Natural Disasters
Human beings have always been at the mercy of devastating natural disasters. The geographical landscapes of planet earth have changed drastically over the period of time following these natural disturbances. Every year, the intensity and impacts of natural disasters have been on rising trend due to humans induced alterations in the natural cycles and followed by heavy loss of life and property.
Nature has the ability to recover itself from the destructions caused by natural disasters through a process known as Natural Recovery. For centuries, the natural disasters helped our nature to evolve and sustain potential sustainable threats and that benefit ecosystems. For example, floods deposit nutrients and support fertile lands and Fires rejuvenate soils, help to control diseases and often stimulate new growth.
But the alterations to natural ecosytems have changed the ideal scenario and humans are on the receiving end of sustaining impacts of natural disasters
Well I have compiled a list of biggest natural disasters that have taken place in the human history.
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TYPE
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DATE
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PLACE
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CONSEQUENCES
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Earthquakes
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526
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Antioch (Turkey)
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75,000 killed.
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856
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Corinth (Greece)
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45,000 killed; city abandoned.
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1556
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Shanzi Province
(China) |
800,000 killed directly; huge toll from landslides.
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1755 |
Lisbon (Portugal)
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100,000 killed; Portuguese influence plummets.
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1920
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Haiyuan, Ningxia-Gansu, China
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234,117 Killed.
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1923
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Kanto Plains (Japan)
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150,000 killed; modern Tokyo reconstructed.
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1976
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Tangshan, Hebei, China
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242,419 Killed (the death toll has been estimated to be as high as 665,000). |
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2003
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Bam (Iran)
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23,000 killed in poorly built houses.
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2004 |
Indonesia
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230,210 Killed
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2005
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Mountainous Pakistan
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80,000 crushed in building collapses and landslides.
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2010
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Port au Prince, Haiti
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Toll – 316,000 (Haitian sources)
50,000–92,000 (non-Haitian sources) |
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Tsunamis
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1623 BC
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Thera
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Huge toll; Minoan culture devastated.
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1531
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Lisbon (Portugal)
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70,000 killed (30,000 in earthquake).
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1883
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Krakatau cone (Indonesia)
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37,000 killed; some climate effects.
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1908
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Messina, Italy |
123,000 killed due to earthquake induced Tsunami.
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2004
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Indian Ocean 9.3 earthquake |
300,000 killed; many communities destroyed.
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2011
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Japan |
15,812 to 19,797 killed (Official figures, from National Police Agency).
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Volcanoes
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1623 BC
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Thera (Santorini)
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Akrotiri destroyed.
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1815
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Tambora (Indonesia)
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10,000 killed; ash cloud cools planet leading to further 100,000 deaths from famine and disease.
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1883
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Krakatoa (Indonesia)
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36,000 killed.
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1902
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Mount Pele’e
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30,000 killed by pyroclastic flows.
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Landslides
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| 1966 | Wales | 144 people killed. | |
| 1998 | Honduras |
18,000 people killed during landslides.
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Floods
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| 1887 |
China
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900,000 – 2,000,000 people killed.
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| 1931 |
Yellow River (China)
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3.7 million people killed; weakened resistance to invasion by Japan.
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| 1938 |
Yellow River (China)
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500,000–700,000 Killed in flood.
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| 1971 |
North Vietnam
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100,000 killed during Red River Delta flood.
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| 1975 |
China
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Banqiao Dam failure. Approximately 86,000 people died from flooding and another 145,000 died during subsequent disease.
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Hurricanes
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| 1274 | Sea of Japan |
12,000 Mongols killed invading Japan.
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| 1281 | Sea of Japan |
70,000 Mongols killed during second invasion.
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| 1780 | Martinique, Barbados |
20,000 killed. | |
| 1864 |
Calcutta, India |
60,000 killed. |
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| 1882 | Mumbai, India |
100,000 killed. |
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| 1900 | Galveston, Texas | 12,000 killed. | |
| 1970 | Bangladesh | 500,000 killed by storm surges. | |
| 1974 | Honduras | 10,000 killed. | |
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Fires
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| 64 |
Two-thirds of Rome burned
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Death toll limited; Christians blamed for destruction.
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| 1666 | London |
Most of London burned; a true restoration followed.
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| 1871 | Chicago |
300 killed, but this allowed rejuvenation of city.
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Salinization
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1500 BC
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Indus valley
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Collapse of earlier civilizations.
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Data Sources: Environmental Disasters, Natural Recovery and Human Responses by R. del Moral and L. R. Walker, Wikipedia
2011 Worst Year in History of Natural Disasters: Documentary
The following documentary concludes all the major natural disasters that shook the earth in 2011. Year 2011 was the worst year in the history of the world for natural disasters. Nearly every part of the world suffered major natural disasters and it continue to intensify with every passing year. May be mother earth is trying to pass on some message to humans but we don’t seem to take a serious note on this and continue to exploit the resources and playing with nature.
In April 1815, Tambora Volcano in Indonesia erupted. It was the most powerful eruption in recorded history. Global temperatures went down as much as 3 degrees Celsius for so long that 1816 was called “the year without a summer.”
Nice historical reasearch,
missed the 1988 Spitak Earthquake?