List of natural disasters by death toll

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For man-made disasters, see list of wars and disasters by death toll.

A death toll is the number of fatalities as a result of any cause of death, such as violence (war, mass murder, genocide, terrorist attack), an accident, a natural disaster, extreme weather, infectious disease, etc.

Below is a list of various natural disasters by death toll. Most numbers are estimates and are often in dispute. The incidents are ranked from the highest to the lowest estimate given. This list is, by necessity, somewhat biased toward the modern period, due to better reporting of events.

Some events overlap categories.

Contents

[edit] Top 10 deadliest natural disasters

Note: This list excludes diseases and famines, which would otherwise occupy the entire list.

Rank Event Location Date Death Toll (Estimate)
1. 1931 China floods China 01931-01-01July-November, 1931 2,000,000–4,000,000*[1]
2. 1887 Yellow River flood China 01887-01-01September-October, 1887 900,000–2,000,000
3. 1556 Shaanxi earthquake Shaanxi Province, China 01556-01-01January 23, 1556 830,000
4. 1970 Bhola cyclone Bangladesh 01970-01-01November 13, 1970 500,000
5. 1839 India Cyclone India 01839-01-01November 25, 1839 300,000
6. 526 Antioch earthquake Antioch, Turkey 00526-05-20May 20,526 250,000
7. 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake/tsunami Indian Ocean 02004-12-26December 26, 2004 229,866
8. 1976 Tangshan earthquake Tangshan, Hebei, China 01976-07-28July 28, 1976 242,000
9. 1920 Haiyuan earthquake Haiyuan, Ningxia-Gansu, China 01920-12-16December 26, 1920 240,000
10. 1975 Banqiao Dam flood Zhumadian, Henan Province, China 01975-08-07August 7, 1975 90,000–230,000

* 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.

[edit] Deadliest natural disasters by type of event

Event Event name Location Date Death Toll (Estimate)
Avalanche Wellington avalanche United States 01910-03-01March 1, 1910 96
Blizzard Iran Blizzard Iran 01972-02-01February 1972 4,000
Drought Great Famine of 1876–78 India 01921-01-011876–1878 25,250,000
Earthquake Shaanxi Earthquake China 01556-01-01January 23, 1556 830,000
Flood 1931 China floods China 01931-01-011931 2,000,000–4,000,000
Hailstorm Roopkund, Uttaranchal India 00800-01-019th century 200–600
Heat wave 2003 European heat wave Europe 02003-01-01June-August 2003 37,451
Landslide 1999 Vargas mudslides Venezuela December 1999 20,006
Limnic Eruption Lake Nyos Cameroon 01986-01-01August 21, 1986 1,746
Pandemic Spanish influenza Worldwide 01918-01-011918–1920 20,000,000-100,000,000
Tornado Saturia-Manikganj Sadar Tornado Bangladesh 01989-04-26April 26, 1989 1,300
Tropical cyclone 1970 Bhola cyclone Bangladesh 01970-11-13November 13, 1970 200,000–500,000
Tsunami 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami Indian Ocean 02004-12-26December 26, 2004 230,000
Volcano Mount Tambora Indonesia 01815-01-011815 92,000
Wildfire Peshtigo Fire United States 01871-10-08October 8, 1871 2,000

[edit] Earthquakes

Rank Death Toll Event Location Date
1 $830,000 1556 Shaanxi earthquake China 1556
2 $286,000 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand 2004
3 $255,000 1976 Tangshan earthquake China 1976
4 $240,000 1920 Haiyuan earthquake China 1920
5 $ 230,000 1138 Aleppo earthquake Syria 1138
6 $200,000 Damghan earthquake Iran 856
7 $150,000 Ardabil earthquake Iran 893
8 $137,000 1730 Hokkaidō earthquake Japan 1730
9 $110,000 1948 Ashgabat earthquake Turkmenistan 1948
10 $105,000 Great Kanto earthquake Japan 1923
11 $100,000 Messina earthquake Italy 1908
12 $100,000 1755 Lisbon earthquake Portugal 1755
13 $100,000 Chihli earthquake China 1290
14 $86,000 2005 Kashmir earthquake Pakistan 2005
15 $85,000 Great Ansei Nankai Quakes, Japan (安政南海地震) Japan 1854
16 $80,000 Shamakhi Azerbaijan 1667
17 $77,000 Tabriz Earthquake Iran 1727
18 $70,000 Changma, Gansu earthquake China 1932
19 $ 69,197 2008 Sichuan earthquake China 2008
20 $66,000 Ancash earthquake Peru 1970
21 $60,000 Sicily earthquake[2] Italy 1693
22 $60,000 1935 Balochistan earthquake British India 1935
23 $50,000 Calabria earthquake Italy 1783
24 $40,000 Gulang, Gansu earthquake China 1927
25 $40,000 Meiō Nankai, Japan (明応地震) earthquake Japan 1498
26 $40,000 Quito earthquake Ecuador 1797
27 $37,000 Genroku earthquake (元禄大地震) Japan 1703
28 $35,000 1990 Manjil Rudbar earthquake Iran 1990
29 $32,962 Erzincan earthquake Turkey 1939
30 $30,000 Great Hōei Earthquake (宝永大地震) Japan 1707
31 $ 30,000 2003 Bam earthquake Iran 2003
32 $25,000 Spitak Earthquake Armenia 1988
33 $25,000 1978 Tabas earthquake Iran 1978
34 $23,700 Kamakura earthquake Japan 1293
35 $23,000 Guatemala earthquake Guatemala 1976
36 $20,000 Gujarat earthquake India 2001
37 $20,000 1812 Caracas earthquake Venezuela 1812
38 $20,000 Chillán earthquake Chile 1939
39 $18,000 Khait earthquake Tajikistan 1949
40 $17,118 Izmit earthquake Turkey 1999
41 $15,000 1960 Agadir earthquake Morocco 1960
42 $12,225 1962 Bou'in-Zahra earthquake Iran 1962
43 $10,700 1934 Bihar earthquake India 1934
44 $9,748 1993 Latur earthquake India 1993
45 $9,500 1985 Mexico City earthquake Mexico 1985
46 $9,000 1933 Diexi earthquake China 1933
47 $8,064 1966 Xingtai Earthquake China 1966
48 $7,000 1968 Dasht-e Bayaz and Ferdows earthquake Iran 1968
49 $6,000 1960 Valdivia earthquake Chile 1960
50 $5,300 1974 Hunza earthquake Pakistan 1974
51 $4,000 1945 Balochistan earthquake British India 1945
52 $3,894 1948 Fukui earthquake Japan 1948
53 $3,000 1933 Sanriku earthquake Japan 1933
54 $3,000 1906 San Francisco earthquake United States 1906

[edit] Top 10 deadliest volcanic eruptions

Death Toll Event Location Date
$ 2,000,000+[citation needed] Huaynaputina (see also Russian famine of 1601–1603) Peru 01815-01-011600
$ 92,000 Mount Tambora (see also Year Without a Summer) Indonesia 01815-01-011815
$36,000 Krakatoa Indonesia 01883-08-26August 26–27, 1883
$29,000 Mount Pelée Martinique 01902-05-07May 7 or May 8, 1902
$23,000 Nevado del Ruiz Colombia 01985-11-13November 13, 1985
$25,000 Mount Vesuvius Italy 01631-01-011631
$15,000 Mount Unzen Japan 01792-01-011792
$10,000 Mount Kelut Indonesia 01586-01-011586
$9,350 Laki. Killed about 25% of the population (33% were killed about 70 years before by smallpox) Iceland 01783-06-08 June 8, 1783
$6,000 Santa Maria Guatemala 01902-01-011902
$5,115 Mount Kelut Indonesia 01919-05-19 May 19, 1919

[edit] Notes

A supervolcano eruption at Lake Toba around 74,000 years ago is thought by some to have wiped out as much as 99% of the global human population, reducing the population from at most 60 million to less than 10 thousand; see Toba catastrophe theory. However, this theory is not widely accepted because the evidence simply does not support the hypothesis: For example, there is no conclusive evidence showing that that 99% of global human population suddenly dropped dead anywhere near the proposed timeframe. If they did, they apparently left no remains for us to find. In any case, that eruption is not listed here because it occurred before recorded history, which is outside the scope of this article. Also, the Thera eruption in the Aegean Sea between 1550 and 1650 B.C. may have caused a large number of deaths throughout the region, from Crete to Egypt. See also La Garita Caldera, Yellowstone Caldera, and Supervolcanoes.

[edit] References

[edit] Top 10 deadliest tsunamis

See Historic tsunami for more detailed information.
Death Toll Event Location Date
$ > 229,866 (sources vary) 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami Indian Ocean 2004
$100,000 1755 Lisbon earthquake/tsunami/fire Portugal, Morocco, Ireland, and the United Kingdom (Cornwall) 1755
$100,000 1908 Messina earthquake/tsunami Messina, Italy 1908
$36,000 caused by 1883 Krakatoa eruption Indonesia 1883
$30,000 Tokaido/Nankaido, Japan 1707
$27,000 Japan 1826
$25,674 1868 Arica earthquake/tsunami Arica, Chile 1868
$22,070 Sanriku, Japan 1896
$15,030 caused by 1792 Mount Unzen eruption in southwest Kyūshū Kyūshū, Japan 1792
$13,486 Ryukyu Trench 1771

[edit] Limnic eruptions

Death Toll Event Location Date
$1,746 Lake Nyos Cameroon 1986
$37 Lake Monoun Cameroon 1984

[edit] Extreme weather

[edit] Top 10 deadliest heatwaves

Death Toll Event Location Date
37,451 2003 European heat wave Western Europe 02003-06-012003
3,418 2006 European heat wave France, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Romania 02006-01-012006
2,541 1998 India heat wave India 01998-01-011998
1,900 2003 India heat wave India 02003-01-012003
1,250–10,000 1980 United States heat wave United States 01980-01-011980
1,000–1,500 1987 Mediterranean heat wave Greece, Bosnia, Serbia, Turkey, Italy 01987-01-011987
over 1,000 1994 East Asia heat wave China, Japan, South Korea 01994-01-011994
739 Chicago Heat Wave of 1995 United States (Chicago, Illinois) 01995-01-011995
500 Hungary Heat Wave of 2007 Hungary 02007-01-012007
437 Southern regions, Australia 1895–1896 Australia 01895-01-011895–1896

[edit] Top 10 deadliest storms (non-cyclone)

Death Toll Event Location Date
15,100 Torrential rains and mudslides Venezuela 1999
669 (and 695 missing) Heavy storms ("Winnie") Philippines 2004
500 Lofoten, Heavy storm Norway 1849
≥ 250 Great Lakes Storm of 1913 United States and Canada (Great Lakes region) 1913
210 Trøndelag, storm ("Follastormen") Norway 1625
189 Eyemouth, Scotland, storm ("Black Friday") United Kingdom 1881
140 Trøndelag, storm ("Titran disaster") Norway 1899
96 Lofoten, storm Norway 1868
30 Haugesund, storm ("Røvær disaster") Norway 1899
26 Vesterålen, storm Norway 1802

[edit] Top 10 deadliest tornadoes

Death Toll Event Location Date
$1,300 The Saturia-Manikganj Sadar Tornado Bangladesh; (Manikganj) 1989
$923 1969 East Pakistan Tornado Bangladesh 1969
$695 The Tri-State Tornado United States; (Missouri–Illinois–Indiana) March 18, 1925
$681 1973 Dhaka Tornado Bangladesh 1973
$600 The Malta Tornado Malta 1551
$500 The Sicily Tornado Italy 1851
$500 The Narail-Magura Tornadoes Bangladesh (Jessore) 1964
$500 The Comoro Tornado Comoro 1951
$440 The Tangail Tornado Bangladesh 1996
$400 Ivanovo, Yaroslavl Tornado Russia 1984

[edit] Top 10 deadliest cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons

Death Toll Event Location Date
500,000 500,000 1970 Bhola cyclone Bangladesh (East Pakistan) 1970
300,000 300,000 1839 Indian cyclone India 1839
300,000 300,000 1881 Haiphong Typhoon Vietnam 1881
300,000 300,000[3] 1737 Calcutta cyclone India 1737
210,000 210,000 Super Typhoon Nina—contributed to Banqiao Dam failure China 1975
200,000 200,000[4] Great Backerganj Cyclone of 1876 present day Bangladesh 1876
140,000 ~146,000 Cyclone Nargis Myanmar 2008
138,866 138,866 1991 Bangladesh cyclone Bangladesh 1991
060,000 100,000 1882 Bombay cyclone Bombay, India June 6, 1882
060,000 60,000 1922 Swatow Typhoon China 1922
060,000 60,000 1864 Calcutta Cyclone India 1864

[edit] References

[edit] Top 10 deadliest floods and landslides

Death Toll Event Location Date
2,500,000–3,700,000[5] 1931 China floods China 1931
900,000–2,000,000 1887 Yellow River (Huang He) flood China 1887
500,000–700,000 1938 Yellow River (Huang He) flood China 1938
231,000 Banqiao Dam failure, result of Typhoon Nina. Approximately 86,000 people died from flooding and another 145,000 died during subsequent disease. China 1975
145,000 1935 Yangtze river flood China 1935
more than 100,000 St. Felix's Flood, storm surge Netherlands 1530
100,000 Hanoi and Red River Delta flood North Vietnam 1971
100,000 1911 Yangtze river flood China 1911
50,000–80,000 St. Lucia's flood, storm surge Netherlands 1287
60,000 North Sea flood, storm surge Netherlands 1212

[edit] Top 10 deadliest wildfires and bushfires

Death Toll Event Location Date
$1,200–2,500 Peshtigo Fire, Wisconsin United States 1871
$453 Cloquet Fire, Minnesota United States 1918
$418 Great Hinckley Fire, Minnesota United States 1894
$282 Thumb Fire, Michigan United States 1881
$240 Sumatra, Kalimantan Indonesia 1997
$233 Matheson Fire, Ontario Canada 1916
$230 Landes region France 1949
$213 Greater Hinggan, Heilongjiang China 1987
$173 2009 Victorian bushfires Australia 2009
$160 Miramichi Fire, New Brunswick Canada 1825

[edit] References

[edit] Top 10 deadliest blizzards

Death Toll Event Location Date
$4,000 Iran Blizzard Iran 1972
$1,337[citation needed] 2008 Afghanistan blizzard Afghanistan 2008
$400 Great Blizzard of 1888 clark newjersey s 1888
$318 1993 North American Storm Complex United States 1993
$235 Schoolhouse Blizzard United States 1888
$199 Hakkōda Mountains incident Japan 1902
$144 Armistice Day Blizzard United States 1940
$133 2008 Chinese winter storms China 2008
$112 1995 Kazakh Blizzard Kazakhstan 1995
$54 Blizzard of 1978 United States 1978

[edit] Contractible diseases

 The following text needs to be harmonized with text in List of epidemics.
Death Toll Event Location Date
approx. 300,000,000 Smallpox Worldwide 01901-01-0120th century alone[6]
approx. 100,000,000 Bubonic Plague: Black Death Asia, Europe, Africa 01300-01-011300s–1720s;
≥ 200,000,000 Measles Worldwide 01851-01-01last 150 years[7]
80,000,000–250,000,000 Malaria Worldwide 01900-01-0120th century – present
50,000,000–100,000,000 Spanish Flu Worldwide 01918-01-011918–1919[8]
40,000,000–100,000,000 Tuberculosis Worldwide 01900-01-0120th century – present[7]
approx. 40,000,000 Bubonic Plague: Plague of Justinian Asia, Europe, Africa 00540-01-01540–590
25,250,000 AIDS Worldwide 01981-01-011981–present (as of 2007)
≥ 12,000,000 Bubonic Plague: Third Pandemic Worldwide 01850-01-011850s–1950s
5,000,000 Antonine Plague Roman Empire 00165-01-01165–180
4,000,000 Asian Flu pandemic Worldwide 01957-01-011957
750,000 Hong Kong Flu pandemic Worldwide 01968-01-011968
775 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Mostly East Asia, few cases in Europe, Canada and United States 02002-01-012002–2003
677 West Nile Virus outbreak North America 01999-01-011999–2004
256 H5N1 strain of Bird Flu (mainly in Asia, few in Africa and Middle East) 02003-01-012003–present (as of 2007)

[edit] Famines

 The following text needs to be harmonized with text in List of famines.
Please Note: Some of these famines may be partially or completely caused by humans.
Death Toll Event Location Date
20,000,000–43,000,000 Great Chinese Famine (A.K.A. "The Great Leap Forward" China 1958–1961
24,000,000 Chinese Famine of 1907 China 1907
19,000,000 Indian Famine India 1896–1902
15,000,000 Bengal famine of 1770, incl. Bihar & Orissa India 1769–1771
13,000,000 Northern Chinese Famine China 1876–1879
10,000,000 Southern and Central Indian Famine India 1876–1879
7,500,000 Great European Famine Europe 1315–1317
5,000,000 Chinese Famine of 1936 China 1936
5,000,000 Holodomor Ukraine 1932–1934
5,000,000 Ukraine and Volga Famine Ukraine, Russia 1921–1922
4,000,000 Bengal famine of 1943 India 1943
3,000,000 Chinese Drought 1941 China 1941
3,000,000 Chinese Famine of 1928–1930 China 1928–1930
2,000,000 Russian famine of 1601 - 1603 Russia 1601 - 1603
1,000,000-1,500,000 Great Irish Famine Ireland 1846–1849
2,000,000 Vietnamese War Famine Vietnam 1943–1945
1,500,000–3,000,000 Bengal Famine of 1943 India 1943
1,200,000 North Korean famine North Korea 1996–1998
1,000,000 1984–1985 famine in Ethiopia Ethiopia 1984
1,000,000 Horn of Africa famine Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia 1888
26,000-1,000,000 Bangladesh famine of 1974—Official records claim 26,000. However, various sources claim about 1,000,000. Bangladesh 1974
150,000 Finnish famine of 1866–1868 Finland 1866–1868
18,000 Dutch famine of 1944 The Netherlands 1944

- famine in Kazakhstan in 1931-33 carried away 2 million lives

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ The world's worst natural disasters
  2. ^ Italy's earthquake history, BBC News
  3. ^ 10 'Worst' Natural Disasters
  4. ^ Hurricanes: case studies
  5. ^ Worst Natural Disasters In History
  6. ^ "UC Davis Magazine, Summer 2006: Epidemics on the Horizon". http://ucdavismagazine.ucdavis.edu/issues/su06/feature_1b.html. Retrieved on 2008-01-03. 
  7. ^ a b Torrey EF and Yolken RH. 2005. Their bugs are worse than their bite. Washington Post, April 3, p. B01.
  8. ^ 1918 Influenza: the Mother of All Pandemics, CDC

[edit] See also

Other lists organized by death toll

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_natural_disasters_by_death_toll"
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