catastrophe vs emergency

catastrophe

noun
  • Any large and disastrous event of great significance. 

  • A disaster beyond expectations. 

  • The dramatic event that initiates the resolution of the plot; the dénouement. 

  • A type of bifurcation, where a system shifts between two stable states. 

emergency

noun
  • A situation which poses an immediate risk and which requires urgent attention. 

  • Arising from or used in an emergency. 

  • An individual brought in at short notice to replace a member of staff, a player in a sporting team, etc. 

  • The department of a hospital that treats emergencies. 

How often have the words catastrophe and emergency occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )