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.
Over 2,000 people were killed in The Halifax Explosion, the largest man-made explosion (non-nuclear) until first atomic bomb was exploded in the 1940's.
There were no records kept in North America or South for that matter! The 1900's list contains 20 'American' events alone... The numbers of those events pales into insignificance compared to the other 'Global' events! I'm sure if you looked at records in Europe or Asia where up to 300 died then you'd have a pretty big list!
Are you seriously presenting this as evidence to prove global warming or are you a religious nut who thinks THE END IS NIGH!?
1st Global Warming/Climate Change IS happening whether we like it or not... It can't be stopped... but consuming less (of everything) will help and is just a better way of taking care of ourselves and our environment/planet. We can generate power without fossil fuels, we're just too lazy to make the change now!
2nd It doesn't mean we're ALL going to die either. Although what will happen to the people in Asia who depend on rivers fed by Himalayan glaciers et al is anyone's guess! The population IS too big and it will reduce/change/migrate/evolve but we will survive it, as a species at least. We just have to adapt, and remember our place in the scheme of things...
We're A Virus With Shoes!
X-)
Netherlands—Sea flood killed 100,000 people.
You mention the 1228 flood in the Netherlands, being Dutch and not knowing anything of it, I was curious about the backgrounds. It seems to have taken place in parts of what's now Belgium and the Netherlands. And yes, 100.000s of people seem to have died, but did it happen in the Netherlands that didn't exist at that time, or did it happen in a country that has existed in the past, but has been separated since 1839? To pose the question in a broader sense: what's the criterium to accept a disaster in this list? Recent borders, the borders at that time, the largest number of causalities you found at a particular time of just another criterium?
BTW, I don't want to be rude and make fun of your hard work, I try to be positive critical.
Netherlands—Sea flood killed 100,000 people.
You mention the 1228 flood in the Netherlands, being Dutch and not knowing anything of it, I was curious about the backgrounds. It seems to have taken place in parts of what's now Belgium and the Netherlands. And yes, 100.000s of people seem to have died, but did it happen in the Netherlands that didn't exist at that time, or did it happen in a country that has existed in the past, but has been separated since 1839? To pose the question in a broader sense: what's the criterium to accept a disaster in this list? Recent borders, the borders at that time, the largest number of causalities you found at a particular time of just another criterium?
BTW, I don't want to be rude and make fun of your hard work, I try to be positive critical.