Natural Disasters of the Millennium
1100s
-
1138
-
Aleppo, Syria—Earthquake claimed 230,000 lives.
1200s
-
1228
-
Netherlands—Sea flood killed 100,000 people.
-
1290
-
Chihli, China—Earthquake killed about 100,000 people.
1300s
-
1300
-
North America—For about two decades in Arizona and New Mexico,
rivers disappeared, crops failed, and towns declined, bringing death and
destruction to that area.
-
1316
-
England—Long periods of heavy rains ruined crops, causing death
for one-tenth of the population due to malnutrition or disease.
-
1346
-
Constantinople—The eastern arch of St. Sophia's crumbled
during a strong earthquake that struck the Byzantine capital.
1500s
-
1556
-
Shaanxi, China—In the deadliest earthquake in history, 830,000
people were killed.
-
1570
-
Northern Europe—Over 1,000 people were killed when a tidal wave
in the North Sea destroyed sea walls from the Netherlands to Denmark.
1600s
-
1667
-
Shemakha, Caucasia—Earthquake killed about 80,000 people.
1700s
-
1727
-
Tabriz, Iran—Earthquake killed about 77,000 people.
-
1755
-
Lisbon, Portugal—More than 10,000 people were killed in an
earthquake that devastated Lisbon. The earthquake occurred on All
Saints' Day, when churches in this city of a quarter of million
people were full, and the quake lasted about nine minutes. Floods and
fires followed the event.
-
1776
-
Eastern Seaboard from North Carolina to Nova Scotia—At least
4,100 were killed during the storm called the Hurricane of Independence.
-
1780
-
Barbados, West Indies—Hurricane killed up to 22,000 people.
1800s
-
1811
-
Mississippi Valley/New Madrid, Missouri, USA—Earthquake reversed
the course of the Mississippi River. Due to the sparse population of the
area at the time, the number of fatalities is unknown.
-
1815
-
Sumbawa, Indonesia—Tambora volcano erupted, throwing so much ash
into the atmosphere that the year that followed was called the
"Year without a Summer." In June and July of 1815, New
England and northern Europe suffered frost and even snow.
-
1840
-
Natchez, Mississippi, USA—Tornado killed 317 people.
-
1842
-
China—Flooding killed 300,000 people.
-
1864
-
India—Cyclone killed 70,000; Calcutta was the most affected.
-
1883
-
Indonesia—Eruption of Krakatau, with sea waves sent as far away
as Cape Horn, and possibly England. Possibly 36,000 killed.
-
1886
-
Charleston, South Carolina, USA—Earthquake killed 60 people.
-
1887
-
Huang He (Yellow River), China—Flood waters killed 900,000
people.
-
1888
-
East Coast of the United States—400 people died in the blizzard
of 1888.
-
1889
-
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA—Flood killed more than 2,200 people.
-
1896
-
Sanriku, Japan—Earthquake and tidal wave killed 27,000 people.
1900s
-
1900
-
Galveston, Texas, USA—Hurricane killed more than
6,000–8,000 people.
-
1902
-
Martinique, West Indies—Volcano eruption killed 40,000 people.
-
1906
-
San Francisco, California, USA—Earthquake killed more than 1,000
people.
-
1908
-
Messina, Italy—Earthquake killed about 85,000 people.
-
1920
-
Gansu, China—Earthquake killed 200,000 people.
-
1923
-
Tokyo, Japan—Earthquake killed more than 132,000 people. Regional
rivers burst their banks, bringing the total deaths to over 300,000.
-
1925
-
Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, USA—Tri-state tornadoes killed
689 people.
-
1927
-
Xining, China—Earthquake killed about 200,000 people.
-
1930s
-
New York through the Midwest to California, USA—Drought caused
the "Great Dust Bowl" of the south central plains during
the mid-1930s.
-
1931
-
Huang He (Yellow River), China—In what may be the greatest death
toll due to a natural disaster, 3,700,000 people may have lost their
lives in flooding.
-
1933
-
Long Beach, California, USA—Earthquake killed 117 people.
-
1935
-
Pakistan—Quetta earthquake left 30,000–60,000 dead.
-
1936
-
Mississippi and Georgia, USA—Tornadoes killed 455 people.
-
1939
-
Chile—Earthquake killed about 30,000 people.
-
1939
-
Northern Turkey—Earthquake caused about 100,000 deaths, mostly
near Erzingan.
-
1954
-
Alaska, USA—Strongest earthquake in North America occurred east
of Anchorage. Seismic wave 50 feet high traveled more than 8,000 miles
at 450 mph.
-
1970
-
East Pakistan—Cyclone and tidal wave killed at least 300,000
people.
-
1970
-
Peru—Earthquake killed more than 50,000 people.
-
1972
-
Rapid City, South Dakota, USA—Flash flood caused 237 deaths.
-
1972
-
Mid Atlantic region, USA—Tropical Storm Agnes killed 129 people.
-
1974
-
Eastern and Central USA—Worst tornado outbreak in history killed
at least 315 people.
-
1976
-
Big Thompson Canyon, Colorado, USA—Flash flood killed 139 people.
-
1976
-
Tangshan, China—Earthquake left 242,000–655,000 people
dead.
-
1985
-
Mexico—Earthquake killed an estimated 25,000 people near and
around Mexico City.
-
1985
-
Colombia—Earthquake killed about 25,000 people.
-
1989
-
San Francisco, California, USA—Earthquake killed 67 people.
-
1990
-
Northwest Iran—Earthquake killed at least 50,000 people.
-
1991
-
Bangladesh—Cyclone killed over 131,000 people.
-
1993
-
Midwestern USA—Major flooding killed almost 50 people.
-
1994
-
San Fernando Valley, California, USA—Earthquake killed 61 people.
-
1995
-
Osaka, Japan—Earthquake killed 5,100 people.
-
1995
-
Chicago, Illinois, USA—A July heat wave killed at least 465
people.
-
1998
-
China—At least 3,000 people were killed in flooding.
-
1998
-
Papua New Guinea—Tsunamis killed at least 2,000 people.
-
1999
-
Oklahoma and Kansas, USA—Tornadoes killed almost 50 people.
-
1999
-
Turkey—Earthquake killed 14,000 people.
Thank you