London bombings. In this latest catastrophe, 56 people died and another 700 were injured of varying severity .
An earthquake can be a catastrophe.
Other meanings of the concept
On the other hand, a catastrophe is something of poor quality , that produces a bad impression, that turns out badly or that is poorly made. For example: “The concert was a catastrophe: nothing went as we had planned,” “My younger brother left the house in a catastrophe.”
A catastrophe is also the last part of the dramatic poem , with an outcome that is usually painful. In general, catastrophe is the unfortunate outcome of any poem .