A natural disaster is defined as a hazard which occurs naturally, that is a disaster that is not brought about by acts of human beings. A natural disaster might be caused by earthquakes, flooding, volcanic eruption, landslide, etc. In order to be classified as a disaster it will have profound environmental effect and/or human loss and frequently incurs financial loss.
Ten deadliest natural disasters
Rank
Death toll (estimate)
Event
Location
Date
1.
1,000,000 –2,500,000*[1]
1931 China floods
China
July, November, 1931
2.
900,000 –2,000,000[2]
1887 Yellow River flood
China
September, October, 1887
3.
830,000 [3]
1556 Shaanxi earthquake
Shaanxi Province , China
January 23, 1556
4.
500,000 [1]
1970 Bhola cyclone
East Pakistan (now Bangladesh )
November 13, 1970
5.
230,210
2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami
Sumatra , Indonesia and also affected India , Sri Lanka , Maldives
December 26, 2004
6.
300,000 [4]
1839 India Cyclone
India
November 25, 1839
7.
250,000 –300,000
526 Antioch earthquake
Antioch , Byzantine Empire (now Turkey )
May 526
8.
242,419 (the death toll has been estimated to be as high as 665,000)[1]
1976 Tangshan earthquake
Tangshan , Hebei , China
July 28, 1976
9.
234,117 [1]
1920 Haiyuan earthquake
Haiyuan , Ningxia -Gansu , China
December 16, 1920
10.
222,570 [5]
2010 Haiti earthquake
Port-au-Prince , Haiti
January 12, 2010
* Estimate by Nova's sources are close to 4 million and yet Encarta's sources report as few as 1 million. Expert estimates report wide variance.
An alternative listing is given by Hough in his 2008 book Global Security .[6]
Ten deadliest natural disasters of the past century
Rank
Maximum death toll
Event*
Location
Date
1.
145,000 –2,500,000
1931 China floods
China
November 1931
2.
242,419 -779,000
1976 Tangshan earthquake
China
July 1976
3.
300,000 -500,000
1970 Bhola cyclone
East Pakistan (now Bangladesh )
November 1970
4.
234,000
1920 Haiyuan earthquake
China
December 1920
5.
230,210 +
2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami
Indonesia
December 2004
6.
222,570 [7]
2010 Haiti earthquake
Haiti
January 2010
7.
142,000
1923 Great Kanto earthquake
Japan
September 1923
8.
138,000 +
2008 Cyclone Nargis
Myanmar
May 2008
9.
138,000
1991 Bangladesh cyclone
Bangladesh
April 1991
10.
120,000
1948 Ashgabat earthquake
Turkmenistan
October 1948
* Does not include industrial or technological accidents.
Lists of natural disasters
Avalanches
Blizzards
Contractible diseases
Pandemics killing at least 1,000,000 people:
Rank
Death toll (estimate)
Event
Location
Date
1.
100,000,000 approx.
Black Death
Asia , Europe , Africa
1300 s–1720s
2.
50,000,000 –100,000,000
Spanish Flu
Worldwide
1918 –1920
3.
40,000,000 –100,000,000
Plague of Justinian
Asia , Europe , Africa
540 –590
4.
12,000,000 ?
Third Pandemic of Bubonic Plague
Worldwide
1850 s–1950s
5.
5,000,000
Antonine Plague
Roman Empire
165 –180
6.
4,000,000
Asian Flu
Worldwide
1956 –1958
Other deadly communicable diseases. Death counts are historical totals unless indicated otherwise.
Rank
Death toll (estimate)
Disease
Notes
1.
300,000,000 approx.
Smallpox
1900 to eradication.[9] Declared eradicated May 8, 1980.[10]
2.
200,000,000 ?
Measles
last 150 years [11]
3.
80,000,000 –250,000,000
Malaria
20th century – present[update]
4.
40,000,000 –100,000,000
Tuberculosis
20th century – present[update] [11]
5.
25,250,000
AIDS pandemic
1981 –present.
6.
at least 250,000 annually
Seasonal influenza
As of April 2009[update] [12]
Cyclones
Rank
Death toll
Event
Location
Date
1.
500,000
1970 Bhola cyclone
East Pakistan , Pakistan (now Bangladesh )
November 13, 1970
2.
300,000
1839 Indian cyclone
India
November 25, 1839
3.
300,000[13]
1737 Calcutta cyclone
India
October 7, 1737
4.
210,000
Super Typhoon Nina —contributed to Banqiao Dam failure
China
August 7, 1975
5.
200,000[14]
Great Backerganj Cyclone of 1876
present day Bangladesh
October 30, 1876
6.
~146,000
Cyclone Nargis
Myanmar
May 2, 2008
7.
138,866
1991 Bangladesh cyclone
Bangladesh
April 29, 1991
8.
100,000
1882 Bombay cyclone
Bombay, India
1882
9.
60,000
1922 Swatow Typhoon
China
August 1, 1922
10.
60,000
1864 Calcutta Cyclone
India
October 5, 1864
Earthquakes
Rank
Death toll
Event
Location
Date
1.
830,000
1556 Shaanxi earthquake
China
January 23, 1556
2.
242,419 –779,000
1976 Tangshan earthquake
China
July 28, 1976
3.
250,000
526 Antioch earthquake
Antioch , Byzantine Empire (now Turkey )
May 526
4.
235,502
1920 Haiyuan earthquake
China
December 16, 1920
5.
230,210
2004 Indonesian earthquake
Indonesia
December 26, 2004
6.
230,000
1138 Aleppo earthquake
Syria
October 11, 1138
7.
222,570 [15]
2010 Haiti earthquake
Port au Prince, Haiti
January 12, 2010
8.
200,000
856 Damghan earthquake
Iran
December 22, 856
9.
150,000
893 Ardabil earthquake
Iran
March 23, 893
10.
142,000
1923 Great Kanto earthquake
Japan
September 1, 1923
11.
137,000
1730 Hokkaido earthquake
Japan
1730
12.
123,000 [1]
1908 Messina earthquake
Italy
December 28, 1908
13.
110,000
1948 Ashgabat earthquake
Turkmen SSR , Soviet Union (now Turkmenistan )
October 5, 1948
14.
100,000
1290 Chihli earthquake
China
September 27, 1290
15.
100,000
1755 Lisbon earthquake
Portugal
November 1, 1755
16.
100,000
1667 Shamakhi earthquake
Azerbaijan
November 1667
17.
79,000
2005 Kashmir earthquake
Pakistan (disputed region )
October 8, 2005
18.
77,000
1727 Tabriz earthquake
Iran
November 18, 1727
19.
70,000
1970 Ancash earthquake
Peru
May 31, 1970
20.
70,000
1932 Changma earthquake
Gansu , China
December 25, 1932
21.
68,712 (18,392 missing)
2008 Sichuan earthquake
China
May 12, 2008
22.
60,000
1268 Cilicia earthquake
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (now Turkey )
1268
23.
60,000
1693 Sicily earthquake
Italy
January 11, 1693
24.
60,000
1935 Balochistan earthquake
British India (now part of Pakistan )
May 31, 1935
25.
50,000
1783 Calabrian earthquakes
Italy
1783
26.
50,000
1990 Manjil-Rudbar earthquake
Iran
June 21, 1990
27.
45,000
1999 İzmit earthquake
Turkey
August 17, 1999
28.
40,000
1498 Meiō Nankaidō earthquake
Japan
September 20, 1498
29.
40,000
1797 Riobamba earthquake
Ecuador
1797
30.
40,000
1927 Gulang earthquake
Gansu , China
1927
31.
32,962
1939 Erzincan earthquake
Turkey
December 26, 1939
32.
30,000
1202 Syria earthquake
Syria
May 20, 1202
33.
30,000
1939 Chillán earthquake
Chile
January 24, 1939
34.
28,000
1949 Khait earthquake
Tajikistan
July 10, 1949
35.
26,271
2003 Bam earthquake
Iran
December 26, 2003
36.
25,000
1988 Spitak earthquake
Armenia
December 7, 1988
37.
23,700
1293 Kamakura earthquake
Japan
May 27, 1293
38.
23,000
1976 Guatemala earthquake
Guatemala
February 4, 1976
39.
22,066
1896 Meiji-Sanriku earthquake
Japan
June 15, 1896
40.
20,000
1812 Caracas earthquake
Venezuela
March 26, 1812
41.
20,000
1905 Kangra earthquake
British India
April 4, 1905
42.
19,727
2001 Gujarat earthquake
India
January 26, 2001
43.
15,621
1970 Tonghai earthquake
China
January 4, 1970
44.
15,000
1960 Agadir earthquake
Morocco
February 26, 1960
45.
15,000
1978 Tabas earthquake
Iran
September 16, 1978
46.
12,225
1962 Bou'in-Zahra earthquake
Iran
September 1, 1962
47.
12,000 –15000
1907 Qaratog earthquake
Tajikistan
October 21, 1907
48.
12,000
1968 Dasht-e Bayaz and Ferdows earthquake
Iran
August 31, 1968
49.
10,500
1934 Bihar earthquake
British India
January 15, 1934
50.
10,153
1985 Mexico City earthquake
Mexico
September 19, 1985
51.
10,102
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
Japan
March 11, 2011
52.
10,000
1509 Istanbul earthquake
Istanbul , Ottoman Empire (now Turkey )
September 10, 1509
53.
10,000
1703 Apennine earthquakes
Italy
1703
54.
10,000
1703 Genroku earthquake
Japan
December 31, 1703
55.
10,000
1854 Ansei-Nankai earthquake
Japan
December 24, 1854
56.
10,000 [16]
1944 San Juan earthquake
Argentina
January 15, 1944
Famines
This article
appears to contradict the article List of famines .
Please discuss at the talk page and do not remove this message until the contradictions are resolved.
Please Note: Some of these famines may be partially or completely caused by humans.
Rank
Death toll
Event
Location
Date
1.
15,000,000–43,000,000
Great Chinese Famine
China
1958–1961
2.
24,000,000
Chinese Famine of 1907
China
1907
3.
19,000,000
Indian Famine
British India
1896–1902
4.
15,000,000
Bengal famine of 1770 , incl. Bihar & Orissa
India
1769–1771
5.
13,000,000
Northern Chinese Famine
China
1876–1879
6.
10,000,000
Indian Great Famine of 1876–78
India
1876–1879
7.
7,500,000
Great European Famine
Europe (all)
1315–1317
8.
7,000,000-10,000,000
Soviet famine of 1932–1933 (Holodomor )
Soviet Union
1932–1934
8.
5,000,000
Chinese Famine of 1936
China
1936
8.
5,000,000
Russian famine of 1921
Russia , Ukraine
1921–1922
11.
3,000,000
Chinese Drought 1941
China
1941
11.
3,000,000
Chinese Famine of 1928–1930
China
1928–1930
13.
2,000,000
Russian famine of 1601–1603
Russia (Muscovy)
1601–1603
13.
2,000,000
Vietnamese Famine of 1945
Vietnam
1943–1945
13.
2,000,000
Deccan Famine of 1630–32
India
1630–1630
16.
1,500,000–4,000,000
Bengal Famine of 1943
India
1943
17.
1,200,000-3,500,000
North Korean famine
North Korea
1996–1998
18.
1,000,000–1,500,000
Great Irish Famine
Ireland
1846–1849
18.
1,000,000
1984–1985 famine in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
1984
18.
1,000,000
Horn of Africa famine
Ethiopia , Sudan , Somalia
1888
21.
26,000–1,000,000
Bangladesh famine of 1974 —Official records claim 26,000. However, various sources claim about 1,000,000.
Bangladesh
1974
22.
150,000+
Finnish famine of 1866–1868
Finland , northern Sweden
1866–1868
Floods and landslides
Rank
Death toll
Event
Location
Date
1.
2,500,000–3,700,000[17]
1931 China floods
China
1931
2.
900,000–2,000,000
1887 Yellow River (Huang He) flood
China
1887
3.
500,000–700,000
1938 Yellow River (Huang He) flood
China
1938
4.
231,000
Banqiao Dam failure, result of Typhoon Nina . Approximately 86,000 people died from flooding and another 145,000 died during subsequent disease.
China
1975
5.
145,000
1935 Yangtze river flood
China
1935
6.
more than 100,000
St. Felix's Flood , storm surge
Netherlands
1530
7.
100,000
Hanoi and Red River Delta flood
North Vietnam
1971
8.
100,000
1911 Yangtze river flood
China
1911
9.
50,000–80,000
St. Lucia's flood , storm surge
Netherlands
1287
10.
2,400
North Sea flood, storm surge
Netherlands , England , Belgium
31 January 1953
Heat waves
Limnic eruptions
Meteorites
Storms (non-cyclone)
Tornadoes
Rank
Death toll
Event
Location
Date
1.
1,300
The Daulatpur-Salturia Tornado
Manikganj , Bangladesh
April 26, 1989
2.
923
1969 East Pakistan Tornado
East Pakistan , Pakistan (now Bangladesh )
1969
3.
695
The Tri-State Tornado
United States (Missouri –Illinois –Indiana )
March 18, 1925
4.
681
1973 Dhaka Tornado
Bangladesh
1973
5.
600
The Valetta, Malta Tornado
Malta
1551
6.
500
The Sicily Tornado
Sicily , Two Sicilies (now Italy )
1851
6.
500
The Narail-Magura Tornadoes
Jessore , East Pakistan , Pakistan (now Bangladesh )
1964
6.
500
The Comoro Tornado
Comoro
1951
9.
440
The Tangail Tornado
Bangladesh
1988
10.
400
The 1984 Ivanovo-Yaroslavl, Russia, Tornado
Soviet Union (now Russia )
1984
Tsunami
Rank
Death toll
Event
Location
Date
1.
230,210
2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami
Indonesia , Sri Lanka , India , Maldives , Malaysia , Somalia , Bangladesh , Thailand
26 December, 2004
2.
123,000[1]
1908 Messina earthquake /tsunami
Messina, Italy
1908
3.
100,000
1755 Lisbon earthquake /tsunami/fire
Portugal , Spain , Morocco , Ireland , and the United Kingdom (Cornwall )
1755
4.
36,000
Caused by 1883 eruption of Krakatoa
Indonesia
1883
5.
30,000
1707 Hōei earthquake
Tōkaidō /Nankaido , Japan
1707
6.
27,000
1826 Japanese earthquake [citation needed ]
Japan
1826
7.
25,674
1868 Arica earthquake/tsunami
Arica, Chile
1868
8.
22,070
1896 Meiji-Sanriku earthquake
Sanriku, Japan
1896
9.
18,400*
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
Sendai , Fukushima , Tokyo
11 March, 2011
10.
15,030
1792 Mount Unzen eruption in southwest Kyūshū /tsunami
Kyūshū , Japan
1792
11.
12,000
1771 Great Yaeyama Tsunami
Yaeyama , Okinawa , Japan
1771
* Death toll is preliminary and includes earthquake fatalities.[19]
Volcanic eruptions
Rank
Death toll
Event
Location
Date
1.
92,000
Mount Tambora (see also Year Without a Summer )
Indonesia
April 10, 1815
2.
36,000
Krakatoa
Indonesia
May 26–27, 1883
3.
33,000
Mount Vesuvius
Pompeii and Herculaneum , Italy
August 24, 79 AD
4.
29,000
Mount Pelée
Martinique
May 7 or May 8, 1902
5.
23,000
Nevado del Ruiz (Armero tragedy )
Colombia
November 13, 1985
6.
15,000
Mount Unzen
Japan
1792
7.
10,000
Mount Kelut
Indonesia
1586
8.
9,350
Laki . Killed about 25% of the population (33% were killed about 70 years before by smallpox)
Iceland
June 8, 1783
9.
6,000
Santa Maria
Guatemala
1902
10.
5,115
Mount Kelut
Indonesia
May 19, 1919
A supervolcanic eruption at Lake Toba around 74,000 years ago could have wiped out as much as 99% of the global human population, reducing the population from a possible 60 million to less than 10 thousand; see Toba catastrophe theory . However, this theory may not be widely accepted because the evidence could possibly be disputed, and there have been, for instance, no remains found.[citation needed ] The eruption is not listed here as it was pre-historic and outside the scope of this article. Also, the Thera eruption in the Aegean Sea between 1550 and 1650 BC may have caused a large number of deaths throughout the region, from Crete to Egypt . See also La Garita Caldera , Yellowstone Caldera , and Supervolcanoes .
Wildfires and bushfires
Rank
Death toll
Event
Location
Date
1.
1,200–2,500
Peshtigo Fire , Wisconsin
United States
October 8, 1871
2.
1,200
Kursha-2 Fire
Soviet Union
August 3, 1936
3.
453
Cloquet Fire , Minnesota
United States
October 12, 1918
4.
418
Great Hinckley Fire , Minnesota
United States
September 1, 1894
5.
282
Thumb Fire , Michigan
United States
September 5, 1881
6.
273
Matheson Fire , Ontario
Canada
July 29, 1916
7.
240
Sumatra and Kalimantan Fires
Indonesia
1997
8.
230
Landes region
France
1949
9.
213
Black Dragon Fire
China
May 1987
10.
173
Black Saturday bushfires
Australia
February 7 – March 14, 2009
11.
167
Fires of Needle Ridge
USA
February 12 – April 4, 1980
12.
71
Black Friday bushfires (1939)
Australia
January 13, 1939
See also
Other lists organized by death toll
References
^ a b c d e f The world's worst natural disasters Calamities of the 20th and 21st centuries CBC News'.' Retrieved 2010-10-29.
^ "NOVA Online | Flood! | Dealing with the Deluge" . Pbs.org. Retrieved 2010-08-11 .
^ "Top 10 Deadliest Earthquakes" . Time . January 13, 2010. Retrieved May 8, 2010 .
^ "The Worst Natural Disasters by Death Toll" (PDF) . National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 2008-04-06. Retrieved 2011-03-11 .
^ "Magnitude 7.0 - HAITI REGION" . Earthquake.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2010-08-11 .
^ Understanding Global Security , Peter Hough, 2008, chapter 8, page 192, table 8.1 'The ten worst natural disasters in history'
^ cite web|url=http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2010/us2010rja6/#summary
^ a b "The Peru Earthquake: A Special Study" . Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists . Oct 1970: 18.
^ "UC Davis Magazine, Summer 2006: Epidemics on the Horizon" . Retrieved 2008-01-03 .
^ Smallpox and bioterrorism , Bulletin of the World Health Organization , vol. 81 no. 10 Genebra October 2003 ISSN 0042-9686
^ a b "Torrey EF and Yolken RH. 2005. Their bugs are worse than their bite. Washington Post, April 3, p. B01" . Birdflubook.com. Retrieved 2010-08-11 .
^ Influenza (Seasonal) , World Health Organization , April 2009. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
^ "10 'Worst' Natural Disasters" . Eas.slu.edu. Retrieved 2010-08-11 .
^ ThinkQuest Team #C003603. "Hurricanes: case studies" . Library.thinkquest.org. Retrieved 2010-08-11 . {{cite web }}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link )
^ http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2010/us2010rja6/#summary
^ "Listado de Terremotos Históricos" . Inpres.gov.ar. Retrieved 2010-08-11 .
^ "Worst Natural Disasters In History" . Nbc10.com. Retrieved 2010-08-11 .
^ Eric Klinenberg (July 30, 2002). "Dead Heat: Why don't Americans sweat over heat-wave deaths?" . Slate . Retrieved 30 July 2010 .
^ http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/03/20/progress-seen-japans-nuclear-crisis/
External links