Sometimes it is quite difficult to assess the scale of a particular global catastrophe, because the consequences of some of them can appear many years after the incident itself.
In this article we will present the 13 worst disasters in the world. Among them are incidents that occurred on water, in the air, and on land, due to human fault and for reasons beyond his control, widely known and those that not a very large circle of people know about.
The wreck of the superliner Titanic
Date Time: 14.04.1912 - 15.04.1912
Primary victims: at least 1.5 thousand people
Secondary victims: unknown
The British superliner Titanic, which was called the “most luxurious ship” of its time and “unsinkable,” gained worldwide fame. Unfortunately - sad. On the night of April 14-15, during its maiden voyage, the superliner collided with an iceberg and sank after more than two hours. The disaster was accompanied by numerous casualties among passengers and crew.
On April 10, 1912, the liner set out on its last voyage from the port of Southampton to New York, America, with almost 2.5 thousand people on board - passengers and crew members. One of the reasons for the disaster was that there was a tense ice situation on the liner’s route, but for some reason the captain of the Titanic, Edward Smith, did not attach any importance to this even after receiving numerous warnings about floating icebergs from other ships. The airliner was moving almost at its maximum speed (21-22 knots); there is a version that Smith fulfilled the unofficial requirement of the White Star Line company, which owned the Titanic, to receive the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic, a prize for the fastest ocean crossing, on the first voyage.
Late at night on April 14, the superliner collided with an iceberg. An ice block, which the lookout did not notice in time, pierced the five bow compartments of the ship on the starboard side, which began to fill with water. The problem turned out to be that the designers did not count on the occurrence of a 90-meter hole in the ship, and here the entire survivability system was powerless. In addition, the “ultra-safe” and “unsinkable” ship did not have a sufficient number of lifeboats, and those that were, for the most part, turned out to be irrationally used (12-20 people floated away on the first boats, 65 on the last ones). -80 with a capacity of 60 people). The result of the disaster was the death, according to various sources, from 1496 to 1522 passengers and crew members.
Today, the remains of the Titanic rest at a depth of about 3.5 km in the Atlantic. The ship's hull is gradually deteriorating and will finally disappear at the turn of the 21st and 22nd centuries.
Explosion of the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
Date Time: 26.04.1986
Primary victims: 31 people from the duty shift of Chernobyl NPP-4 and fire crews who arrived to extinguish the fire
Secondary victims: 124 people suffered acute radiation sickness but survived; up to 4 thousand liquidators died within 10 years after liquidation; from 600,000 to a million suffered from eliminating the consequences of radioactive contamination and staying in contaminated areas or as the radioactive cloud moved
The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is a man-made disaster on the territory of Ukraine, between the cities of Pripyat and Chernobyl. As a result of the explosion of the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, a large amount of radioactive substances were released into the atmosphere, which led to the contamination of surrounding areas and the formation of a radioactive cloud that swept across the territory of the USSR, Europe and reached the United States.
The accident occurred due to several factors - haste on the part of the Chernobyl NPP management, insufficient competence of the ChNPP-4 duty shift, errors in the design and construction of the RBMK-1000 reactor and the nuclear power plant unit itself. On the morning of April 26, reactor tests were planned at Chernobyl NPP-4, which were supposed to demonstrate the ability to operate the reactor cooling system in the interval between shutting down the reactor and starting the emergency diesel generators. However, due to some factors, the test was postponed to the night from April 26 to 27, which is why it was carried out by an unprepared and not warned in advance shift, and xenon gas accumulated in the reactor during 10 hours of idling operation.
All this together led to the fact that when the reactor was artificially shut down, its power first fell below a critical level, and then began to grow like an avalanche. Attempts to activate AZ-5 (emergency protection) instead of eliminating the emergency situation worked as an additional catalyst for increasing the temperature of the reactor, and as a result a powerful explosion occurred. Only one person died directly from the explosion; another died a few hours later from his injuries. The remaining victims received shock doses of radiation in the process of extinguishing the fire and the initial liquidation of the consequences, due to which 29 more people died during the subsequent months of 1986.
The population of the first 10-kilometer and then 30-kilometer zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was resettled. The evicted people were told that they would return back in three days. However, no one actually returned back. Elimination of the consequences of the explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant took more than a year, cost billions of rubles, and 240 thousand people passed through the ChEZ in 1986-1987. The city of Pripyat was completely abandoned, hundreds of villages were razed, Chernobyl-4 is now a partially populated city - military, police and employees of the remaining three Chernobyl nuclear power plant units live there.
Terrorist attack 9/11
Date Time: 11.09.2001
Primary victims: 19 terrorists, 2977 police, military, firefighters, doctors and civilians
Secondary victims: 24 people missing, the exact number of injured is unknown
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (better known as 9/11) are the largest terrorist attack in American history. A series of four coordinated terrorist attacks claimed nearly three thousand lives and caused massive destruction to the buildings attacked.
According to the official version of events, on the morning of September 11, four groups of a total of 19 terrorists, armed only with plastic knives, hijacked four passenger airliners, sending them to targets - the World Trade Center towers in New York, the Pentagon and the White House (or the Capitol) in Washington. The first three planes hit targets; what happened on board the fourth is not known for certain - according to the official version, the passengers clashed with terrorists, which is why the plane crashed in Pennsylvania before reaching its target.
Of the more than 16 thousand people who were in both towers of the World Trade Center, at least 1,966 people died - mainly those who were at the sites of the aircraft attacks and on the floors above, and also at the time of the collapse of the towers, assisting the victims and evacuating them. 125 people died in the Pentagon building. All 246 passengers and crew members of the hijacked planes were also killed, along with 19 terrorists. In the process of eliminating the consequences of the terrorist attack, 341 firefighters, 2 paramedics, 60 police officers and 8 ambulance workers died. The final death toll in New York alone was 2,606.
The terrorist attack of 9/11 became a real tragedy in the United States; citizens of 91 other countries also died. The terrorist attack provoked the US invasion of Afghanistan, Iraq, and later Syria under the banner of the fight against terrorism. Disputes about the true causes of the terrorist attack and the course of events on this tragic day have not subsided to this day.
Fukushima-1 accident
Date Time: 11.03.2011
Primary victims: 1 person died from the consequences of radiation poisoning, about 50 people died during the evacuation
Secondary victims: up to 150,000 people were evacuated from the radioactive contamination zone, more than 1,000 of them died within a year of the disaster
The disaster, which occurred on March 11, 2011, simultaneously combines the features of man-made and natural disasters. A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of nine and the subsequent tsunami caused a failure of the power supply system of the Daiichi nuclear plant, as a result of which the cooling process of reactors with nuclear fuel was stopped.
In addition to the monstrous destruction that was caused by the earthquake and tsunami, this incident led to serious radioactive contamination of the territory and water area. In addition, the Japanese authorities had to evacuate up to one hundred and fifty thousand people due to the high likelihood of severe illness due to exposure to severe radioactive radiation. The combination of all these consequences gives the right to the Fukushima accident to be called one of the worst disasters in the world in the twenty-first century.
The total damage from the accident is estimated at $100 billion. This amount includes the costs of eliminating the consequences and paying compensation. But we must not forget that work to eliminate the consequences of the disaster is still ongoing, which accordingly increases this amount.
In 2013, the Fukushima nuclear power plant was officially closed, and only work to eliminate the consequences of the accident is being carried out on its territory. Experts believe that it will take at least forty years to clean up the building and the contaminated area.
The consequences of the Fukushima accident are a reassessment of safety measures in the nuclear energy industry, a drop in the price of natural uranium, and, accordingly, a decrease in the prices of shares of uranium mining companies.
Collision at Los Rodeos Airport
Date Time: 27.03.1977
Primary victims: 583 people - passengers and crew of both airliners
Secondary victims: unknown
Perhaps the world's worst disaster resulting from an aircraft collision was the collision of two aircraft in the Canary Islands (Tenerife) in 1977. At Los Rodeos airport, two Boeing 747 airliners, which belonged to KLM and Pan American, collided on the runway. As a result, 583 out of 644 people died, including both passengers and airline crews.
One of the main reasons for this situation was the terrorist attack at Las Palmas airport, which was carried out by terrorists from the MPAIAC organization (Movimiento por la Autodeterminación e Independencia del Archipiélago Canario). The terrorist attack itself did not cause any casualties, but the airport administration closed the airport and stopped accepting planes, fearing further incidents.
Because of this, Los Rodeos became congested as it was diverted by planes that were bound for Las Palmas, in particular two Boeing 747 flights PA1736 and KL4805. It should be noted that the plane, owned by Pan American, had sufficient fuel to land at another airport, but the pilots obeyed the dispatcher's order.
The cause of the collision itself was fog, which severely limited visibility, as well as difficulties in negotiations between controllers and pilots, which were caused by the thick accents of the controllers, and the fact that the pilots were constantly interrupting each other.
Collision « Dona Paz" with a tanker « Vector"
Date Time: 20.12.1987
Primary victims: up to 4386 people, of which 11 are crew members of the tanker “Vector”
Secondary victims: unknown
On December 20, 1987, the Philippine-registered passenger ferry Doña Paz collided with the oil tanker Vector, resulting in the world's worst peacetime disaster on the water.
At the time of the collision, the ferry was following its standard Manila-Catbalogan route, which it travels twice a week. On December 20, 1987, at about 06:30, the Dona Paz sailed from Tacloban bound for Manila. At approximately 10:30 p.m., the ferry was passing through the Tablas Strait near Marinduque, and survivors reported clear but rough seas.
The collision occurred after the passengers had fallen asleep; the ferry collided with the Vector tanker, which was transporting gasoline and oil products. Immediately after the collision, a strong fire broke out due to the fact that oil products spilled into the sea. The strong impact and fire almost instantly caused panic among passengers; in addition, according to survivors, there were not the required number of life jackets on the ferry.
Only 26 people survived, of which 24 were passengers from Donya Paz and two people from the Vector tanker.
Mass poisoning in Iraq, 1971
Date Time: autumn 1971 - end of March 1972
Primary victims: officially - from 459 to 6,000 deaths, unofficially - up to 100,000 deaths
Secondary victims: according to various sources, up to 3 million people who could have suffered from poisoning in one way or another
At the end of 1971, a shipment of grain treated with methylmercury was imported into Iraq from Mexico. Of course, the grain was not intended to be processed into food, and was to be used only for planting. Unfortunately, the local population did not know Spanish, and accordingly all the warning signs that read “Do not eat” turned out to be incomprehensible.
It should also be noted that the grain was delivered to Iraq late, since the planting season had already passed. All this led to the fact that in some villages grain treated with methylmercury began to be eaten.
After eating this grain, symptoms such as numbness of the limbs, loss of vision, and loss of coordination were observed. As a result of criminal negligence, according to official data, about one hundred thousand people suffered from mercury poisoning, of whom from 459 to 6 thousand died (unofficial data show other pictures - up to 3 million victims, up to 100 thousand deaths).
This incident led the World Health Organization to monitor grain circulation more closely and take the labeling of potentially hazardous products more seriously.
Mass destruction of sparrows in China
Date Time: 1958-1961
Primary victims: at least 1.96 billion sparrows, no known human casualties
Secondary victims: 10 to 30 million Chinese died from famine in 1960-1961
As part of the “Great Leap Forward” economic policy, China, under the leadership of the Communist Party and Mao Zedong, carried out a large-scale fight against agricultural pests, among which the Chinese authorities identified the four most terrible ones - mosquitoes, rats, flies and sparrows.
Employees of the Chinese Research Institute of Zoology calculated that because of sparrows, the amount of grain that could feed about thirty-five million people was lost during the year. Based on this, a plan was developed to exterminate these birds, which was approved by Mao Zedong on March 18, 1958.
All the peasants began to actively hunt birds. The most effective method was to keep them from falling to the ground. To do this, adults and children shouted, hit basins, waved poles, rags, etc. This made it possible to frighten the sparrows and prevent them from landing on the ground for fifteen minutes. As a result, the birds simply dropped dead.
After a year of hunting sparrows, the harvest really increased. However, later caterpillars, locusts, and other pests that ate the shoots began to actively breed. This led to the fact that after another year, harvests fell sharply, and famine occurred, which led to the death of 10 to 30 million people.
Piper Alpha oil rig disaster
Date Time: 06.07.1988
Primary victims: 167 platform staff
Secondary victims: unknown
The Piper Alpha platform was built in 1975, and oil production started on it in 1976. Over time, it was converted for gas production. However, on July 6, 1988, a gas leak occurred, which led to an explosion.
Due to indecisive and ill-considered actions of the personnel, 167 people out of 226 on the platform died.
Of course, after this event, oil and gas production on this platform was completely stopped. Insured losses totaled approximately US$3.4 billion. This is one of the most famous disasters in the world associated with the oil industry.
Death of the Aral Sea
Date Time: 1960 - present day
Primary victims: unknown
Secondary victims: unknown
This incident is the biggest environmental disaster on the territory of the former Soviet Union. The Aral Sea was once the fourth largest lake, after the Caspian Sea, Lake Superior in North America, and Lake Victoria in Africa. Now in its place is the Aralkum desert.
The reason for the disappearance of the Aral Sea is the creation of new irrigation canals for agricultural enterprises in Turkmenistan, which took water from the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers. Because of this, the lake has retreated greatly from the shore, which has led to the exposure of the bottom covered with sea salt, pesticides and chemicals.
Due to natural evaporation of the Aral Sea during the period from 1960 to 2007, the sea lost about a thousand cubic kilometers of water. In 1989, the reservoir split into two parts, and in 2003, the volume of water was about 10% of its original volume.
The result of this incident was serious changes in climate and landscape. In addition, of the 178 species of vertebrate animals that lived in the Aral Sea, only 38 remain.
Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion
Date Time: 20.04.2010
Primary victims: 11 platform personnel, 2 accident liquidators
Secondary victims: 17 platform staff
The explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform that occurred on April 20, 2010 is considered one of the largest man-made disasters in terms of its negative impact on the environmental situation. 11 people died directly from the explosion and 17 were injured. Two more people died during the liquidation of the consequences of the disaster.
Due to the fact that the explosion damaged pipes at a depth of 1,500 meters, approximately five million barrels of oil spilled into the sea over 152 days, creating a slick with an area of 75,000 kilometers; in addition, 1,770 kilometers of coastline were polluted.
The oil spill threatened 400 species of animals and also led to a fishing ban.
Eruption of Mont Pele volcano
Date Time: 8.05.1902
Primary victims: from 28 to 40 thousand people
Secondary victims: not established for certain
On May 8, 1902, one of the most destructive volcanic eruptions in human history occurred. This incident led to the emergence of a new classification of volcanic eruptions, and changed the attitude of many scientists to volcanology.
The volcano awakened in April 1902, and within a month, hot vapors and gases, as well as lava, accumulated inside. A month later, a huge grayish cloud burst out at the foot of the volcano. The peculiarity of this eruption is that the lava did not come out from the top, but from side craters that were located on the slopes. As a result of a powerful explosion, one of the main ports of the island of Martinique, the city of Saint-Pierre, was completely destroyed. The disaster claimed the lives of at least 28 thousand people.
Tropical Cyclone Nargis
Date Time: 02.05.2008
Primary victims: up to 90 thousand people
Secondary victims: at least 1.5 million injured, 56 thousand missing
This disaster unfolded as follows:
- Cyclone Nargis formed on April 27, 2008, in the Bay of Bengal, and initially moved towards the coast of India, in a northwest direction;
- On April 28, it stops moving, but the wind speed in the spiral vortices began to increase significantly. Because of this, the cyclone began to be classified as a hurricane;
- On April 29, the wind speed reached 160 kilometers per hour, and the cyclone resumed movement, but in a northeast direction;
- On May 1, the wind direction changed to the east, and at the same time the wind was constantly increasing;
- On May 2, the wind speed reached 215 kilometers per hour, and at noon it reached the coast of Myanmar's Ayeyarwaddy Province.
According to the UN, 1.5 million people were injured as a result of the violence, of whom 90 thousand died and 56 thousand were missing. In addition, the major city of Yangon was seriously damaged, and many settlements were completely destroyed. Part of the country was left without telephone communications, internet and electricity. The streets were littered with debris, debris from buildings and trees.
To eliminate the consequences of this disaster, the united forces of many countries of the world and international organizations such as the UN, EU, and UNESCO were needed.
Today, the world's attention is drawn to Chile, where a large-scale eruption of the Calbuco volcano began. It's time to remember 7 biggest natural disasters recent years, in order to know what may await us in the future. Nature is attacking people, just as people used to attack nature.
Eruption of Calbuco volcano. Chile
Mount Calbuco in Chile is a fairly active volcano. However, its last eruption took place more than forty years ago - in 1972, and even then it lasted only one hour. But on April 22, 2015, everything changed for the worse. Calbuco literally exploded, releasing volcanic ash to a height of several kilometers.
On the Internet you can find a huge number of videos about this amazingly beautiful spectacle. However, it is pleasant to enjoy the view only through a computer, being thousands of kilometers away from the scene. In reality, being near Calbuco is scary and deadly.
The Chilean government decided to resettle all people within a radius of 20 kilometers from the volcano. And this is only the first measure. It is not yet known how long the eruption will last and what actual damage it will cause. But this will definitely be an amount of several billion dollars.
Earthquake in Haiti
On January 12, 2010, Haiti suffered a disaster of unprecedented scale. Several tremors occurred, the main one of magnitude 7. As a result, almost the entire country was in ruins. Even the presidential palace, one of the most majestic and capital buildings in Haiti, was destroyed.
According to official data, more than 222 thousand people died during the earthquake and after it, and 311 thousand suffered varying degrees of damage. At the same time, millions of Haitians were left homeless.
This is not to say that magnitude 7 is something unprecedented in the history of seismic observations. The scale of destruction turned out to be so enormous due to the high deterioration of the infrastructure in Haiti, as well as due to the extremely low quality of absolutely all buildings. In addition, the local population itself was in no hurry to provide first aid to the victims, as well as to participate in clearing the rubble and restoring the country.
As a result, an international military contingent was sent to Haiti, which took over control of the state in the first time after the earthquake, when the traditional authorities were paralyzed and extremely corrupt.
Tsunami in the Pacific Ocean
Until December 26, 2004, the vast majority of the world's inhabitants knew about tsunamis exclusively from textbooks and disaster films. However, that day will forever remain in the memory of Mankind because of the huge wave that covered the coasts of dozens of states in the Indian Ocean.
It all started with a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1-9.3 that occurred just north of the island of Sumatra. It caused a gigantic wave up to 15 meters high, which spread in all directions of the ocean and wiped out hundreds of settlements, as well as world-famous seaside resorts.
The tsunami covered coastal areas in Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Myanmar, South Africa, Madagascar, Kenya, Maldives, Seychelles, Oman and other countries on the Indian Ocean. Statisticians counted more than 300 thousand dead in this disaster. At the same time, the bodies of many were never found - the wave carried them into the open ocean.
The consequences of this disaster are colossal. In many places, infrastructure was never fully rebuilt after the 2004 tsunami.
Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption
The difficult-to-pronounce Icelandic name Eyjafjallajökull became one of the most popular words in 2010. And all thanks to the eruption of a volcano in the mountain range with this name.Paradoxically, not a single person died during this eruption. But this natural disaster seriously disrupted business life around the world, primarily in Europe. After all, a huge amount of volcanic ash thrown into the sky from the mouth of Eyjafjallajökull completely paralyzed air traffic in the Old World. The natural disaster destabilized the lives of millions of people in Europe itself, as well as in North America.
Thousands of flights, both passenger and cargo, were cancelled. Daily airline losses during that period amounted to more than $200 million.
Earthquake in China's Sichuan province
As in the case of the earthquake in Haiti, the huge number of victims after a similar disaster in the Chinese province of Sichuan, which occurred there on May 12, 2008, is due to the low level of capital buildings.
As a result of the main earthquake of magnitude 8, as well as subsequent smaller tremors, more than 69 thousand people died in Sichuan, 18 thousand were missing, and 288 thousand were injured.
At the same time, the government of the People's Republic of China greatly limited international assistance in the disaster zone; it tried to solve the problem with its own hands. According to experts, the Chinese thus wanted to hide the real scale of what happened.
For publishing real data about deaths and destruction, as well as for articles about corruption that led to such huge numbers of losses, the Chinese authorities even sent the most famous contemporary Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei, to prison for several months.
Hurricane Katrina
However, the scale of the consequences of a natural disaster does not always directly depend on the quality of construction in a particular region, as well as on the presence or absence of corruption there. An example of this is Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Southeast coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico at the end of August 2005.
The main impact of Hurricane Katrina fell on the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana. Rising water levels in several places broke the dam protecting New Orleans, and about 80 percent of the city was under water. At this moment, entire areas were destroyed, infrastructure facilities, transport interchanges and communications were destroyed.
The population that refused or did not have time to evacuate took refuge on the roofs of houses. The main gathering place for people was the famous Superdome stadium. But it also turned into a trap, because it was no longer possible to get out of it.
The hurricane killed 1,836 people and left more than a million homeless. Damage from this natural disaster is estimated at $125 billion. At the same time, New Orleans has not been able to return to a full-fledged normal life in ten years - the city's population is still about a third less than the 2005 level.
On March 11, 2011, tremors with a magnitude of 9-9.1 occurred in the Pacific Ocean east of the island of Honshu, which led to the appearance of a huge tsunami wave up to 7 meters high. It hit Japan, washing away many coastal objects and going tens of kilometers inland.
In different parts of Japan, after the earthquake and tsunami, fires started, infrastructure, including industrial, was destroyed. In total, almost 16 thousand people died as a result of this disaster, and economic losses amounted to about 309 billion dollars.
But this turned out to be not the worst thing. The world knows about the 2011 disaster in Japan, primarily due to the accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant, which occurred as a result of a tsunami wave hitting it.
More than four years have passed since this accident, but the operation at the nuclear power plant is still ongoing. And the nearest settlements were resettled forever. This is how Japan got its own.
A large-scale natural disaster is one of the options for the death of our Civilization. We have collected.
17.04.2013
Natural disasters unpredictable, destructive, unstoppable. Perhaps this is why humanity fears them most. We offer you the top rating in history, they claimed a huge number of lives.
10. Banqiao Dam collapse, 1975
The dam was built to contain the effects of about 12 inches of rainfall daily. However, in August 1975 it became clear that this was not enough. As a result of the collision of cyclones, Typhoon Nina brought with it heavy rains - 7.46 inches per hour, which means 41.7 inches daily. In addition, due to clogging, the dam could no longer fulfill its role. Over the course of a few days, 15.738 billion tons of water burst through it, which swept through the surrounding area in a deadly wave. More than 231,000 people died.
9. Earthquake in Haiyan, China, 1920
As a result of the earthquake, which is on the 9th line in the top ranking deadliest natural disasters in history, 7 provinces of China were affected. In the Hainian region alone, 73,000 people died, and more than 200,000 people died nationwide. The tremors continued for the next three years. It caused landslides and large ground cracks. The earthquake was so strong that some rivers changed course, and natural dams appeared in some.
8. Tangshan Earthquake, 1976
It occurred on July 28, 1976 and is called the strongest earthquake of the 20th century. The epicenter was the city of Tangshan, located in Hebei Province, China. In 10 seconds, practically nothing remained of a densely populated, large industrial city. The number of victims is about 220,000.
7. Antakya (Antioch) earthquake, 565
Despite the small number of details that have survived to this day, The earthquake was one of the most destructive and claimed more than 250,000 lives and caused enormous damage to the economy.
6. Indian Ocean earthquake/tsunami, 2004
Happened on December 24, 2004, just in time for Christmas. The epicenter was located off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The hardest hit countries were Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, and Thailand. The second earthquake in history with a magnitude of 9.1 -9.3. it was the cause of a number of other earthquakes around the globe, for example in Alaska. It also caused a deadly tsunami. More than 225,000 people died.
5. Indian cyclone, 1839
In 1839, an extremely large cyclone hit India. On November 25, a storm practically destroyed the city of Coringa. He literally destroyed everything he came into contact with. 2,000 ships docked at the port were wiped off the face of the earth. The city was not restored. The storm surges it attracted killed more than 300,000 people.
4. Cyclone Bola, 1970
After Cyclone Bola swept through the lands of Pakistan, more than half of the arable land was contaminated and spoiled, a small part of the rice and grains was saved, but famine could no longer be avoided. In addition, about 500,000 people died from the heavy rains and flooding that it caused. Wind force -115 meters per hour, hurricane - category 3.
3. Shaanxi Earthquake, 1556
The most destructive earthquake in history occurred on February 14, 1556 in China. Its epicenter was in the Wei River Valley and as a result, about 97 provinces were affected. Buildings were destroyed, half the people living in them were killed. According to some reports, 60% of the population of Huasqian province died. A total of 830,000 people died. The tremors continued for another six months.
2. Yellow River Flood, 1887
The Yellow River in China is extremely susceptible to flooding and overflowing its banks. In 1887, this resulted in the flooding of 50,000 square miles around. According to some estimates, the flood claimed the lives of 900,000 – 2,000,000 people. Farmers, knowing the characteristics of the river, built dams that saved them from the annual floods, but that year, the water swept away both the farmers and their homes.
1. Flood of central China, 1931
According to statistics, the flood that occurred in 1931 became the most terrible in history. After a long drought, 7 cyclones came to China at once, bringing with them hundreds of liters of rain. As a result, three rivers overflowed their banks. The flood killed 4 million people.
Below is a list of the ten largest natural disasters in human history. The rating is based on the number of deaths.
Earthquake in Aleppo
Death toll: about 230,000
The ranking of the largest natural disasters in human history opens with the Aleppo earthquake of magnitude 8.5 on the Richter scale, which occurred in several stages near the city of Aleppo in northern Syria on October 11, 1138. It is often cited as the fourth-deadliest earthquake in history. According to the Damascus chronicler Ibn al-Qalanisi, approximately 230,000 people died as a result of this disaster.
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
Number of victims: 225,000–300,000
An underwater earthquake that occurred on December 26, 2004 in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of North Sumatra, 250 kilometers southeast of the city of Banda Aceh. Considered one of the strongest earthquakes of the 20th–21st centuries. Its magnitude, according to various estimates, ranged from 9.1 to 9.3 on the Richter scale. Occurring at a depth of about 30 km, the earthquake caused a series of destructive tsunamis, the height of which exceeded 15 meters. These waves caused enormous destruction and took the lives of, according to various estimates, from 225 thousand to 300 thousand people in 14 countries. The coasts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand were hit the hardest by the tsunami.
Death toll: 171,000–230,000
Banqiao Dam is a dam on the Zhuhe River, Henan Province, China. On August 8, 1975, due to the powerful Typhoon Nina, the dam was destroyed, thereby causing flooding and a huge wave 10 km wide and 3–7 meters high. This disaster, according to various estimates, claimed the lives of from 171,000 to 230,000 people, of whom about 26,000 died directly from the flood. The rest died from subsequent epidemics and famine. In addition, 11 million people lost their homes.
Number of victims: 242,419
The Tangshan earthquake, measuring 8.2 on the Richter scale, is the deadliest earthquake of the 20th century. It happened on July 28, 1976 in the Chinese city of Tangshan at 3:42 local time. Its hypocenter was located near the millionaire industrial city at a depth of 22 km. The 7.1 aftershocks caused even more damage. According to the Chinese government, the death toll was 242,419 people, but according to other sources, about 800,000 inhabitants died, and another 164,000 were seriously injured. The earthquake also affected settlements located 150 kilometers from the epicenter, including Tianjin and Beijing. More than 5,000,000 houses were completely destroyed.
Flood in Kaifeng
Death toll: 300,000–378,000
The Kaifeng flood is a man-made disaster that primarily struck Kaifeng. This city is located on the southern bank of the Yellow River in the Chinese province of Henan. In 1642, the city was flooded by the Yellow River after the Ming Dynasty army opened the dams to prevent the advance of Li Zicheng's troops. Then the flood and subsequent famine and plague killed about 300,000–378,000 people.
Indian Cyclone – 1839
Death toll: over 300,000
Fifth place in the ranking of the largest natural disasters in history is occupied by the Indian cyclone of 1839. On November 16, 1839, a 12-meter wave caused by a powerful storm completely destroyed the large port city of Coringa, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. More than 300,000 people died then. After the disaster, the city was never rebuilt. Nowadays in its place there is a small village with a population (2011) of 12,495 inhabitants.
Death toll: approximately 830,000
This earthquake, measuring approximately 8.0 magnitude, occurred on January 23, 1556, in the Shaanxi province of China, during the Ming Dynasty. More than 97 districts were affected by it, everything was destroyed in an area of 840 km, and in some areas 60% of the population died. In total, the China earthquake killed approximately 830,000 people, more than any other earthquake in human history. The huge number of victims is due to the fact that the majority of the population of the province lived in loess caves, which were destroyed or flooded by mudflows immediately after the first tremors.
Number of victims: 300,000–500,000
the most destructive tropical cyclone in history, which struck the territories of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and the Indian state of West Bengal on November 12, 1970. It killed an estimated 300,000–500,000 people, mostly as a result of a 9m high surge that swamped many low-lying islands in the Ganges delta. The sub-districts of Thani and Tazumuddin were the hardest hit by the cyclone, killing more than 45% of the population.
Death toll: about 900,000
This devastating flood occurred on September 28, 1887 in Henan Province, China. The torrential rains that fell here for many days were to blame. Due to the rains, the water level in the Yellow River rose and destroyed a dam near the city of Zhengzhou. The water quickly spread throughout northern China, covering an area of approximately 130,000 square meters. km, taking the lives of about 900 thousand people, and leaving approximately 2 million homeless.
Number of victims: 145,000–4,000,000
The world's largest natural disaster is the Chinese flood, or more precisely a series of floods that occurred in 1931 in South-Central China. This disaster was preceded by a drought that lasted from 1928 to 1930. However, the following winter was very snowy, there was a lot of rain in the spring, and during the summer months, the country suffered from heavy rains. All these facts contributed to the fact that the three largest rivers in China: the Yangtze, Huaihe, and Yellow River overflowed their banks, taking the lives of, according to various sources, from 145 thousand to 4 million people. Also, the largest natural disaster in history caused epidemics of cholera and typhoid, and also led to famine, during which cases of infanticide and cannibalism were recorded.
October 13 marks the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction - which is no occasion to remember the most terrible and deadly natural disasters in human history.
Earthquake in Syria. 1202
The earthquake of 1202, the epicenter of which was in the Dead Sea, was not so much powerful as it was long-lasting and large-scale - it was felt over a vast territory located between Syria and Armenia. The exact number of deaths is unknown - in the 13th century no one kept a population count, but even according to the most conservative estimates, the earthquake claimed the lives of more than a million people.
Earthquake in China. 1556
One of the most destructive earthquakes in human history - in China - occurred on January 23, 1556. Its epicenter was in the area of the right tributary of the Yellow River, Weihe, and it affected 97 districts in several Chinese provinces. The earthquake was accompanied by landslides, landslides and changes in river beds, which, in turn, led to floods, and the destruction of houses and temples led to severe fires. As a result of the disaster, the soil liquefied and pulled buildings and people underground; its impact was felt even at a distance of 500 kilometers from the epicenter. The earthquake killed 830 thousand people.
Earthquake and tsunami in Portugal. 1755
The infamous Lisbon earthquake began on November 1, 1755 at nine o'clock in the morning - only twenty minutes passed from the first tremors in the sea to the moment when a 15-meter tsunami covered the central embankment of the city. Most of its inhabitants were at church services - celebrating All Saints' Day, so they had no chance of salvation. Fires started in Lisbon and lasted for ten days. In addition to the capital, sixteen more Portuguese cities were damaged, and neighboring Setubal was almost completely washed away by the tsunami. The victims of the earthquake were from 40 to 60 thousand people. Architectural gems such as the Opera House and the Royal Palace, as well as the paintings of Caravaggio, Titian and Rubens, were lost.
Great Hurricane. 1780
The Great Hurricane - or Hurricane San Calixto II - is the most powerful and deadliest tropical cyclone in human history. It originated in early October 1780 in the Cape Verde Islands and raged for a week. On October 10, at a speed of 320 kilometers per hour, San Calixto II struck Barbados, Martinique, St. Lucia and St. Eustatius, leaving thousands of dead everywhere. The islands of Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua and St. Kitts were also affected. The great hurricane destroyed houses to the ground and tore ships from their anchors and smashed them against the rocks, and heavy cannons flew in the air like matches. As for human casualties, a total of 27 thousand people died during the rampage of San Calixto II.
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History knows several eruptions of the Krakatoa volcano, but the most destructive was the one that happened on August 27, 1883. Then, as a result of the most powerful explosion in the history of mankind, 20 cubic kilometers of stones and ash and a jet of steam 11 meters high literally tore apart a volcanic island in the Sunda Strait - between the islands of Java and Sumatra. The shock waves circled the globe seven times and formed a 36-meter-high tsunami that hit the coast, killing 36,000 people. In total, 200 thousand people died as a result of the Krakatoa eruption.
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Several floods in China, following one after another, claimed a total of 4 (!) million lives. Historians believe that this is the largest and most tragic natural disaster in human history. In August 1931, the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, overflowing their banks as a result of prolonged rains, destroyed the dams holding them back and began to flow, sweeping away everything in their path. The water completely destroyed agriculture in several dozen provinces, and the city of Gaoyu, located on the shore of the lake, was completely washed away. But the most terrible thing was the human sacrifice: those who did not die from the water died from devastation, hunger and epidemics.
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On May 31, 1970, due to an earthquake, the epicenter of which was in the Pacific Ocean, a rock-ice avalanche broke off from Mount Huascarana in Peru and, moving at a speed of a thousand kilometers per hour, covered the towns of Ranragirk and Yungay located in the valley of the Rio Santa River - all that was left of them was a cemetery with the figure of Christ hovering above it. In just a few minutes, the avalanche wiped them and several other small villages, including the ports of Kasma and Chimbote, off the face of the earth. The result of the cataclysm: 70 thousand dead, among whom were Czech climbers who were planning to conquer the Andes, and 150 thousand wounded. The memory of those whose lives were taken by the avalanche was honored in Peru with eight days of mourning.
Cyclone Bhola. 1970
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George Harrison at a charity concert in Bangladesh.
Tropical Cyclone Bhola is one of the worst natural disasters of the 20th century. On November 13, 1970, a wave 15 (!) meters high hit the islands and coast of East Pakistan, washing away entire settlements and agricultural land along its path. In a short time, 500 thousand people died - mostly elderly people and children. The disaster had political consequences: riots began, the participants of which accused the Pakistani government of inaction and slow elimination of the consequences. A civil war broke out between East Pakistan and the central government, which resulted in the declaration of independence of Bangladesh.
The whole world helped restore the affected areas. One of the most famous charity events was the concert organized by George Harrison: inviting many famous performers, he raised a quarter of a million dollars in one day.
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It's hot in Europe. 2003
The heat wave that engulfed the continent in 2003—the hottest summer since the end of World War II—caught European health care systems by surprise, which were unprepared for the strain of not just tens, but hundreds and thousands of people needing medical care. Countries such as France, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Croatia and Bulgaria were particularly affected. Temperatures in some areas did not drop below +40°C. The first to be hit were the elderly, as well as allergy sufferers and those who suffered from cardiovascular diseases. In total, about 70 thousand people died on the European continent that summer.
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Tsunami in the Indian Ocean. 2004
Along with the European heatwave of 2003, many people also remember the tsunami in the Indian Ocean that happened a year and a half later - Ukrainian citizens were among the dead. The deadly wave was the result of the largest earthquake in the history of the Indian Ocean, which occurred on December 26, 2004. Its magnitude on the Richter scale was 9. As a result, a tsunami was formed, the height of which in the coastal zone was 15 meters, and in the splash zone - 30 meters. An hour and a half after the earthquake, it reached the shores of Thailand, two hours later - Sri Lanka and India, and claimed the lives of 250 thousand people.