When a tropical storm pummeled Japan on Saturday with gusts of up to 135 miles per hour, forcing millions to evacuate their homes, it was called Typhoon Hagibis. But the storm that carved a path of destruction across the Bahamas in September was Hurricane Dorian. And when the most powerful storm to hit Bangladesh in years destroyed thousands of homes in May, it was called Cyclone Fani.

What is the difference between a typhoon, a hurricane and a cyclone? It comes down only to the storm’s location.

All three are tropical cyclones — circular storms that form over warm waters with very low air pressure at the center, and winds greater than 74 miles an hour. But different terms are used for such storms in different parts of the world.

The word “hurricane” is used for the storms that form in the North Atlantic, the northeastern Pacific, the Caribbean Sea or the Gulf of Mexico. Typhoons develop in the northwestern Pacific and usually threaten Asia.