List of natural disasters by death toll

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Global multihazard mortality risks and distribution (2005) for cyclones, drought, earthquakes, floods, landslides, and volcanoes (excluding heat waves, snowstorms, and other deadly hazards). Global Multihazard Mortality Risks and Distribution (5457923756).jpg
Global multihazard mortality risks and distribution (2005) for cyclones, drought, earthquakes, floods, landslides, and volcanoes (excluding heat waves, snowstorms, and other deadly hazards).

A natural disaster is a sudden event that causes widespread destruction, major collateral damage, or loss of life, brought about by forces other than the acts of human beings. A natural disaster might be caused by earthquakes, flooding, volcanic eruption, landslide, hurricanes, etc. To be classified as a disaster, it must have profound environmental effects and/or loss of life and frequently causes financial loss.

Contents

Ten deadliest natural disasters by highest estimated death toll excluding epidemics and famines

This list takes into account only the highest estimated death toll for each disaster and lists them accordingly. It does not include epidemics and famines. The list also does not include the 1938 Yellow River flood, which was caused by the deliberate destruction of dikes.

Death toll (Highest estimate)EventLocationDate
4,000,000 [1] [lower-alpha 1] 1931 China floods China July 1931
2,000,000 [2] [3] [4] 1887 Yellow River flood September 1887
655,000 [5] 1976 Tangshan earthquake July 28, 1976
500,000 [6] [1] 1970 Bhola cyclone East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)November 13, 1970
316,000 [7] 2010 Haiti earthquake Haiti January 12, 2010
300,000 [8] 526 Antioch earthquake Byzantine Empire (now Hatay/Turkey)May 526
≈300,000 [9] 1839 Coringa cyclone Andhra Pradesh, India November 25, 1839
≈300,000 [10] 1737 Calcutta cyclone Bengal, India October 1737
≈300,000 [11] 1139 Ganja earthquake Seljuk Empire (present-day Azerbaijan)September 30, 1139
273,407 [12] 1920 Haiyuan earthquake ChinaDecember 16, 1920

Deadliest natural disasters by year excluding epidemics and famines

20th century

YearDeath tollEventCountries affectedTypeDate
19006,000–12,000 1900 Galveston hurricane United StatesTropical cycloneSeptember 9
19019,500 1901 eastern United States heat wave United StatesHeat waveJune–July
190229,000 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée MartiniqueVolcanic eruptionApril–August
19033,500 1903 Manzikert earthquake TurkeyEarthquakeApril 28
19044001904 Sichuan earthquakeChinaAugust 30
190520,000+ 1905 Kangra earthquake IndiaApril 4
190615,000 1906 Hong Kong typhoon Hong Kong,ChinaTropical cycloneSeptember 18
190712,000–15,000 1907 Qaratog earthquake UzbekistanEarthquakeOctober 21
190875,000–82,000 1908 Messina earthquake ItalyDecember 28
19096,000–8,000 1909 Borujerd earthquake IranJanuary 23
19102,450 1910 Costa Rica earthquakes Costa RicaMay 4
191141,072 [13] 1911 France heat waveFranceHeat waveJune–August
191250,000–220,000 1912 China typhoon ChinaTropical cycloneAugust 29
1913942-1,900 1913 Eshan earthquake ChinaEarthquakeDecember 21
19142,344 1914 Burdur earthquake TurkeyOctober 4
191529,978-32,610 1915 Avezzano earthquake ItalyJanuary 13
19162,000–10,000 White Friday avalanches ItalyAvalancheDecember 13
19171,500 1917 Bali earthquake IndonesiaEarthquakeJanuary 21
19181,000 1918 Shantou earthquake ChinaFebruary 13
19195,000 1919 Kelud mudflow IndonesiaVolcanic eruptionMay 19
1920258,707–273,407 1920 Haiyuan earthquake China, MongoliaEarthquakeDecember 16
1921215 September 1921 San Antonio floods United StatesFloodSeptember 7 –11
192250,000–100,000+ 1922 Shantou typhoon Philippines, ChinaTropical cycloneJuly 27 –August 3
1923105,385-142,800 1923 Great Kantō earthquake JapanEarthquakeSeptember 1
19241,000 Great flood of 99 IndiaFloodJuly
19255,000 1925 Dali earthquake ChinaEarthquakeMarch 16
1926709 1926 Havana–Bermuda hurricane Cuba, United States, Bahamas, BermudaTropical cycloneOctober 14 –28
192740,912 1927 Gulang earthquake China, TibetEarthquakeMay 22
19284,112+ 1928 Okeechobee hurricane United States, Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, Bahamas, Dominica,Tropical cycloneSeptember 12 –21
19293,257–3,800 1929 Kopet Dag earthquake Iran, TurkmenistanEarthquakeMay 1
19302,000–8,000 1930 San Zenón hurricane Dominican RepublicTropical cycloneSeptember 3
1931422,499–4,000,000 1931 China floods ChinaFloodJuly – November
19323,103+ 1932 Cuba hurricane Cayman Islands, CubaTropical cycloneNovember 9
19336,865–9,300 1933 Diexi earthquake ChinaEarthquakeAugust 25
193410,700–12,000 1934 Nepal–India earthquake Nepal, IndiaJanuary 15
1935145,000 1935 Yangtze flood ChinaFloodJuly 6
19365,000+ 1936 North American heat wave United States, CanadaHeat waveJune – September
193711,021 1937 Great Hong Kong typhoon ChinaTropical cycloneSeptember 2
1938715+ 1938 Hanshin flood JapanFloodJuly
193932,700–32,968 1939 Erzincan earthquake TurkeyEarthquakeDecember 27
19401,000 1940 Vrancea earthquake RomaniaNovember 10
19411,200 1941 Jabal Razih earthquake YemenJanuary 11
194261,000 1942 West Bengal cyclone IndiaTropical cycloneOctober 14 – 18
19432,824-5,000 1943 Tosya–Ladik earthquake TurkeyEarthquakeNovember 27
194410,000 1944 San Juan earthquake ArgentinaJanuary 15
19454,000 1945 Balochistan earthquake PakistanNovember 28
19462,550 1946 Dominican Republic earthquake Dominican RepublicAugust 4
19471,077 Typhoon Kathleen JapanTropical cycloneSeptember 15
194810,000–110,000 1948 Ashgabat earthquake Soviet Union, IranEarthquakeOctober 6
19497,200 1949 Khait earthquake TajikistanEarthquakeJuly 10
19504,800 1950 Assam-Tibet earthquake India, ChinaAugust 15
19514,8001951 Manchuria floodChinaFloodSeptember 18
19522,336 1952 Severo-Kurilsk earthquake RussiaEarthquakeNovember 4
19532,551 North Sea flood of 1953 Netherlands, Belgium, England, ScotlandFloodJanuary 31–February 1
195433,000 1954 Yangtze floods ChinaJune – September
19551,023+ Hurricane Janet Lesser Antilles, MexicoTropical cycloneSeptember 22 – 30
19564,935 Typhoon Wanda ChinaAugust 1
19571,500 1957 Sangchal earthquake IranEarthquakeJuly 2
19581,269 Typhoon Ida JapanTropical cycloneSeptember 26
19595,098 Typhoon Vera
196014,174 Severe Cyclonic Storm Ten East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)October 31
196111,468 Cyclone Winnie May 6 – 9
196250,935 Tropical Storm Harriet Thailand, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)October 19 – 31
196322,000 Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Two East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)May 28
19647,000 Tropical Storm Joan VietnamNovember 4 – 11
196547,000 1965 Bengal cyclones East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)May 11 – 12 and June 1 – 2
19668,064 1966 Xingtai earthquakes ChinaEarthquakeMarch 22
196710,0001967 Paradip cyclone [14] IndiaTropical cycloneOctober 26
196815,000 1968 Dasht-e Bayaz and Ferdows earthquakes IranEarthquakeAugust 31
19693,000 1969 Yangjiang earthquake ChinaJuly 26
1970300,000-500,000 1970 Bhola cyclone India, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)Tropical cycloneNovember 13
1971100,000 Hanoi and Red River Delta floodNorth VietnamFloodAugust 1
19725,374 1972 Qir earthquake IranEarthquakeApril 10
19732,175–2,204 1973 Luhuo earthquake ChinaFebruary 6
19748,210+ Hurricane Fifi–Orlene Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, MexicoTropical cycloneSeptember 18 – 20
197526,000-240,000 1975 Banqiao Dam Failure disaster triggered by Typhoon Nina ChinaAugust 7
1976242,419–655,000 1976 Tangshan earthquake EarthquakeJuly 28
197710,000–50,000 1977 Andhra Pradesh cyclone IndiaTropical cycloneNovember 19
197815,000–25,000 1978 Tabas earthquake IranEarthquakeSeptember 16
19792,078 Hurricane David Dominican Republic, DominicaTropical cycloneAugust 15 – September 8
19802,633-5,000 1980 El Asnam earthquake AlgeriaEarthquakeOctober 10
19813,000 1981 Golbaf earthquake IranJune 11
19822,800 1982 North Yemen earthquake YemenDecember 13
19831,342 1983 Erzurum earthquake TurkeyOctober 30
19841,474 Typhoon Ike PhilippinesTropical cycloneAugust 26 – September 6
198523,000 Armero tragedy ColombiaVolcanic eruptionNovember 13
19861,746 Lake Nyos disaster Cameroon Limnic eruption August 21
19871,000 1987 Ecuador earthquakes EcuadorEarthquakeMarch 6
198825,000-50,000 1988 Armenian earthquake ArmeniaDecember 7
19893,8141989 Sichuan floodChinaFloodJuly 27
199035,000-45,000 1990 Manjil–Rudbar earthquake IranEarthquakeJune 21
1991138,866 1991 Bangladesh cyclone BangladeshTropical cycloneApril 24 – 30
19922,500 1992 Flores earthquake and tsunami IndonesiaEarthquake, TsunamiDecember 12
19939,748 1993 Latur earthquake IndiaEarthquakeSeptember 30
19943,063 Typhoon Fred China, TaiwanTropical cycloneAugust 21
19956,434 Great Hanshin earthquake JapanEarthquakeJanuary 17
19961,077 1996 Andhra Pradesh cyclone IndiaTropical cycloneNovember 4 – 7
19973,123 Tropical Storm Linda Vietnam, ThailandTropical cyclone, FloodNovember 1 – 9
199811,374 Hurricane Mitch Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, MexicoTropical cycloneOctober 22 – November 9
199917,126-18,373 1999 İzmit earthquake TurkeyEarthquakeAugust 17
2000700-800 2000 Mozambique flood MozambiqueFloodFebruary – March

21st century

YearDeath tollEventCountries affectedTypeDate
200113,805-20,023 2001 Gujarat earthquake IndiaEarthquakeJanuary 26
20021,200 2002 Hindu Kush earthquakes AfghanistanMarch 25
200372,000 2003 European heat wave EuropeHeat WaveJuly – August
2004227,898 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Maldives, SomaliaEarthquake, TsunamiDecember 26
200586,000-87,351 2005 Kashmir earthquake India, PakistanEarthquakeOctober 8
20065,749-5,778 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake IndonesiaMay 26
200715,000 Cyclone Sidr Bangladesh, IndiaTropical cycloneNovember 11 – 16
2008138,373 Cyclone Nargis MyanmarApril 27 – May 3
20091,115 2009 Sumatra earthquakes IndonesiaEarthquakeSeptember 30
2010100,000–316,000 2010 Haiti earthquake HaitiEarthquakeJanuary 12
201119,749 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami JapanEarthquake, TsunamiMarch 11
20121,901 Typhoon Bopha PhilippinesTropical cycloneDecember 4 – 5
20136,340 Typhoon Haiyan Philippines, Vietnam, ChinaNovember 8 – 10
20142,700 2014 Badakhshan mudslides AfghanistanLandslideMay 2
20158,964 April 2015 Nepal earthquake Nepal, IndiaEarthquakeApril 25
20161,111 [15] 2016 Indian heat wave IndiaHeat waveApril – May
20173,059 Hurricane Maria Puerto Rico, DominicaTropical cycloneSeptember 19 – 21
20184,340 2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami IndonesiaEarthquake, TsunamiSeptember 28
20193,951+ 2019 European heat waves EuropeHeat waveJune – July
20206,511 2020 South Asian floods Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri LankaFloodMay – October
20212,248 2021 Haiti earthquake HaitiEarthquakeAugust 14
202224,501-61,672 2022 European heatwaves EuropeHeat waveJune 12 – September 12
202359,259-62,013 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes Turkey, SyriaEarthquakeFebruary 6
2024569+ 2024 Afghanistan–Pakistan floods Afghanistan, PakistanFloodMarch 6 -present

Lists of deadliest natural disasters by cause

Avalanches/landslides

RankDeath toll (estimate)EventLocationDate
1.100,0001786 Dadu River landslide dam; triggered by the 1786 Kangding-Luding earthquake [16] China1786
1920 Haiyuan landslides; triggered by the 1920 Haiyuan earthquake [16] 1920
2.70,001+Landslides triggered by the 1718 Tongwei–Gansu earthquake. [17] China1718
3.22,000 1970 Huascarán avalanche; triggered by the 1970 Ancash earthquake [18] Peru 1970
4.10,000–30,000 Vargas tragedy [19] Venezuela 1999
10,000 White Friday avalanches [20] [21] Italy1916
6.5,000–28,000 Khait landslide [22] [23] Tajikistan 1949
7.4,000–6,0001941 Huaraz avalanche [24] Peru1941
4,0001962 Huascarán avalanche [18] 1962
9.3,4661310 Western Hubei landslide [16] China1310
10.3,429 1933 Diexi landslides [16] 1933

Disease outbreaks

Death counts are historical totals unless indicated otherwise. Events in boldface are ongoing.

RankDeath toll (estimate)EventLocationDate Pathogen − (disease caused)
1.75–200 million [25] Black Death Europe, Asia and North Africa 1346–1353 Yersinia pestis − (Plague)
2.50 million+ (17–100 million) [26] [27] Spanish flu Worldwide 1918–1920 Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 − (Influenza/"the flu")
3.43 million (as of 2024) [28] HIV/AIDS pandemic Worldwide 1981–present Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) − (HIV/AIDS)
4.30–50 million [29] [30] [31] Plague of Justinian Europe and West Asia 541–542 Yersinia pestis − (Plague)
5.7–35 million (as of 2024) [32] [33] [34] COVID-19 pandemic Worldwide 2019–present [35] SARS-CoV-2 − (COVID-19)
6.12–15 million (India and China) [36] Third plague pandemic Worldwide 1855–1960 Yersinia pestis − (Bubonic plague)
7.5–15 million [37] [38] [39] [40] Cocoliztli Epidemic of 1545–1548 Mexico 1545–1548Uncertain. Likely Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica − (Enteric fever) or viral hemorrhagic fever but no consensus.
8.5–10 million [41] Antonine Plague Roman Empire 165–180 (possibly up to 190)Likely Variola − (Smallpox), possibly alongside Measles morbillivirus − (Measles)
9.5–8 million [39] 1520 Mexico smallpox epidemic Mexico 1519–1520 Variola virus − (Smallpox)
10.2.5 million [42] 1918–1922 Russia typhus epidemic Russia 1918–1922 Rickettsia prowazekii − (Epidemic typhus)

Earthquakes

RankDeath toll (estimate)EventLocationDate
1.242,419–655,000 [43] 1976 Tangshan earthquake ChinaJuly 28, 1976
2.100,000–316,000 2010 Haiti earthquake Haiti January 12, 2010
3.250,000–300,000 [8] 526 Antioch earthquake Byzantine Empire (now Turkey)May 526
4.273,407 [12] 1920 Haiyuan earthquake Ningxia, Republic of China (now People's Republic of China)December 16, 1920
5.270,000 1303 Hongdong earthquake [44] Mongol Empire (now China)September 17, 1303
6.260,000 [45] 115 Antioch earthquake Roman Empire (now Turkey)December 13, 115
7.230,000 1138 Aleppo earthquake Zengid dynasty (now Syria)October 11, 1138
1139 Ganja earthquake Seljuk Empire (now Azerbaijan)20 September 1139
9.227,898 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake Indonesia December 26, 2004
10.200,000 856 Damghan earthquake Abbasid Caliphate (now Iran)December 22, 856

Famines

Note: Some of these famines may have been caused or partially caused by humans.

Note: This list is ranked by number of deaths. Not deaths per capita, as in the percentage of the population.

RankDeath tollEventLocationDate
1.11,000,000–40,000,000 Great Chinese Famine China 1959–1961
2.25,000,000 [46] Chinese famine of 1906–1907 Qing China 1906–1907
3.9,000,000–13,000,000 [47] Northern Chinese Famine of 1876–1879 1876–1879
4.11,000,000 Chalisa famine North India 1783–1784
Doji bara famine or Skull famine India 1789–1793
6.10,000,000 Great Bengal famine of 1770, incl. Bihar & Orissa British company India 1769–1773
7.7,500,000 Great European Famine Europe1315–1317
8.7,400,000 Deccan famine of 1630–1632 Mughal Empire, now India 1630–1632
9.5,000,000–8,000,000 Soviet famine of 1932–1933 Soviet Union 1932–1933
10.5,500,000Indian Great Famine of 1876–1878 British India 1876–1878

Floods

Note: Some of these floods and landslides may be partially caused by humans – for example, by failure of dams, levees, seawalls or retaining walls.
This list does not include the man-made 1938 Yellow River flood caused entirely by a deliberate man-made act (an act of war, destroying dikes).

RankDeath tollEventLocationDate
1.422,499–4,000,000 [48] 1931 China floods China1931
2.930,000–2,000,000 1887 Yellow River (Huang He) flood 1887
3.230,000 [49] 1975 Banqiao Dam failure 1975
4.145,000 1935 Yangtze flood 1935
5.100,000+ St. Felix's flood, storm surge Holy Roman Empire 1530
7.100,000 [ citation needed ]1911 Yangtze River floodChina1911
8.100,000 [50] [51] [52] [53] The flood of 1099 Netherlands & England 1099
9.50,000–80,000 [51] St. Lucia's flood, storm surge Holy Roman Empire 1287
10.60,000 North Sea flood, storm surge 1212

Heat waves

Note: Measuring the number of deaths caused by a heat wave requires complicated statistical analysis, since heat waves tend to cause large numbers of deaths among people weakened by other conditions. As a result, the number of deaths is only known with any accuracy for heat waves in the modern era in countries with developed healthcare systems.

RankDeath tollEventLocationDate
1.72,000 2003 European heat wave Europe 2003
2.56,000 2010 Russian heat wave Russia 2010
3.41,072 [13] 1911 France heat wave France 1911
4.24,501-61,672 2022 European heat waves Europe2022
5.9,500 1901 eastern United States heat wave United States 1901
6.5,000–10,000 1988–1990 North American drought United States 1988
7.3,951 2019 European heat waves Europe2019
8.3,418 [54] 2006 European heat wave 2006
9.2,541 [54] 1998 Indian heat wave India 1998
10.2,500 2015 Indian heat wave 2015

Limnic eruptions

Note: Only 2 cases in recorded history.

RankDeath tollEventLocationDate
1.1,744 Lake Nyos disaster Cameroon August 21, 1986
2.37 Lake Monoun disaster August 15, 1984

Tornadoes

RankDeath tollEventLocationDate
1.1,300The Daulatpur–Saturia tornado Manikganj, Bangladesh1989
2.751The Tri-State tornado outbreak United States (Missouri–Illinois–Indiana)1925
3.6811973 Dhaka tornado Bangladesh 1973
4.6601969 East Pakistan tornado East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)1969
5.600The Valletta, Malta tornado Malta 1551 or 1556
6.500The 1851 Sicily tornadoes Sicily, Two Sicilies (now Italy)1851
Narail-Magura tornado Jessore, East Pakistan, Pakistan (now Bangladesh)1964
Madaripur-Shibchar tornado Bangladesh 1977
9.400The 1984 Soviet Union tornado outbreak Soviet Union (Volga Federal District, Central Federal District, and Northwestern Federal District in Russia)1984
10.317The Great Natchez Tornado United States (Mississippi–Louisiana)1840

Tropical cyclones

Note: Earlier versions of this list have included the so-called 'Bombay Cyclone of 1882' in tenth position, but this supposed event has been proven to be a hoax.

RankDeath tollEventLocationDate
1.500,000+ 1970 Bhola cyclone East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)November 13, 1970
2.300,000
1839 Coringa cyclone [9] British India (now India)November 25, 1839
3.300,000+ 1737 Calcutta cyclone October 11, 1737
4.229,000 Super Typhoon Nina—contributed to Banqiao Dam failureChinaAugust 7, 1975
5.200,000 [55] Great Backerganj Cyclone of 1876 British Raj (now Bangladesh)October 31, 1876
6.138,866 1991 Bangladesh cyclone Bangladesh April 29, 1991
7.138,373 Cyclone Nargis Myanmar May 2, 2008
8.100,000July 1780 typhoon [56] Philippines 1780
9.60,000+ 1864 Calcutta cyclone IndiaOctober 5, 1864
10.50,000-220,000 1912 China typhoon ChinaAugust 29, 1912

Tsunamis

Note: A possible tsunami in 1782 that caused about 40,000 deaths in the Taiwan Strait area may have been of "meteorological" origin (a cyclone). [57]

RankDeath tollEventLocationDate
1.227,898 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami Indian OceanDecember 26, 2004
2.123,000 [1] 1908 Messina earthquake ItalyDecember 28, 1908
3.36,417 1883 eruption of Krakatoa Indonesia August 27, 1883
4.40,000–50,000 [58] 1755 Lisbon earthquake Portugal November 1, 1755
5.30,000–100,000 Minoan eruption Greece 2nd Millennium BC
6.31,000 1498 Meiō earthquake JapanSeptember 20, 1498
7.30,000 1707 Hōei earthquake October 28, 1707
8.27,122 [59] 1896 Sanriku earthquake June 15, 1896
9.25,674 1868 Arica earthquake Chile August 13, 1868
10.5,700 [60] –50,000 [61] 365 Crete earthquake Greece July 21, 365

Volcanic eruptions

RankDeath tollEventLocationDate
1.71,000+ [62] 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora (see also Year Without a Summer) Indonesia April 10, 1815
2.36,000+ [63] 1883 eruption of Krakatoa August 27, 1883
3.30,000 [64] 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée Martinique May 7, 1902
4.23,000 [65] Armero tragedy Colombia November 13, 1985
5.15,000 [66] 1792 Unzen earthquake and tsunami JapanMay 21, 1792
6.13,000 [67] Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD Italy 79
7.10,000+ 1586 Kelud eruption Indonesia 1586
8.6,000 [68] 1902 Santa Maria eruption Guatemala October 24, 1902
9.5,000 [69] 1919 Kelud mudflow Indonesia May 19, 1919
10.4,011 [70] 1822 Galunggung eruption 1822

Wildfires

RankDeath tollEventLocationDate
1.1,200–2,500 Peshtigo fire Wisconsin, United StatesOctober 8, 1871
2.1,000+ Kursha-2 Fire Soviet Union August 3, 1936
3.453 Cloquet fire [71] Minnesota, United StatesOctober 12, 1918
4.418-476 Great Hinckley Fire September 1, 1894
5.282 Thumb Fire Michigan, United StatesSeptember 5, 1881
6.240 1997 Indonesian forest fires [72] [73] Sumatra and Kalimantan, IndonesiaSeptember 1997
7.160–300 1825 Miramichi fire Canada October 7, 1825
8.223 Matheson Fire Ontario, CanadaJuly 29, 1916
9.211 1987 Black Dragon fire [72] [73] China and Soviet Union May 1, 1987
10.173 Black Saturday bushfires [72] [73] Australia February 7, 2009

Winter storms

RankDeath toll (estimate)EventLocationDate
1.4,000 1972 Iran blizzard Iran 1972
2.3,000 Carolean Death March Norway 1719
3.926 2008 Afghanistan blizzard Afghanistan 2008
4.400 Great Blizzard of 1888 United States1888
5.353 Great Appalachian Storm of 1950 1950
6.318 1993 Storm of the Century 1993
7.299–978 2021 North American winter storm United States and Mexico 2021
8.286 December 1960 nor'easter United States1960
9.250 Great Lakes Storm of 1913 United States and Canada (Great Lakes region)1913
10.235 Schoolhouse Blizzard United States1888

See also

Other lists organized by death toll

Notes

  1. ↑ 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.

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The 1993 Latur earthquake struck India at 3:56 am local time (UTC+05:30) on 30 September. The main area affected is the districts of Latur and Osmanabad, including the Ausa block of Latur and Omerga of Osmanabad in Maharashtra, Western India. Fifty-two villages were demolished in the intraplate earthquake. It measured 6.2 on the moment magnitude scale, and approximately 10,000 people died, whilst another 30,000 were injured. The earthquake's hypocenter was around 10 km deep – relatively shallow – allowing shock waves to cause more damage. It is considered the deadliest earthquake in the stable continental crust to have occurred in recorded history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hōei eruption</span> Last major eruption of Mount Fuji (1707–08)

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A landslide dam or barrier lake is the natural damming of a river by some kind of landslide, such as a debris flow, rock avalanche or volcanic eruption. If the damming landslide is caused by an earthquake, it may also be called a quake lake. Some landslide dams are as high as the largest existing artificial dam.

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The 1868 Hawaiʻi earthquake was the largest recorded in the history of Hawaiʻi island, with an estimated magnitude of 7.9 Mfa and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). The earthquake occurred at 4 p.m. local time on April 2, 1868 and caused a landslide and tsunami that led to 77 deaths. The aftershock sequence for this event has continued up to the present day.

An earthquake occurred on 1 June 1786 in and around Kangding, in what is now China's Sichuan province. It had an estimated magnitude of about 7.75 and a maximum perceived intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. The initial quake killed 435 people. After an aftershock ten days later, a further 100,000 died when a landslide dam collapsed across the Dadu river.

The 1139 Ganja earthquake was one of the worst seismic events in history. It affected the Seljuk Empire and Kingdom of Georgia; modern-day Azerbaijan and Georgia. The earthquake had an estimated magnitude of 7.7 MLH, 7.5 Ms and 7.0–7.3 Mw. A controversial death toll of 230,000–300,000 came as a consequence of this event.

The 1840 Ahora earthquake occurred on 2 July at 16:00 local time, affecting Ağrı Province in the Eastern Anatolia Region of present-day Turkey. The earthquake had an epicenter near Mount Ararat, where it triggered an eruption and caused a landslide that destroyed villages. An estimated 10,000 people were killed by the earthquake and its damaging aftershocks. Earthquake catalogs place the surface-wave magnitude at Ms  7.4 and maximum Modified Mercalli intensity scale assigned IX (Violent).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1917 San Salvador earthquake</span> 1917 earthquake in Central America

The 1917 San Salvador earthquake occurred on June 7 at 18:55 local time near the Salvadoran capital. The hypocenter of the Mw  6.7 was at a shallow depth of 15 km (9.3 mi), and occurred along a shallow crustal fault near San Salvador. The earthquake caused significant destruction of the city and left approximately 1,050 dead. It was followed by an eruption on San Salvador that killed another 1,100. Only behind the earthquake of 1986, it is the second deadliest in El Salvador's history.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The world's worst natural disasters". CBC News . August 30, 2010 [May 8, 2008]. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Top 10 Deadliest Natural Disasters". Listverse. September 7, 2007. Archived from the original on March 28, 2020. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  3. ↑ "NOVA Online | Flood! | Dealing with the Deluge". PBS. Archived from the original on March 18, 2010. Retrieved August 11, 2010.
  4. ↑ Pappas, Stephanie; Means, Tiffany (March 3, 2022). "Top 11 Deadliest Natural Disasters in History". livescience.com. Archived from the original on July 2, 2013. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  5. ↑ "'76 Termed Among Worst in Toll from Earthquakes". The New York Times. January 24, 1977. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  6. ↑ "The 16 deadliest storms of the last century". Business Insider India. September 13, 2017. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Haiti Earthquake Fast Facts". CNN. December 12, 2013. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
  8. 1 2 National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Earthquake Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (1972). "Significant Earthquake Information". doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K.
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