The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the analysis of the relationship that occurs between the occurrence of disasters, the level of development and the need for a sustainable development style as a framework strategy for comprehensive risk management. The so-called natural disasters are not in essence natural, but only triggered by natural events such as floods or earthquakes; the disaster itself is a social situation. This situation does not depend directly on the magnitude of the event that originated it, rather it seems to be a function of the level and style of development in the societies where it occurs. Risk management should be incorporated as part of development policies; however, to be truly effective they must be framed within a sustainable development model. At first sight a disaster might seem like a natural event capable of causing great destruction, deaths and affected people. If this were so, it would make sense to think that natural disasters are the work of nature or if divine punishments are wanted. This type of reasoning led us to believe that people and even more so societies are victims of the "whims of nature or the designs of God." It is not surprising then that this kind of events are known as natural disasters, which emphasizes their natural origin, more often they are called by the name of the natural event with which they are associated, for example, it is read in the news : floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc., when you want to refer to a disaster. It would then be necessary to ask ourselves if every natural event is necessarily a disaster or if the societies that inhabit a certain territory exert any influence on the occurrence of a disaster. To illustrate this point we can imagine a volcanic eruption on a desert island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Did a disaster occur? The answer is a resounding no, because there was no type of affectation on any human group. A disaster can be defined as a social event that is triggered as a result of the occurrence of an event that may be of natural or anthropological origin.