人災(じんさい)

じんさい
noun
man-made disaster; human-caused calamity
society
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(てんさい)ではなく人災(じんさい)だ。
This is not a natural disaster but a man-made one.
事故(じこ)の原因(げんいん)は人災(じんさい)とされた。
The cause of the accident was judged to be human error.
対策(たいさく)を怠(おこた)れば、自然(しぜん)の被害(ひがい)も人災(じんさい)に変(か)わりうる。
If precautions are neglected, even damage from nature can turn into a man-made disaster.

Formed from 人(ひと) (human) plus 災(さい) (disaster). The direct counterpart of 天災(てんさい) (natural disaster), and frequently paired with it to stress that a calamity was avoidable.

Common collocations

Similar words

Related Words

Antonym: 天災(てんさい) (natural disaster)
Compare: 人為的(じんいてき) (man-made, artificial)
Compare: 自然(しぜん)災害(さいがい) (natural disaster)
general
Added 2026.6.18 9:19 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:02
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