1.
man-made disaster; calamity caused by human action or negligence
A disaster brought about by human error, negligence, or poor planning, as opposed to a purely natural one. Often used to argue that damage blamed on nature was in fact preventable.
これは天災ではなく人災だ。
This is not a natural disaster but a man-made one.
事故の原因は人災とされた。
The cause of the accident was judged to be human error.
対策を怠れば、自然の被害も人災に変わりうる。
If precautions are neglected, even damage from nature can turn into a man-made disaster.
Formed from 人 (human) plus 災 (disaster). The direct counterpart of 天災 (natural disaster), and frequently paired with it to stress that a calamity was avoidable.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 人災だ: it is a man-made disaster
- 明らかな人災: a clear case of human error
- 人災の側面: the man-made aspect (of a disaster)
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 天災: natural disaster — the opposite; caused by nature
- 人為的: man-made, artificial — adjective describing a human cause