vis major vs catastrophe

vis major and catastrophe both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
vis major	Yes	No	No	No
catastrophe	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, catastrophe is a hypernym of vis major; that is, catastrophe is a word with a broader meaning than vis major:

vis major: a natural and unavoidable catastrophe that interrupts the expected course of events
catastrophe: an event resulting in great loss and misfortune

Other hypernyms of vis major include calamity, cataclysm, disaster, tragedy.

vis major (noun)	catastrophe (noun)
a natural and unavoidable catastrophe that interrupts the expected course of events	an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
	a sudden violent change in the earth's surface
	a state of extreme (usually irremediable) ruin and misfortune