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List of natural disasters by death toll

 
Wikipedia: List of natural disasters by death toll
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For man-made disasters, see list of wars and disasters by death toll.

A death toll is the number of fatalities as a result of any cause of death, such as violence (war, mass murder, genocide, terrorist attack), an accident, a natural disaster, extreme weather, infectious disease, etc.

Below is a list of various natural disasters by death toll. Most numbers are estimates and are often in dispute. The incidents are ranked from the highest to the lowest estimate given. This list is, by necessity, somewhat biased toward the modern period, due to better reporting of events.

Some events overlap categories.

Contents

Ten deadliest natural disasters

Note: This list excludes diseases and famines, which would otherwise occupy the entire list.

Rank Event Location Date Death Toll (Estimate)
1. 1931 China floods China 01931-01-01July-November, 1931 1,000,000–4,000,000*[1]
2. 1887 Yellow River flood China 01887-01-01September-October, 1887 900,000–2,000,000
3. 1556 Shaanxi earthquake Shaanxi Province, China 01556-01-01January 23, 1556 830,000
4. 1970 Bhola cyclone Bangladesh 01970-01-01November 13, 1970 500,000
5. 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake/tsunami Indian Ocean 02004-12-26December 26, 2004 443,929
6. 526 Antioch earthquake Antioch, Byzantine Empire 00526-05-20May 20, 526 250,000
7. 1976 Tangshan earthquake Tangshan, Hebei, China 01976-07-28July 28, 1976 242,000
8. 1920 Haiyuan earthquake Haiyuan, Ningxia-Gansu, China 01920-12-16December 26, 1920 240,000
9. 1839 India Cyclone India 01839-01-01November 25, 1839 300,000
10. 1975 Banqiao Dam flood Zhumadian, Henan Province, China 01975-08-07August 7, 1975 90,000–230,000

* Estimate by Nova's sources are close to 4 million and yet Encarta's sources report as few as 1 million. Expert estimates report wide variance.

Deadliest natural disasters by type of event

Type Event Location Date Death Toll (Estimate)
Avalanche Wellington avalanche United States 01910-03-01March 1, 1910 96
Blizzard Iran Blizzard Iran 01972-02-01February 1972 4,000
Drought Great Famine of 1876–78 India 01921-01-011876–1878 25,250,000
Earthquake Shaanxi Earthquake China 01556-01-01January 23, 1556 830,000
Flood 1931 China floods China 01931-01-011931 1,000,000–4,000,000
Hailstorm Roopkund, Uttaranchal India 00800-01-019th century 200–600
Heat wave 2003 European heat wave Europe 02003-01-01June-August 2003 37,451
Landslide 1999 Vargas mudslides Venezuela December 1999 20,006
Limnic Eruption Lake Nyos Cameroon 01986-01-01August 21, 1986 1,746
Pandemic Black Death Europe 01918-01-011348–1350 75,000,000-100,000,000
Tornado Saturia-Manikganj Sadar Tornado Bangladesh 01989-04-26April 26, 1989 1,300
Tropical cyclone 1970 Bhola cyclone Bangladesh 01970-11-13November 13, 1970 200,000–500,000
Tsunami 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami Indian Ocean 02004-12-26December 26, 2004 443,000
Volcano Mount Vesuvius Italy 0AD79-01-0179 13,000-26,000
Wildfire Peshtigo Fire United States 01871-10-08October 8, 1871 1,200-2,500

Earthquakes

Main article: Earthquake

Ten deadliest volcanic eruptions

Main article: Volcano
Death Toll Event Location Date
830,000 1556 Shaanxi earthquake China 1556
250,000 526 Antioch earthquake Antioch, Byzantine Empire 526
245,000 1976 Tangshan earthquake China 1976
240,000 1920 Haiyuan earthquake China 1920
230,000 1138 Aleppo earthquake Syria 1138
229,866 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand 2004
200,000 Damghan earthquake Iran 856
150,000 Ardabil earthquake Iran 893
137,000 1730 Hokkaido- earthquake Japan 1730
110,000 1948 Ashgabat earthquake Turkmenistan 1948
105,000 Great Kanto earthquake Japan 1923
100,000 Messina earthquake Italy 1908
100,000 1755 Lisbon earthquake Portugal 1755
100,000 Chihli earthquake China 1290
86,000 2005 Kashmir earthquake Pakistan 2005
85,000 Great Ansei Nankai earthquakes Japan 1854
80,000 Shamakhi Azerbaijan 1667
77,000 Tabriz Earthquake Iran 1727
70,000 Changma, Gansu earthquake China 1932
69,197 2008 Sichuan earthquake China 2008
66,000 Ancash earthquake Peru 1970
60,000 Sicily earthquake[2] Italy 1693
60,000 1935 Balochistan earthquake British India 1935
50,000 Calabrian earthquakes Italy 1783
40,000 Gulang, Gansu earthquake China 1927
40,000 Meio- Nankai, Japan (????) earthquake Japan 1498
40,000 Quito earthquake Ecuador 1797
37,000 Genroku earthquake (?????) Japan 1703
35,000 1990 Manjil Rudbar earthquake Iran 1990
32,962 1939 Erzincan earthquake Turkey 1939
30,000 Great Ho-ei Earthquake (?????) Japan 1707
30,000 2003 Bam earthquake Iran 2003
25,000 Spitak Earthquake Armenia 1988
25,000 1978 Tabas earthquake Iran 1978
23,700 Kamakura earthquake Japan 1293
23,000 Guatemala earthquake Guatemala 1976
20,000 Gujarat earthquake India 2001
20,000 1812 Caracas earthquake Venezuela 1812
20,000 Chillán earthquake Chile 1939
18,000 Khait earthquake Tajikistan 1949
17,118 Izmit earthquake Turkey 1999
15,000 1960 Agadir earthquake Morocco 1960
12,225 1962 Bou'in-Zahra earthquake Iran 1962
10,700 1934 Bihar earthquake India 1934
10,000 Apennine earthquakes Italy 1703
9,748 1993 Latur earthquake India 1993
9,500 1985 Mexico City earthquake Mexico 1985
9,000 1933 Diexi earthquake China 1933
8,064 1966 Xingtai earthquake China 1966
7,000 1968 Dasht-e Bayaz and Ferdows earthquake Iran 1968
6,433 Great Hanshin earthquake Japan 1995
6,000 1960 Valdivia earthquake Chile 1960
5,300 1974 Hunza earthquake Pakistan 1974
4,000 1945 Balochistan earthquake British India 1945
3,894 1948 Fukui earthquake Japan 1948
3,000 1933 Sanriku earthquake Japan 1933
3,000 1906 San Francisco earthquake United States 1906
Death Toll Event Location Date
92,000 Mount Tambora (see also Year Without a Summer) Indonesia 01815-01-011815
36,000 Krakatoa Indonesia 01883-08-26August 26–27, 1883
29,000 Mount Pelée Martinique 01902-05-07May 7 or May 8, 1902
23,000 Nevado del Ruiz Colombia 01985-11-13November 13, 1985
25,000 Mount Vesuvius Pompeii and Herculaneum,Italy 01631-01-01August 24th 79 AD
15,000 Mount Unzen Japan 01792-01-011792
10,000 Mount Kelut Indonesia 01586-01-011586
9,350 Laki. Killed about 25% of the population (33% were killed about 70 years before by smallpox) Iceland 01783-06-08 June 8, 1783
6,000 Santa Maria Guatemala 01902-01-011902
5,115 Mount Kelut Indonesia 01919-05-19 May 19, 1919

Notes

A supervolcanic eruption at Lake Toba around 74,000 years ago could have wiped out as much as 99% of the global human population, reducing the population from a possible 60 million to less than 10 thousand; see Toba catastrophe theory. However, this theory is not widely accepted because the evidence is disputed, and there have been, for instance, no remains found. The eruption is not listed here as it was pre-historic and outside the scope of this article. Also, the Thera eruption in the Aegean Sea between 1550 and 1650 B.C. may have caused a large number of deaths throughout the region, from Crete to Egypt. See also La Garita Caldera, Yellowstone Caldera, and Supervolcanoes.

References

Ten deadliest tsunamis

See also: Historic tsunami
Death Toll Event Location Date
> 229,866 (sources vary) 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami Indian Ocean 2004
100,000 1755 Lisbon earthquake/tsunami/fire Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Ireland, and the United Kingdom (Cornwall) 1755
100,000 1908 Messina earthquake/tsunami Messina, Italy 1908
36,000 caused by 1883 Krakatoa eruption Indonesia 1883
30,000 Tōkaidō/Nankaido, Japan 1707
27,000 Japan 1826
25,674 1868 Arica earthquake/tsunami Arica, Chile 1868
22,070 1896 Meiji-Sanriku earthquake Sanriku, Japan 1896
15,030 caused by 1792 Mount Unzen eruption in southwest Kyu-shu- Kyu-shu-, Japan 1792

Limnic eruptions

Main article: Limnic eruption
Death Toll Event Location Date
1,746 Lake Nyos Cameroon 1986
37 Lake Monoun Cameroon 1984

Extreme weather

Main article: Extreme weather

Ten deadliest heat waves

Main article: Heat wave
Death Toll Event Location Date
37,451 2003 European heat wave Western Europe 02003-06-012003
3,418 2006 European heat wave United Kingdom, Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Romania 02006-01-012006
2,541 1998 India heat wave India 01998-01-011998
1,900 2003 India heat wave 2002 heatwave in India India 02003-01-012003
1,250–10,000 1980 United States heat wave United States 01980-01-011980
1,000–1,500 1987 Mediterranean heat wave Albania, Greece, Bosnia, Serbia, Turkey, Italy 01987-01-011987
over 1,000 1994 East Asia heat wave China, Japan, South Korea 01994-01-011994
739 Chicago Heat Wave of 1995 United States (Chicago, Illinois) 01995-01-011995
500 Hungary Heat Wave of 2007 Hungary 02007-01-012007
437 Southern regions, Australia 1895–1896 Australia 01895-01-011895–1896

Ten deadliest storms (non-cyclone)

Main article: Storm
Death Toll Event Location Date
15,100 Torrential rains and mudslides Venezuela 1999
500 Lofoten, Heavy storm Norway 1849
 ? 250 Great Lakes Storm of 1913 United States and Canada (Great Lakes region) 1913
242 1996 Amarnath Yatra tragedy India 1996
210 Trøndelag, storm ("Follastormen") Norway 1625
189 Eyemouth, Scotland, storm ("Black Friday") United Kingdom 1881
140 Trøndelag, storm ("Titran disaster") Norway 1899
96 Lofoten, storm Norway 1868
30 Haugesund, storm ("Røvær disaster") Norway 1899
26 Vesterålen, storm Norway 1802

Ten deadliest tornadoes

Main article: Tornado
Death Toll Event Location Date
1,300 The Saturia-Manikganj Sadar Tornado Bangladesh (Manikganj) 1989
923 1969 East Pakistan Tornado Bangladesh 1969
695 The Tri-State Tornado United States (Missouri–Illinois–Indiana) March 18, 1925
681 1973 Dhaka Tornado Bangladesh 1973
600 The Malta Tornado Malta 1551
500 The Sicily Tornado Italy 1851
500 The Narail-Magura Tornadoes Bangladesh (Jessore) 1964
500 The Comoro Tornado Comoro 1951
440 The Tangail Tornado Bangladesh 1996
400 Ivanovo, Yaroslavl Tornado Russia 1984

Ten deadliest cyclones

Main article: Cyclone
Death Toll Event Location Date
500,000 1970 Bhola cyclone Bangladesh (East Pakistan) 1970
300,000 1839 Indian cyclone India 1839
300,000 1881 Haiphong Typhoon Vietnam 1881
300,000[3] 1737 Calcutta cyclone India 1737
210,000 Super Typhoon Nina—contributed to Banqiao Dam failure China 1975
200,000[4] Great Backerganj Cyclone of 1876 present day Bangladesh 1876
~146,000 Cyclone Nargis Myanmar 2008
138,866 1991 Bangladesh cyclone Bangladesh 1991
100,000 1882 Bombay cyclone Bombay, India June 6, 1882
60,000 1922 Swatow Typhoon China 1922
60,000 1864 Calcutta Cyclone India 1864

References

Ten deadliest floods and landslides

Main articles: Flood and Landslide
Death Toll Event Location Date
2,500,000–3,700,000[5] 1931 China floods China 1931
900,000–2,000,000 1887 Yellow River (Huang He) flood China 1887
500,000–700,000 1938 Yellow River (Huang He) flood China 1938
231,000 Banqiao Dam failure, result of Typhoon Nina. Approximately 86,000 people died from flooding and another 145,000 died during subsequent disease. China 1975
145,000 1935 Yangtze river flood China 1935
more than 100,000 St. Felix's Flood, storm surge Netherlands 1530
100,000 Hanoi and Red River Delta flood North Vietnam 1971
100,000 1911 Yangtze river flood China 1911
50,000–80,000 St. Lucia's flood, storm surge Netherlands 1287
60,000 North Sea flood, storm surge Netherlands 1212

Ten deadliest wildfires and bushfires

Main articles: Wildfire and Bushfire
Death Toll Event Location Date
1,200–2,500 Peshtigo Fire, Wisconsin United States 1871
1,200 Kursha-2, Ryazan Oblast, RSFSR Soviet Union 1936
453 Cloquet Fire, Minnesota United States 1918
418 Great Hinckley Fire, Minnesota United States 1894
282 Thumb Fire, Michigan United States 1881
240 Sumatra, Kalimantan Indonesia 1997
233 Matheson Fire, Ontario Canada 1916
230 Landes region France 1949
213 Greater Hinggan, Heilongjiang China 1987
173 Black Saturday bushfires Australia 2009
160 Miramichi Fire, New Brunswick Canada 1825


References

References

Ten deadliest blizzards

Main article: Blizzard
Death Toll Event Location Date
4,000 Iran Blizzard Iran 1972
1,337[6] 2008 Afghanistan blizzard Afghanistan 2008
400 Great Blizzard of 1888 United States 1888
318 1993 North American Storm Complex United States 1993
235 Schoolhouse Blizzard United States 1888
199 Hakko-da Mountains incident Japan 1902
144 Armistice Day Blizzard United States 1940
133 2008 Chinese winter storms China 2008
112 1995 Kazakh Blizzard Kazakhstan 1995
54 Blizzard of 1978 United States 1978

Contractible diseases

 The following text needs to be harmonized with text in List of epidemics.


Death Toll Event Location Date
approx. 300,000,000 Smallpox Worldwide 01901-01-0120th century alone[7]
approx. 100,000,000 Bubonic Plague: Black Death Asia, Europe, Africa 01300-01-011300s–1720s
 ? 200,000,000 Measles Worldwide 01851-01-01last 150 years[8]
80,000,000–250,000,000 Malaria Worldwide 01900-01-0120th century – present
50,000,000–100,000,000 Spanish Flu Worldwide 01918-01-011918–1919[9]
40,000,000–100,000,000 Tuberculosis Worldwide 01900-01-0120th century – present[8]
approx. 40,000,000 Bubonic Plague: Plague of Justinian Asia, Europe, Africa 00540-01-01540–590
25,250,000 AIDS Worldwide 01981-01-011981–present (as of 2010)
 ? 12,000,000 Bubonic Plague: Third Pandemic Worldwide 01850-01-011850s–1950s
5,000,000 Antonine Plague Roman Empire 00165-01-01165–180
4,000,000 Asian Flu pandemic Worldwide 01957-01-011957
750,000 Hong Kong Flu pandemic Worldwide 01968-01-011968
6,255 (As of 10 September, 2009) 2009 flu pandemic Worldwide 02009-01-01April 2009–present
775 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Mostly East Asia, few cases in Europe, Canada and United States 02002-01-012002–2003
677 West Nile Virus outbreak North America 01999-01-011999–2004
256 H5N1 strain of Bird Flu (mainly in Asia, few in Africa and Middle East) 02003-01-012003–present (as of 2007)

Famines

Main article: Famine
 The following text needs to be harmonized with text in List of famines.
Please Note: Some of these famines may be partially or completely caused by humans.
Death Toll Event Location Date
4,900,000–43,000,000 Great Chinese Famine China 1958–1961
24,000,000 Chinese Famine of 1907 China 1907
19,000,000 Indian Famine India 1896–1902
15,000,000 Bengal famine of 1770, incl. Bihar & Orissa India 1769–1771
13,000,000 Northern Chinese Famine China 1876–1879
10,000,000 Southern and Central Indian Famine India 1876–1879
7,500,000 Great European Famine Europe (all) 1315–1317
5,000,000 Chinese Famine of 1936 China 1936
5,000,000 Soviet famine of 1932–1933 Soviet Union 1932–1934
5,000,000 Russian famine of 1921 Russia, Ukraine 1921–1922
4,000,000 Bengal famine of 1943 India 1943
3,000,000 Chinese Drought 1941 China 1941
3,000,000 Chinese Famine of 1928–1930 China 1928–1930
2,000,000 Russian famine of 1601–1603 Russia (Muscovy) 1601–1603
1,000,000-1,500,000 Great Irish Famine Ireland 1846–1849
2,000,000 Vietnamese War Famine Vietnam 1943–1945
1,500,000–3,000,000 Bengal Famine of 1943 India 1943
1,200,000 North Korean famine North Korea 1996–1998
1,000,000 1984–1985 famine in Ethiopia Ethiopia 1984
1,000,000 Horn of Africa famine Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia 1888
26,000-1,000,000 Bangladesh famine of 1974—Official records claim 26,000. However, various sources claim about 1,000,000. Bangladesh 1974
150,000 Finnish famine of 1866–1868 Finland 1866–1868
18,000 Dutch famine of 1944 The Netherlands 1944

See also

Other lists organized by death toll

Footnotes

  1. ^ The world's worst natural disasters
  2. ^ Italy's earthquake history, BBC News
  3. ^ 10 'Worst' Natural Disasters
  4. ^ Hurricanes: case studies
  5. ^ Worst Natural Disasters In History
  6. ^ Famine & Disaster Statistics
  7. ^ "UC Davis Magazine, Summer 2006: Epidemics on the Horizon". http://ucdavismagazine.ucdavis.edu/issues/su06/feature_1b.html. Retrieved 2008-01-03. 
  8. ^ a b Torrey EF and Yolken RH. 2005. Their bugs are worse than their bite. Washington Post, April 3, p. B01.
  9. ^ 1918 Influenza: the Mother of All Pandemics, CDC

External links


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