Can a disk's catalog directory be recovered after a Quick Erase?
That's how companies like
Prosoft (Data Recovery),
Micromat (Tech Tool),
Cleverfiles (Disk Drill) &amp;
Alsoft (DiskWarrior)
make their money.

They each have different ways of protecting or recovering your data.

Data Rescue &amp; Disk Drill are designed to recover files after the type of incident you mentioned.

Tech Tool goes further, by cataloguing each partition on every other partition, so it has a 'map' of where things were if anything goes wrong.

DiskWarrior concentrates on being able to rescue &amp; rebuild damaged directory &amp; filesystem information.

All are exemplary tools to use for different types of disaster &amp; in my opinion all worth the expenditure.

However - nothing is better than a good backup strategy.
Time Machine in-house, for if a drive goes down.
Backblaze or CrashPlan for off-site backup, in case the worst happens &amp; the house goes up in flames.

This is not a comprehensive list, just the ones I use or would recommend personally.