Science
Natural Disasters
Devastating natural disasters throughout history including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, cyclones, and floods with their human toll.
sciencedisastersearthquakestsunamisvolcanoeshistory
20 of 20 rows
Event↕ | Type↕ | Year↕ | Location↕ | Magnitude / Scale↕ | Casualties Estimate↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eruption of Mount Vesuvius | Volcanic Eruption | 79 | Pompeii & Herculaneum, Roman Empire (Italy) | VEI 5 | ~2,000 (Pompeii alone) |
| Great Lisbon Earthquake | Earthquake / Tsunami / Fire | 1,755 | Lisbon, Portugal | ~8.5 Mw (estimated) | 30,000 - 50,000 |
| Mount Tambora Eruption | Volcanic Eruption | 1,815 | Sumbawa, Indonesia | VEI 7 (largest in recorded history) | ~71,000 (direct + famine from 'Year Without a Summer') |
| Krakatoa Eruption | Volcanic Eruption | 1,883 | Krakatoa, Indonesia | VEI 6 | ~36,000 (mostly from tsunamis) |
| 1906 San Francisco Earthquake | Earthquake | 1,906 | San Francisco, United States | 7.9 Mw | ~3,000 |
| 1970 Bhola Cyclone | Tropical Cyclone | 1,970 | East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) | Category 3 (equivalent) | 300,000 - 500,000 |
| Tangshan Earthquake | Earthquake | 1,976 | Tangshan, China | 7.5 Mw | ~242,000 (official); up to 655,000 (some estimates) |
| Mount St. Helens Eruption | Volcanic Eruption | 1,980 | Washington State, United States | VEI 5 | 57 |
| 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami | Earthquake / Tsunami | 2,004 | Indian Ocean (Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, 14 countries) | 9.1 Mw (undersea earthquake) | ~227,000 |
| Hurricane Katrina | Hurricane | 2,005 | Gulf Coast, United States (New Orleans) | Category 5 (Cat 3 at landfall) | ~1,833 |
| 2005 Kashmir Earthquake | Earthquake | 2,005 | Azad Kashmir, Pakistan / India | 7.6 Mw | ~87,000 |
| Cyclone Nargis | Tropical Cyclone | 2,008 | Irrawaddy Delta, Myanmar | Category 4 | ~138,000 |
| 2010 Haiti Earthquake | Earthquake | 2,010 | Port-au-Prince, Haiti | 7.0 Mw | ~160,000 - 316,000 |
| 2011 Tohoku Earthquake & Tsunami | Earthquake / Tsunami | 2,011 | Tohoku, Japan | 9.1 Mw | ~19,759 (including missing) |
| Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster | Nuclear (triggered by earthquake/tsunami) | 2,011 | Fukushima, Japan | INES Level 7 | 1 (direct radiation); ~2,202 disaster-related deaths from evacuation |
| Hurricane Maria | Hurricane | 2,017 | Puerto Rico / Caribbean | Category 5 | ~2,975 (revised estimate) |
| 2022 Pakistan Floods | Flooding | 2,022 | Sindh, Balochistan, Pakistan | One-third of country submerged | ~1,739 |
| 2023 Turkey-Syria Earthquake | Earthquake | 2,023 | Southern Turkey / Northern Syria | 7.8 Mw (followed by 7.7 Mw aftershock) | ~59,000 |
| Boxing Day Tsunami (same as 2004) | Earthquake / Tsunami | 2,004 | Banda Aceh, Indonesia (epicenter) | 9.1 Mw | ~170,000 in Indonesia alone |
| Pompeii Eruption (Mount Vesuvius) | Volcanic Eruption | 79 | Pompeii, Roman Empire (Italy) | VEI 5; pyroclastic flows at 700°C | ~2,000 in Pompeii; ~16,000 total region |
Loading community rankings...