14 Most Horrific Natural Disasters in History
Natural disasters have been happening ever since Earth became a planet. Today, when natural disasters strike, lives are lost, ruined, and changed forever. Some of the most deadly natural disasters include floods, earthquakes, cyclones, heat waves, and many more.
I’ve compiled the most deadly, extreme, and terrifying list of natural disasters in world history. This list will leave you wondering when the next giant natural disaster will strike.
1. 1958 Alaska Megatsunami,USA
Lituya Bay, Alaska, is a place you probably haven’t heard of. It’s one of the many little bays that line the shores of Alaska. What makes it different is the natural disaster that happened here, one of the few mega-tsunamis ever.
When an 8.3 earthquake hit, it triggered a 90 million-ton rockslide. When those rocks hit the narrow bay, a 490-foot wave was created, the largest wave ever recorded. A wave taller than the Empire State Building! Luckily, there was only a small settlement and only five people were killed. If this were to happen in a more populated area, imagine the number of deaths an almost 500-foot tsunami could have caused!
2. 1931 China Floods
The 1931 China floods have the highest death toll of any natural disaster. With 4 million people, it doubles the second-highest of any natural disaster. In the winter of 1931, there was a lot of snow up in the mountains and this, combined with the heavy rain in Wuhan and Nanjing, caused the rivers and lakes to overflow.
The flood spread across an area about the size of Washington and had a depth of up to 53 feet in some cities! It’s estimated that about 150,000 drowned in the flood, but this wasn’t even close to the worst part. Famine and disease caused by the flood affected 25 million people, which was the ultimate cause of the 4 million deaths.
3. 1948 Donora Smog, USA
Smog is one of the things that I hate the most. When you can see just a layer of thick dirty air lying over a city, it’s disgusting. Now, imagine a fog so dense and so toxic that it could kill you. This happened to the people of Donora, Pennsylvania, in 1948.
When sulfur dioxide and hydrogen fluoride emissions from the U.S. Steel’s Donora Zinc Works and the American Steel & Wire plant combined with inversion (when cold air gets trapped under hot air) and fog, it created a death fog. This death fog lasted for five days, caused 50 deaths, and gave 6,000 of the town’s residents respiratory problems. If this remained any longer, it’s estimated that the death toll would have been in the thousands. Luckily, it rained and the fog and the smog were cleared.
4. 1887 Yellow River Flood, China
Here is the second-highest death toll from a natural disaster, the 1887 Yellow River Flood. It ended up killing 2 million people when all was said and done. The flood happened when the Yellow River overflowed and covered an area of 50,000 square miles, about the size of New York.
The depth of the flood was up to 60 feet in some places, leaving over 2 million people homeless after the flood subsided. It’s estimated that 930,000 people died in the flood and that another million died because of a lack of food and other necessities.
5. 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami
We all know what happened in 2004 when a tsunami hit the countries of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Somalia, and Thailand. It’s estimated that 228,000 people died in this tsunami. The country that was hit the hardest was Indonesia, with 170,000 confirmed, and possibly as high as 220,000, deaths.
The 9.1 magnitude earthquake happened in the middle of the Indian Ocean, 100 miles off the coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. This earthquake is the strongest in the 21st century. The highest wave caused by the tsunami was in Aceh, Indonesia, which reached 80 feet tall.
Many documentaries and movies have been made about this tsunami, some of the most famous being “The Impossible” and “Tsunami: Caught on Camera”.
6. 1976 Tangshan Earthquake, China
The natural disaster with the third highest death toll also happened in China, meaning that all three of the most deadly natural disasters in the history of the world took place in China. In the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, an estimated 655,000 people died.
Not as many lives were lost as during the floods, but still astronomically high. At 3:42 a.m. on 28 July 1976, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit Tangshan, China. In a matter of minutes, 85% of the buildings collapsed, instantly killing 242,769 people. This is the highest in the shortest amount of time of any natural or manmade disaster ever.
The effects of the earthquake were felt in Beijing, 87 miles from the epicenter, killing 50. The death toll was huge for this natural disaster but the amount of serious injuries caused by the earthquake was also a lot, too. 165,000 people suffered serious injuries.
7. 1972 Iran Blizzard
When I think of Iran, I think of the hot desert in the Middle East. However, this is not the case. The most deadly blizzard ever happened in Iran that left 4,000 dead. Winter storms brought 25 feet of snow to the northwestern part of the country, and 26 feet in southern Iran.
The city hit the hardest was Ardakan, where some of the surrounding villages had no survivors. One example is the village of Sheklab which had 100 inhabitants, none of which survived.
The blizzard lasted for 5 days and the snow was so high in some places that it crushed cars just from its sheer weight. It also took out power to most cities, buried and trapped people in their houses with no way to escape, and anyone who was driving on dangerous mountain roads either fell to their death or froze.
8. 1970 Bhola Cyclone, Bangladesh
The fourth most deadly natural disaster in the world is the 1970 Bhola Cyclone. With a death toll estimated at 300,000-500,000, it’s the deadliest tropical cyclone on record. It had winds up to 115 mph and was the sixth-strongest cyclone ever recorded. The area that was hit the hardest was Tazumuddin, where 45% of the population (or 75,000) died from the storm.
At the time, the storm made landfall, it hit what was formerly known as East Pakistan. The Pakistani government mishandled the preparation and aftermath of the storm so terribly that seven months after the storm, East Pakistan split from Pakistan and became its own country, Bangladesh.
9. 1989 Daulatpur–Saturia Tornado, Bangladesh
When Bangladesh became its own country, the natural disasters didn’t stop there. In 1989, the deadliest tornado in the world hit Bangladesh. You probably thought that tornadoes only happen in the middle of the US, but they occasionally whip through other parts of the world. Bangladesh gets an average of six tornadoes annually, sometimes reaching up to 10 in one year.
The Daulatpur–Saturia tornado killed approximately 1,300 people and injured upwards of 12,000. This F4 tornado had winds up to 210-260 mph. The tornado’s path was about 50 miles long creating 58 square miles of damage. The land was almost barren after this tornado, leaving only some tree trunks and 80,000 people homeless.
10. 1815 Eruption of Mount Tambora, Indonesia
The 1815 volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia was the deadliest volcano ever. Its blast was so big that it blew a large chunk of the mountain off, killed at least 10,000 people, and left 35,000 homeless. The volcano also triggered multiple tsunamis, which killed about half of the 10,000 people who died. This was the largest volcanic eruption ever recorded.
It’s said that when the volcano erupted, the entire mountain turned into a mass of liquid fire that killed everything and everyone in its path. The blast was so bad that it created a volcanic winter across the northern hemisphere and made temperatures drop by an average of one degree in the winter.
11. 1871 Peshtigo Fire, USA
Now we move on to the deadliest fire in history. You might assume that’s the Fire of London, probably the most famous fire in the world. You’d be wrong. Only six people died in the Fire in London! However, in the Peshtigo Fire in the US, over 1,200 people lost their lives.
The fire was so bad and powerful, that it started a firestorm and created a wind system. Flames reaching 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, created one of the most tragic seas of flames. Scientists guess the fire was caused by a comet that hit one of the forests. When it was all over, 1.5 million acres were burned.
12. 2003 European Heat Wave
2003 was the hottest summer in Europe since 1540. Because of this, more than 70,000 people died. The peak heat was recorded in Portugal at 117.1 °F. France was hit with the hardest death toll with 14,802 heat-related deaths. Europe doesn’t have summers like in the US, where it’s over 100 degrees for most of the summer. In Europe, people can’t just turn on their air conditioning because they don’t have it!
They have many superstitions about air conditioning making you sick, and it costs too much for the average European to install. Most of the people who died in this heat wave were elderly and couldn’t handle the brutal heat. I think the stigma around air conditioning in Europe needs to end, especially as the world continues to heat up.
13. 79 CE Mount Vesuvius Eruption, Italy
I would say that this is one of the most famous natural disasters to occur. In the year 79 CE, Mount Vesuvius erupted, killing 1,500 to 3,500 with some sources saying that the death toll was up to 16,000.
The eruption wasn’t the only thing that happened. Years before the volcano, a major earthquake hit the Pompeii area and just as they were finished rebuilding, Vesuvius erupted. The volcano erupted 19 miles high into the stratosphere and lasted about 20 hours. This caused the ash to cover the city of Pompeii, trapping many people.
14. 1986 Lake Nyos Limnic Eruption, Cameroon
If you’ve never heard of a Limnic eruption, let me explain. It’s when a large pocket of carbon monoxide is trapped under a lake and released at once, killing everything around it.
The Limnic eruption in Cameroon was the most deadly of these rare Limnic eruptions. 1,746 people and 3,500 livestock died from this eruption. Everything within a 16-mile radius of the lake was almost instantly suffocated as the thick wave of carbon monoxide poured over the nearby villages. About 4,000 people were able to escape the cloud of deadly gas, but even they developed respiratory problems, lesions, and paralysis.
What do you think?
Did I miss any natural disasters? Have you heard about all the ones on this list? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading!
