Coming global cataclysms on Earth. Time to wake up. The worst natural disasters in history The biggest victims of natural disasters
17.04.2013
Natural disasters unpredictable, destructive, they cannot be stopped. Perhaps that is why humanity is most afraid of them. We offer you the top rating in history, they took a huge number of lives.
10. The collapse of the Banqiao Dam, 1975
The dam was built to contain the effects of about 12 inches of rainfall daily. However, in August 1975, it became clear that this was not enough. As a result of the collision of the cyclones, Typhoon Nina brought heavy rainfall of –7.46 inches per hour, which means 41.7 inches daily. In addition, due to clogging, the dam could no longer fulfill its role. In a few days, 15.738 billion tons of water burst through it, which rolled in a deadly wave over the surrounding area. More than 231,000 people died.
9. Earthquake in Haiyan, China, 1920
As a result of the earthquake, which is on the 9th line in the top ranking deadliest natural disasters in history, 7 provinces in China were affected. In the Hainyan region alone, 73,000 people have died, with more than 200,000 deaths nationwide. The tremors continued for the next three years. It caused landslides and large ground cracks. The earthquake turned out to be so strong that some rivers changed course, in some natural dams appeared.
8. Tangshan Earthquake, 1976
It happened on July 28, 1976 and is called the strongest earthquake of the 20th century. The epicenter was the city of Tangshan, located in the Hebei province, China. Almost nothing was left of a densely populated, large industrial city in 10 seconds. The number of victims is about 220,000.
7. Earthquake Antakya (Antioch), 565
Despite the small number of details that have survived to this day, the earthquake has become one of the most destructive and claimed more than 250,000 lives and caused enormous damage to the economy.
6. Indian Ocean earthquake / tsunami, 2004
It happened on December 24, 2004, just in time for Christmas. The epicenter was near the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand have suffered the most. The second earthquake in the history of magnitude 9.1 -9.3. it has caused a number of other earthquakes around the globe, for example in Alaska. It also caused a deadly tsunami. More than 225,000 people died.
5. Indian cyclone, 1839
In 1839, an extremely large cyclone came to India. On November 25, a storm practically destroyed the city of Koringa. He literally destroyed everything he came into contact with. 2,000 ships docked in the port were demolished. The city has not been rebuilt. The storm surges it attracted killed over 300,000 people.
4. Cyclone Bol, 1970
After the Cyclone Bola walked through the lands of Pakistan, more than half of the arable land was polluted and damaged, a small part of the rice and grain was saved, but famine was no longer avoided. In addition, about 500,000 people died from the heavy rains and floods that it caused. Wind force - 115 meters per hour, hurricane - category 3.
3. Shaanxi earthquake, 1556
The most destructive earthquake in history happened on February 14, 1556 in China. Its epicenter was in the valley of the Wei River and as a result, about 97 provinces were affected. Buildings were destroyed, half of the people living in them were killed. According to some reports, 60% of the population of Huascian province died. A total of 830,000 people died. The tremors continued for another six months.
2. Flood of the Yellow River, 1887
The Yellow River in China is extremely prone to flooding and overflow. In 1887, this resulted in the flooding of 50,000 square miles around. According to some reports, the flood claimed the lives of 900,000 - 2,000,000 people. Farmers, knowing the characteristics of the river, built dams that saved them from the annual floods, but that year, the water blew away both the farmers and their homes.
1. Flood of Central China, 1931
According to statistics, the flood that occurred in 1931 became the most terrible in history... After a long drought, 7 cyclones came to China at once, which brought hundreds of liters of rain with them. As a result, three rivers overflowed their banks. The flood killed 4 million people.
October 13 is the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction, which is not a reason to remember the worst and deadliest natural disasters in the history of mankind.
Earthquake in Syria. 1202 year
The earthquake of 1202, the epicenter of which was in the Dead Sea, was not so much powerful as it was prolonged and large-scale - it was felt over the vast territory located between Syria and Armenia. The exact number of deaths is unknown - in the 13th century no one counted the population, but even by the most conservative estimates, the earthquake claimed the lives of more than a million people.
Earthquake in China. 1556 year
One of the most destructive earthquakes in human history - in China - occurred on January 23, 1556. Its epicenter was in the area of the right tributary of the Yellow River - Weihe, and it affected 97 counties in several Chinese provinces. The earthquake was accompanied by landslides, landslides and changes in river channels, which, in turn, led to floods, and the destruction of houses and temples - to severe fires. As a result of the disaster, the soil liquefied and pulled buildings and people underground, its impact was felt even at a distance of 500 kilometers from the epicenter. 830 thousand people became victims of the earthquake.
Earthquake and tsunami in Portugal. 1755 year
The infamous Lisbon earthquake began on November 1, 1755 at nine o'clock in the morning - from the first aftershocks in the sea to the moment when the 15-meter tsunami covered the city's central embankment, it took only twenty minutes. Most of its inhabitants were at the service in churches - they celebrated All Saints Day, so they had no chance of salvation. Fire broke out in Lisbon and continued for ten days. In addition to the capital, sixteen other Portuguese cities were affected, and neighboring Setubal was almost completely washed away by the tsunami. The victims of the earthquake were from 40 to 60 thousand people. Lost architectural gems such as the Opera House and the Royal Palace, and the picturesque masterpieces of Caravaggio, Titian and Rubens.
Great hurricane. 1780 year
The Great Hurricane - or Hurricane San Calixto II - is the most powerful and deadliest tropical cyclone in human history. It originated in early October 1780 in the Cape Verde Islands region and raged for a week. On October 10, at a speed of 320 kilometers per hour, San Calixto II hit Barbados, Martinique, Saint Lucia and Sint Eustatius, leaving behind thousands of dead everywhere. The islands of Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua and Saint Kitts were also affected. The great hurricane destroyed houses to their foundations and tore them from anchors and smashed ships on the rocks, and heavy cannons flew in the air like matches. In terms of human casualties, a total of 27,000 people died during the rampage of San Calixto II.
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History knows several eruptions of the Krakatoa volcano, but the most destructive one was the one that happened on August 27, 1883. Then, as a result of the most powerful explosion in the history of mankind, 20 cubic kilometers of stones and ash and a jet of steam 11 meters high literally smashed to pieces a volcanic island in the Sunda Strait - between the islands of Java and Sumatra. The shock waves circled the globe seven times and formed a 36-meter-high tsunami that struck the coast - it claimed the lives of 36 thousand people. All in all, as a result of the eruption of Krakatoa, 200 thousand people died.
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Several floods in China, which followed one after another, claimed a total of 4 (!) Million lives. Historians believe that this is the largest and most tragic natural disaster in the history of mankind. In August 1931, the Yangtze and Yellow He rivers that overflowed their banks as a result of prolonged rains destroyed the dams that contained them and flowed, sweeping away everything in their path. Water completely destroyed agriculture in several dozen provinces, and the city of Gaoyu, located on the shore of the lake, was completely washed away. But the worst of all was the human sacrifice: those who did not die from the water died from devastation, hunger and epidemics.
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On May 31, 1970, due to an earthquake, the epicenter of which was in the Pacific Ocean, a rock-ice avalanche broke away from Mount Huascarana in Peru and, moving at a speed of a thousand kilometers per hour, covered the towns of Ranragirk and Yungai located in the valley of the Rio Santa River - only the cemetery with the figure of Christ hovering above it was left of them. In just a few minutes, an avalanche wiped them and several other small villages, including the ports of Kasma and Chimbote, off the face of the earth. The result of the cataclysm: 70 thousand dead, including Czech climbers, who were going to conquer the Andes, and 150 thousand wounded. The memory of those whose lives were taken away by the avalanche were honored in Peru with eight days of mourning.
Cyclone Bhola. 1970 year
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George Harrison at a benefit concert in Bangladesh.
Tropical cyclone Bhola is one of the worst natural disasters of the 20th century. On November 13, 1970, a 15 (!) Meter high wave hit the islands and coast of East Pakistan, washing away entire settlements and agricultural lands on its way. In a short time, 500 thousand people died - mostly the elderly and children. The disaster had political consequences: riots broke out, the participants in which accused the Pakistani government of inaction and slow elimination of the consequences. Civil war broke out between East Pakistan and the central government, which resulted in the declaration of independence for Bangladesh.
The whole world helped to rebuild the affected areas. One of the most famous charity events was a concert organized by George Harrison: having invited many famous performers, he raised a quarter of a million dollars in one day.
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Heat in Europe. 2003 year
The heat that covered the continent in 2003 - that summer was the hottest since the end of World War II - caught the health care system of European countries by surprise, which was not ready for the stress when not dozens, but hundreds and thousands of people needed medical care. Countries such as France, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Croatia and Bulgaria were particularly affected. The temperature in some areas did not drop below + 40 ° С. The first to be hit were the elderly, as well as allergy sufferers and those who suffered from cardiovascular diseases. In total, about 70 thousand people died on the European continent that summer.
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Tsunami in the Indian Ocean. 2004 year
Along with the European heat of 2003, many people remember the tsunami in the Indian Ocean, which happened a year and a half later - there were also citizens of Ukraine among the dead. The deadly wave was the consequence of the largest earthquake in the history of the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004. Its magnitude on the Richter scale was 9 points, as a result of which a tsunami was formed, the height of which in the coastal zone was 15 meters, and in the splash zone - 30 meters. An hour and a half after the earthquake, it reached the shores of Thailand, two hours later - Sri Lanka and India, and claimed the lives of 250 thousand people.
The war takes away tens of thousands of human lives, but even the most bloody cannot compare with the elements: the planet does not spare us - and does not even pay attention to the number of victims suffered from cyclones, floods and other terrible disasters. Which is worse - a tornado or a fire? What are the chances of surviving a volcanic eruption? And what about an avalanche? Unfortunately, the answer in both cases is minimal. We have collected 10 of the most terrible natural disasters in the history of mankind: apparently, nature is beginning, gradually, to punish us for the imprudent destruction of the planet.
The eruption of the Mont Pele volcano
1902 On May 8, 1902, the Mont Pele volcano, which had been peacefully dormant for decades, unexpectedly exploded. This catastrophe simply cannot be called an eruption: lava flows and pieces of rock literally destroyed the main port of Martinique, Saint-Pierre. As many as 36,000 people died in just a few minutes.
Flooding in China
1931 The beginning of the 31st year was a terrible test for the entire people of China. A series of terrible floods, which modern historians call the largest natural disaster in the history of mankind, claimed nearly 4 million lives.
Fire in Kursha-2
1936 The summer of 1936 was very hot. A fire that had started near the village was blown up by the wind. The fire moved towards the people. At night, a train approached the village, work began to save the logging. At the very end, when the danger was very high, the train moved away - the villagers were sitting on logs. When the train approached the canal, the wooden bridge was already on fire. From him the train loaded with logs began. People were burning alive. About 1200 people died in one night.
Avalanche Huascarana
1970 An earthquake off the coast of Peru destabilized the northern slope of the stately two-humped Mount Huascaran. An avalanche of ice and rock rushed down at 180 miles per hour. The town of Jungau, located on the spur of the Huascarana, has already encountered 80 million cubic meters of mud, ice and snow. None of the 25,000 inhabitants of the village survived.
Cyclone Bhola
1970 This tropical cyclone is recognized as one of the most destructive natural disasters modern world... The storm tide that hit the islands of the Ganges delta claimed the lives of half a million people. Once again, think about this number: 500,000 people died in just one day.
Storm in Iran
1972 A terrible snow storm lasted a whole week: the rural areas of Iran were completely covered with a three-meter layer of snow. Some villages were literally buried under avalanches. Subsequently, the authorities counted as many as 4,000 people killed.
Tanshan earthquake
1976 This natural disaster occurred in the Chinese city of Tangshan. At about four o'clock in the morning, at a depth of 22 kilometers, there was a strong earthquake. The city was destroyed to the ground, none of the 655,000 people survived.
Tornado in Daulatpur
1989 A deadly tornado, the radius of which exceeded 1.5 kilometers, was noticed by observers on the morning of April 26. A little later, this giant struck Bangladesh. The power of the tornado was enough to easily lift entire houses into the air. People were literally torn to pieces: in just a day, about one and a half thousand people died, another 12 thousand ended up in the hospital.
European heat
2003 The heat wave that broke out in the summer of 2003 claimed the lives of 70,000 people. According to the authorities, the local health care system was simply not designed for such an incredible burden. It is noteworthy that forecasters claim a recurrence of such a heat attack approximately every thirteen years.
Tsunami in the Indian Ocean
2004 An underwater earthquake on December 26, 2004 caused an incredible tsunami. The earthquake itself was recognized as the third highest level in history in general. A tsunami with waves exceeding 15 meters hit the shores of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and killed more than 250,000 people.We can speculate about how everything could have ended if some kind of catastrophe did not happen, but the variables are so small, and there are so many of them, that we will never know the correct answer. Like forecasting the weather (which looks to the future anyway), we can only make an assumption based on the information we receive, which is very limited. Let's take a look at 10 natural disasters from our past and then imagine what the world would look like without them. You might be interested in the articles on the 10 most expensive terrorist attacks in human history.
10. Breakthrough of Lake Agassiz, North America
About 14,500 years ago, the planet's climate began to emerge from the last Great Ice Age. And as temperatures began to rise, the Arctic ice mass covering most of the Northern Hemisphere began to melt. Fast forward 1,600 years to the center of northern North America (where areas of North Dakota, Minnesota, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario are now located), which was under a huge proglacial lake formed by melt water, which was blocked by a wall of ice or other natural dam. With an approximate area of 273,000 sq. km, Lake Agassiz was larger than any lake in the world today, about the size of the Black Sea.
Then, for some reason, the dam burst, and all the fresh water from the lake rushed into the Arctic Ocean through the Mackenzie River valley. And even if the flood itself was not strong enough, then its consequences probably destroyed the megafauna of North America, as well as the people of the Clovis culture. The insane amount of fresh water that has flooded the Arctic Ocean has significantly weakened the Atlantic conveyor belt by 30% or more. Warm water travels along this conveyor to the Arctic, where it cools down to the bottom and returns to the south along the ocean floor. With a new influx fresh water from Lake Agassiz, the cycle slowed down and the Northern Hemisphere returned to near-icy temperatures for 1,200 years, in a period known as the Younger Dryas. The end of this period, about 11,500 years ago, was even more abrupt than its beginning, when the temperature in Greenland rose by 18 degrees Fahrenheit in just 10 years.
9. Eruptions of Siberian Traps, Central Russia
About 252 million years ago, planet Earth looked very different from today. Life was as alien as it could be, and all the continents were pushed together to form a single super-continent known as Pangea. Evolution proceeded along the usual path, with the prosperity of life on land and at sea. Then, as if out of nowhere, everything changed in one geological instant.
In the Far North of Pangea, where Siberia is now located, a super-volcano of biblical proportions began to erupt. The eruption was incredibly powerful and destructive, covering an area of almost 2.7 million square meters. km (approximately equal to the continental United States) and was covered with a layer of lava 1.5 km thick. Just over 800,000 sq. km of this layer can still be seen in the region called Siberian traps.
The eruption itself and the destructive lava flows that followed it became only a catalyst for an irreversible chain of events that destroyed 75% of all life on earth and more than 95% of all sea creatures. This apocalyptic event, known as the Great Extinction, marked the transition between the Permian and Triassic periods. The immediate effect of the super-volcano devastated the Northern Hemisphere completely, turning the air into a veritable acid and plunging the entire food chain into utter chaos. The eruption was followed by a centuries-old volcanic winter, 10% of all species on earth died. After the deposition of dust, the climate on the planet immediately went into a phase of global warming, the overall temperature rose by 5 degrees Celsius, which led to the extinction of another 35% of all land creatures.
The oceans were close, the water swallowed up a lot carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, turning it into carbonic acid. As temperatures rose, oxygen-depleted water from the ocean floor began to expand and rise from the depths, taking all marine life into a difficult position. A huge amount of methane hydrate, even today found on the ocean floor, has risen to the surface due to warming water, thereby increasing the planet's temperature by another 5 degrees Celsius. At that time, almost all marine species became extinct, and only the toughest living creatures managed to survive. This event is the largest mass extinction event on Earth. But by now, our production is emitting four times more CO2 into the atmosphere than a super-volcano many millions of years ago, and most of the above effects are already starting to occur.
8. Sturegga Landslide, Norwegian Sea
About 8,000 years ago, 100 km off the northern coast of modern Norway, a huge piece of land about the size of Iceland broke off the European continental shelf and plunged into the depths of the Norwegian Sea. Most likely this process was caused by an earthquake, which led to the destabilization of methane hydrates at the bottom, 1,350 cubic kilometers of sediments were distributed over 1,600 kilometers in the ocean floor, covering an area of about 59,000 square kilometers. km. The ensuing tsunami triggered a landslide that caused havoc on all nearby land masses.
Since the planet was just emerging from the previous Ice Age, the sea level was 14 meters lower than today. Even so, the sediments left behind by the Sturegg landslide were found 80 km inland in some places and at an altitude of 6 meters above today's high tide level. The 25-meter waves have seriously affected the territories of modern Scotland, England, Norway, Iceland, the Faroe, Orkney and Shetland Islands, Greenland, Ireland and the Netherlands.
The last piece of land that once connected the British Isles to mainland Europe, known as Doggerland, was completely flooded, thus creating the North Sea that we know today. This is not the first or last time, several other small landslides off the coast of modern Norway occurred between 50,000 and 6,000 years ago. Oil and gas companies take special precautions to avoid accidentally provoking such an event.
7 Lucky eruption, Iceland
Iceland is located directly on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where two large tectonic plates move away from each other. This makes the island nation one of the most volcanically active regions in the world. In 1783, a 29-kilometer rift in the island's surface, known as the Lucky Fissure, was ripped open by an eruption. Along the entire length of the volcano, 130 craters were formed, which spewed 5.4 cubic meters. km of basaltic lava for 8 months. Incomparable in size and destruction to what happened in Siberia 252 million years ago, the eruption of Laki was characterized by very similar signs, and was the largest volcanic eruption in the last 500 years. Through a network of underground tunnels known as lava tubes, the molten rock spread hundreds of kilometers from the fault and wiped out 20 villages from the face of the earth.
However, the most destructive effect of Lucky was not the lava itself, but the toxic gases released into the atmosphere. About 8 million tons of hydrogen fluoride and 120 million tons of sulfur dioxide were released, poisoning the air and producing acid rain. As a result, three quarters of the sheep and more than half of all cattle in Iceland were killed. Due to hunger and disease, more than 20% of Iceland's population died over the next few months. In addition, sulfur dioxide has spread to much of the Northern Hemisphere, blocking out the sun's rays and plunging the planet into a mini-volcanic winter. Europe was hit hardest by this eruption, which caused crop failures and famine that led to the infamous French Revolution.
The rest of the world was also affected by the eruption. North America endured the longest and harshest winter, one-sixth of Egypt's population died of hunger, and the monsoon seasons were in disarray, affecting even regions as far away as India and Southeast Asia.
6. Super Tornado Outbreak, 2011, Central USA
In general, tornadoes have left few traces of their existence over a long period of time. Their consequences can be devastating, but from an archaeological point of view, not much evidence of a tornado's passage can be found. However, the largest and most destructive tornado event in human history took place in 2011 in the square, colloquially known as “ tornado alley”In the USA and Canada.
From April 25 to April 28, a total of 362 tornadoes were recorded and confirmed by the National Meteorological Service in 15 states. Destructive tornadoes occurred every day, since April 27, the most active ones have been recorded, 218 tornadoes have been recorded. Four of them were classified in the EF5 category, the highest rating on the Fujita Tornado Scale. On average, there is one EF5 tornado recorded around the world once a year or less.
A total of 348 people were killed in this outbreak, 324 of whom died directly from the tornado. The remaining 24 people were victims of flash floods, fist-sized hail or lightning strikes. Another 2,200 people were injured. Alabama suffered the most, with 252 deaths. The epicenter of the impact was the city of Tuscaloosa in Alabama, where an EF4 tornado with a diameter of almost 1.5 km and a wind speed of more than 200 km / h passed through residential areas of the city. The total material damage is estimated at about $ 11 billion, which made the 2011 super-tornado outbreak one of the most expensive natural disasters in the United States.
5. Spanish flu, worldwide
At a time when the world was gripped by the horrors of the First World War, an even more merciless assassin spread across the planet. The Spanish flu or the Spanish flu became the deadliest pandemic in modern history, 500 million people are infected worldwide - about a third of the population - and between 20 and 50 million people died in less than six months. Since at the end of 1918 the First World War Gradually came to an end, initially the influenza virus was overlooked, especially on the battlefield, which quickly became an ideal breeding ground for airborne disease.
For many years, scientists believed that the origin of influenza began in the trenches of France, and intensive research was carried out on this type of influenza in neutral Spain, which gave it the name “ Spanish flu”. The harsh fighting conditions were ideal for such a disease, with large numbers of people living together in poverty and often in close proximity to animals such as pigs. What's more, the many deadly chemicals used during World War I provided ample opportunity for the virus to mutate.
However, ten years after the war, Kansas was seriously considered as another possible breeding ground for the H1N1 flu virus when 48 marines were found dead in military camps. More recent figures point to a group of 96,000 Chinese workers who were sent to work behind British and French lines. Reports of respiratory illness that hit northern China in November 1917 were identified a year later by Chinese health officials as identical to the Spanish flu. However, no direct link has been found between the Chinese disease and the worldwide Spanish flu epidemic.
The effects of the pandemic can be felt today, 100 years later, as related strains of the virus caused epidemics in 1957, 1968, and then in 2009 and 2010 during “ swine flu crisis”. None of these cases were as deadly as at the end of World War I, when only the isolated island of Marajo in the Brazilian Amazon Delta was not reported as an outbreak.
4. The last outburst of Lake Agassiz and the Black Sea flood, Eastern Europe
Once again, Lake Agassiz is included in this list, this time due to its final drainage, which occurred about 8,200 years ago. Following the last spill of this large lake, mentioned above, the ice sheet has re-formed due to the cooling caused by the influx of fresh water into the Arctic Ocean. But after 1200 years, the planet warmed up again and the lake overflowed again. But this time Agassiz merged with another equally large lake, Ojibwe. The unification, however, did not last long, and this time their waters rushed into Hudson Bay. As before, the planet plunged into another period of global cooling (6200 BC). However, this time the cold snap was much shorter than the Younger Dryas, and lasted about 150 years. However, the sudden influx of water into the oceans has led to a rise in sea level by as much as 4 meters.
Major floods occurred in all corners of the world: from America, Europe, Africa, Arabia, South Asia and to the islands The Pacific... A large number of submerged settlements have been found throughout the world, which can probably date from this period. Perhaps it was during this period that the myths of the worldwide flood were born. But the largest flooding event occurred in Eastern Europe in the Black Sea region, which at the time was nothing more than a freshwater lake. Due to the rapid rise in sea level, the Bosphorus was partially destroyed and waters from the Mediterranean poured into the lake, which as a result turned into the Black Sea. The rate at which water entered the lake, as well as its quantity, remain a matter of controversy to this day.
Some believe that more than 16 cubic kilometers of water passed through the strait in a stream 200 times the flow of Niagara Falls. This continued for three centuries and 96,500 sq. M. Were flooded. km of land, the water level rose by 15 cm per day. Others believe that the flood was gradual and only 1,240 sq. km.
3. The Zanklin Flood and the Mediterranean Sea
Just like the Black Sea mentioned above, the Mediterranean Sea was once a lake. As the African and Eurasian tectonic plates moved closer and closer together over many millions of years, they eventually collided. About 5.6 million years ago, their initial point of contact was between the Iberian Peninsula and the northern coast of West Africa. Isolated from the Atlantic Ocean, the modern Mediterranean lake has been evaporating due to arid conditions for several hundred thousand years. In most places, the seabed was covered with a layer of salt more than a kilometer thick. This salt was blown by the winds, wreaking havoc on the surrounding landscape.
Fortunately, after 300,000 years, the Mediterranean Sea has re-filled. The likely cause is the continued shift of the crustal plates, which in turn caused land subsidence around the Strait of Gibraltar. Over the course of several thousand years, which is an instant in geological terms, the Atlantic Ocean dug its way through a 200-kilometer channel. The flow of water that reached the Mediterranean basin was slow at first, but even then, it was three times the current flow of the Amazon River. However, it is believed that after the canal became wide enough, the water flow became enormous, filling the remaining 90% of the Mediterranean basin in a period of several months to two years. The rise in the water level could reach 10 meters per day. This event is known as the Zanklin Flood. And even today, more than 5 million years later, the Mediterranean Sea is much saltier than the ocean due to the narrow strait that connects them.
2. Drought in northern China, 1876-79
Between 1876 and 1879, there was a severe drought in China, which killed about 13 million people out of a total population of 108 million. As the world emerged from its last cooling period, known as the "Little Ice Age," a drought in the Yellow River Basin began in early 1876, worsening the next year's harvest with an almost complete lack of rainfall. It was the worst drought in the region in 300 years, and is likely to have caused the highest death toll. Shanxi Province was hit hardest by the famine, which killed an estimated 5.5 million people out of a total population of 15 million.
This is not the first time China has faced a severe drought, and up until the 18th century, the country invested heavily in storing and distributing grain in case of such dire situations. In fact, the government has taken effective measures on a number of occasions to prevent severe droughts that could lead to widespread famine.
But this time, the Qing state was significantly weakened by the middle of the century due to uprisings and strong British imperialism, and was completely unprepared for a crisis of this magnitude. And although both international and local assistance Most of China's rural areas have been left deserted due to hunger, disease and migration.
1. Collision between the Earth and Theia
Although this list was not compiled in any particular order, we decided to end it on a huge catastrophic event of astronomical proportions that made our planet what it is today. And even if scientists are not 100% sure that this happened, there is good reason to believe that it all really happened that way. About 100 million years after the planet was formed due to the gradual collection of asteroids and other space debris, the young planet Earth collided with the planet Theia, a hypothetical planet in our young solar system. This planet is believed to have been about the size of Mars, or slightly smaller, and which, 4.31 billion years ago, flew towards Earth and shattered into smithereens.
The force of the collision brought the two planets together to form the Earth we know and love today. Pieces discarded in the collision were captured gravitational field planets and then formed the moon. The large size of the natural satellite in relation to Earth supports the collision hypothesis. In addition, scientists analyzed lunar rocks from three Apollo missions and compared them to volcanic rocks found in Hawaii and Arizona and found no difference in oxygen isotopes. Further evidence of the collision is the unusually large core and shell of our planet compared to other rocky worlds. Solar system as the core of Theia and a shell mixed with the shell of the Earth.
Video about possible natural disasters of the future. Life in the 21st century seems comfortable and safe, but a person can control the power of nature within very modest limits. Scientists make their predictions based on research.
Below is a list of the ten largest natural disasters in human history. The rating is based on the death toll.
Earthquake in Aleppo
Death toll: about 230,000
The rating of the largest natural disasters in the history of mankind is opened by an earthquake in Aleppo with a magnitude of 8.5 on the Richter scale, which occurred in several stages near the city of Aleppo in northern Syria on October 11, 1138. It is often referred to as the fourth most fatal earthquake in history. According to the records of the Damascus chronicler Ibn al-Kalanisi, approximately 230,000 people died as a result of this disaster.
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
Number of victims: 225,000-300,000
An underwater earthquake that struck the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004, off the western coast of North Sumatra, 250 kilometers southeast of the city of Banda Aceh. It is considered one of the strongest earthquakes of the XX – XXI centuries. Its magnitude, according to various estimates, ranged from 9.1 to 9.3 points on the Richter scale. Arising at a depth of about 30 km, the earthquake caused a series of devastating tsunamis, the height of which exceeded 15 meters. These waves led to enormous destruction and took the lives of, according to various estimates, from 225 thousand to 300 thousand people in 14 countries. The most affected by the tsunami were the coasts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.
The death toll: 171,000-230,000
The Banqiao Dam is a dam on the Rhuhe River, Henan Province, China. On August 8, 1975, due to the powerful typhoon "Nina", the dam was destroyed, thereby causing a flood and a huge wave 10 km wide and 3-7 meters high. According to various estimates, this disaster claimed the lives of 171,000 to 230,000 people, of which about 26,000 died directly from the flood. The rest died from subsequent epidemics and starvation. In addition, 11 million people have lost their homes.
Victims: 242,419
The Tangshan earthquake measuring 8.2 on the Richter scale is the deadliest earthquake of the 20th century. It happened on July 28, 1976 in the Chinese city of Tangshan at 3:42 local time. Its hypocenter was located near the industrial millionaire city at a depth of 22 km. The repetitive shocks with a power of 7.1 caused even more damage. According to the Chinese government, the death toll was 242,419, but according to other sources, about 800,000 people died and another 164,000 were seriously injured. The earthquake also suffered settlements located at a distance of 150 kilometers from the epicenter, among them Tianjin and Beijing. More than 5,000,000 homes were completely destroyed.
Flooding in Kaifeng
The death toll: 300,000-378,000
The flooding in Kaifeng is a man-made disaster that hit Kaifeng in the first place. This city is located on the southern bank of the Yellow River in the Chinese province of Henan. In 1642, the city was flooded with the waters of the Yellow River after the Ming army opened dams to prevent the advance of Li Zicheng's troops. Then from the flood and the subsequent famine and plague after it, about 300,000-378,000 people died.
Indian Cyclone - 1839
Death toll: over 300,000
The fifth largest natural disaster in history is the Indian Cyclone - 1839. On November 16, 1839, a 12-meter wave caused by a powerful storm completely destroyed the large port city of Koringa, in Andhra Pradesh, India. Then more than 300,000 people died. After the disaster, the city was never rebuilt. Now in its place is a small village with a population (2011) - 12,495 inhabitants.
Death toll: approximately 830,000
This earthquake of about magnitude 8 occurred on January 23, 1556 in the Chinese province of Shaanxi, during the reign of the Ming dynasty. More than 97 districts were affected by it, everything was destroyed on an area of 840 km, and in some areas 60% of the population died. In total, the China earthquake claimed the lives of approximately 830,000 people - more than any other earthquake in human history. The huge number of victims is due to the fact that the majority of the province's population lived in loess caves, which were destroyed or flooded by mudflows immediately after the first aftershocks.
Number of victims: 300,000-500,000
the most destructive tropical cyclone in history, striking East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and the Indian state of West Bengal on November 12, 1970. It is estimated to have killed 300,000-500,000 people, mainly as a result of a 9m high storm tide that flooded many of the low-lying islands in the Ganges delta. The sub-districts of Thani and Tazumuddin suffered the most from the cyclone, more than 45% of the population died in them.
Death toll: about 900,000
This devastating flood occurred on September 28, 1887 in Henan Province, China. The blame for this was the torrential rains that fell here for many days. Due to the rains, the water level in the Yellow River rose and destroyed a dam near the city of Zhengzhou. The water quickly spread throughout northern China, covering an area of approximately 130,000 square kilometers. km, taking the lives of about 900 thousand people, and leaving about 2 million homeless.
Number of victims: 145,000-4,000,000
The largest natural disaster in the world is the flood in China, or rather a series of floods that occurred in 1931 in South-Central China. This disaster was preceded by a drought that lasted from 1928 to 1930. However, the following winter was very snowy, there was a lot of rainfall in the spring, and during the summer months, the country suffered from heavy rains. All these facts contributed to the fact that the three largest rivers in China: the Yangtze, Huaihe, Yellowhe overflowed the banks, taking the lives, according to various estimates, from 145 thousand to 4 million people. Also, the largest natural disaster in history caused epidemics of cholera and typhoid, and also led to famine, during which cases of infanticide and cannibalism were recorded.