HUASCARAN AVALANCHE 20,000 people killed YUNGAY, PERU
31 May 1970
Deadliest avalanche in history. It was triggered by the 1970 Ancash earthquake, destabilized the northern wall of Mount Huascarån. The avalanche started as a sliding mass of glacial ice and rock about 3,000 feet (910 m) wide and one mile (1.6 km) long. It advanced about 11 miles (18 km) to the village of Yungay at an average speed of 280 to 335 km per hour. The town of Yungay was entirely lost as it was buried under a 120 mph onslaught of tens of feet of mud, earth, water, boulders, and debris. Most of the town’s 25,000 residents were also lost in the avalanche. Approximately 350 residents survived, a few by climbing to the one elevated place in town, the cemetery. About 300 survivors were children who were outside of town at a circus and led to safety after the quake by a clown.
HUASCARAN AVALANCHE 4,000 people killed YUNGAY, PERU
10 January 1962
On the evening of January 10th 1962 a massive wall of ice and rocks, about 40ft high and 1km wide tumbled down the extinct volcano of Huascaran, Peru’s highest mountain in the Andes range. The village of Ranrahirca and its inhabitants was totally destroyed along with eight other towns. The mayor Alfonso Caballero said only about 50 of its 500 inhabitants survived. “In eight minutes Ranrahirca was wiped off the map,” he said. Colonel Umberto Ampuera, head of emergency services, said the disaster was “like a scene from Dante’s Inferno”. Bodies have been found at the port of Chimbote, 60 miles from the tragedy, where the river meets the sea.
WINTER OF TERROR 265 people killed AUSTRIA - SWITZERLAND
1950 - 1951
The series of 649 avalanches killed over 265 people and caused large amounts of damage to residential and other human-made structure. The Swiss town of Andermatt located in the Adula Alps was hit by 6 avalanches within a 60 minute period resulting in 13 human deaths. The Valais canton of Switzerland suffered 92 human deaths, approximately 500 cattle deaths and 900 human-made structures destroyed. This period is thought to be a result of atypical weather conditions in the Alps. High precipitation due to the meeting of an Atlantic warm front with a Polar cold front resulted in 3-4.5 metres of snow being deposited in a 2-3 day period.
DASPAI AVALANCHE 201 people killed AFGHANISTAN
30 September
The village of Daspai can be located in Rawanak, Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan. It is a disaster-prone area of northeastern Afghanistan, described as where Mother Nature is a bigger enemy than the Taliban. The avalanche of snow, ice and mud thundered off a nearby mountain and buried the village of Daspai at 9am on Sunday 30th September. Twenty children and teenagers and two teachers were found inside a mosque where they had been studying the Quran. People from nearby villages worked continuously to see if any more people were still buried in up to 10 feet of snow in the remote village that is still cut off from most outsiders. Only a handful survived. “It’s a silent tsunami here,” Kofi said.
2010 SALANG AVALANCHES 172 people killed AFGHANISTAN
9 February 2010
Consisted of a series of at least 36 avalanches that struck the southern approach to the Salang tunnel, north of Kabul. They were caused by a freak storm in the Hindu Kush mountains. The avalanches were caused by a sudden blizzard that struck the area, closing the tunnel and the roads around it on both sides of the tunnel. 41 additional people were killed in avalanches prior to this on the days leading up to the 9th. Annually about 250 avalanches strike the road, and the total loss of life during the 2008/9 season was about 40 people.
SIACHEN GLACIER AVALANCHE 140 people killed PAKISTAN
7 April 2012
On 7 April 2012, an avalanche hit a Pakistani military base near the disputed Siachen Glacier region, trapping 140 soldiers and civilian contractors under deep snow. It is the worst avalanche that the Pakistani military has experienced in the area. On 29 May 2012, Pakistan declared that the 129 soldiers and 11 civilians were dead. Prior to this an avalanche claimed the lives of seven Indian Army and border security troops on patrol in January 2012, and another 16 Indian soldiers were killed in February when two more avalanches struck their encampments at Sonamarg and Dawar in the high mountains of Kashmir. The Pakistan Army has declared all the victims of Gayari sector as ‘Shuhada’ (martyrs).
KOLKAKARMADON ROCK ICE SLIDE 125 people killed NORTH OSSETIA, RUSSIA
20 September 2002
The Kolka-Karmadon rock-ice slide occurred on the northern slope of the Kazbek massif in North Ossetia, Russia on the 20th of September 2002 following a partial collapse of the Kolka Glacier. It started on the northeast wall of Dzhimarai Khokh, 15,680 ft above sea level, and seriously affected the valley of Genaldon and Karmadon. A 490 ft thick chunk of the Kolka Glacier travelled 20 miles down the Karmadon Gorge and Koban Valley at over 100 km/h (62 mph). The outflow of mud and debris measured 200 m (660 ft) wide and 10 to 100 m (33 to 330 ft) thick. It finally came to rest in the village of Nijni Karmadon, burying most of the village in ice, snow,and debris The avalanche and mudflow killed 125 people in total (including a film crew of 27 people and Russian actor Sergei Bodrov Jr.).
KOHISTAN AVALANCHE 102 people killed PAKISTAN
17 February 2010
The 2010 Kohistan avalanche occurred in the Kohistan District, North West Frontier Province, Pakistan on February 17, 2010, striking the village of Bagaro Serai. At 150m thick, the outflow of mud and debris measured 200 m (660 ft) wide and 10 to 100 m (33 to 330 ft) thick. The avalanche came down on at least four houses in the remote village, which has been struck by heavy snow storms in recent days. According to local officials, rescue teams faced difficulties getting into the village as all the roads were blocked due to the avalanche and further landslides.
WELLINGTON, WASHINGTON AVALANCHE 96 people killed UNITED STATES
February 1910
The Wellington avalanche was the worst avalanche, measured in terms of lives lost, in the history of the United States. After a 9-day blizzard, late on February 28, the snow stopped. Just after 1 a.m. on March 1, as a result of a lightning strike, a slab of snow broke loose from the side of Windy Mountain during a violent thunderstorm. A ten-foot high mass of snow, half a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide, fell toward the town, hitting the local railroad depot. Most of the passengers and crew were asleep aboard their trains. The impact threw the trains 150 feet downhill and into the Tye River valley. Ninety-six people were killed, including 35 passengers, 58 Great Northern employees on the trains, and three railroad employees in the depot. Only twenty-three passengers survived.
FRANK SLIDE 90 people killed CANADA
February 1910
The Frank Slide was a rockslide that buried part of the mining town of Frank, Northwest Territories, Canada, on the morning of April 29, 1903. Witnesses to the disaster claimed it took about 100 seconds for the slide to reach up the opposing hills, indicating the mass of rock travelled at a speed of about 112 kilometres per hour (70 mph). Between 70 and 90 of the town’s residents were killed, most of whom remain buried. There were 20 miners working the night shift at the time of the disaster, 3 had been outside the mine and were killed by the slide. The remaining 17 were underground. 13 hours after they were buried, all 17 men emerged from the mountain. The sound was heard as far away as Cochrane, over 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Frank.
1972 IRAN BLIZZARD 4,000 people killed IRAN
Average height Average height Height of a 1972 Iran of a car of a human double decker bus Blizzard snow drift 4.2ft 6ft 14ft 26ft
3 - 9 February 1972
The 1972 Iran Blizzard is the deadliest blizzard on record. It wiped entire villages - 200 villages, to be exact - off the map. Snapping telephone lines, burying commuter trains, entombing villages, and crushing cars in its wake. According to Associated Press reports, some rescue workers who’d been dropped on a snow drift burying a village called Sheklab dug for two days straight, burrowing through 8 feet of snow, only to find 18 frozen bodies and no one - not one single person in a population of 100 - still alive. Another blizzard started up again on February 11, forcing rescue workers to abandon their searches. Army helicopters left two tons of bread and dates scattered over the snowdrifts, in hopes that some people could tunnel their way to the surface, but many never did.
CAROLEAN DEATH MARCH 3,000 people killed TRONDELAG, SWEDEN
Average height Average height of a car of a human 4.2ft 6ft
Carolean Death March 6ft
Height of a double decker bus 14ft
8th - 16th January 1719
The Carolean Death March is named in reference to disastrous retreat by a Swedish Carolean army across the Tydal mountain range in Trøndelag around the new year 1718–1719. The army left Østby on the morning of January 12, 1719, that afternoon a violent northwesterly blizzard struck. In desperate efforts to keep warm, the soldiers set fire to dwarf birch, heather, their own rifle butts and sleds, but to little effect. An estimated 200 men froze to death this first night. The majority of the survivors arrived at Handöl on the 15th and 16th of January. About 3,000 men remained on the mountain, frozen to death. During the continued voyage down to Duved, where lodging had been arranged for the soldiers, another 700 men died. About 600 of the surviving 2,100 soldiers were crippled for life.
2008 AFGAHNISTAN BLIZZARD 926 people killed AFGHANISTAN
Average height Average height 2008 Afghanistan of a car of a human blizzard 4.2ft 6ft 6ft
February 2009
Height of a double decker bus 14ft
The 2008 Afgahnistan blizzard affected 17 of the country’s 34 provinces. Temperatures fell to a low of -30 C. There was up to 180 centimetres of snow in the more mountainous regions. The hospitals performed frostbite amputations on at least 100 people across the country, as many walked barefoot in the freezing cold mud and snow. People in Afghanistan’s northern provinces, stricken with hunger and cold, have apparently even taken to selling their children to buy bread and coal. At least six cases were reported in the Baghlan province in one month alone. Aid workers also reported being attacked by starving Afghan mountain dwellers.
GREAT BLIZZARD OF 1888 400 people killed UNITED STATES
Average height Average height Great Blizzard of Average height of a human of a car of a basketball 1888 6ft 4.2ft 29in 5ft
11 - 14 March 1888
The Great Blizzard of 1888 was one of the most severe recorded blizzards in the history of the United States of America. Large parts of New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut were effected. New York’s Central Park Observatory reported a minimum temperature of 6 °F (-14 °C), and a daytime average of 9 °F (-13 °C) on March 13, the coldest ever for March recorded. Some places sustained winds of more than 45 miles per hour (72 km/h), with snowfalls of 20–60 inches producing snowdrifts in excess of 50 feet (15 m). More than 400 people died from the storm and the ensuing cold, including 200 in New York City alone. Among them was former U.S. Senator Roscoe Conkling. There was about $25,000,000 worth of damages.
1993 NORTH AMERICAN STORM COMPLEX 318 people killed UNITED STATES, CANADA AND CUBA
Average height Average height of a car of a human 4.2ft 6ft
1993 North American Storm Complex 6ft
Height of a double decker bus 14ft
12 - 15 March 1993
This storm complex was massive, affecting at least 26 U.S. states and much of eastern Canada. Areas as far south as central Alabama and Georgia received 6 to 8 inches of snow and areas such as Birmingham, Alabama, received up to 12 inches with isolated reports of 16 inches. Even the Florida Panhandle reported up to 4 inches, with hurricane force wind gusts and record low barometric pressures. Between Louisiana and Cuba, hurricane-force winds produced high storm surges across northwestern Florida, which along with scattered tornadoes killed dozens of people. Some winds gusted as high as 110 miles per hour. Record cold temperatures were seen across portions of the South and East in the wake of this storm. The lowest being -12 째F (-24 째C).
SCHOOLHOUSE BLIZZARD 236 people killed UNITED STATES
Average height of brick 2.5in
Schoolhouse Blizzard 6in
Average height Average height of a pint glass of a basketball 6in 29in
12 - 13 January 1888
The fast-moving storm first struck Montana in the early hours of January 12, swept through Dakota Territory and reached Lincoln, Nebraska by 3pm. Within a few hours, the advancing cold front caused a temperature drop to -40 °C in some places. This wave of cold was accompanied by high winds and heavy snow. School teacher, Minnie Freeman safely led thirteen children from her schoolhouse to her boarding school home, a half mile away. All of her pupils survived. Lois Royce found herself trapped with three of her students in her schoolhouse. By 3 p.m., they had run out of heating fuel. Her boarding house was only 75 meters away, so she attempted to lead the children there. However, visibility was so poor that they became lost and the children, two 9 year old boys and a 6 year old girl, froze to death. The teacher survived, but her feet were severely frostbitten and had to be amputated. Most of those killed by the blizzard were children who couldn’t get home from school.
HAKKO-DA MOUNTAINS INCIDENT 199 people killed HAKKO-DA MOUNTAINS
Average height Average height Average height Hakko-da of a pint glass of a basketball Mountains incident of a car 6in 4.2ft 29in 3.6ft
23 January 1902
Hakko-da Mountains incident is in reference to when a large group of Japanese soldiers on a training exercise became trapped in a blizzard while crossing the Hakko-da Mountains from Aomori City in a military training exercise. The exercise was meant to gather experience in dealing with winter weather. Japan was preparing for a possible conflict with the Russian Empire in Siberia and Manchuria, which eventually was realized as the Russo-Japanese War. 199 of the 210 members died. Corporal Fusanosuke Goto managed to get help for the beleaguered unit. Search parties discovered Goto. The discovery led to the rescue of the other soldiers.
NORTH AMERICAN BLIZZARD OF 1996 154 people killed NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES
Average height Average height North American Average height of a pint glass of a basketball blizzard of 1996 of a car 6in 4.2ft 29in 4ft
6 - 8 January 1996
It affected many areas in the Continental US, especially the North East, this included Washington D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York City and New England. These bands created whiteout conditions as winds gusted past 40 miles per hour, along with thunder and lightning. The blizzard paralyzed the U.S. East Coast with up to 4 feet of wind-driven snow. It was followed by another storm on January 12th, then unusually warm weather and torrential rain which caused rapid melting and river flooding. This lead to an additional 33 deaths. Snow fall varied extensively across all areas, ranging from 47 inches in Big Meadows, VA to 9.6 inches in Pittsburgh. There was roughly $3 billion in damages recorded after the blizzard had struck.
ARMISTICE DAY BLIZZARD 144 people killed MIDWEST REGION OF THE UNITED STATES
Average height Average height of brick of a pint glass 2.5in 6in
Armistice Day Blizzard 27in
Average height of a basketball 29in
10 - 12 November 1940
The intense early-season “Panhandle hook” winter storm cut a 1,000-mile-wide path through the middle of the country from Kansas to Michigan. As a result, snowfalls of up to 27 inches, winds of 50 to 80 mph, 20-foot snow drifts, and 30 °C temperature drops were common over parts of the states of Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. In Minnesota, 27 inches of snow fell at Collegeville, and the Twin Cities recorded 16 inches Record low pressures were recorded in La Crosse, Wisconsin and Duluth, Minnesota.
2008 CHINESE WINTER STORMS 133 people killed CHINA
2008 Chinese winter storms 1.6in
Average height of brick 2.5in
Average height Average height of a pint glass of a basketball 6in 29in
25 January - 6 February 2008
The blizzard effected areas throughout China, including Hubei, Hunan, Zhejiang, Guizhou, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Fujian, Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shanghai, Chongqing, Shanxi and Sichuan. It was reported that in the country’s largest true desert, the Taklamakan, the snow and record low temperatures near -25 °C lasted 11 consecutive days and killed most of the livestock. At one point, the temperature dropped to -32 °C, breaking the January 2006 record of -26.1 °C. It was the first time that snow covered the entire desert at the same time. It was estimated that about 223,000 homes were destroyed and 862,000 others were damaged. CNN also reported that 500 meter-long auto plant in Xiangtan had its entire roof collapsed.
1970 BHOLA CYCLONE 500,000 people killed EAST PAKISTAN AND INDIA Fastest rollercoaster 149mph Helicopter cruise speed record 136 mph 1970 Bhola cyclone 130 mph Wind powered land speed record 126.1 mph
7 - 13 November 1970
It was the deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded, and one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern times. 185 km/h (115 mph); sustained for 3 minutes. 205 km/h (130 mph); sustained for 1 minute. The equivalent to a strong Category 3 hurricane. On the night November 11 the Cyclone made landfall on the coast of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The storm surge devastated many of the offshore islands, wiping out villages and destroying crops throughout the region. In the most severely affected upazila, Tazumuddin, over 45% of the population of 167,000 was killed by the storm in Thana alone. Corresponding to the morality rate of approximately 46.3%. Pakistani radio reported that there were no survivors on the 13 islands near Chittagong.
1839 INDIAN CYCLONE 300,000 people killed CORINAGA, INDIA Glider plane speed record 190mph Fastest rollercoaster 149mph 1839 Indian cyclone 144 mph Helicopter cruise speed record 136 mph
25 November 1839
Coringa is a tiny village of the East Godavari district, in Andhra Pradesh, India. In November 1839 a disastrous cyclone struck east India with terrible winds and a giant storm surge. It wiped out the harbor city of Coringa, of which was never entirely rebuilt. The cyclone created a 40ft tsunami. 20,000 vessels in the bay were destroyed.
1737 CALCUTTA CYCLONE 300,000 people killed CALCUTTA, INDIA Wind powered land speed record 126.1 mph Fastest arrow shot record speed 120 mph 1864 Calcutta cyclone 104 mph Human powered land speed record 82.8 mph
7 October 1737
On 7 October 1737, a natural disaster struck the city of Calcutta (modern-day Kolkata) in India. The storm and flood had destroyed nearly all the thatched buildings. For a long time this was believed to have been the result of an earthquake, as there were reports from merchant ships indicating an earthquake and tidal surge were to blame, destroying 20,000 ships in the harbour. But it is now believed to have been a tropical cyclone.
SUPER TYPHOON NINA 210,000 people killed CHINA AND TAIWAN Glider plane speed record 190mph Super Typhoon Nina 155mph Fastest rollercoaster 149 mph Helicopter cruise speed record 136 mph
7 August 1975
Approximately 229,000 people died after the Banqiao Dam collapsed and devastated areas downstream. The collapse of the dam due to heavy floods also caused a string of smaller dams to collapse, adding more damage by the typhoon. Upon making landfall in Taiwan, the storm brought winds of 115 mph to places near the storm’s eye. Wind gusts were also measured up to 138 mph. Due to the interaction with the mountains of Taiwan, Nina weakened to a tropical storm before making landfall in Mainland China. The storm crossed the coastline with winds of 70 mph, however, little damage resulted near where the system struck land. There was an estimated $1.2 billion in damages.
GREAT BACKERGANJ CYCLONE OF 1876 200,000 people killed BACKERGANJ, BANGLADESH Glider plane speed record 190mph Fastest rollercoaster 155mph Great Backerganj Cyclone of 1876 149 mph Helicopter cruise speed record 136 mph
29 October - 1 November 1876
The Great Backerganj Cyclone of 1876 hit the coast of Backerganj killing about 200,000 people, half of whom were drowned by the storm surge, and the remainder died in the resultant famine. The maximum wind was estimated a 136pmh and the surge height was 10-45 ft. The storm also caused epidemic and famine, and vast property damage.
1991 BANGLADESH CYCLONE 138,866 people killed BANGLADESH Glider plane speed record 190mph 1991 Bangladesh cyclone 160mph Fastest rollercoaster 149 mph Helicopter cruise speed record 136 mph
24 - 30 April 1991
On the night of 29 April 1991 a powerful tropical cyclone struck the Chittagong district of southeastern Bangladesh with winds of around 155 mph. The storm forced a 6 metre (20 ft) storm surge inland over a wide area, killing at least 138,000 people and leaving as many as 10 million homeless. Most deaths were from drowning, with the highest mortality among children and the elderly. Although cyclone shelters had been built after the 1970 Bhola cyclone, many had just a few hours of warning and did not know where to go for shelter. Others who knew about the storm refused to evacuate because they did not believe the storm would be as bad as forecast. Even so it is estimated over 2 million people did evacuate from the most dangerous areas, possibly mitigating the disaster substantially.
CYCLONE NARGIS 138,366 people killed BURMA Fastest rollercoaster 149mph Helicopter cruise speed record 136 mph Cyclone Nargis 135 mph Wind powered land speed record 126.1 mph
27 April - 3 May 2008
The cyclone made landfall in Burma on Friday, May 2, 2008, sending a storm surge 40 kilometres up the densely populated Irrawaddy delta, causing catastrophic destruction and at least 138,000 fatalities. The Labutta Township alone was reported to have 80,000 dead, with about 10,000 more deaths in Bogale. There were around 55,000 people missing and many other deaths were found in other towns and areas, although the Burmese government’s official death toll may have been underreported, and there have been allegations that government officials stopped updating the death toll after 138,000 to minimize political fallout. The feared ‘second wave’ of fatalities from disease and lack of relief efforts never materialized. Damage was estimated at over US$10 billion, which made it the most damaging cyclone ever recorded in this basin.
GREAT BOMBAY CYCLONE 10,000 people killed MUMBAI, INDIA Wind powered land speed record 126.1 mph Fastest arrow shot speed record 120 mph 1882 Bombay Cyclone 110 mph Human powered land speed record 82.8 mph
6 June 1882
On June 6, 1882 a large cyclone travelled across the Arabian Sea, and struck Mumbai, India. An region especially hard hit was the Mumbai harbour. Whilst there were no tsunamis, the cyclone is known to have caused floods that killed at least 100,000 people in Mumbai alone. Records suggest this was due to the when a cyclones force as it landed in the Arabian Sea pushing massive waves into the harbour.
1922 SWATOW TYPHOON 60,000 people killed SWATOW, CHINA Wind powered land speed record 126.1 mph Fastest arrow shot speed record 120 mph 1922 Swatow Typhoon 100 mph Human powered land speed record 82.8 mph
27 July - 3 August 1922
In Swatow, China the typhoon caused a storm surge of at least 12 ft above normal. The rain was heavy, and left enough water to leave the land saturated for a few days. The typhoon sustained the speed of 100 mph for over 10 minutes. Swatow was an unfortunate city, as around 5,000 people (out of a population of about 65,000) perished in the storm. Some nearby villages were totally destroyed. Several ships near the coast were totally wrecked. Other ones were blown as far as two miles inland. The area around the city had around another 50,000 casualties.
1864 CALCUTTA CYCLONE 60,000 people killed CALCUTTA, INDIA Wind powered land speed record 126.1 mph
1864 Calcutta cyclone 124 mph
Fast arrow shot record speed 120 mph Human powered land speed record 82.8 mph
5 October 1864
On October 5, a powerful cyclone hit near Calcutta, India, killing around 60,000 people. The severity of the storm even caused the city’s anemometer to be blown away. Over 100 brick homes and tens of thousands of tiled and straw huts were levelled. The cyclone of 1864 destroyed the ports at Khejuri and Hijli. Most ships in the harbour (172 out of 195) were either damaged or destroyed.
1556 SHAANXI EARTHQUAKE 830,000 people killed SHAANXI, CHINA
Monday 23 January 1556
Deadliest earthquake on record. The earthquake had a magnitude of 8.0 and was 840km wide, its epicentre was the Wei River Valley in Shaanxi Province. Places over 300 miles from the epicentre were effected, including 97 counties in the provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Gansu, Hebei, Shandong, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu and Anhui. In Huaxian, every single building and home was demolished, killing more than half the residents of the city. In some counties 60% of the population were killed. Aftershocks continued several times a month for more than half a year after the earthquake occurred. The shaking reduced the height of the Small Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi’an from 45 meters to 43.4 meters.
HAITI EARTHQUAKE 316,000 people killed HAITI, PORT-AU-PRINCE
12 January 2010
Its epicentre was in Leogane. The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.0 and was 8.1 miles deep. Hardest hit cities and populations; Port-Au-Prince > 2,000,000 Carrefour > 334, 000 Petit Goave > 254, 000 Jacmel > 34, 000 Leogane > 34, 000 Gressier > 25, 000 The earthquake left 196,595 injured and 1,100,100 homeless. There were 52 aftershocks. 50% of those killed were under 20 years old. $23.5 billion was raised in relief efforts.
HAIYUAN EARTHQUAKE 273,000 people killed REPUBLIC OF CHINA
16 December 1920
Its epicentre was in Haiyuan County, Ningxia Province. Its magnitude reached 7.8 on the scale, with the maximum intensity of a XII category earthquake. Over 73,000 people were killed in Haiyuan County, with an additional estimated 30,000 killed in Guyuan County as well. A landslide buried the entire village of Sujiahe in Xiji County. Nearly all the houses collapsed in the cities of Longde and Huining. Damage (VI-X) occurred in 7 provinces and regions, including the major cities of Lanzhou, Taiyuan, Xi’an, Xining and Yinchuan. It was felt from the Yellow Sea to Qinghai (Tsinghai) Province and from Nei Mongol (Inner Mongolia) south to central Sichuan Province. Aftershocks continued for 3 years after the earthquake itself.
115 ANTIOCH EARTHQUAKE 260,000 people killed TURKEY AND SYRIA
13 December 115
The epicentre was in Antioch, Turkey. With a magnitude of 7.5 and the intensity of XI. The city of Apamea was also destroyed by the earthquake and Beirut suffered significant damage. Large numbers of people were killed by falling debris, while many others were trapped. The aftershocks that followed the earthquake for several days killed some of the survivors, while others that were trapped died of hunger. The tsunami triggered by the earthquake affected the Lebanese coast, particularly at Caeserea and Yavneh.The harbour at Caeserea Maritima was probablydestroyed by the tsunami. The restoration of Antioch was started by Trajan but seems to have been completed by Hadrian.
115 ANTIOCH EARTHQUAKE 242,769 -779,000 people killed TURKEY AND SYRIA
20 May 526
The epicentre was in Antioch, Turkey. With a magnitude of 7 and the intensity of VIII-IX. The earthquake was followed by a fire that destroyed most of the buildings left standing by the earthquake. The earthquake caused severe damage to many of the buildings in Antioch, including Constantine’s Great Octagonal Church Domus Aurea. Most of the damage however, was a result of the fires that went on for many days in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, made worse by the wind. The Great Church was destroyed by the fire seven days after the earthquake. Aftershocks continued for up to 18 months after the initial earthquake.
TANGSHAN EARTHQUAKE 242,769 -779,000 people killed CHINA
28 July 1976
Its epicentre was in Hebei. The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.8 and was 7.5 miles deep. It only lasted between 14 and 16 seconds. The earthquake devastated the city over an area of roughly 4 miles by 5 miles. Many of the people who survived the initial earthquake were trapped under collapsed buildings. Tremors were felt as far away as Xi’an approximately 470 miles away. 85% of the buildings in the city were collapsed into ruins or became uninhabitable. A 7.1 magnitude aftershock occured over 16 hours later. Over 164,000 were left with injuries.
INDIAN OCEAN EARTHQUAKE 230,273 – 310,000 people killed INDIAN OCEAN
26 December 2004
Its epicentre of this erthquake was off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. It was an undersea mega thrust earthquake known by the scientific community as the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake. It had the intense magnitude of 9.0 - 9.3 and was 19 miles deep. As well as the sideways movement between the plates, the sea floor is estimated to have risen by several metres, displacing an estimated 7.2 cubic miles of water and triggering devastating tsunami waves. This earthquake was so large that it produced its own aftershocks, some registering the magnitude of 6.1. Other aftershocks of up to magnitude 6.6 continued to shake the region daily for up to three or four months. A week after the earthquake, its reverberations could still be measured.
ALEPPO EARTHQUAKE 230,000 people killed SYRIA
11 October 1138
Its epicentre was in Aleppo, Syria. Proceeded by a smaller quake on the 10th. Aftershocks began on the evening of October 20th, continuing on October 25th, the night of 30 October - 1 November, and finishing with another in the early morning of 3 November. The worst hit area was Harem, where Crusaders had built a large citadel. Sources indicate that the castle was destroyed and the church fell in on itself. The fort of Atharib, then occupied by Muslims, was also destroyed. The citadel also collapsed, killing 600 of the castle guard, though the governor and some servants survived, and fled to Mosul. The town of Zaradna, already sacked by the warring forces, was utterly obliterated, as was the small fort at Shih. Luckily, the residents of Aleppo, a city of several tens of thousands during this period, had been warned by the foreshocks and fled to the countryside before the main quake.
HONGDON EARTHQUAKE 200,000 -475,800 people killed CHINA
17 September 1303
The epicentre of this earthquake was in Zhaocheng and Hongdong of Shanxi Province. It had a magnitude of 8.0. Taiyuan and Pingyang suffered the most loss. More than 100 thousand official and civilian houses were damaged. Mountains were destroyed and cities were removed. The cracks on the ground surface were changed into channels. The Lize Channels penetrating Zhaocheng, Hongdong and Linfen were destroyed. More than 200 thousand people were pressed flat and several hundred thousand were injured.
DAMGHAN EARTHQUAKE 200,000 people killed IRAN
22 December 859
The epicentre of this earthquake was in Damghan, Iran. It had a magnitude of 7.9 and the maximum intensity of X on the Mercalli intensity scale. The area of significant damage extended along the Alborz for about 220 miles, including the towns of Ahevanu, Astan, Tash, Bastam and Shahrud, with almost all the villages in the area severely damaged. Hecatompylos, now called Ĺ ahr-e Qumis, the former capital of Parthia, was destroyed. Half of Damghan and a third of the town of Bustam were also destroyed. The earthquake badly affected water supplies in the Qumis area, partly due to springs and qanats drying up, but also because of landslides damming streams.
GREAT KANTO EARTHQUAKE 142,807 people killed JAPAN
27 September 1290
The epicentre was Kanto plain on the Japanese main island of Honshu. It had a magnitude of 7.9. This earthquake devastated Tokyo, the port city of Yokohama, surrounding prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, and Shizuoka. The power was so great that in Kamakura, over 37 miles from the epicentre, it moved a Great Buddha statue weighing about 84,000 kg almost two feet. The single greatest loss of life was caused by a firestorm-induced fire whirl that engulfed open space at the Rikugun Honjo Hifukusho (formerly the Army Clothing Depot) in downtown Tokyo, where about 38,000 people were incinerated after taking shelter there following the earthquake. It is estimated that 140,000 people were killed and 447,000 houses were destroyed by the fire alone.
MESSINA EARTHQUAKE 123,000–200,000 people killed MESSINA, SICILY
28 December 1908
The epicentre of this earthquake was at the centre of the of city Messina, in Sicily. It registered at 7.1 on the moment magnitude scale. The ground shook for some 30 to 40 seconds, and the destruction was felt within a 186-mile radius. 91% of structures in Messina were destroyed and some 70,000 residents were killed. Moments after the earthquake, a 39-foot tsunami struck nearby coasts, causing even more devastation. The Italian navy and army responded and began searching, treating the injured, and evacuating refugees (as did every ship). Looters soon had to be shot.
ASHGABAT EARTHQUAKE 110,000 people killed TURKMENISTAN
5 October 1948
The epicentre of this earthquake was at Gara-Gaudan, Turkmenistan. The magnitude was registered at 7.3. The ground shook for some 30 to 40 seconds, and the destruction was felt within a 186-mile radius. Most damage and casualties occurred in Darreh Gaz, Iran. The earthquake caused extreme damage in Ashgabat and nearby villages, where almost all brick buildings collapsed, concrete structures were heavily damaged, and freight trains were derailed. Surface rupture was observed northwest and southeast of Ashgabat. Over 11% of the entire countries population were killed.
CHIHLI EARTHQUAKE 110,000 people killed CHINA
27 September 1290
The earthquake had an epicentre near Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia, Yuan Dynasty. It had a magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum felt intensity of IX on the metricalli intensity scale. Changping, Hejian, Renqiu, Xiongxian, Baoding, Yixian and Baixiang were also affected. It severely damaged the Fengguo Temple in Yixian. The earthquake destroyed 480 storehouses and countless houses in Ningcheng.
LISBON EARTHQUAKE 100,000 people killed PORTUGAL
November 1755
The earthquake epicentre was about 120 miles west-southwest of Cape St. Vincent. It had a magnitude of 8.5 - 9.0. It lasted between three and a half and six minutes. Almost all the coastal towns and villages of the Algarve were heavily damaged, except Faro. 85% of the buildings were destroyed. Yes, Approximately 40 minutes after the earthquake, a tsunami engulfed the harbour and downtown area, rushing up the Tagus river. It was followed by two more waves. In Lagos, the waves reached the top of the city walls. Almost all of the ports in the Azores archipelago suffered most of their destruction from the tsunami, with the sea penetrating about 150 meters inland. Estimated the total death toll in Portugal, Spain and Morocco from the earthquake and the resulting fires and tsunami at 40,000 to 50,000 people. Shocks were felt throughout Europe.
ANCASH EARTHQUAKE 100,000 people killed PERU
31 May 1970
The epicentre of the earthquake was located 35 km off the coast of Casma and Chimbote on the Pacific Ocean. It had a magnitude of 7.9, the intensity registered at VIII, with the depth of 18.6 mile, overall lasting 45 seconds. The quake destabilized the northern wall of Mount Huascarรกn, causing a rock, ice and snow avalanche and burying the towns of Yungay and Ranrahirca. The avalanche started as a sliding mass of glacial ice and rock about 3,000 feet wide and one mile long. It advanced about 11 miles to the village of Yungay at an average speed of 280 to 335 km per hour. 100,000 were lost; 75,000 dead and 25,000 missing. 200,000 injured.
SICHUAN EARTHQUAKE 87,587 people killed CHINA
12 May 2008
The epicentre of the earthquake was in Wenchuan. It had a magnitude of 7.9, reaching 12 miles in depth. Areas as far away as both Beijing and Shanghai 932 miles and 1,056 miles away - were effected, where office buildings swayed with the tremor. In terms of school casualties, thousands of school children died due to shoddy construction. In Mianyang City, 7 schools collapsed, burying at least 1,700 people. At least 7,000 school buildings in Sichuan Province collapsed. Another 700 students were buried in a school in Hanwang. At least 600 students and staff died at Juyuan Elementary School. Up to 1,300 children and teachers died at Beichuan Middle School. Overall, the earthquake killed 5,335 students and left another 546 children disabled. There were between 149 - 284 aftershocks, some so strong they exceeded magnitude 6. They continued to hit the area even months after the main quake, causing new casualties and damage.
KASHMIR EARTHQUAKE 86,000 people killed PAKISTAN
8 October 2005
The epicentre of the earthquake was in Muzaffarabad. It had a magnitude of 7.6, reaching 6,2 tmiles in depth. Most of the devastation hit north Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Muzaffarabad, the state capital of Kashmir, was hardest hit in terms of casualties and destruction. Hospitals, schools, and rescue services including police and armed forces were paralysed. There was virtually no infrastructure and communication was badly affected. A total of 147 aftershocks were registered in the first day after the initial quake, of which twenty-eight occurred with magnitudes greater than the original quake. On October 19, a series of strong aftershocks, one with a magnitude of 5.8, occurred about 40 miles north-northwest of Muzaffarabad. As of 27 October 2005 there have been more than 978 aftershocks with a magnitude of 4.0 and above that continue to occur daily.
SMALL POX 300,000,000 people killed WORLDWIDE
1900 - 8 May 1980
Approximately 300,000,000 people were killed during the Smallpox epidemic. The initial cause was when the victims were infected with the variola virus. Transmission occurs through inhalation of the airborne virus, usually droplets expressed from the oral, nasal, or pharyngeal mucosa of an infected person. Smallpox is highly contagious, but generally spreads more slowly and less widely than some other viral diseases, perhaps because transmission requires close contact and occurs after the onset of the rash. Of all those infected, 20 - 60% died from the disease. During the 20th Century epidemic, over 80% of those killed were children.
MEASLES 200,000,000 people killed WORLDWIDE
The last 150 years
The classical signs and symptoms of measles include four-day fevers and the three Cs - cough, coryza and conjunctivitis along with fever, anorexia, and rashes. The fever may reach up to 40 °C (104 °F). The characteristic measles rash is classically described as a generalized rash that begins several days after the fever starts. It starts on the back of the ears and, after a few hours, spreads to the head and neck before spreading to cover most of the body. This highly contagious virus is spread by coughing and sneezing via close personal contact or direct contact with secretions. During the 1850s, measles killed a fifth of Hawaii’s people. In 1875, measles killed over 40,000 Fijians, approximately one-third of the population. In the 19th century, the disease decimated the Andamanese population.
BLACK DEATH 100,000,000 people killed AFRICA, ASIA AND EUROPE
1300 - 1720
Recent analysis of DNA from victims in northern and southern Europe indicates that the pathogen responsible was the Yersinia pestis bacterium probably causing several forms of plague. The most commonly noted symptom was the appearance of buboes in the groin, the neck and armpits, which oozed pus and bled when opened. This was followed by acute fever and vomiting of blood. Most victims died two to seven days after initial infection. The Black Death is thought to have started in China or central Asia. Spreading throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, the Black Death is estimated to have killed 30% to 60% of Europe’s population. All in all, the plague reduced the world population from an estimated 450 million to a number between 350 and 375 million in the 14th century.
MALARIA 80,000,000– 250,000,000 people killed WORLDWIDE
20th Century
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by protists of the genus Plasmodium. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever and headache, which in severe cases can progress to coma or death. It begins with a bite from an infected female Anopheles mosquito, which introduces the protists through saliva into the circulatory system. In the blood, the protists travel to the liver to mature and reproduce. The World Health Organization has estimated that in 2010, there were 219 million documented cases of Malaria. That year, between 660,000 and 1.2 million people died from the disease, many of whom were children in Africa.
SPANISH FLU 50,000,000– 100,000,000 people killed WORLDWIDE
1918 - 1920
Investigations identified a major troop staging and hospital camp in Étaples, France as the centre of the 1918 flu pandemic. A significant precursor virus was harbored in birds, and mutated to pigs that were kept near the front. The victims of the 1918 Spanish flu suffered greatly. Within hours of feeling the first symptoms of extreme fatigue, fever, and headache, victims would start turning blue. Sometimes the blue colour became so pronounced that it was difficult to determine a patient’s original skin color. Foamy blood exited from their mouths and noses. The second wave of the 1918 pandemic was much deadlier than the first. When the second wave began in France, Sierra Leone and the United States, the virus had mutated to a much deadlier form. It infected 500 million people across the world, including remote Pacific islands and the Arctic, and killed 50 to 100 million of them - 3% to 5% of the world’s population.
PLAGUE OF JUSTINIAN 40,000,000– 100,000,000 people killed AFRICA, ASIA AND EUROPE
1540 - 1590
The outbreak in Constantinople was thought to have been carried to the city by infected rats on grain boats arriving from Egypt. Modern scholars believe that the plague killed up to 5,000 people per day in Constantinople during the pandemic. The initial plague ultimately killed perhaps 40% of the city’s inhabitants and caused the deaths of up to a quarter of the human population of the eastern Mediterranean. Frequent subsequent waves of the plague continued to strike throughout the 6th, 7th and 8th centuries, with the disease becoming more localized and less virulent. One high estimate is that the Plague of Justinian killed as many as 25 million people across the world.
GREAT CHINESE FAMINE 15,000,000– 43,000,000 people killed CHINA
1958 - 1961
Deadliest famine to ever be recorded. The Chinese famine spanned for over 3 years. Overall, drought, poor weather, and the policies of the Communist Party of China contributed to the famine. In Huaibin County, Henan province, the government reported 102,000 deaths out of a population of 378,000 in 1960. In 1959, across a span of five days, Hong Kong had 760 millimetres (30 in) of rain As a result the harvest was down by 15%. The following year an estimated 60% of agricultural land in northern China received no rain at all. Consequently, by 1960, it was at 70% of its 1958 level. As a result of these factors, year after year grain production dropped in China.
Politics
Drought
Crop failure
CHINESE FAMINE OF 1907 24,000,000 people killed CHINA
1907
This famine lasted for only 1 year. It began in early winter lasting through only until the summer of 1907. A massive flood covering 40,000 square miles, destroyed food and crops. This was the start of a series of poor harvests across China. The famine was especially sever in East-central China.
Crop failure
INDIAN FAMINE 19,000,000 people killed BRITISH INDIA
1896 - 1902
This famine spanned over 6 years. The Bundelkhand district of Agra Province experienced drought in the autumn of 1895 as a result of poor summer monsoon rains. When the winter monsoon failed as well, the provincial government declared a famine early in 1896 and began to organize relief. Unfortunately, on top of this the summer monsoon of 1896 brought only scanty rains. The famine had spread to the United Provinces, Central Provinces and Berar, portions of the presidencies of Bombay and Madras, and of the provinces of Bengal, Punjab, and even Upper Burma. The native states affected were Rajputana, Central India Agency, and Hyderabad. The famine affected mostly British India: of the total area of 307,000 square miles. Killing around 19,000,00 people.
Drought
BENGAL FAMINE OF 1770 15,000,000 people killed INDIA
1769 - 1771
This famine spanned for over 3 years. The regions in which the famine occurred included especially the modern Indian states of Bihar and West Bengal, but the famine also extended into Odisha, Jharkhand and modern Bangladesh. Among the worst affected areas were Birbhum and Murshidabad in Bengal, and Tirhut, Champaran and Bettiah in Bihar. A partial shortfall in crops, considered nothing out of the ordinary, occurred in 1768 and was followed in late 1769 by more severe conditions. By September 1769 there was a severe drought, and alarming reports were coming in of rural distress. By early 1770 there was starvation, and by mid-1770 deaths from starvation were occurring on a large scale. Over ten million people, approximately one-third of the population of the affected area, are estimated to have died in the famine.
Drought
Crop Failure
NORTHEN CHINESE FAMINE OF 1876–1879 13,000,000 people killed CHINA
1876 - 1879
This famine spanned over 3 years. Nine to 13 million people are estimated to have died in the famine out of a total population of the five provinces of 108 million. The provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Henan, and Shandong were affected. Shanxi was the most seriously impacted province in the famine, with an estimated 5.5 million dead out of a total population of 15 million people. A drought began in northern China in 1875, leading to crop failures the following years. Conditions were described as “so fearful as to make one shudder.” Explaining the extent of the famine as “that people would pull down their houses, sell their wives and daughters [...] have children boiled and eaten up” just to survive.
Politics
Drought
Crop failure
INDIAN GREAT FAMINE OF 1876–78 10,000,000 people killed INDIA
1876 - 1878
This famine spanned for over 2 years. It affected south and southwestern India (Madras, Mysore, Hyderabad, and Bombay) however, in its second year famine also spread north to some regions of the Central Provinces and the United Provinces, and to a small area in the Punjab. The famine ultimately covered an area of 257,000 square miles. In part, the Great Famine may have been caused by an intense drought resulting in crop failure in the Deccan Plateau. However, the commodification of grain, and the cultivation of alternate cash crops also may have played a role, as could have the export of grain by the colonial government.
Drought
Crop Failure
GREAT EUROPEAN FAMINE 7,500,000 people killed EUROPE
1315 - 1317
This famine spanned over 2 years. However, Europe did not fully recover until 1322. Those countries effected by the famine include continental Europe (extending east to Russia and south to Italy) as well as Great Britain. It started with bad weather in spring 1315, universal crop failures lasted through 1316 until summer harvest in 1317. It was a period marked by extreme levels of crime, disease, mass death and even cannibalism and infanticide.
Crop failure
SOVIET FAMINE OF 1932–1933 7,000,00010,000,000 people killed SOVIET UNION
1932 - 1934
This famine spanned over 2 years. It included areas such as the Ukraine, Northern Caucasus, Volga Region and Kazakhstan, the South Urals, and West Siberia. The government’s forced collectivization of agriculture is considered a main reason for the famine, as it caused chaos in the countryside. This included the destruction of peasant activists’ possessions, the selling and killing of horses for fear they would be seized, and farmers’ refraining from field work. Central authorities maintained that the collapse was caused by peasants’ hiding their grain crops, despite repeated requests from local authorities that their quota be decreased. It was given other names such as “Terror-Famine in Ukraine” and Holodomor (a term meaning “hugry mass-death”).
Politics
RUSSIAN FAMINE OF 1921 5,000,000 people killed RUSSIA
1921 - 1922
This famine only spanned over a year. It began in the early spring of 1921 and lasted through 1922, effecting mostly the Volga and Ural region. Before the famine began, Russia had suffered six and a half years of the First World War and the Civil Wars of 1918–20, many of the conflicts fought inside Russia. Consequently, the famine resulted from the combined effect of economic disturbance, which had already started during World War I, and continued through the disturbances of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and Russian Civil War with its policy of War Communism, aided furthermore by incompetent Tsarist-era rail systems that could not move food around efficiently.
Politics
War
CHINESE DROUGHT OF 1941 3,000,000 people killed CHINA
1941
This famine only spanned over a year. It came as a result of drought and warfare but the Nationalist Government not only failed to remedy the food shortage it through its unrelenting taxation made it far worse than would have been.
Drought
War
CHINESE FAMINE OF 1928 - 1930 3,000,000 people killed CHINA
1928 - 1930
This famine spanned for over two years. It occured during the period when the Republic of China was ruling Mainland China. The famine hit a large area of North China, seriously effecting the provinces of Henan, Shaanxi, and Gansu. Whilst it was a drought that initally began the famine, the inefficiency of relief has been pointed out as a factor which aggraviated the famine.
Politics
Drought
VIETNAMESE FAMINE OF 1945 2,000,000 people killed VIETNAM
October 1943 - May 1945
This famine spanned over a year and a half. It occurred in Northern Vietnam. The direct cause was the effects of World War II on French Indochina. The involvement of France and Japan in Vietnam caused detrimental effects to the economic activities of the Vietnamese. Military and economic changes caused the northern part of the country to plunge into famine. Indirectly, the mismanagement of the French administration in Vietnam played a role.
War
1931 CHINA FLOODS 2,500,000– 3,700,000 people killed REPUBLIC OF CHINA
July – November 1931
The 1931 China floods are the worst ever floods recorded in history. They are not only considered among the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded, but also almost certainly the deadliest of the 20th century (when pandemics and famines are discounted). After abnormal weather in the Republic of China the rain grew heavier and heavier, eventually causing floods that, depending on the river, lasted from July - November 1931. In July alone, 4 weather stations along the Yangtze River reported rain totaling over 2 feet for the month. The casualties of the Yangtze River overflow region reached 145,000, and the flooding affected a further 28.5 million. Yangtze and Huai River floods soon reached Nanjing, the capital of China at the time. The city, located on an island in a massive flood zone, suffered catastrophic damage. Millions died of drowning or from waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhus. The high-water mark was reached on August 19 at Hankou, with the water level exceeding 53 ft above normal. Comparatively, this is an average of 5.6 ft above the Shanghai Bund. On the evening of 25 August 1931, the water rushing through the Grand Canal washed away dikes near Gaoyou Lake. Some 200,000 people drowned in their sleep in the resulting deluge.
1887 YELLOW RIVER FLOOD 900,000– 2,000,000 people killed REPUBLIC OF CHINA
28 September 1887
The Yellow River (Huang He) river is prone to flooding due to the elevated nature of the river, running between dykes above the broad plains surrounding it. For centuries, the farmers living near the Yellow River had built dikes to contain the rising waters, caused by silt accumulation on the riverbed. In 1887, this rising riverbed, coupled with days of heavy rain, overcame the dikes on around 28th September, causing a massive flood. The waters of the Yellow River are generally thought to have broken through the dikes in Huayankou, near the city of Zhengzhou in Henan province. Owing to the low-lying plains near the area, the flood spread very quickly throughout Northern China, covering an estimated 50,000 square miles (130,000 km2), swamping agricultural settlements and commercial centers. After the flood, two million were left homeless. And between 900,000 and 2,000,000 were left dead.
1938 YELLOW RIVER FLOOD 500,000700,000 people killed REPUBLIC OF CHINA
1938
The Yellow River (Huang He) river is prone to flooding due to the elevated nature of the river, running between dykes above the broad plains surrounding it. For centuries, the farmers living near the Yellow River had built dikes to contain the rising waters, caused by silt accumulation on the riverbed. To stop further Japanese advances into the western and southern part China, Chiang Kai-shek, at the suggestion of Chen Guofu, determined to open up the dikes on the Yellow River near Zhengzhou. The original plan was to destroy the dike at Zhaokou, but due to difficulties at that location the dike was destroyed on June 5 and June 7 at Huayuankou, on the south bank. In 1938 waters flooded into Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu. The floods covered and destroyed thousands of square kilometers of farmland and shifted the mouth of the Yellow River hundreds of miles to the south. Thousands of villages were inundated or destroyed and several million villagers driven from their homes and made refugees.
BANQIAO DAM FLOOD 26,000230,000 people killed REPUBLIC OF CHINA
1975
Failure of 62 dams, the largest of which was Banqiao Dam, result of Typhoon Nina. The dam was designed to survive a once-in-1000-years flood (300 mm of rainfall per day) but a once-in-2000-years flood occurred in August 1975, following the collision of Super Typhoon Nina and a cold front. More than a year’s rain fell in 24 hours (new records were set, at 189.5 mm rainfall per hour and 1060 mm per day, exceeding the average annual precipitation of about 800 mm), which weather forecasts failed to predict. The resulting flood waters caused a wave, 6.2 miles wide and 9.8–23 ft high in Suiping, to rush onto the plains below at nearly 31 mph, almost wiping out an area 34 miles long and 9.3 miles wide, and creating temporary lakes as large as 4,600 sq miles. Seven county seats, were inundated, as were thousands of square kilometers of countryside and countless communities. To protect other dams from failure, several flood diversion areas were evacuated and inundated, and several dams were deliberately destroyed by air strikes to release water in desired directions.
1935 YANGTZA RIVER FLOOD 145,000 people killed REPUBLIC OF CHINA
1935
Flooding along the river has been a major problem in this area of China. The rainy season in China is May and June in areas south of Yangtze River, and July and August in areas north of it. The huge river system receives water from both southern and northern flanks, which causes its flood season to extend from May to August. Meanwhile, the relatively dense population and rich cities along the river make the floods more deadly and costly.
ST. FELIX’S FLOOD 100,000 people killed NETHERLANDS
5 November 1530
This flood only lasted for one day. The St. Felix’s Flood happened on Saturday 5 November 1530, the name day of St. Felix. This day was later known as Evil Saturday. Large parts of Flanders and Zeeland were washed away, including the Verdronken Land van Reimerswaal. According to Audrey M. Lambert, “all the Oost Wetering of Zuid- Beveland was lost, save only the town of Reimerswaal.”
HANOI AND RED RIVER DELTA FLOOD 100,000 people killed HANOI, NORTH VIETNAM
1971
Hanoi, North Vietnam, experienced a “250-year� flood. Torrential rains simply overwhelmed the dyke system around the heavily populated delta area, which is not far above sea level. As well as directly killing thousands of people, the flood also wiped out valuable crops, causing further hardship, especially as it occurred during wartime.
1911 YANGTZA RIVER FLOOD 100,000 people killed REPUBLIC OF CHINA
1911
Flooding along the river has been a major problem in this area of China. The rainy season in China is May and June in areas south of Yangtze River, and July and August in areas north of it. The huge river system receives water from both southern and northern flanks, which causes its flood season to extend from May to August. Meanwhile, the relatively dense population and rich cities along the river make the floods more deadly and costly.
ST. LUCIA’S FLOOD 50,000 - 80,000 people killed NETHERLANDS AND NORTHERN GERMANY
14 December 1287
A storm tide that affected the Netherlands and Northern Germany on December 14, 1287 when a dike broke during a storm. Many dykes in the provinces of Zeeland, South Holland and Noord-Brabant proved unable to resist the combination of spring tide and a northwesterly storm. On both the islands and the mainland, large areas of country were completely flooded. Much land was permanently flooded in what is now the Waddenzee and IJsselmeer. It especially affected the north of the Netherlands, particularly Friesland. The city of Griend was almost destroyed, only ten houses were left standing. The name Zuiderzee dates from this event, as the water had merely been a shallow inland lake when the first dikes were being built, but rising North Sea levels created the “Southern Sea� when floods including this flood came in.
VARGAS TRAGEDY 20,006 people killed VARGAS STATE, VENEZUELA
14 -16 Decemeber 1999
The storm destroyed thousands of homes, and led to the complete collapse of the state’s infrastructure. The debris flows moved rapidly, and many of them were highly destructive. Based on the maximum sizes of boulders measured geologists estimate the flow velocities to range from 3.3 to 14.5 meters per second. These rapid, bouldery flows resulted in much of the recorded destruction. Whole towns like Cerro Grande and Carmen de Uria completely disappeared. As much as 10% of the population of Vargas perished during this event.
ALL SAINT’S FLOOD 20,000 people killed NETHERLANDS
1570
A long period of storm pushed the water to unprecedented heights, still higher than those at the flood disaster of 1953. It broke innumerable dikes on the Dutch coasts, as a result of which there were enormous floods and immense damage. The total number of dead, including in foreign countries, must have been above 20,000, but exact data is not available. Tens of thousands of people became homeless. Livestock was lost in huge numbers. Winter stocks of food and fodder were destroyed.
ST. ELIZABETH FLOOD 10,000 - 100,000 people killed NETHERLANDS
1421
The St. Elizabeth’s flood of 1421 was a flooding of an area in what is now the Netherlands. It takes its name from the feast day of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary which was formerly November 19. During the night of November 18 to November 19, 1421 a heavy storm near the North Sea coast caused the dikes to break in a number of places and the lower lying polder land was flooded. 72 number of villages were swallowed by the flood and were lost, causing between 2,000 and 10,000 casualties. The dike breaks and floods caused widespread devastation in Zeeland and Holland.
2011 SOUTHEAST ASIAN FLOODS 8,000 –15,000 people killed
GERMANY AND DENMARK
1634
The Burchardi Flood (also known as the second Grote Mandrenke) was a storm tide that struck the North Sea coast of North Frisia and Dithmarschen on the night between 11 and 12 October 1634. Overrunning dikes, it shattered the coastline and caused thousands of deaths (8,000 to 15,000 people drowned) and catastrophic material damage. Much of the island of Strand washed away, forming the islandsNordstrand, Pellworm and several Halligen. The water rose so high that not only the dike were destroyed but also houses in the shallow marshlands and even those on artificial dwelling hills were flooded. Some houses collapsed while others were set on fire due to unattended fireplaces.
2011 SOUTHEAST ASIAN FLOODS 2,828 people killed SOUTHEAST ASIA
2011
The 2011 monsoon season saw one record flood event in Indochina across several countries and a few separate limited flood events parts of the same nations: Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar and heavy flooding in Vietnam. Meanwhile, Laos also sustained flood damage. By late October 2011, 2.3 million people have been hit by flooding in Thailand, while the flooding in Cambodia has affected close to 1.2 million people, according to estimates by the United Nations. Unrelated to the northern floods, Southern Thailand near Malaysia has been lashed with flooding in early November and again in December also affecting as far north as Chumporn. In the November event, Southern Thailand near Hat Yai was hit, North-central Vietnam had their own event in October. Myanmar had reported a series of limited but still deadly and destructive events from June to October.
NORTH SEA FLOOD 2,400 people killed NETHERLANDS, BELGUIM, ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND
31 January 1953
The North sea flood was a major flood caused by a heavy storm, that occurred on the night of Saturday 31 January 1953 and morning of 1 February 1953. The floods struck the Netherlands, Belgium, England and Scotland. A combination of a high spring tide and a severe European windstorm over the North Sea caused a storm surge (known locally as a “storm tide�). The combination of wind, high tide and low pressure had the effect that the water level exceeded 18.4 ft above mean sea level in some locations. The flood and waves overwhelmed sea defences and caused extensive flooding.
THE 2010 RUSSIAN HEATWAVE 56,000 people killed RUSSIA Yashkul Belogorsk Volgograd Voronezh Samara Ryazan Rostov on Don Blagoveschensk Kazan Moscow, Centre Kursk Moscow, North part Nizhny Novgorod Saint Petersburg Yaroslavl Oymyakon
44.0 C 42.3 C 41.1 C 40.5 C 40.4 C 40.1 C 40.1 C 39.4 C 39.0 C 39.0 C 38.8 C 38.2 C 38.3 C 37.1 C 36.0 C 34.6 C
June - August 2010
Deadliest heatwave in one country ever recorded. During 2010 Russia experienced dry, hot weather starting around late May – early June. On June 25th, a new temperature record was set in the Asian portion of Russia, at Belogorsk, Amur Oblast, at 42.3 °C (108.1 °F). A new record for the highest nationwide temperature in Russia was set on 11 July, at 44 °C (111 °F), in Yashkul, Kalmykia, beating the previous record of 43.8 °C (110.8 °F) set on 6 August 1940, in Kalmykia. Average temperatures in the region increased to over 35 °C (95 °F). The mean high for European Russia recorded on 26 July reached 40 °C (104 °F) during the day. Deaths in Moscow were averaged 700 a day, about twice the average number.
2003 EUROPEAN HEAT WAVE 14,802 people killed FRANCE
June - August 2003
This event was part of the catastrophic 2003 European heatwave that killed over 70,000 people. France itself does not commonly have very hot summers, particularly in the northern areas, but seven days with temperatures of more than 40 °C (104 °F) were recorded in Auxerre, Yonne during July and August 2003. During the heat wave, temperatures remained at record highs even at night, preventing the usual cooling cycle. This led to most of the heat victims coming from the group of elderly persons not requiring constant medical care or living alone without immediate family. Stéphane Mantion, an official with the French Red Cross said that “these thousands of elderly victims didn’t die from a heat wave as such, but from the isolation and insufficient assistance they lived with day in and out, and which almost any crisis situation could render fatal.”
1988 UNITED STATES HEATWAVE 5,000 - 1,000 people killed UNITED STATES
1988
During the spring records for lowest monthly total and longest interval between measurable precipitation were set, for example, 55 days in a row without rain in Milwaukee, and during the summer two record-setting heat waves developed. With daily maximum temperatures near or above 90 degrees Fahrenheit on 15 consecutive days, during the heatwave period there were a total of 694 deathsone county alone. Over 100 of those deaths were of persons ages 65 or older, with the majority (78) occurring to persons older than age 75. The blow to agriculture and related industries totaled about $71.2 billion, making the incident one of the most severe on the “Billion Dollar US Weather Disasters� list.
1988 UNITED STATES HEATWAVE 5,000 - 10,000 people killed UNITED STATES
1988
The heatwave and drought spanned for two years. During the spring records for lowest monthly total and longest interval between measurable precipitation were set, for example, 55 days in a row without rain in Milwaukee, and during the summer two record-setting heat waves developed. 2008 estimates put damages from the drought and heatwave somewhere between $80 billion and almost $120 billion in damage (2008 USD). The state of Minnesota alone saw approximately 1.2 billion dollars in crop losses. The Drought of 1988 was so devastating that in later years it was compared against Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and against Hurricane Katrina In Canada, drought-related losses added up to about 1.8 billion [1988] dollars.
2003 EUROPEAN HEAT WAVE 9,000 people killed GERMANY
June - August 2003
This event was part of the catastrophic 2003 European heatwave that killed over 70,000 people. In Germany, a record temperature of 40.4 째C was recorded at Roth bei N체rnberg, Bavaria. But some experts suspect that the highest temperatures occurred in the upper Rhine plain, which is known for very high temperatures. At some stations (private stations, for example Mannheim or Frankenthal), temperatures over 41 째C were reported, but not recognized by official statistics. With only half the normal rainfall, rivers were at their lowest this century, and shipping could not navigate the Elbe or Danube. Around 9,000 people - mostly elderly died during the 2003 heatwave in Germany.
1936 NORTH AMERICAN HEATWAVE 5,000 - 10,000 people killed UNITED STATES
June - August 1936
The heatwave and drought spanned for only two months. In that time as many as 5,000 heat related deaths were reported in the United States, and 780 direct and 400 indirect deaths in Canada. It began in late June, when temperatures across the US exceeded 100 °F. In Steele, North Dakota, temperatures reached 49°C which remains North Dakota’s record. In Ohio, temperatures reached 43 °C, which nearly tied the previous record set in 1934. Later that summer in downstate Illinois, at Mount Vernon the temperature surpassed 38 °C for 18 days running from August 12–29, 1936.
2003 EUROPEAN HEAT WAVE 2,000 people killed UNITED KINGDOM
June - August 2003
This event was part of the catastrophic 2003 European heatwave that killed over 70,000 people. The United Kingdom in general was suffering from a warm summer with temperatures well above average. However, Atlantic cyclones brought cool and wet weather for a short while at the end of July and very beginning of August before the temperatures started to increase substantially from 3 August onwards. Several weather records were broken in the United Kingdom, including the UK’s highest recorded temperature 38.5 °C at Gravesend in Kent on 10 August. London also recorded 38.0°C. Scotland also broke its highest temperature record with 32.9°C recorded in Greycrook in the Scottish borders on 9 August. According to the BBC around 2,000 more people than usual died in the United Kingdom during the 2003 heatwave.
2003 EUROPEAN HEAT WAVE 1,866 people killed PORTUGAL
June - August 2003
This event was part of the catastrophic 2003 European heatwave that killed over 70,000 people. Temperatures reached as high as 48 째C (118 째F) in Amareleja. The first of August was the hottest day in centuries, with night temperatures well above 30 째C. A freak storm developed on the southern region during that dawn. A hot, strong saharan wind blew during the subsequent days of that week. Five percent of the countryside and ten percent of the forests (215,000 hectares) were destroyed, an estimated 4,000 square kilometres (1,500 sq mi).
1980 UNITED STATES HEATWAVE 1,700 - 5,000 people killed UNITED STATES
Summer of 1980
The heatwave and drought spanned for only three months. The heat wave began in June when a strong high pressure ridge began to build in the central and southern United States almost every day from June to September. In Memphis, Tennessee, temperatures increased from 38 °C for 17 days straight to an all-time high of 42 °C on July 13, 1980. This was part of a 15-day stretch of temperatures above 38 °C that lasted from July 6–20, 1980. In Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, high temperatures exceeded 38 °C a total of 69 times, including a record 42 consecutive days from June 23 to August 3. Dallas also had 28 days above 40.5 °C and five days above 43°C. The heat wave broke only when decaying Hurricane Allen disrupted the prevailing weather pattern. Agricultural damage reached US$20.0 billion.
2010 JAPANESE HEAT WAVE 1,718 people killed JAPAN
July - August 2010
The heatwave and drought spanned for only two months. Highest temperatures were between July 15 and September 6, the hottest in August 2010. Fukuoka, Kyushu, Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Hirakata, Osaka, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Okayama, Osaka and Takamatsu, Shikoku are all above 30 째C average temperatures in August this year. And low temperatures in 25 째C day are: 50 days in Tokyo, 49 days in Osaka, 48 days in Takamatsu, 47 days in Fukuoka, Hiroshima and Nagoya, 43 days in Kanazawa, 40 days in Yonago and 38 days in Niigata, all during same period. Following the above, 35 째C high temperature days are: 37 days in Kumagaya, Saitama, 33 days in Kyoto and Isesaki, Gunma, 31 days in Tokai and Aichi, 29 days in Tottori, Yamanashi and Nishiwaki, Hyogo, 25 days in Osaka and 24 days in Hiroshima, all during same period.
2003 SOUTHERN INDIA HEAT WAVE 1,500 people killed SOUTHERN INDIA
May - June 2003
The heatwave and drought spanned for only three weeks. Only three of Andhra Pradesh’s 23 districts have escaped the heat wave. Temperatures rose to between 45 and 50 degrees, nearly 10 degrees above the normal level, with the highest reading of 50 degrees reported in Visakhapatnam, 600 kilometres northeast of Hyderabad. At Nungambakkam in Chennai, capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, temperatures have reached 45 degrees, the highest recorded in 93 years.
2003 EUROPEAN HEAT WAVE 1,500 people killed NETHERLANDS
June - August 2003
This event was part of the catastrophic 2003 European heatwave that killed over 70,000 people. The highest temperature recorded this heatwave was on 7 August, when in Arcen, in Limburg, a temperature of 37.8 째C was reached, 0.8 째C below the national record (since 1704). It happened only twice that a higher temperature was recorded. On 8 August a temperature of 37.7 째C was recorded, and 12 August saw a temperature of 37.2 째C.
1955 LOS ANGELES HEAT WAVE 946 people killed LOS ANGELES, USA
August - September 1955
This heatwave only lasted 8 days. Nearly 950 were killed when the oppressive heat hovered over record highs in late August and early September. The condition of the air in the Los Angeles area would have left the heat dry, so residents may not have known how hot it truly was before they died of heat-related illnesses.
PALACE OF THE GRAND MASTER EXPLOSION 4,000 people killed RHODES, GREECE
3 April 1856
Deadliest lightning storm ever to be recorded. It was “scientifically� believed that the ringing of church bells could disrupt the formation of lightning, and on this strategy the lives of thoutsands of people depended. Unfortunately, one lightning bolt got through and ignited a fire that detonated what must have been tons of explosives that had been in the cellar. The resulting explosion killed 4,000 people in and around the Palace, reducing it to a pile of rubble that sat on Rhodes for almost a century. Only the two towers of the entrance were saved after the explosion. It was the Italians who restored the Grandmaster Palace in 1912.
CHURCH OF SAN NAZARO EXPLOSION 3,000 people killed BRESCIA, ITALY
1769
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. Throughout history there seems to have been a belief that the church bells prevented lightning. During thunder storms teams of men rang the bells in church towers in efforts to prevent thunderstorms. Due to the protection expected within the Church walls during lightning storms for many centuries gunpowder was stored in churches. In 1769, the city was devastated when the Bastion of San Nazaro was struck by lightning. The resulting fire ignited 90,000 kg of gunpowder stored there, causing a massive explosion which destroyed one-sixth of the city and killed 3,000 people.
LANSA FLIGHT 508 91 people killed PUERTO INCA, PERU
24 December 1971
The aircraft was flying at about 21,000 ft above Mean Sea Level when it encountered an area of thunderstorms and severe turbulence. There was evidence the crew decided to continue the flight despite the hazardous weather ahead, apparently due to pressures related to meeting the holiday schedule. At about 12:36 p.m. local time, a lightning strike ignited the fuel tank in the right wing, which quickly led to structural failure of the aircraft. As the plane disintegrated, a 17-year-old German Peruvian teenager, Juliane Koepcke, fell down into the Amazon rainforest 2 miles below, strapped to her seat. Despite sustaining injuries she was able to trek through the dense Amazon jungle for 10 days, until she was rescued by local lumbermen, who took her back to civilization by canoe. It was later discovered that as many as 14 other passengers also survived but were unable to seek help and died while awaiting rescue.
PAN AM FLIGHT 214 81 people killed ELKTON, MARYLAND
8 December 1963
At around 8:24 pm on December 8th 1963, flight 214 departed for Philadelphia with 73 passengers and 8 crew members on board. Because of high winds in the area, the crew chose to wait in a holding pattern with five other airplanes rather than attempt to land in Philadelphia. At the estimated time of 8:58 pm, while in the holding pattern, the aircraft was hit by lightning, which ignited fuel vapors in the No.1 reserve tank, causing an explosion that blew apart the outer portion of the jetliner’s port wing. The crew of flight 214 managed to transmit a final message – “Mayday, mayday, mayday ... Clipper 214 out of control ... here we go” – before it crashed near Elkton, Maryland. All 81 people on board were killed.
RUNYANYA PRIMARY SCHOOL 19 people killed MASINDI, UGANDA
29 June 2011
On June 29th 2011, 18 school children and their teacher were killed when a single bolt struck the classroom where they were sheltering during a heavy storm. There are very many schools and brand new health centres which are lacking lightning arrestors. The felling of trees was another major cause of lightning strikes.
LAKE NYOS LIMNIC ERUPTION 1,744 people killed CAMEROON, AFRICA
21 August 1986
Deadliest limnic eruption ever recorded. A limnic eruption is a rare type of natural disaster in which dissolved carbon dioxide (CO2) suddenly erupts from deep lake water, suffocating wildlife, livestock and humans. Lake Nyos suddenly emitted about 100,000 300,000 tonnes of CO2, suffocating 1,700 people and 3,500 livestock in nearby towns and villages. The cloud rose at nearly 62 mph. The gas spilled over the northern lip of the lake into a valley running roughly east-west from Cha to Subum, and then rushed down two valleys branching off it to the north, displacing all the air and suffocating the villiagers and live stock. The worst affected villages were Cha, Nyos, and Subum. About 4,000 inhabitants fled the area, and many of these developed respiratory problems, lesions, and paralysis as a result of the gases.
LAKE MONOUN LIMNIC ERUPTION 37 people killed CAMEROON, AFRICA
15 August 1984
Several people reported hearing a loud noise on August 15, 1984 around 22:30. At first, the cause of the deaths was a mystery, and causes such as terrorism were suspected. Further investigation and a similar event two years later at Lake Nyos led to the currently accepted explanation. Among the victims were some of the riders in a truck carrying twelve people. The truck’s engine stopped working, and the people inside the truck got out and were killed. Two people sitting on top of the truck survived, because their elevated position allowed them to breathe - carbon dioxide is heavier than air (oxygen and nitrogen) which causes it to stay close to the ground.
TORRENTIAL RAINS AND MUDSLIDES 151,000 people killed VARGAS STATE, VENEZUELA
14 -16 Decemeber 1999
Deadliest storm recorded by mankind. In a 52-hour span during December 14th, 15th, and 16th, 1999, 91.1 centimeters of rain fell (approximately one year’s total rainfall for the region). These heavy rains included 7.2 centimeters of accumulation in just one hour, between 6am and 7am on the 16th. The debris flows moved rapidly, and many of them were highly destructive. Based on the maximum sizes of boulders measured geologists estimate the flow velocities to range from 3.3 to 14.5 meters per second. These rapid, bouldery flows resulted in much of the recorded destruction. The storm destroyed thousands of homes, and led to the complete collapse of the state’s infrastructure. Whole towns like Cerro Grande and Carmen de Uria completely disappeared. As much as 10% of the population of Vargas perished during this event.
RIO DE JANEIRO FLOODS AND MUDSLIDES 903 people killed RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
11 January 2011
In a 24-hour period between 11 and 12 January 2011, the local weather service registered more rainfall than what is expected for the entire month. This resulted in a series of floods and mudslides. The floods caused at least 903 deaths, including 424 in Nova Friburgo and 378 in Teresópolis. Nova Friburgo was the city most heavily affected by the floods; Teresópolis also suffered extensive damage and loss of life. In Petrópolis, the Itaipava district, an area with many luxury vacation homes, reported most casualties. It has been commented that the majority of deaths were in poverty-stricken areas, and that the impact in these areas could have been much lower if it had not been for the systematically poor conditions of Brazil’s favelas.
LOFOTEN HEAVY STORM 500 people killed LOFOTEN, NORWAY
11 February 1849
Lofoten is situated within the Artic Circle. It is well known for its harsher weathers, occasionally restricting the area of suns for months at a time. On February 11 1849, many fishing vessels were caught in a violent storm. The north-westerly storm had strong winds which sank many fishing vessels and drowned many fishermen.
GREAT LAKE STORMS OF 1913 250 people killed United States and Canada
6 - 11 November 1913
The storm, an extratropical cyclone, originated as the convergence of two major storm fronts, fueled by the lakes’ relatively warm waters - a seasonal process called a “November gale” In Buffalo, New York, the fastest gusts were recordes at 80 mph, occurring between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. There was a dramatic drop in barometric pressure at Buffalo, from 29.52 inHg at 8:00 a.m. to 28.77 inHg at 8:00 p.m. From 8:00 p.m. to midnight, the storm became what modern meteorologists call a “weather bomb”. Sustained hurricane-speed winds of more than 70 mph (110 km/h) ravaged the four western lakes. The worst damage was done on Lake Huron as numerous ships scrambled for shelter along its southern end. 24 inches of snow recorded in some areas.
1996 AMARNATH YATRA TRAGEDY 242 people killed INDIA
1996
The pilgrims were on annual pilgrimage (Yatra) to Amarnath shrine. The Government had banned the Amarnath Yatra from 1991 to 1995 due to threats from militants. In 1996 the militants had assured that they would not interfere with the yatra. So the number of pilgrims in 1996 were higher than usual. Unfortunately, during this period there was unusually heavy snowfall along with severe blizzards along the yatra route.
FOLLASTORMEN 210 people killed TRONDELAG, NORWAY
20 February 1625
Trondelag is situated in Norway, within the Artic Circle. It is well known for its harsher weathers, occasionally restricting the area of suns for months at a time. On February 20th 1625, 210 people fell victim to a storm known as the ‘Trøndelag’ storm, of which translates to “Follastormen”.
BLACK FRIDAY 189 people killed EYEMOUTH, SCOTLAND
14 October 1881
‘Black Friday’ is a storm associated with a severe European windstorm that struck the southern coast of Scotland. Some boats that had not capsized were wrecked on the Hurkar Rocks. Two days later, the Ariel Gazelle turned up in Eyemouth; it had braved the storm instead of fleeing. 189 fishermen died, most of whom were from the village of Eyemouth (129), Burnmouth (24), Newhaven (17), Cove (11), Fissherow (7) and Coldingham Shore (3).
TITRAN DISASTER 140 people killed TRONDELAG, NORWAY
13 - 14 October 1899
In 1897 giant shoals of large herring were observed a number of places along the Norwegian coast from Rogaland to Trøndelag in the north, resulting in optimism, finally 9 big steamboats, 50 netboats and 45 gross-buyer transporters assembled at Port Titran. The unexpected hurricane struck the fishing fleet in seconds at two o’clock in the night between 13 and 14 October 1899. Giant waves swallowed small boats immediately. Others tried to sail ashore and crashed against rocks and reefs. Light signals from kerosene lighthouse Sletringen became invisible. Miraculously 30 boats reached Titran harbour. Afterwards they counted a loss of 29 boats and 140 crew members. Eight below the age of 20, and three more than 50. Island Frøya lost 32 men, Hitra 8, Ørlandet 5 and Åfjord 4. 13 men came from Nordland, but as much as 78 from Møre.
2008 SANTA CATARINA FLOODS AND MUDSLIDES 128 people killed Santa Catarina, Brazil
20 - 23 November 2008
The state suffered constant rainfalls for over two months (during late September, October, and November) on the coast, which turned the soil wet enough to cause a landslide during the storm that hit the state in late November. Over 78, 700 were forced to evacuate their homes. A further 150,000 have been left without electricity, while water rationing is being carried out in at least one town due to purification problems.
THE DAULATPURSALTURIA TORNADO 1,300 people killed MANIKGANJ, BANGLADESH
26 April 1989
Deadliest tornado in history to be recorded. The tornado affected the cities of Daulatpur and Saturia the most, moving east through Daulatpur and eventually northeast and into Saturia. The tornado was estimated to be approximately one mile wide, and had a path that was about 50 miles long. Saturia and Manikganj were both fully destroyed by the tornado. Damage was extensive over the area, as countless trees were uprooted and every home within a six square kilometer area of the tornado’s path was completely destroyed. Approximately 80,000 people were left homeless by the storm, and 12,000 people were injured by the storm. “The devastation was so complete, that barring some skeletons of trees, there were no signs of standing infrastructures�.
1969 EAST PAKISTAN TORNADO 883 people killed EAST PAKISTAN
14 April 1969
Taking place when the city of Dacca was part of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), the 1969 East Pakistan tornado hit the highly populated area on April 14. That tornado, which struck in the northeastern suburbs of the town, killed an estimated 660 people and injured a total of 4,000. To further increase the devastation this tornado was only one of two deadly disasters to hit Bangladesh on April 14, 1969. A second twister touched down in the Homna Upazila, part of the Comilla District in Chittagong, Bangladesh, that same day. The tornadoes were part of the same storm system, but separate from one another. Overall, once the estimated 223 deaths from the Homna Upazila tornado were added into the 660 from the Dacca twister, the total of 883 deaths makes this day the second deadliest of all days in history for tornado-related deaths.
TRI-STATE TORNADO 747 people killed UNITED STATES
18 March 1925
The tornado was part of a larger tornado outbreak with several other destructive tornadoes the same day in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana, as well as significant tornadoes in Alabama and Kansas. Including additional tornadoes that day, at least 747 people were killed and 2,298 were injured. This makes the Tri-State Outbreak the deadliest tornado outbreak, March 18 the deadliest tornado day, and 1925 the deadliest tornado year in U.S. history. There was one F5 recorded, 2 F4’s, 4 F3’s and 2 F2’s. The continuous 219 mile track left by the tornado was the longest recorded in the world: the tornado crossed from southeastern Missouri, through southern Illinois, then into southwestern Indiana.
1973 DHAKA TORNADO 681 people killed BANGLADESH
1973
This tornado struck in the Dhaka Division, Bangladesh. This catastrophe killed 681 people and stranded many more.
THE VALLETTA, MALTA TORNADO 600 people killed MALTA
23 September 1551
The Valletta tornado was a tornado that hit the Grand Harbour of Malta on September 23, 1551 with very intense strength. It began as a waterspout, destroying a shipping armada and killing at least 600 people.
THE NARAILMAGURA TORNADOS 500 people killed BANGLADESH
1964
The Narail-Magura Tornadoes took place in 1964 this tornado hit Jessore, East Pakistan, Pakistan (now Bangladesh). It took the lives of 500 people.
THE SICILY TORNADOES 500 people killed SICILY, ITALY
1851
The Sicily tornadoes were two tornadoes that swept the Marsala countryside in western Sicily, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (now Italy) in early December 1851. It is one of the deadliest tornadoes ever, achieving the highest death toll for a tornado event in continental Europe and the second in European history after the Valletta, Malta Tornado. Tornadoes are an extremely rare occurrence in Italy, sometimes happening on local scale but rarely causing relevant damage. Sicily tornadoes are the oldest documented occurrence of the phenomena on Italian ground. Along their path, heavy rain and hailstorms caused additional damage to farmlands. The most stricken area was Castellamare, where half the town was destroyed and about 200 citizens perished. City harbor sustained serious damage, with lot of vessels destroyed or capsized and many crews lost at sea.
THE COMORO TORNADO 500 people killed COMORO
1951
The Comoro is a sovereign archipelago island nation in the Indian Ocean, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel off the eastern coast of Africa, between northeastern Mozambique and northwestern Madagascar. It killed 500 people and destructed much more.
THE TANGAIL TORNADO 440 people killed BANGLADESH
1988
This tornado took place in the Tangail District of Bangladesh. It happened in 1988 and took the lives of 440 people.
1984 IVANOVO TORNADO OUTBREAK 400 people killed SOVIET UNION
9 June 1984
Occurring on June 9, 1984, the outbreak struck the Ivanovo and Yaroslavl regions north of Moscow, an area over 400,000 km2, in what was then the Soviet Union until 1991. At least two of the eight known tornadoes were violent events, equal to F4 or F5 in intensity on the Fujita scale, based upon observed damages. The deadliest single tornado was posthumously rated at F5 intensity and killed at least 92 people along its long path near Ivanovo and other towns. The tornado, up to 0.50 miles wide, caused extreme damage, reportedly annihilating steel-reinforced concrete structures and throwing heavy objects of 710,000 lb for distances up to 0.12 miles. Another tornado, assessed to have been at least F4 and possibly F5 in intensity, occurred at Kostroma. Severe thunderstorms also produced hail up to 2.2 lb in weight, among the heaviest hailstones confirmed worldwide. In all, the entire tornado outbreak killed at least 400 people and injured 213.
2004 INDIAN OCEAN TSUNAMI 230,273 – 310,000 people killed INDIAN OCEAN
26 December 2004
The deadliest tsunami of all time. The estimated energy released was equivalent to over 500 times that of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The water speed record is 511bkm/h, whilst the F1 racing speed record is only 370km/h. The Tsunami was recorded as travelling up to 500km/h. The waves reached up to 30m (98ft) in height. People in up to 14 different countries were killed as a result of the tsunami. Due to the distances involved, the tsunami took anywhere from 15 minutes to 7 hours to reach various coastlines. The Indian Ocean Tsunami travelled as far as 3,000 miles to Africa and still arrived with sufficient force to kill people and destroy property. 45,000 more women than men were killed.
1908 MESSINA EARTHQUAKE 123,000–200,000 people killed MESSINA, SICILY
28 December 1908
On December 28, 1908 at about 05:20 an earthquake of 7.1 on the moment magnitude scale occurred centred on the of city Messina, in Sicily. Moments after the earthquake, a 39-foot tsunami struck nearby coasts, causing even more devastation. 91% of structures in Messina were destroyed and some 70,000 residents were killed. Recently it has been proposed that the concurrent tsunami was not generated by the earthquake, but rather by a large undersea landslide it triggered.
1755 LISBON EARTHQUAKE 10,000 people killed Lisbon, Portugal
1 November 1755
This tsunami was a result of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon Earthquake. Approximately 40 minutes after the earthquake, a tsunami engulfed the harbour and downtown area, rushing up the Tagus river, “so fast that several people riding on horseback... were forced to gallop as fast as possible to the upper grounds for fear of being carried away.� It was followed by two more waves. The tsunami destroyed some coastal fortresses in the Algarve and, in the lower levels, it also razed several houses. Tsunamis as tall as 20 metres (66 ft) swept the coast of North Africa, and struck Martinique and Barbados across the Atlantic. A three-metre (ten-foot) tsunami hit Cornwall on the southern English coast.
MINOAN ERUPTION 40,000 people killed SANTORINI, GREECE
2nd Millenium BCE
The Minoan eruption discharged large volumes of pyroclastic flows into the sea and resulted in the formation of a large submarine caldera as the roof of the magma chamber collapsed in on itself. Both processes are known to cause large and deadly. It proposes that the tsunami produced at the volcano had a +35 to -15 meter initial amplitude and a crest length of about 15 km. By the time it reached the coastlines of Crete it would have, depending on the shape of the seafloor near the coast and other factors, had variable wave heights ranging from negligible to 26 meters (85.3 feet).
1883 ERUPTION OF KRAKATOA 36,417 –120,000 people killed
DUTCH EAST INDIES, INDONESIA
26 August 1883
Each explosion was accompanied by large tsunamis, which are believed to have been over 100 ft high in places. The tsunamis which accompanied the eruption are believed to have been caused by gigantic pyroclastic flows entering the sea; each of the four great explosions was accompanied by massive pyroclastic flows resulting from the gravitational collapse of the eruption columns. This caused several cubic kilometres of material to enter the sea, displacing an equally huge volume of seawater. Smaller waves were recorded on tidal gauges as far away as the English Channel. The town of Merak was destroyed by a 151 ft tsunami. Ships as far away as South Africa rocked as tsunamis hit them, and the bodies of victims were found floating in the ocean for months after the event.
1498 MEIO NANKAIDO EARTHQUAKE 31,000 people killed NANKAI, JAPAN
20 September 1498
The 1498 Meio Nankaido earthquake occurred off the coast of Nankai, Japan, it had a magnitude estimated at 8.6 MS and triggered a large tsunami. A tsunami was recorded in Suruga Bay and at Kamakura, where it destroyed the building housing the statue of the Great Buddha at Kotoku-in. Tsunami deposits attributed to this earthquake have been described from the coastal plains around the Sagami Trough and the Izu Peninsula. Lake Hamana became a brackish lake because the tsunami broke shoal between the lake and the Pacific Ocean.
1707 HOEI EARTHQUAKE 30,000 people killed HOVEI, JAPAN
28 October 1707
This tsunami was a result of the 1707 Hoei earthquake. As a result of the combination of both the earthquake and the tsunami, there were over 29,000 houses destroyed and there were more than 5,000 casualties. In addition, at least one major landslide was triggered by the earthquake, the Ohya slide in Shizuoka. This landslide, one of the three largest in Japan, involved an area of 1.8 km2, with an estimated volume of 120 million m3. The regions of Chubu, Kansai, Shikoku and Kyushu were all significantly effected from the tsunami alone. Along the southwestern coast of Kochi, the tsunami’s run-up heights averaged 7.7 m with up to 10 m in places.
1896 MEIJI-SANRIKU EARTHQUAKE 27,122 people killed IWATE PREFECTURE, HONSHU, JAPAN
15 June 1896
On the evening of June 15, 1896, communities along the Sanriku coast in northern Japan were celebrating a Shinto holiday and the return of soldiers from the First Sino-Japanese War. After a small earthquake, there was little concern because it was so weak and many small tremors had also been felt in previous few months. However 35 minutes later the first tsunami wave struck the coast followed by a second a few minutes later. Damage was particularly severe because the tsunamis had coincided with high tides. Most deaths occurred in Iwate and Miyagi although casualties were also recorded from Aomori and Hokkaido. The power of the tsunami was great and large numbers of victims were found with broken bodies or missing limbs. As was their normal practice each evening, the local fishing fleets were all at sea when the tsunamis struck. In the deep water the wave went unnoticed. Only when they returned the next morning did they discover the debris and bodies.
1868 ARICA EARTHQUAKE 25,674 people killed MEIJI-SANRIKU
13 August 1868
A tsunami (or multiple tsunamis) in the Pacific Ocean was produced by the 1868 Arica earthquake. The first wave arrived at Arica 52 minutes after the earthquake, with a 12 m height, followed by the largest 16 m wave 73 minutes later. Although this event generated a tsunami that was noted across the Pacific, most of the associated damage was localised along the coasts of southern Peru and what is now northernmost Chile. It was also recorded in Hawaii, Japan and New Zealand.
1293 KAMAKURA EARTHQUAKE 23,024 people killed Kamakura, Japan
27 May 1293
The 1293 Kamakura earthquake in Japan occurred at about 06:00 local time on 27 May 1293. It had an estimated magnitude of 7.1–7.5 and triggered a tsunami. The estimated death toll was 23,024. It occurred during the Kamakura period, and the city of Kamakura was seriously damaged.
MOUNT TAMBORA 71,000 people killed ISLAND OF SUMBAWA
Volcanic Explisivity Index: 7 5 - 17 April 1815
Deadliest volcanic eruption ever recorded by man. The eruption caused global climate anomalies that included the phenomenon known as “volcanic winter”: 1816 became known as the “Year Without a Summer”. The death toll was at least 71,000 people, of whom 11,000–12,000 were killed directly by the eruption. Pyroclastic flows cascaded down the mountain to the sea on all sides of the peninsula, wiping out the village of Tambora. The explosion was heard on Sumatra island more than 2,000 km (1,200 mi) away. Heavy volcanic ash falls were observed as far away as Borneo, Sulawesi, Java and Maluku islands. The explosion was heard 1,600 miles away, and ash fell at least 810 miles away. Pitch darkness was observed as far away as 370 miles from the mountain summit for up to two days. Pyroclastic flows spread at least 12 miles from the summit. Due to the eruption, Indonesia’s islands were struck by tsunami waves reaching a height of up to 4 m (13 ft). Flames and rumbling aftershocks were reported in August 1819, four years after the event.
KRAKATOA 36,417 people killed SUNDA STRAIT INDONESIA
Volcanic Explisivity Index: 6 26 - 27 August 1883
Krakatoa is a volcanic island situated in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra. On August 27 a series of four huge explosions almost entirely destroyed the island. The explosions were so violent that they were heard 3,110 km (1,930 mi) away in Perth, Western Australia and the island of Rodrigues near Mauritius, 4,800 km (3,000 mi) away. The pressure wave from the final explosion was recorded on barographs around the world, which continued to register it up to 5 days after the explosion. The recordings show that the shock wave from the final explosion reverberated around the globe seven times. Consequently large tsunamis were created, increasing the already devastating death toll. There are numerous documented reports of groups of human skeletons washing up on the east coast of Africa up to a year after the eruption. Average global temperatures fell by as much as 1.2 degrees Celsius in the year following the eruption. Weather patterns continued to be chaotic for years and temperatures did not return to normal until 1888.
MOUNT VESUVIUS 33,000 people killed POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM
Volcanic Explisivity Index: 5 24 August 79 A.D.
Mount Vesuvius spawned a deadly cloud of volcanic gas, stones, ash and fumes to a height of 20.5 miles, spewing molten rock and pulverized pumice at the rate of 1.5 million tons per second. Ultimately releasing a hundred thousand times the thermal energy released by the Hiroshima bombing. The eruption lasted two days. In the middle of the day an explosion threw up a highaltitude column from which ash began to fall, blanketing the area. Rescues and escapes occurred during this time. At some time in the night or early the next day pyroclastic flows in the close vicinity of the volcano began. Lights were seen on the mountain interpreted as fires. People as far away as Misenum fled for their lives. The flows were rapid-moving, dense and very hot, knocking down wholly or partly all structures in their path, incinerating or suffocating all population remaining there and altering the landscape, including the coastline. It even created a mild tsunami in the Bay of Naples.
MOUNT PELEE 29,000 people killed MARTINIQUE
Volcanic Explisivity Index: 4 7 May 1902
Martinique is situated in the Lesser Antilles island arc of the Caribbean. Mount PelĂŠe began its eruptions on April 23, followed by several clouds of ash and the smell of sulfur. This was not regarded as important, as fumaroles had been appearing and disappearing in the past. In the days following, signs became more and more obvious. Many citizens decided to evacuate, filling the capacity of the steamer lines, however most were refused clearance by the port authorities, and had threats of being arrested. When it finally erupted, many victims were suggested to be in casual attitudes, their features calm and reposeful, indicating that death had overtaken them without warning and without pain; others were contorted in anguish. The clothing had been torn from nearly all the victims struck down out-of-doors. Some houses were almost pulverized; it was impossible even for persons familiar with the city to identify the foundations of the city landmarks. The city burned for days. Mount PelĂŠe continued to erupt until July 4, 1905. Thereafter, the volcano took a rest and gave off no more than steam.
NEVADO DEL RUIZ 23,000 people killed COLOMBIA
Volcanic Explisivity Index: 3 13 November 1985
The government had received warnings to evacuate the area from multiple volcanological organizations after volcanic activity had been detected in September 1985. Unfortunately nothing was done. As pyroclastic flows erupted from the volcano’s crater, they melted the mountain’s glaciers, sending four enormous lahars (volcanically induced mudslides, landslides, and debris flows) down its slopes at 40 miles per hour. The lahars picked up speed in gullies and coursed into the six major rivers at the base of the volcano; they engulfed the town of Armero. By the time relief workers reached Armero twelve hours after the eruption, many of the victims with serious injuries were dead. The relief workers were horrified by the landscape of fallen trees, disfigured human bodies, and piles of debris from entire houses. A banner at a mass funeral in Ibague read, “The volcano didn’t kill 22,000 people. The government killed them.”
MOUNT UNZEN 15,000 people killed JAPAN
Volcanic Explisivity Index: 2 February 1972
In February 1792, Fugen-dake started to erupt, triggering a lava flow which continued for two months. Meanwhile, the earthquakes continued, shifting nearer to the city of Shimabara. On the night of 21 May, two large earthquakes were followed by a collapse of the eastern flank of Mount Unzen’s Mayuyama dome, creating a landslide. As a result of the landslides and lava flow, a megatsunami was created. It reached up to 100 metres (330 ft) in height.
MOUNT KELUD 10,000 people killed INDONESIA
Volcanic Explisivity Index: 4 1586
A cluster of summit lava domes cut by numerous craters has given the summit a very irregular profile. Satellitic cones and lava domes are also located low on the eastern, western, and SSW flanks. Eruptive activity has in general migrated in a clockwise direction around the summit vent complex. More than 30 eruptions have been recorded from Gunung Kelud since 1000 AD. The ejection of water from the crater lake during Kelud’s typically short, but violent eruptions has created pyroclastic flows and lahars that have caused widespread fatalities and destruction.
LAKI 9,350 people killed ICELAND
Volcanic Explisivity Index: 6 8 June 1873
Seismic activity occured over eight month period between 1783 and 1784. On June 8th, the volcano began pouring out an estimated 14 km3 (3.4 cu mi) of basalt lava and clouds of poisonous hydrofluoric acid and sulfur dioxide compounds. Lava fountains were estimated to have reached heights of 2,600–4,600 ft. The gases were carried by the convective eruption column to altitudes of about 10 miles. In Great Britain, the summer of 1783 was known as the “sand-summer” because of the ash fallout. The eruption continued until 7 February 1784, but most of the lava was ejected in the first five months.
SANTA MARIA VOLCANO 6,000 people killed GUATEMALA
Volcanic Explisivity Index: 6 1902
The Santa Maria volcano is siuated in the Western Highlands of Guatemala, close to the city of Quetzaltenango. Its awakening was clearly indicated by a seismic swarm in the region starting in January 1902, which included a major earthquake in April 1902. The eruption began on 24 October, and the largest explosions occurred over the following two days, ejecting an estimated 1.3 cubic miles of magma. The pumice formed in the climactic eruption fell over an area of about 105,000 sq miles, and volcanic ash was detected as far away as San Francisco, 2,500 miles away. The eruption tore away much of the south-western flank of the volcano, leaving a crater about 0.6 miles in diameter and about 980 ft deep, stretching from just below the summit to an elevation of about 7,500 ft. The 1902 eruption was followed by 20 years of dormancy.
MOUNT KELUD 5,115 people killed INDONESIA
Volcanic Explisivity Index: 4 19 May 1919
Mount Kelud is situated on the island of Java in Indonesia. The catastrophic result most likely came from the hot mudflows (also known as “lahars�). Following the a series of more recent eruptions, the Ampera Tunnels were built (top and bottom) on the southwestern side of the crater to reduce (not drain out to empty) the water of crater lake and thus reduce the lahar hazard. Like many Indonesian volcanoes and others on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Kelud is known for large explosive eruptions throughout its history. More than 30 eruptions have occurred since 1000 AD.
PESHTIGO FIRE 1,200–2,500 people killed WISCONSIN, USA
8 October 1871
Deadliest wildfire ever recorded. It was described as a wall of flames, a mile high, five miles (8 km) wide, traveling 90 to 100 miles per hour (160 km/h), hotter than a crematorium, turning sand into glass. Survivors reported that the firestorm generated a tornado that threw rail cars and houses into the air. By the end, 875 square miles (1.2 million acres) of forest had been consumed, an area approximately twice the size of Rhode Island. Twelve communities were destroyed. The fire was so intense it jumped several miles over the waters of Green Bay and burned parts of the DoorPeninsula, as well as jumping the Peshtigo River itself to burn on both sides of the inlet town.
KURSHA-2 FIRE 1,200 people killed CENTRAL MESHCHYORA, RUSSIA
3 August 1986
At the beginning of August, 1936, a firestorm started near Charus, to the south of Kursha-2. By the evening of August 2nd, the firestorm had extended to the north, growing in intensity when an empty train came to Kursha-2. The train crew offered to evacuate children and women from the settlement. There weren’t enough spaces on the train to evacuate all of the panic-stricken settlers, and hundreds were forced to stay at the station. However, when the train reached a bridge across the canal to the north from Kursha-2, they found it already ablaze. The train was burnt with all passengers. As the result of the firestorm, 1,200 died (woodcutters, their families, railwaymen, military men), and only twenty escaped, saving themselves in the pond, wells, the channel, and the unforested hill.
CLOQUET FIRE 453 people killed MINNESOTA, USA
12 October 1918
The fire was initally caused by sparks on the local railroads and dry conditions during that period. The fire left much of western Carlton County devastated, mostly affecting Moose Lake, Cloquet, and Kettle River. Cloquet was hit the hardest by the fires. 38 communities were destroyed, 250,000 acres (1,000 km2) were burned, and $73 million in property damage was suffered. $13 million in Federal aid was disbursed.
GREAT HINCKLEY FIRE 418 people killed MINNESOTA, USA
1 September 1894
After a two-month drought, combined with hightemperatures, several small fires started in the pineforests of Pine County, Minnesota. The fires’ spread apparently was due to the then common method of lumber harvesting, in which trees were stripped of their branches, which littered the ground with flammable debris. Also contributing was a temperature inversion that trapped the gases from the fires. The scattered blazes united into a firestorm. The temperature rose to at least 2,000 °F which burned an area of at least 200,000 acres (310 sq mi), perhaps more than 250,000 acres (390 sq mi), including the town of Hinckley, Minnesota.
THUMB FIRE 282 people killed MICHIGAN, USA
5 September 1881
Whilst the fire only lasted less than a day over a million acres (4,000 km²) were destroyed. The fire sent enough soot and ash up into the atmosphere that sunlight was partially obscured at many locations on the East Coast of the United States. In New England cities, the sky appeared yellow and projected a strange luminosity onto buildings and vegetation. Twilight appeared at 12 noon. September 6, 1881 immediately became known as Yellow Tuesday or Yellow Day due to the ominous nature of this atmospheric event. The summer of 1881 had been extremely hot, and the Thumb had virtually no rain during July and August. There were forest fires beginning in mid-August, many towns began to almost burst into flames. Winds spread the fire, eventually cosuming many of the counties in Michigan.
MATHESON FIRE 273 people killed ONTARIO, CANADA
29 July 1916
It was common at the time for settlers to clear their land using the slash and burn method. That summer, there was little rain and the forests and underbrush burned easily. In the days leading up to July 29, several smaller purposely set fires merged into a single large firestorm. At times its front measured 40 miles across, the fire moved uncontrollably upon the towns of Porquis Junction, Iroquois Falls, Kelso, Nushka, Matheson, and Ramore - destroying them completely - while causing extensive damage to Homer and Monteith. A separate fire burned in and around Cochrane. In all, the fires burned an area of approximately 2,000 square kilometres (490,000 acres). Because of forest fire smoke that had covered the region for several weeks and the absence of a forest fire monitoring service, there was almost no warning that the conflagration was upon the communities.
SUMATRA AND KALIMANTAN FIRES 240 people killed INDONESIA
1997
El Ni単o is an ocean-atmosphere phenomenon that causes drier conditions in much of Indonesia. However in recent years, large-scale land use change in Indonesia, especially on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, mean that el Ni単o is increasingly associated with massive forests fires that spread a choking haze and economic concerns across Southeast Asia. By the time the Indonesian 1997-98 forest fires were finally over some 8 million hectares of land had burned while countless millions of people suffered from air pollution.
LANDES REGION 230 people killed FRANCE
1949
Southwest France near the Atlantic coast between Bordeaux and Arcachon was destroyed by a mega-forest fire. The area of the forest is estimated to be around 3,900 sq miles, of which nine-tenths is exclusively devoted to a monoculture of maritime pines, this automatically creates a vast area to be easily cosumed by a forest fire. In addition to the dry and hot weather conditions at the time, Landes region was prime area to be overwhelmed with forest fires.
BLACK DRAGON FIRE 213 people killed CHINA
May 1987
May 7th and 8th saw the worst days of the Black Dragon fire, as 200 in the path of the blaze perished and 250 were injured. Driven by parched conditions and high winds, the Black Dragon fire devoured land along both sides of the Amur river, blazing along the Sino-Soviet frontier. By the end of the fire siege, 3 million acres of forest land had burned in China, totaling 1/3 of the Black Dragon forest reserve. The wildfire was only finally contained in June, after extreme wind conditions subsided. In all, 18 million acres of forested land were charred in the fire.
BLACK SATURDAY BUSHFIRES 173 people killed AUSTRALIA
7 February – 14 March 2009
A week before the fires, an exceptional heatwave affected southeastern Australia. From 28–30 January, Melbourne broke records by sweltering through three consecutive days above 43 °C, with the temperature peaking at 45.1 °C on 30 January, the third hottest day in the city’s history. The majority of the fires were ignited by fallen or clashing power lines, or were deliberately lit. Other suspected ignition sources included lightning, cigarette butts, and sparks from a power tool. Also implicated in the underlying conditions was a major drought that had persisted for more than a decade, as well as a domestic 50-year warming trend that has been linked to human-induced climate change, as well as an absence of fuel reduction burning. As many as 400 individual fires were recorded on 7 February. Following the events of 7 February 2009 and its aftermath, that day has become widely referred to as Black Saturday.