10 Deadliest Natural Disasters in Human History

What affects human activities and is the consequence of a natural hazard is a natural disaster. These ranges from different kinds from volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, landslides and much more. In almost all cases, there has been a loss of millions of lives. Some of the more aggressive ones are briefly described below.

10Aleppo Earthquake

Aleppo Earthquake – 1138 – Syria [230,000 dead]
Located along the northern part of the Dead Sea Transform system of geologic faults is Aleppo. This region is a plate boundary separating the Arabian plate from the African plate. The earthquake was actually the beginning of the first of two intense sequences of earthquakes in the region. From October 1138 to June 1139 to a much more intense series from September 1156 to May 1159.
Harim was severely affected and it was here Crusaders had built a large citadel. According to sources the castle was destroyed and the church fell in on itself. The fort of Atharib was also destroyed. Harim citadel also collapsed, killing another 600 of the castle guard, though the governor and some servants were able to survive and flee to Mosul

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9Indian Ocean Earthquake

Indian Ocean Earthquake – 2004 – Indian Ocean [230,000 dead]
Known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, this particular earthquake was an undersea earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC (07:58:53 local time) December 26, 2004. The epicenter was off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Several destructive tsunamis attacked the coasts bordering the Indian Ocean and caused the deaths of large masses of people and disrupted coastal communities.
The magnitude of the earthquake was originally recorded as 9.0, but has since been increased to between 9.1 and 9.3. This makes it the second largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph. In fact it was so large that it caused the entire planet to vibrate as much as half an inch (over a centimeter).

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8Banqiao Dam Failure

Banqiao Dam Failure – 1975 – China [231,000 dead]
Ironically, the Banqiao Dam was originally designed to survive a once-in-1,000-year flood (306 mm (12 inches) rainfall per day). In August 1975, however, a once-in-2,000 year flood occurred, pouring more than a year’s worth of rainfall in just under 24 hours. Weather forecasts failed to predict such an event. 64 dams failed as a result of sediment blockage as the sluice gates were not able to handle the overflow of water.
After the dam burst it caused an enormous wave that was 10 kilometers (6 miles) wide and 3-7 meters (9-23 feet) high. It sped downwards into the plains below at nearly 50 kilometers per hour (31 mph). It almost wiped out an area 55 kilometers long and 15 kilometers wide, and created temporary lakes as large as 12,000 km² (4,600 square miles). Unfortunately evacuation orders had not been fully delivered sue of weather conditions and poor communications.

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7Tangshan Earthquake

Tangshan Earthquake – 1976 – China [242,000 dead]
In terms of the loss of life the Tangshan earthquake is one of the largest earthquakes to hit the modern world. Its epicentre was near Tangshan in Hebei in China which was an industrial city with around one million inhabitants. The earthquake hit early in the morning, at 03:42:53.8 local time (1976 July 27 19:42:53.8 UTC), and lasted for astonishingly only 15 seconds. According to the Chinese Government’s official sources the quake was 7.8 on the Richter magnitude scale, though some other sources claim it was 8.2. This was the first earthquake of its time to score a direct hit on a major city.
For internal reasons, the People’s Republic of China government refused to accept any international aid, and its own efforts were criticized similarly as inadequate. China was also criticized for having ignored scientists’ warnings of the need to prepare for an earthquake and the ramifications of the political situation created contributed to the end of the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

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6Kaifeng Flood

Kaifeng Flood – 1642 – China [300,000 dead]
Located along the southern bank of the Yellow River, Kaifeng was flooded in 1642 by the Ming army with water from Yellow River to prevent the peasant rebel Li Zicheng from taking over. Approximately half of the 600,000 residents of city Kaifeng were killed by the flood and the resulting disasters of plague and famine make it one of the most deadly single acts of war in history as well as the second greatest single loss of human life of its time. The flood is sometimes / mostly referred to as a natural disaster only because of the role of the Huang He river.

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5India Cyclone

India Cyclone – 1839 – India [300,000+ dead]
In 1839, a cyclone caused a 40 foot tidal wave which was able to wipe out the harbor city of Coringa. This city was never entirely rebuilt. A total of 20,000 vessels in the bay were destroyed and about 300,000 people died. This was not the first major catastrophe to occur in Coringa as in 1789 three tidal waves caused by a cyclone destroyed the harbour city at the mouth of the Ganges river. At that time most ships were sunk and more than 20,000 people drowned.

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4Shaanxi Earthquake

Shaanxi Earthquake – 1556 – China [830,000 dead]
This 1556 Shaanxi earthquake or Hua County earthquake is the most deadliest earthquake on the record, causing the deaths of approximately 830,000 people. It occurred on the morning of 23 January 1556 in Shaanxi, China. This affected more than 92 counties and a 520 mile-wide area was destroyed. In some counties, sixty percent of the population was killed. Most of the population at that time lived in yaodong, artificial caves in loess cliffs, several of which collapsed during the catastrophic incident, with great loss of life.
According to modern day estimates, the approximate power was 8 on the magnitude scale. Though it was the most deadly earthquake and the fifth deadliest natural disaster in history, there have been earthquakes with even higher magnitudes. Aftershocks continued for several times a month for half a year afterwards.

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3Bhola Cyclone

Bhola Cyclone – 1970 – Bangladesh [500,000 – 1,000,000 dead]
The 1970 Bhola cyclone was a devastating tropical cyclone that struck the former East Pakistan (now known as Bangladesh) on November 12, 1970. It was one of the worst tropical cyclone ever recorded, and one of the harshest natural disasters in the modern times. Approximately 500,000 people were killed, primarily as a result of the storm surge that flooded much of the low-lying islands of the Ganges Delta. The Pakistani government was criticized for its handling of the relief operations following the storm, by both local political leaders in East Pakistan and in the international media.
The cyclone had intensified into a severe cyclonic storm a day before, and had begun to turn towards the northeast as it approached the head of the Bay. A clear cyclone eye formed in the storm, and it reached its peak later that day with sustained winds of 185 km/h (115 mph). During the time of high tide, it made it hit its target on the shores of East Pakistan.

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2Yellow River Flood in 1887

Yellow River Flood – 1887 – China [900,000 – 2,000,000 dead]
The Yellow River (Huang He) in China is prone to frequent flooding, largely due to the broad expanse of mostly flat land around it. The Yellow River (in year 1887) floods devastated the area, killing between 900 thousand -2 millions of people. For centuries, the farmers living near the River banks had built dikes to contain the rising waters, caused by silt accumulation on the riverbed. In 1887, the rising seabed, with the help of days of heavy rain, was able to overcome the dikes, and caused a massive flood. As a result of the low-lying plains near the area, the flood spread quickly all throughout Northern China, covering a whopping 50,000 square miles, leaving two million homeless. The following pandemic and lack of basic essentials took as many lives as the flood itself.

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1Yellow River Flood in 1931

Yellow River Flood – 1931 – China [1,000,000 – 4,000,000 dead]
The worst Yellow River flood however took place in the middle of 1931. According to estimates, the number of people killed in the 1931 flooding range from 1 to 4 million. Much lesser population densities in prehistoric times make it very unlikely that this high toll had previously been surpassed. Between July and November 1931, some 88,000 sq km of land were totally flooded, and about 21,000 sq km more were partially flooded. The (Yellow) river is often called “China’s sorrow” because millions of people have been killed by flooding.