World's Most Massive Disasters

Honestly, I cannot reason out why I brought myself to write this. Perhaps this is the only article I'd ever regret writing.

Reading on today's news, I came across information of the world's massive disasters and a chain of thought. The death tolls overwhelmed me. Maybe I am writing this as tribute for these millions of lives lost. Maybe I'm writing this to tell you their story, that people like them had suffered massive disasters, and how imperative it is that we lend a hand to those who can still receive our help.

Here is a backtrack list of the world's most massive disasters of the 21st century, the places where they hit, and death tolls.

2010 Haiti Earthquake | 150,000 deaths

Heard as far as the opposite side of the globe, a recently 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit 16miles west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, resulting to over 150,000 deaths and counting, excluding those left injured and homeless, excluding the children to hunger, and more lives to perish.

But regardless of what little I've read or watched if compared to the rest, I could relate, having my home country also experience constant amount of massive disasters yearly. Despite everything, perhaps this could be a treasured time for humanity to extend help to those who suffered this massive disaster. For the years to come, it is up to us to rebuild Haiti for the sake of its progeny.

2009 Nairobi, Kenya | Massive Famine

After the 2008 internal discords, Nairobi, Kenya now faces a massive 10 million people hunger rate. Kenya's recent year of strife lead farmers from several food-producing hotspots to migrate and never come back, which is presently threatening massive starvation across the land.

2009 Typhoon Ketsana | Philippines | Vietnam | Cambodia | Laos | Thailand

Tropical cyclone Ketsana (locally named Ondoy) reached Philippine landfall in September 25, 2009, and claimed 492 lives. However the damage of this massive disaster lies aftermath, as the greater whole of Manila, its capital, suffered over 20 feet of flooding in the surrounding Manila Bay area, taking as many lives and economic damage as it could.

Typhoon Ketsana subsequently forced the evacuation of an estimated 300,000 people in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand, however with fewer casualties than Ketsana's first wave of massive disaster.

I'm not proud to say that Philippines have an average of 6 to 7 storms per year, with the most massive disaster recorded way back in 1991, where approximately 6000 lives were lost.

2009 California Wildfire

Scare spread over from the news, early of September 6, 2009, of a raging wildfire to latter burn nearly 160,000 acres of California.

2009 Black Saturday Bushfires | Australia's Deadliest

While forest fires are not considered the worst of massive disasters, in February 7, 2009, a series of bushfires resulted to Australia's deadliest, taking nearly 200 lives and injuring 400 people.

2005 Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina formed as a tropical depression in Bahamas and traveled its way through S. Florida, Cuba, Mississippi, Louisiana, and most of North America. This destructive massive disaster lead to the death of a confirmed 1836 people, while more than 700 were not found, causing about $100 billion economic lost on properties and infrastructures.

2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake | 227,898 deaths | magnitude 9.3

In 2004, an undersea 9.3 megathrust earthquake, caused by the tectonic plates moving under one another, triggered a succession of 100 feet tidal waves that swallowed the coastlines of fourteen countries, resulting to the death of 227,898 people.

As of the twenty first century, this tops as the world's most massive natural disaster, and hopefully nothing like this should ever happen again.

World's Historic Massive Disasters

1920 | China | Drought victimized 20 million people, killing 500,000 in starvation.

1942 to 1943 | Henan, China | Drought devastated and killed one million people.

1556 | Shanxi, China | Earthquake took 830,000 lives.

1138 | Syria, Aleppo | Earthquake killed 230,000 people.

1887 | China | The Yellow River overflowed, killing nearly one million people.

1970 | Bangladesh, India | A tropical cyclone and resulted flooding claimed 500,000 lives.

1769 | Bengal, India | Famine hungered and killed 10 million people.

1845 to 1848 | Ireland | Famine killed 1 million people.

1737 | Calcutta, India | Typhoon killed 300,000 people.

1925 | Missouri, S. Illinois, Indiana | Tri State Tornado killed 695 people and left 2771 people injured.