Nature's Deadliest Disasters

A natural disaster is the consequence of a natural hazard (e.g. volcanic eruption, earthquake, landslide) which moves from potential into an active phase, and as a result affects human activities. In some cases these disasters have lead to the loss of millions of lives. This is a list of the top natural disasters (ranked by number of deaths).

1. Yellow River Flood - China, 1931, Deaths: 1,000,000 - 4,000,000

The 1931 Yellow River flood (Huang He flood) is generally thought to be the deadliest natural disaster ever recorded. Estimates of the number of people killed in the 1931 flooding range from 1 to 4 million. Deaths caused by the flooding include drowning, disease, ensuing famines, and droughts, just to name a few.

Between the months of July and November, around 88,000 sq km of land were completely flooded, and around 21,000 sq km more were partially flooded. The river is often referred to as "China's sorrow" because millions of people have been killed by the flooding.

2. Yellow River Flood - China, 1887, Deaths: 900,000 - 2,000,000

The Yellow River (Huang He) in China is prone to flooding, due to the large area of flat land around it. The Yellow River flood of 1887, devastated the area. Between 900,000-2,000,000 people were killed. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded. For centuries, the farmers living near the Yellow River had built dikes to contain the rising waters. In 1887, the rising seabed, along with a couple days of heavy rain, overcame the dikes, causing a flood. The Yellow River are generally thought to have broken through the dikes in Huayankou, near the city of Zhengzhou in Henan province.

With the help of the low-lying plains near the area, the flood spread quickly throughout Northern China, covering an estimate 50,000 square miles. Agricultural settlements and commercial centers were swmped. Two million families were left homeless after the flood.. The aftermath and lack of basic essentials claimed as many lives as those lost by the flood itself.

3. Bhola Cyclone - Bangladesh, 1970, Deaths: 500,000 - 1,000,000

The 1970 Bhola cyclone was a tropical cyclone that struck East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) on November 12,. It was the deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded, and one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern times. Around 500,000 people lost their lives in the storm, primarily as a result of the storm surge that flooded much of the low-lying islands of the Ganges Delta.

The cyclone grew into a severe cyclonic storm on November 11, and began to turn towards the northeast as it approached the head of the Bay. A clear eye formed in the storm, and it reached its peak later that day with sustained winds of 185 km/h (115 mph). The cyclone landed on the East Pakistan coastline during the evening of November 12.

4. Shaanxi Earthquake - China, 1556, Deaths: 830,000

The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake or Hua County earthquake, killing approximately 830,000 people is the deadliest earthquake on record. It happened on the morning of January 23rd, 1556 in Shaanxi, China. More than 97 counties were affected. A 520 mile-wide area was destroyed and in many counties, sixty percent of the people were killed. Most of the people in the area at the time lived in yaodong, artificial caves in loess cliffs, many of which collapsed during the quake, with great loss of life.

Based on modern geological data, the earthquake had a magnitude of approximately eigh,t on the moment magnitude scale. Aftershocks continued several times a month for half a year.

5. India Cyclone - India, 1839, Deaths: 300,000+

In 1839, a 40-foot tidal wave created by an enormous cyclone devowered the harbor city of Coringa. 300,000 people died and 20,000 vessels in the bay were destroyed. This was not the first major catastrophe to occur in Coringa. In 1789 three tidal waves caused by a cyclone destroyed the harbour city at the mouth of the Ganges river. Most ships were sunk and estimated 20,000 people drowned.

6. Kaifeng Flood - China, 1642, Deaths: 300,000

Kaifeng, a city in eastern Henan province, located along the southern bank of the Yellow River, was flooded in 1642 by the Ming army with water from Yellow River. This was done to prevent the peasant rebel Li Zicheng from taking over. Around 300,000 of the 600,000 residents of Kaifeng were killed by the flood and the disasters following such as famine and plague, making it one of the deadliest single acts of war in history (excluding systematic genocide).

7. Tangshan Earthquake - China, 1976, Deaths: 242,000

The Tangshan earthquake of 1976, in terms of loss of life, is one of the largest earthquakes to hit the modern world. The earthquake was near Tangshan in Hebei, China, an industrial city with approximately one million inhabitants. The earthquake hit in the early morning, and lasted for around 15 seconds. Chinese Government's official sources state 7.8 on the Richter magnitude scale, though some sources list it as 8.2. It was the first earthquake in recent history to score a direct hit on a major city.

The People's Republic of China government refused to accept international aid, and its own efforts were criticized as inadequate. It was also criticized for having ignored scientists' warnings of the need to prepare for an earthquake.

8. Banqiao Dam Failure - China, 1975, Deaths: 231,000

Banqiao Dam was designed to survive a 1-in-1,000-year flood (306 mm (12 inches) rainfall per day). In August of 1975, however, a 1-in-2,000 year flood occurred, pouring more than a year's rainfall in 24 hours, which weather forecasts failed to predict. The gates were not able to handle the overflow of water, partially due to sedimentation blockage. 64 dams failed, as a result of the blockage.

When the dam finally burst, there was an huge wave, which was 10 kilometers (6 miles) wide, 3-7 meters (9-23 feet) high. The waved rush downwards into the plains below at nearly 31 mph. It wiped out an area almost 55 kilometers long, 15 kilometers wide, and created temporary lakes as large as 12,000 km² (4,600 square miles). Evacuation orders had not been fully delivered because there had been poor weather conditions and poor communications.

9. Indian Ocean Earthquake - Indian Ocean, 2004, Deaths: 230,000

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, was an undersea earthquake that happened on December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake started a series of tsunamis along the coasts of almost all landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing large numbers of people and wiping out coastal communities.

Originally the magnitude of the earthquake was recorded as 9.0, but has been increased to between 9.1 and 9.3. At this magnitude, it is the second largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph. It was large enough that it caused the entire planet to vibrate as much as half an inch, or over a centimetre.

10. Aleppo Earthquake - Syria 1138, Deaths: 230,000

Aleppo is located along the northern part of the Dead Sea Transform system of geologic faults. The earthquake was the beginning of the first of two intense sequences of earthquakes in the region. These occured from October 1138 to June 1139 and a much more intense series from September 1156 to May 1159.

Harim, where Crusaders had built a large citadel, was hit the worst. It is said that the castle was destroyed and the church fell in on itself. The fort of Atharib, then occupied by Muslims, was destroyed. The citadel also collapsed, killing 600 of the castle guard, though the governor and some servants survived.