EM-DAT Sources of Information
The EM-DAT database is compiled from various sources, including the United Nations, governmental and non-governmental agencies, insurance companies, research institutes, and the press. The table below lists the most common sources as of September 2023. For further inquiries on the data collection and selection process, see EM-DAT Protocols.
Sources are not displayed in the public records for legal reasons, to preserve the integrity of the services EM-DAT depends on, and to uphold neutrality, especially for politically sensitive data. For a quantitative overview of the sources used between 2000 and 2023, including the top 20 sources, their documentation routines, and how often each contributes to Total Deaths, Total Affected, and Total Damage, see Delforge et al. (2025)1. Note that the set of sources evolves over time: some systematic sources have been discontinued, which may introduce biases (see Known Issues and Limitations).
| Source name | Category | Type of disasters covered |
|---|---|---|
| Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) / ReliefWeb | United Nations | Natural hazards |
| World Food Programme (WFP)2 | United Nations | Drought/Famine |
| World Meteorological Organization (WMO) | United Nations | Natural hazards |
| World Health Organization (WHO) | United Nations | Epidemics |
| Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)2 | United Nations | Drought/Famine |
| United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) | United Nations | Natural hazards |
| National governments (reports) | National government | Natural and technological hazards |
| Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) | United States | Natural hazards (United States) |
| National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) | United States | Natural hazards |
| USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA, formerly OFDA)2 | United States | Natural and technological hazards |
| US Geological Survey (USGS) | United States | Earthquakes |
| Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | United States | Epidemics |
| National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI, formerly the National Geophysical Data Center, NGDC)2 | United States | Natural hazards |
| European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) | European Union | Natural hazards |
| Dartmouth Flood Observatory (DFO) | Research center | Floods, landslides, and storms |
| International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) | Humanitarian organization | Natural and technological hazards |
| World Bank (reports) | Intergovernmental organization | Major natural hazards and disasters |
| Swiss Re | Reinsurance company | Natural and technological hazards |
| Munich Re | Reinsurance company | Natural hazards |
| Aon (formerly Aon Benfield) | Reinsurance company | Natural hazards |
| Lloyd’s Casualty Magazine (paid subscription)2 | Reinsurance company | Natural hazards |
| Agence France-Presse (paid subscription) | Press and other media | Natural and technological hazards |
| Reuters2 | Press and other media | Natural and technological hazards |
| The New Humanitarian (formerly IRIN News)2 | Press and other media | Natural and technological hazards (mostly Africa) |
| FloodList | Press and other media | Floods |
| Wikipedia | Press and other media | Natural and technological hazards |
| Plane Crash Info | Press and other media | Transport accidents (Air) |
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Delforge, D., Wathelet, V., Below, R., Lanfredi Sofia, C., Tonnelier, M., van Loenhout, J. A. F., & Speybroeck, N. (2025). EM-DAT: The Emergency Events Database. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 124, Article 105509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2025.105509 ↩︎