Sometimes it is quite difficult to assess the scale of a particular global catastrophe, because the consequences of some of them can manifest themselves many years after the incident itself.
In this article, we will present the 13 worst disasters in the world. Among them are incidents that occurred on the water, in the air, and on the ground, through the fault of a person and for reasons beyond his control, widely known and those that are not known to a very large circle of people.
The wreck of the superliner "Titanic"
Date Time: 14.04.1912 - 15.04.1912
Primary Victims: at least 1.5 thousand people
Secondary victims: unknown
The British superliner "Titanic", which was called the "most luxurious ship" of its time and "unsinkable", has gained worldwide fame. Unfortunately, sad. On the night of April 14-15, during its first flight, the superliner collided with an iceberg and sank after more than two hours. The accident was accompanied by numerous casualties among passengers and crew.
On April 10, 1912, the liner went on its last voyage from the port of Southampton to American New York, with almost 2.5 thousand people on board - passengers and crew members. One of the reasons for the disaster was that there was a tense ice situation along the route of the liner, but for some reason the captain of the Titanic, Edward Smith, did not attach any importance to this even after receiving numerous warnings about floating icebergs from other ships. The liner was moving almost at its maximum speed (21-22 knots); there is a version that Smith fulfilled the unofficial requirement of the White Star Line, which owned the Titanic, to receive the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic, the prize for the fastest crossing of the ocean, on the first voyage.
Late at night on April 14, the superliner collided with an iceberg. An ice block, which the lookout did not notice in time, pierced the five bow compartments of the ship on the starboard side, which began to fill with water. The problem turned out to be that the designers did not count on the occurrence of a 90-meter hole in the ship, and here the entire survivability system turned out to be powerless. In addition, there were not enough lifeboats on the "ultra-safe" and "unsinkable" ship, and those that were, for the most part, were irrationally used (12-20 people sailed on the first boats, 65 on the last -80 with a capacity of 60 people). The result of the disaster was the death, according to various sources, from 1496 to 1522 passengers and crew members.
Today, the remains of the Titanic lie at a depth of about 3.5 km in the Atlantic. The ship's hull is gradually being destroyed and will finally disappear at the turn of the 21st and 22nd centuries.
Explosion of the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
Date Time: 26.04.1986
Primary Victims: 31 people from the Chernobyl-4 duty shift and fire brigades who arrived to extinguish the fire
Secondary victims: 124 people suffered acute radiation sickness but survived; up to 4 thousand liquidators died within 10 years after the liquidation; from 600,000 to a million suffered from the elimination of the consequences of radioactive contamination and stay in contaminated territories or in the direction of the radioactive cloud
Accident at Chernobyl nuclear power plant- man-made disaster on the territory of Ukraine, between the cities of Pripyat and Chernobyl. As a result of the explosion of the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, a large number of radioactive substances, which led to the contamination of the surrounding territories and the formation of a radioactive cloud that swept across the territory of the USSR, Europe and reached the USA.
The accident occurred due to several factors - haste on the part of the Chernobyl management, insufficient competence of the Chernobyl-4 shift on duty, errors in the design and construction of the RBMK-1000 reactor and the nuclear power unit itself. On the morning of April 26, tests of the reactor were planned at Chernobyl-4, which were supposed to demonstrate the possibility of operating the reactor cooling system in the interval between shutting down the reactor and starting emergency diesel generators. However, due to some factors, the test was postponed to the night of April 26-27, due to which it was carried out by an unprepared and unannounced shift, and xenon gas accumulated in the reactor during 10 hours of idle operation.
All this in total led to the fact that when the reactor was artificially shut down, its power first fell below a critical level, and then began to grow like an avalanche. Attempts to activate AZ-5 (emergency protection) instead of eliminating the emergency worked as an additional catalyst for increasing the temperature of the reactor, and as a result a powerful explosion occurred. Only one person died directly in the explosion, another died a few hours later from his injuries. The rest of the victims received shock doses of radiation during the firefighting and primary clean-up process, which caused another 29 deaths during the following months of 1986.
The population of the first 10-kilometer, and then the 30-kilometer zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was resettled. The resettled people were told that they would return in three days. However, no one actually came back. The elimination of the consequences of the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant took more than a year, costing billions of rubles, 240 thousand people passed through the ChEZ in 1986-1987. The city of Pripyat was completely abandoned, hundreds of villages and villages were razed, Chernobyl-4 is now partially populated city- the military, police and employees of the remaining three units of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant live there.
Terrorist act 9/11
Date Time: 11.09.2001
Primary Victims: 19 terrorists, 2977 police, military, firefighters, medics and civilians
Secondary victims: 24 missing, exact number of injured unknown
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (better known as 9/11) are the largest terrorist attack in American history. A series of four coordinated terrorist attacks claimed about three thousand lives and caused tremendous destruction of the attacked buildings.
According to the official version of events, on the morning of September 11, four groups of a total of 19 terrorists, armed only with plastic knives, hijacked four passenger airliners, sending them to targets - the towers of the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and the White House (or Capitol) in Washington. The first three planes hit objects, what happened on board the fourth is not known for certain - according to the official version, the passengers fought with the terrorists, which caused the plane to crash in Pennsylvania before reaching its target.
Of the more than 16,000 people who were in both towers of the WTC, at least 1966 people died - mainly those who were in the places of attack by aircraft and on the floors above, and also at the time of the collapse of the towers provided assistance to the victims and carried out the evacuation. 125 people died in the Pentagon building. All 246 passengers and crew members of the hijacked planes were also killed, along with 19 terrorists. During the liquidation of the consequences of the terrorist attack, 341 firefighters, 2 paramedics, 60 police officers and 8 ambulance officers died. The total death toll in New York alone was 2,606.
The 9/11 terrorist attack was a real tragedy in the United States, and citizens of another 91 states were also killed. The attack provoked the US invasion of Afghanistan, Iraq, and later - in Syria under the flag of the fight against terrorism. Disputes about the true causes of the terrorist attack and the course of events on this tragic day have not subsided so far.
Accident at Fukushima-1
Date Time: 11.03.2011
Primary Victims: 1 person died from the consequences of radiation contamination, about 50 people died during the evacuation
Secondary victims: up to 150,000 people evacuated from the radioactive contamination zone, more than 1,000 of them died within a year after the disaster
The catastrophe that occurred on March 11, 2011, at the same time combines the features of man-made and natural disasters. A massive magnitude 9 earthquake followed by a tsunami caused the Daiichi nuclear plant's power supply to fail, shutting down the cooling process for the nuclear fuel reactors.
In addition to the monstrous destruction that was caused by the earthquake and tsunami, this incident led to a serious radioactive contamination territories and water areas. In addition, the Japanese authorities had to evacuate up to one hundred and fifty thousand people due to the high likelihood of serious illness due to exposure to severe radioactive exposure. The combination of all these consequences gives the Fukushima accident the right to be called one of the worst disasters in the world in the twenty-first century.
The total damage from the accident is estimated at $100 billion. This amount includes the costs of eliminating the consequences and paying compensation. But at the same time, we must not forget that work to eliminate the consequences of the disaster is still ongoing, which accordingly increases this amount.
In 2013, the Fukushima nuclear power plant was officially closed, and only works to eliminate the consequences of the accident are being carried out on its territory. Experts believe that it will take at least forty years to put the building and the contaminated area in order.
The consequences of the Fukushima accident are a reassessment of safety measures in nuclear energy, a fall in the cost of natural uranium, and, accordingly, a decrease in share prices of uranium mining companies.
Collision at Los Rodeos Airport
Date Time: 27.03.1977
Primary Victims: 583 people - passengers and crew of both airliners
Secondary victims: unknown
Possibly the biggest plane crash in the world was the collision of two planes in the Canary Islands (Tenerife) in 1977. At Los Rodeos Airport, two Boeing 747 airliners owned by KLM and Pan American collided on the runway. As a result, 583 out of 644 people died, including both passengers and crew of airliners.
One of the main reasons for this situation was the terrorist attack at Las Palmas airport, which was staged by terrorists from the MPAIAC organization (Movimiento por la Autodeterminación e Independencia del Archipiélago Canario). The attack itself did not cause any casualties, but the airport authorities closed the airport and stopped accepting planes, fearing repeated incidents.
Because of this, Los Rodeos was overloaded, as planes were sent to it, which followed in Las Palmas, in particular two Boeing 747 flights PA1736 and KL4805. At the same time, it should be noted that the plane, owned by Pan American, had enough fuel to land at another airport, but the pilots obeyed the dispatcher's order.
The collision itself was caused by fog, which severely limited visibility, as well as communication difficulties between controllers and pilots, which were caused by the heavy accent of the controllers, and the fact that the pilots constantly interrupted each other.
clash « Doña Paz" with a tanker « Vector"
Date Time: 20.12.1987
Primary Victims: up to 4386 people, of which 11 are members of the crew of the tanker "Vector"
Secondary victims: unknown
On December 20, 1987, the Philippine-registered passenger ferry Doña Paz collided with the oil tanker Vector, resulting in the world's worst peacetime water disaster.
At the time of the collision, the ferry was following its standard Manila-Catbalogan route, which it operated twice a week. On December 20, 1987, around 06:30, the Doña Paz left Tacloban and headed for Manila. At about 10:30 p.m., the ferry passed through the Strait of Tablas near Marinduque, according to surviving eyewitnesses, the weather was clear, but with rough seas.
The collision occurred after the passengers fell asleep, the ferry collided with the tanker "Vector", which was transporting gasoline and oil products. Immediately after the collision, a strong fire broke out due to the fact that oil products spilled into the sea. A strong blow and a fire almost instantly caused panic among the passengers, in addition, according to the survivors, the ferry did not have the required number of life jackets.
Only 26 people survived, of which 24 were passengers from Doña Paz and two people from the Vector tanker.
Mass poisoning in Iraq, 1971
Date Time: autumn 1971 - end of March 1972
Primary Victims: officially - from 459 to 6000 deaths, unofficially - up to 100,000 deaths
Secondary victims: according to various sources, up to 3 million people who could somehow suffer from poisoning
At the end of 1971, a consignment of grain treated with methylmercury was imported to Iraq from Mexico. Of course, the grain was not intended for processing into food, and was to be used only for planting. Unfortunately, the local population did not know Spanish, and accordingly all the warning labels that said "Do not eat" were not clear.
It should also be noted that the grain was delivered to Iraq late, as the planting season had already passed. All this led to the fact that in some villages the grain treated with methylmercury began to be eaten.
After eating this grain, symptoms such as numbness of the limbs, loss of vision, and impaired coordination were observed. As a result of criminal negligence, according to official data, about one hundred thousand people received mercury poisoning, of which 459 to 6 thousand died (unofficial data show other pictures - up to 3 million victims, up to 100 thousand deaths).
This case led to World Organizations health care began to more carefully control the circulation of grain, and began to take the labeling of potentially dangerous products more seriously.
Mass destruction of sparrows in China
Date Time: 1958-1961
Primary Victims: at least 1.96 billion sparrows, no human casualties known
Secondary victims: 10 to 30 million Chinese starved to death in 1960-1961
As part of the economic policy of the "Great Leap Forward", in China, under the leadership of the Communist Party and Mao Zedong, a large-scale fight against agricultural pests was carried out, among which the Chinese authorities singled out the four most terrible - mosquitoes, rats, flies and sparrows.
Employees of the Chinese Research Institute of Zoology calculated that due to sparrows during the year, the volume of grain was lost, with which it would be possible to feed about thirty-five million people. Based on this, a plan was developed to exterminate these birds, which was approved by Mao Zedong on March 18, 1958.
All peasants actively began to hunt birds. Most effective method was not to let them sink to the ground. To do this, adults and children shouted, beat in basins, waved poles, rags, etc. This made it possible to frighten the sparrows and prevent them from landing on the ground for fifteen minutes. As a result, the birds just dropped dead.
After a year of sparrow hunting, the harvest really increased. However, later caterpillars, locusts, and other pests that ate the shoots began to actively breed. This led to the fact that a year later, crops fell sharply, and famine set in, which led to the deaths of 10 to 30 million people.
Piper Alpha oil rig disaster
Date Time: 06.07.1988
Primary Victims: 167 platform personnel
Secondary victims: unknown
The Piper Alpha platform was built in 1975, and oil production on it started in 1976. Over time, it was converted for gas production. However, on July 6, 1988, there was a gas leak that caused an explosion.
Due to the indecisive and ill-considered actions of the personnel, 167 people died out of 226 who were on the platform.
Of course, after this event, oil and gas production on this platform was completely stopped. Insured losses amounted to about US$3.4 billion. This is one of the most famous disasters in the world associated with the oil industry.
The death of the Aral Sea
Date Time: 1960 - present day
Primary Victims: unknown
Secondary victims: unknown
This incident is the biggest environmental disaster on the territory of the former Soviet Union. Once the Aral Sea was the fourth largest lake, after the Caspian Sea, the Upper Lake in North America, Lake Victoria In Africa. Now in its place is the Aralkum desert.
Cause of extinction Aral Sea is the creation of new irrigation channels for agricultural enterprises in the territory of Turkmenistan, which took water from the Syrdarya and Amudarya rivers. Because of this, the lake has strongly receded from the shore, which led to the exposure of the bottom covered with sea salt, pesticides and chemicals.
Due to the natural evaporation of the Aral Sea during the period from 1960 to 2007, the sea lost about a thousand cubic kilometers of water. In 1989, the reservoir split into two parts, and in 2003, the volume of water was about 10% of the original.
The result of this incident was serious changes in climate and landscape. In addition, out of 178 species of vertebrates that lived in the Aral Sea, only 38 remained.
Deepwater Horizon oil platform explosion
Date Time: 20.04.2010
Primary Victims: 11 people from the platform personnel, 2 accident liquidators
Secondary victims: 17 platform personnel
The explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform on April 20, 2010 is considered one of the largest man-made disasters in terms of negative impact on the environment. Directly from the explosion, 11 people died and 17 were injured. Two more people died during the liquidation of the consequences of the disaster.
Due to the fact that pipes were damaged from the explosion at a depth of 1500 meters, in 152 days approximately five million barrels of oil spilled into the sea, which created a slick with an area of 75 thousand kilometers, in addition, 1770 kilometers of the coast were polluted.
The oil spill endangered 400 animal species and also led to a ban on fishing.
Eruption of Mont Pelee volcano
Date Time: 8.05.1902
Primary Victims: from 28 to 40 thousand people
Secondary victims: not established for certain
On May 8, 1902, one of the most destructive volcanic eruptions in human history occurred. This incident led to the emergence of a new classification volcanic eruptions, and changed the attitude of many scientists to volcanology.
The volcano woke up in April 1902, and within a month hot vapors and gases, as well as lava, accumulated inside. A month later, a huge grayish cloud erupted at the foot of the volcano. A feature of this eruption is that the lava came out not from the top, but from side craters that were located on the slopes. As a result powerful explosion one of the main ports of the island of Martinique, the city of Saint-Pierre, was completely destroyed. The disaster claimed the lives of at least 28 thousand people.
Tropical Cyclone Nargis
Date Time: 02.05.2008
Primary Victims: up to 90 thousand people
Secondary victims: at least 1.5 million injured, 56 thousand missing
This disaster unfolded as follows:
- Cyclone Nargis formed on April 27, 2008, in the Bay of Bengal, and initially moved towards the coast of India, in a northwesterly direction;
- On April 28, it stops moving, but the speed of the wind in spiral eddies began to increase significantly. Because of this, the cyclone began to be classified as a hurricane;
- On April 29, the wind speed reached 160 kilometers per hour, and the cyclone resumed movement, but already in a northeasterly direction;
- On May 1, the direction of the wind movement changed to the east, and at the same time the wind was constantly increasing;
- On May 2, the wind speed reached 215 kilometers per hour, and at noon it reaches the coast of the Myanmar province of Ayeyarwaddy.
According to the UN, as a result of the violence of the elements, 1.5 million people were affected, of which 90,000 died and 56,000 went missing. In addition, seriously injured Big City Yangon, and many settlements were completely destroyed. Part of the country was left without telephone, Internet and electricity. The streets were littered with debris, debris from buildings and trees.
To eliminate the consequences of this catastrophe, the combined forces of many countries of the world and such international organizations like UN, EU, UNESCO.
10.11.2014
In Russia, there are more than three thousand six hundred chemically hazardous facilities, and one hundred and forty-six cities with a population of more than one hundred thousand people are located in areas of increased chemical hazard.
Today's release in Moscow toxic substances belongs to the category of so-called. non-catastrophic incidents exceeding the norms for the content of any substance in the atmosphere. But mankind survived great amount man-made emergencies associated with chemicals. Here are 8 of the biggest...
1. Seveso, Italy
In 1976, an accident occurred at a chemical plant in the Italian city of Seveso, as a result of which an area of more than 18 km2 was contaminated with dioxin. More than 1,000 people were injured, and mass deaths of animals were noted. The liquidation of the consequences of the accident lasted more than a year.
2. Flixborough, England
On June 1, 1974, an accident occurred at a chemical plant in the UK in the city of Flixborough at the Nipro plant, which was engaged in the production of ammonium. In terms of its power, the explosion was equal to the action of a 45-ton TNT charge if it had been blown up at a height of 45 meters from the ground. As a result of the incident, 55 people died and 75 were injured.
3. Suzhou, China
In China in September 1978, as a result of an accident at a chemical plant in the city of Suzhou, 28 tons of sodium cyanide got into the river. This number is enough to kill 48 million people, but the Zhongguo Qingnian Bao newspaper reported that the death toll was only 3,000.
4. Bhopal, India
One of the most significant global chemical disasters of the 20th century was the explosion at the Union Carbide plant, which occurred on December 2, 1984 in Bhopal (India) and led to the poisoning and death of 4035 people. More than 40 thousand people suffered. From a cloud of 43 tons of toxic gas of methyl isocyanate (the toxicity of methyl isocyanate exceeds the toxicity of phosgene by 2-3 times), which escaped from the territory of the plant, an area 5 km long and 2 km wide was contaminated.
5. Sandoz plant, Switzerland
On November 1, 1986, a fire broke out in a warehouse of a chemical factory in Switzerland. During the extinguishing of a fire, about 30 tons of agricultural pesticides spilled into the Rhine. Millions of fish died and drinking water was contaminated.
6. Yaroslavl, Russia
In 1988, during a railway accident in the city of Yaroslavl, there was a spill of heptyl, which belongs to the AHOV of the first toxicity class. About 3 thousand people were in the zone of possible defeat. About 2 thousand people and a large number of equipment took part in the liquidation of the consequences of the accident.
7. Jonave (USSR, Lithuania)
In 1989, a chemical accident occurred in Jonava (Lithuania). About 7 thousand tons of liquid ammonia spilled over the territory of the plant, forming a lake of poisonous liquid with a surface of about 10 thousand square meters. m. From the resulting fire there was an ignition of a warehouse with nitrophoska, its thermal decomposition with the release of toxic gases. The depth of distribution of contaminated air reached 30 km, and only favorable meteorological conditions did not lead to the defeat of people.
8. Mexico
In August 1991 in Mexico during railway accident 32 liquid chlorine tanks derailed. About 300 tons of chlorine were released into the atmosphere. About 500 people were injured in the contaminated air distribution zone, of which 17 people died on the spot. From the nearest settlements over a thousand people were evacuated.
What to do in the event of a dangerous release of chemicals
All this poses a serious danger to people, given the high population density in cities. Therefore, even “after the end of the chemical alarm,” experts advise:
- not to eat fruits and herbs from the garden or any products offered for sale in the open air;
- do not eat eggs, as well as the meat of livestock and poultry, slaughtered after the announcement of the alarm in the infected area;
- do not drink both well water and tap water, since both the source and the water supply may be contaminated;
- avoid drinking milk obtained after an alarm;
- eat canned food or purchased before the disaster.
What to do in case of a chemical accident. Video EMERCOM of Russia
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No matter how far scientific and technological progress strides, catastrophes have happened, are happening and, probably, will happen for a long time to come. Some of them could have been avoided, but most of the worst events in the world were inevitable because they happened at the behest of mother nature.
Worst plane crash ever
Collision of two Boeing 747s
Humanity does not know a more terrible plane crash than the one that occurred on March 27, 1977 on the island of Tenerife, belonging to the Canary group. On this day, two Boeing 747s collided at Los Rodeo Airport, one of which belonged to KLM, the other to Pan American. This terrible tragedy claimed 583 lives. The reasons that led to this disaster is a fatal and paradoxical combination of circumstances.
Los Rodeos airport this ill-fated Sunday was seriously overloaded. The dispatcher spoke with a strong Spanish accent, and radio communications suffered from serious interference. Because of this, the Boeing commander KLM misinterpreted the command to abort the flight, which became the fatal cause of the collision of two maneuvering aircraft.
Only a few passengers managed to escape through the holes formed in the Pan American aircraft. Another Boeing lost its wings and tail, causing it to fall 150 meters from the crash site, after which it was dragged for another 300 meters. Both flying cars caught fire.
There were 248 passengers on board the Boeing KLM, none of whom survived. The Pan American plane was the site of the death of 335 people, including the entire crew, as well as the famous model and actress Yves Meyer.
The worst of man-made disasters
On July 6, 1988, the worst of all catastrophes occurred in the North Sea, famous history oil production. It happened on the Piper Alpha oil platform, which was built in 1976. The number of victims was 167 people, the company suffered a loss of about three and a half billion dollars.
The most annoying thing is that the number of victims could be much less if it were not for ordinary human stupidity. There was a large gas leak, followed by an explosion. But instead of stopping the oil supply immediately after the start of the accident, the service personnel waited for the command from the management.
The countdown went on for minutes, and soon the entire platform of the Occidental Petroleum corporation was engulfed in fire, even the living quarters caught fire. Those who could have survived the blast were burned alive. Only those who managed to jump into the water survived.
Worst water accident ever
When the topic of tragedies on the water is touched upon, the movie Titanic involuntarily comes to mind. Moreover, such a disaster really happened. But this shipwreck is not the worst in the history of mankind.
Wilhelm Gustloff
The sinking of the German ship "Wilhelm Gustloff" is considered to be the biggest disaster that occurred on the water. The tragedy occurred on January 30, 1945. Its culprit was a submarine of the Soviet Union, which knocked out a ship that could accommodate almost 9,000 passengers.
This, at that time, the perfect product of shipbuilding, was made in 1938. It seemed unsinkable and contained 9 decks, restaurants, a winter garden, climate control, gyms, theaters, dance floors, swimming pools, a church, and even Hitler's rooms.
Its length was more than two hundred meters, it could swim half the planet without refueling. The ingenious creation could not sink without outside interference. And it happened in the person of the crew of the S-13 submarine, commanded by A. I. Marinesko. Three torpedoes were fired at the legendary ship. In a matter of minutes, he was in the abyss of the waters of the Baltic Sea. All crew members were killed, including about 8,000 representatives of the German military elite who were evacuated from Danzig.
The crash of the Wilhelm Gustloff (video)
The greatest environmental tragedy
Shrunken Aral Sea
Among all environmental disasters, the leading place is occupied by the drying up of the Aral Sea. In their better times it was the fourth largest lake in the world.
The disaster occurred due to the unreasonable use of water, which was used to water gardens and fields. The shrinkage was due to the ill-considered political ambitions and actions of the leaders of those times.
Gradually, the coast line moved far inland, which led to the extinction of most species of flora and fauna. In addition, droughts began to increase, the climate changed significantly, navigation became impossible, and more than sixty people were left without work.
Where did the Aral Sea disappear: strange symbols on the dried bottom (VIDEO)
Nuclear disaster
What could be scarier nuclear disaster? The lifeless kilometers of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl region are the embodiment of these fears. The accident occurred in 1986, when one of the power units exploded in the early April morning Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Chernobyl 1986
This tragedy claimed several hundred lives of tow trucks, thousands died over the next ten years. And how many people were forced to leave their homes, only God knows ...
Children of these people are still born with developmental anomalies. The atmosphere, land and water around the nuclear power plant are contaminated with radioactive substances.
The level of radiation in this region is still thousands of times higher than normal. No one knows how long it will take for people to settle in these places. The scale of this disaster is still not fully known.
Chernobyl accident 1986: Chernobyl, Pripyat - liquidation (VIDEO)
Disaster over the Black Sea: Tu-154 of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation crashed
The crash of the Tu-154 of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Not so long ago, there was a crash of a Tu-154 aircraft of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, heading to Syria. It claimed the lives of 64 talented artists of the Alexandrov Ensemble, nine well-known leading TV channels, the head of a charitable organization - the famous Doctor Liza, eight military men, two civil servants, and all crew members. In total, 92 people died in this terrible plane crash.
On this tragic morning in December 2016, the plane refueled at Adler, but crashed unexpectedly shortly after takeoff. The investigation was conducted for a long time, because it was necessary to know what was the cause of the Tu-154 crash.
The commission investigating the causes of the accident, among the circumstances that led to the disaster, called the overload of the aircraft, crew fatigue and the low professional level of training and organization of the flight.
The results of the investigation of the Tu-154 crash of the Ministry of Defense of Russia (VIDEO)
Submarine "Kursk"
Submarine "Kursk"
The crash of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk, which killed 118 people on board, occurred in 2000 in the Barents Sea. This is the second largest accident in the history of the Russian submarine fleet after the B-37 disaster.
On August 12, as planned, preparations began for mock attacks. The last recorded actions on the boat were recorded at 11.15.
A few hours before the tragedy, the crew commander was informed about the cotton, which he did not pay attention to. Then the boat shook violently, which was associated with the inclusion of the antenna of the radar station. After that, the captain of the boat did not get in touch anymore. At 23.00 the situation on the submarine was declared as emergency, which was reported to the leadership of the fleet and the country. On the morning of the next day, as a result of search work, the Kursk was found at the bottom of the sea at a depth of 108 m.
The official version of the cause of the tragedy is the explosion of a training torpedo, which occurred as a result of a fuel leak.
Submarine Kursk: what really happened? (VIDEO)
The crash of the ship "Admiral Nakhimov"
The crash of the passenger ship "Admiral Nakhimov" occurred in August 1981 near Novorossiysk. There were 1234 people on board the ship, 423 of whom lost their lives on that ill-fated day. It is known that Vladimir Vinokur and Lev Leshchenko were late for this flight.
At 23:12, the ship collided with the dry cargo ship Pyotr Vasev, as a result of which the electric generator was flooded and the light went out on the Nakhimov. The ship became uncontrollable and continued to move forward by inertia. As a result of the collision, a hole of up to eighty square meters was formed in the starboard side. Panic began among the passengers, many climbed onto the port side and thus went down to the water.
Almost a thousand people ended up in the water, who, moreover, got dirty with fuel oil and paint. Eight minutes after the collision, the ship sank.
Steamboat Admiral Nakhimov: the wreck of the ship - Russian Titanic (VIDEO)
Oil platform that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico
The worst environmental disasters in the world in 2010 were supplemented by another one that happened in the Gulf of Mexico, eighty kilometers from Louisiana. This is one of the most dangerous man-made accidents for the environment. It happened on April 20 at the Deepwater Horizon oil platform.
As a result of pipe rupture, about five million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico.
A 75,000 sq. km, which is 5% of its total area. The disaster took the lives of 11 people, 17 were injured.
Catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico (VIDEO)
The crash of the Concordia
On January 14, 2012, the list of the most terrible incidents in the world was replenished with one more. Near the Italian Tuscany, the cruise ship Costa Concordia ran into a rock ledge, as a result of which a seventy-meter hole was formed in it. At this time, most of the passengers were in the restaurant.
The right side of the liner began to sink into the water, then it was thrown onto the shallows 1 km from the crash site. There were more than 4,000 people on the ship, who were evacuated all night, but not everyone was saved: 32 people still died and a hundred were injured.
Costa Concordia - the crash through the eyes of eyewitnesses (VIDEO)
Krakatoa eruption in 1883
Natural disasters show how insignificant and helpless we are before the phenomena of nature. But all the most terrible disasters in the world are nothing compared to the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano, which occurred in 1883.
On May 20, a large smoke column could be seen over the Krakatoa volcano. At that moment, even at a distance of 160 kilometers from him, the windows of houses trembled. All nearby islands were covered with a thick layer of dust and pumice.
The eruptions continued until 27 August. The last explosion was the climax, as a result of which sound waves, several times circumnavigated the entire planet. On the ships sailing in the Sunda Strait at that moment, the compasses stopped showing correctly.
These explosions submerged the entire northern part of the island. The seabed has been uplifted by the eruptions. A lot of ash from the volcano remained in the atmosphere for another two to three years.
The tsunami, whose height was thirty meters, washed away about three hundred settlements, claimed the lives of 36,000 people.
The most powerful eruption of Krakatau Volcano (VIDEO)
Earthquake in Spitak in 1988
On December 7, 1988, the list of "The best disasters in the world" was replenished with another one that occurred in the Armenian Spitak. On this tragic day, tremors literally wiped out this city from the face of the earth in just half a minute, destroyed Leninakan, Stepanavan and Kirovakan beyond recognition. In total, twenty-one cities and three hundred and fifty villages were affected.
In Spitak itself, the earthquake had a force of ten, Leninakan was hit by a force of nine, and Kirovakan by an force of eight, and almost the rest of Armenia was hit by a force of six. Seismologists have calculated that during this earthquake energy was released, corresponding to the strength of ten exploded atomic bombs. The wave that this tragedy caused was recorded scientific laboratories practically the whole world.
This natural disaster took away 25,000 lives, 140,000 health, and 514,000 roofs over their heads. Forty percent of the industry of the republic is out of order, schools, hospitals, theaters, museums, houses of culture, roads and railways are destroyed.
The military, doctors, public figures of the whole country and abroad, both near and far, were called to help. Humanitarian aid was actively collected all over the world. Tents, field kitchens and first-aid posts were deployed throughout the area affected by the tragedy.
The saddest and most instructive thing in this situation is that the scale and victims of this terrible disaster could be many times less if the seismic activity of this region were taken into account and all buildings were built taking into account these features. The unpreparedness of rescue services also contributed.
Tragic days: earthquake in Spitak (VIDEO)
2004 tsunami Indian Ocean - Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka
In December 2004, the coasts of Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and other countries were hit by devastating tsunami terrible force caused by an underwater earthquake. Huge waves devastated the area and brought death to 200,000 people. The most annoying thing is that most of the dead are children, since in this region there is a high proportion of children per population, in addition, children are physically weaker and less able to resist water than an adult.
Aceh in Indonesia suffered the most losses. Almost all the buildings there were destroyed, 168,000 people died.
Geographically, this earthquake was simply huge. Moved up to 1200 kilometers of rock. The shift occurred in two phases with an interval of two to three minutes.
The number of victims turned out to be so high, because all along the coast indian ocean there was no general warning system.
There is nothing worse than disasters and tragedies that deprive people of life, shelter, health, destroy industry and everything that a person has worked for many years. But it often turns out that the number of victims and destruction in such situations could be much less if everyone were conscientious about their professional duties, in some cases it was necessary to foresee an evacuation plan and a warning system for local residents. Let's hope that in the future humanity will find a way to avoid such terrible tragedies or reduce their damage.
Tsunami in Indonesia 2004 (VIDEO)
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An emergency situation is the result of the impact of a natural or man-made disaster that caused people and damage to environment. Emergency statistics allows you to track the consequences, develop measures to counter such events and evaluate the effectiveness of the measures taken. The main causes of emergencies are the impact on nature and conflicts of a political, military, social nature.
Incident classification
Government Decree No. 304 of May 21, 2007 introduced the classification of emergencies. Parameters of distribution of natural and technogenic incidents:
Biological and social catastrophes
man-made incidents
Types of man-made disasters:
- Industrial emergencies. Minor accidents that occur at industrial facilities. Such incidents can develop into the scale of a catastrophe and lead to loss of life and destruction.
- Radiation emergencies. Occur due to violation of the rules during the operation of nuclear power facilities. The damaging factors of the sources of an emergency lead to exposure of people and environmental pollution.
- Bacteriological emergencies. Such catastrophes occur as a result of the use of bacteriological weapons. The consequences of the incident are mass diseases of people and animals. The incubation period for bacteriological weapons ranges from 1 to 7 days and is often hidden.
Technogenic disasters are fraught with releases of biological, chemical and radioactive substances and the occurrence of fires at power generation enterprises or in transport. Statistics of technogenic emergencies by years:
| Number of emergencies | perished | suffered | ||||
| 2016 | 2017 | 2016 | 2017 | 2016 | 2017 | |
| 32 | 15 | 119 | 22 | 132 | 29 | |
| 7 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 36 | |
| Accidents of cargo and passenger ships | 1 | 2 | 14 | 10 | 51 | 23 |
| Accidents on thermal networks in winter | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2432 | 0 |
| with dire consequences | 62 | 78 | 255 | 308 | 638 | 1067 |
| Sudden collapse of industrial buildings, rocks | 2 | 1 | 38 | 0 | 52 | 11 |
| in residential buildings and structures for social and cultural purposes | 6 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 54 | 608 |
| Total | 129 | 117 | 443 | 357 | 3398 | 1790 |
Emergency statistics for 10 years contains many examples of large-scale incidents. This includes:
- 2009 - disaster at the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP. 75 people died;
- 2010 - explosion at the Raspadskaya mine. 91 people died;
- 2011 - a plane crash near Petrozavodsk. 52 people died;
- 2012 - a plane crash near Tyumen 31 people died;
- 2013 - a plane crash in Kazan. 50 people died;
- 2016 - a plane crash in Rostov-on-Don. 62 people died. Another accident occurred in Sochi. 92 people died;
- 2016 - an emergency situation regime was introduced in the Amur Region due to large fires;
- 2017 - in Bashkiria, an emergency situation was declared in 14 districts due to the mass destruction of crops on an area of over one hundred hectares;
- 2017 - due to wet snow, which led to lodging and partial loss of crops, an emergency regime was introduced in two districts of Buryatia;
- 2018 - a plane crash in the Moscow region. 71 people died.
According to the operational forecast of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation in October 2018, there was a risk of emergencies in maritime transport in the waters of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan.
Emergencies by region
Emergency statistics for 2017 includes 177 accidents. Distribution of events by constituent entities of the Russian Federation:
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
| The Republic of Dagestan | 3 | 15 | 12 |
| Krasnodar region | 19 | 14 | 10 |
| Stavropol region | 4 | 3 | 9 |
| Saratov region | 7 | 12 | 8 |
| Irkutsk region | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Zabaykalsky Krai | 6 | 7 | 6 |
| Rostov region | 8 | 12 | 6 |
| Total | 257 | 299 | 177 |
In total, 36,483 people suffered from emergencies. Most of them are residents of Primorsky (16912) and Altai (4154) regions, as well as the Republic of Adygea (6715).
As a result of emergency incidents, 556 people died. Most of it falls on the Krasnodar Territory (51), Saratov region(31), the Republic of Dagestan (30) and Tatarstan (25). And also to Stavropol (23) and Trans-Baikal Territory (20).
The statistics of emergencies in Russia for 2017 allows us to call the year relatively “calm”. The number of emergencies decreased by 41%. The number of victims decreased by 73%, deaths by 30%.
According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the statistics of emergencies shows a positive trend.
Incident prevention and response
By the Decree of the Government of April 18, 1992 No. 261, the Russian system emergency warning (RSChS). Its activities are regulated by this and other normative documents. The key task of the structure is a timely response to all kinds of incidents and the elimination of emergencies in Russia. The leading role is assigned to the units of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation. Coordination of actions to protect against emergencies is carried out by:
- centers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation in the regions;
- commissions for emergency situations under the bodies executive power or local government. Their powers include the introduction of a state of emergency in the territory under their control. They also have the right to organize emergency evacuation in case of emergency;
- commissions for emergency situations at enterprises.
Each organization should develop an emergency response plan. The document should contain a list of mandatory actions in the event of an emergency. Newly hired employees must undergo an introductory briefing on civil defense and emergency situations.
Emergencies in other countries
Emergency statistics show that every year from various kinds natural disasters about 50 thousand people die in the world. Types of natural emergencies:
- Floods - 40%.
- Tropical cyclones - 20%.
- Drought - 15%.
- Earthquakes - 15%.
- Others - 10%.
Between 1960 and 2015, the number of disasters has tripled. The main reason is atmospheric and hydrospheric phenomena. The statistics of technogenic emergencies captures no less devastating consequences - loss of life, damage to the environment.
Among the natural disasters of 2018, the earthquake in Indonesia following it and the flood turned out to be the most massive. Emergency statistics has about 1550 dead. About 152 thousand more citizens are under the rubble of destroyed houses.
Smaller incidents have also happened around the world. Statistics of natural emergencies and man-made accidents by country:
| Number of emergencies | Number of dead | ||
| natural | man-made | ||
| Indonesia | 2 | 1 | 620 |
| India | 9 | 596 | |
| RF | 3 | 2 | 272 |
| Algeria | 1 | 257 | |
| Japan | 5 | 208 | |
| USA | 6 | 104 | |
| Cuba | 1 | 100 | |
| Kathmandu | 1 | 49 | |
| Turkey | 1 | 24 | |
| Philippines | 2 | 1 | 21 |
| Mexico | 1 | 1 | 15 |
| Total | 65 | 13 | 3012 |
Conclusion
We live in a time of catastrophes. In terms of the scale of consequences, emergencies are comparable to wars. In the 21st century, they claimed hundreds of thousands of human lives, left behind millions of victims, destruction and damage, which is often irreparable. Only competent actions during emergencies can save human lives. Billions of dollars are spent every year to deal with disasters. In Russia alone, losses annually reach 60 billion rubles.
Every year, dozens of terrible man-made disasters occur in the world, which cause significant harm to the world ecology. Today I invite you to read about a few of them in the continuation of the post.
Petrobrice is the Brazilian state oil company. The company headquarters is located in Rio de Janeiro. In July 2000, in Brazil, a disaster at an oil refinery spilled more than a million gallons of oil (about 3,180 tons) into the Iguazu River. For comparison, 50 tons of crude oil recently spilled near a resort island in Thailand.
The resulting stain moved downstream, threatening to poison drinking water for several cities at once. The liquidators of the accident built several protective barriers, but they managed to stop the oil only at the fifth. One part of the oil was collected from the surface of the water, the other went through specially constructed diversion channels.
Petrobrice paid a $56 million fine to the state budget and $30 million to the state budget.
On September 21, 2001, an explosion occurred at the AZF chemical plant in Toulouse, France, the consequences of which are considered one of the largest man-made disasters. Exploded 300 tons of ammonium nitrate (salt of nitric acid), which were in the warehouse of finished products. According to the official version, the management of the plant is to blame, which did not ensure the safe storage of an explosive substance.
The consequences of the disaster were gigantic: 30 people died, total number more than 300 people were injured, thousands of houses and buildings were destroyed or damaged, including almost 80 schools, 2 universities, 185 kindergartens, 40,000 people were left without a roof over their heads, more than 130 enterprises actually ceased their activities. The total amount of damage is 3 billion euros.
On November 13, 2002, off the coast of Spain, the oil tanker Prestige fell into a severe storm, in the holds of which there were more than 77,000 tons of fuel oil. As a result of the storm, a crack about 50 meters long formed in the ship's hull. On November 19, the tanker broke in half and sank. As a result of the disaster, 63,000 tons of fuel oil fell into the sea.
Cleaning the sea and coasts from fuel oil cost 12 billion dollars, the full damage to the ecosystem cannot be estimated.
On August 26, 2004, a fuel truck carrying 32,000 liters of fuel fell off a 100-meter-high Wiehltal bridge near Cologne in western Germany. After the fall, the tanker exploded. The culprit of the accident was a sports car that skidded on a slippery road, which caused the fuel tanker to skid.
This accident is considered one of the most costly man-made disasters in history - temporary repairs to the bridge cost $40 million, and full reconstruction - $318 million.
March 19, 2007 due to a methane explosion at the Ulyanovsk mine in Kemerovo region 110 people died. Following the first explosion, four more explosions followed in 5-7 seconds, which caused extensive collapses in the workings in several places at once. The chief engineer and almost all the management of the mine died. This accident is the largest in Russian coal mining over the past 75 years.
On August 17, 2009, a man-made disaster occurred at the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP, located on the Yenisei River. This happened during the repair of one of the HPP's hydroelectric units. As a result of the accident, the 3rd and 4th water conduits were destroyed, the wall was destroyed and the engine room was flooded. 9 out of 10 hydraulic turbines were completely out of order, the hydroelectric power station was stopped.
Due to the accident, the power supply to the Siberian regions was disrupted, including the limited supply of electricity in Tomsk, and several Siberian aluminum smelters were cut off. As a result of the disaster, 75 people died and 13 were injured.
Damage from the accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP exceeded 7.3 billion rubles, including environmental damage. The other day in Khakassia, a trial began on the case of a man-made disaster at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station in 2009.
October 4, 2010 in the west of Hungary there was a major ecological catastrophy. At a large aluminum smelter, an explosion destroyed the dam of a reservoir of toxic waste - the so-called red mud. About 1.1 million cubic meters of caustic substance flooded the cities of Kolontar and Decever, 160 kilometers west of Budapest, with a 3-meter stream.
Red mud is a residue that forms during the production of alumina. When it comes into contact with the skin, it acts on it like an alkali. As a result of the disaster, 10 people died, about 150 received various injuries and burns.
April 22, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of the US state of Louisiana, after an explosion that killed 11 people and a 36-hour fire, the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform sank.
The oil leak was stopped only on August 4, 2010. About 5 million barrels of crude oil spilled into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The platform on which the accident occurred belonged to a Swiss company, and at the time of the man-made disaster, the platform was operated by British Petroleum.
On March 11, 2011, in the northeast of Japan, at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, after a strong earthquake, the largest accident in the last 25 years after the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occurred. Following the 9.0 magnitude earthquake, a huge tsunami wave came to the coast, which damaged 4 of the 6 reactors. nuclear power plant and disabled the cooling system, which led to a series of hydrogen explosions, melting the core.
The total emissions of iodine-131 and caesium-137 after the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant amounted to 900,000 terabecquerels, which does not exceed 20% of the emissions after the Chernobyl accident in 1986, which then amounted to 5.2 million terabecquerels.
Experts estimated the total damage from the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant at $74 billion. The complete elimination of the accident, including the dismantling of the reactors, will take about 40 years.
NPP "Fukushima-1"
On July 11, 2011, an explosion occurred at a naval base near Limassol in Cyprus, which claimed 13 lives and brought the island nation to the brink of economic crisis, destroying the island's largest power plant.
Investigators accused the President of the Republic, Dimitris Christofias, of negligently handling the problem of storing ammunition confiscated in 2009 from the Monchegorsk ship on suspicion of arms smuggling to Iran. In fact, the ammunition was stored right on the ground on the territory of the naval base and detonated due to the high temperature.
Destroyed Mari power plant in Cyprus
On February 28, 2012, an explosion occurred at a chemical plant in the Chinese province of Hebei, killing 25 people. An explosion took place in the shop for the production of nitroguanidine (it is used as rocket fuel) at the chemical plant of the Hebei Keer company in the city of Shijiazhuang
April 18, 2013 in the US city of West, Texas at the fertilizer plant there was a powerful explosion.
Almost 100 buildings in the district were destroyed, from 5 to 15 people died, about 160 people were injured, and the town itself became like a war zone or the set of another Terminator movie.
