October 13 marks the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction - which is no reason to remember the most terrible and deadly natural disasters in the history of mankind.

Earthquake in Syria. 1202

The earthquake of 1202, whose epicenter was in the Dead Sea, was not so much powerful as long and large-scale - it was felt in the vast territory located between Syria and Armenia. The exact number of deaths is unknown - in the XIII century, no one counted the population, but even according to the most conservative estimates, the earthquake claimed the lives of more than a million people.

Earthquake in China. 1556

One of the most destructive earthquakes in the history of mankind - in China - occurred on January 23, 1556. Its epicenter was located in the region of the right tributary of the Yellow River - Weihe, and it affected 97 districts in several Chinese provinces. The earthquake was accompanied by landslides, landslides and changes in river beds, which, in turn, led to floods, and the destruction of houses and temples led to strong 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. The earthquake killed 830 thousand people.

Earthquake and tsunami in Portugal. 1755

The infamous Lisbon earthquake began on November 1, 1755 at nine o'clock in the morning - only twenty minutes had passed from the first tremors in the sea to the moment when a 15-meter tsunami covered the central embankment of the city. Most of its inhabitants were in the service in churches - they celebrated All Saints' Day, so they had no chance of salvation. Fires broke out in Lisbon and lasted for ten days. In addition to the capital, sixteen more Portuguese cities were affected, and neighboring Setúbal was almost completely washed away by the tsunami. From 40 to 60 thousand people became victims of the earthquake. Such architectural gems as the Opera House and the Royal Palace, as well as the picturesque masterpieces of Caravaggio, Titian and Rubens, were lost.

Great hurricane. 1780

The Great Hurricane, or Hurricane San Calixto II, is the most powerful and deadly tropical cyclone in human history. It originated in early October 1780 in the area of ​​the Cape Verde Islands and raged for a week. On October 10, at a speed of 320 kilometers per hour, San Calixto II hit Barbados, Martinique, St. Lucia and St. Eustatius, leaving thousands of dead everywhere. The islands of Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua and St. Kitts also suffered. The great hurricane razed houses to the ground and tore ships off their anchors and smashed against 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.

Getty Images

History knows several eruptions of the Krakatoa volcano, but the one that happened on August 27, 1883 turned out to be the most destructive. 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 blew apart a volcanic island in the Sunda Strait - between the islands of Java and Sumatra. The shock waves went around the globe seven times and formed a 36-meter-high tsunami that hit the coast - it claimed the lives of 36 thousand people. In total, as a result of the eruption of Krakatoa, 200 thousand people died.

Getty Images

Several floods in China at once, which followed one after another, claimed a total of 4 (!) Million lives. Historians believe that this is the largest and most tragic disaster in the history of mankind. In August 1931, overflowing as a result heavy rains the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers destroyed the dams holding them back 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 were human sacrifices: those who did not die from water died from devastation, famine and epidemics.

Getty Images

May 31, 1970 due to an earthquake, the epicenter of which was in pacific ocean, a stone-ice avalanche broke off from Mount Huascarana in Peru and, moving at a speed of a thousand kilometers per hour, covered the towns of Ranragirk and Yungay, located in the valley of the Rio Santa River - only a cemetery with a figure of Christ hovering above it remained of them. In just a few minutes, the 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, among whom were Czech climbers who were going to conquer the Andes, and 150 thousand wounded. The memory of those whose lives were claimed by the avalanche was honored in Peru with eight days of mourning.

Cyclone Bhola. 1970

Getty Images
George Harrison at a charity concert in Bangladesh.

Tropical cyclone Bhola is one of the worst natural disasters of the 20th century. On November 13, 1970, a wave 15 (!) meters high hit the islands and coast of East Pakistan, washing away entire settlements and agricultural land in its path. Behind a short time 500 thousand people died - mostly the elderly and children. The catastrophe had political consequences: riots began, the participants of which accused the Pakistani government of inaction and slow elimination of the consequences. started Civil War between East Pakistan and the central government, which resulted in the independence of Bangladesh.

The whole world helped to restore the affected territories. One of the most famous charity events was a concert organized by George Harrison: by inviting many famous performers, he raised a quarter of a million dollars in one day.

Getty Images
Heat in Europe. 2003

The heat that covered the continent in 2003 - that summer was the hottest since the end of the Second World War - took by surprise the health care system of European countries, which was not ready for stress when not tens, 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 fall below +40°C. Elderly people were the first to be hit, as well as allergy sufferers and those who suffered from cardiovascular diseases. Just that summer European continent about 70 thousand people died.

Getty Images
Tsunami in Indian Ocean. 2004

Along with the European heat of 2003, many people remember the tsunami in the Indian Ocean, which happened a year and a half later - Ukrainian citizens were among the dead. The deadly wave was the result of the largest earthquake in the history of the Indian Ocean, which occurred 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, she reached the shores of Thailand, two later - Sri Lanka and India, and claimed the lives of 250 thousand people.

Disasters have been known since ancient times - these are volcanic eruptions, and powerful earthquakes, and a tornado. In the last century, there have been many disasters on the water and terrible nuclear disasters.

Worst water disasters

Man has been sailing on sailboats, boats, ships across the vastness of the oceans and seas for hundreds of years. During this time, there have been a huge number of disasters, shipwrecks and accidents.

In 1915, a British passenger liner was torpedoed by a German submarine. The ship sank in eighteen minutes, being at a distance of thirteen kilometers from the coast of Ireland. One thousand one hundred and ninety-eight people died.

In April 1944, a terrible disaster occurred in the port of Bombay. It all started with the fact that when unloading a single-screw steamer, which was loaded with gross violations of safety regulations, there was a strong explosion. It is known that the ship had one and a half tons of explosives, several tons of cotton, sulfur, wood, gold bars. After the first explosion, there was a second. The burning cotton scattered in a radius of almost a kilometer. Almost all ships, warehouses were burning, fires started in the city. It took only two weeks to put them out. As a result, about two and a half thousand people ended up in hospitals, and one thousand three hundred and seventy-six people were killed. The port was restored only after seven months.

The most famous of the disasters on the water is the death of the Titanic. Colliding with an iceberg during the first voyage, the ship sank. More than one and a half thousand people died.

In December 1917, near the city of Halifax, the French warship Mont Blanc collided with the Norwegian ship Imo. There was a strong explosion, which led to the destruction of not only the port, but also part of the city. The fact is that Mont Blanc was loaded exclusively with explosives. About two thousand people died, nine thousand were injured. This is the most powerful explosion of the pre-nuclear era.

Three thousand one hundred and thirty people died on a French cruiser after a torpedo attack by a German submarine in 1916. As a result of the torpedoing of the German floating hospital "General Steuben", about three thousand six hundred and eight people died.

In December 1987, a Philippine passenger ferry named Dona Paz collided with the tanker Vector. Four thousand three hundred and seventy-five people died in the process.

In May 1945, a tragedy occurred in the Baltic Sea, which claimed the lives of about eight thousand people. The cargo ship "Tilbek" and the liner "Cap Arkona" came under fire from British aircraft. As a result of the torpedoing of the Goya ship by a Soviet submarine in the spring of 1945, six thousand nine hundred people died.

"Wilhelm Gustlov" - the so-called German passenger liner, sunk by a submarine under the command of Marinesco in January 1945. The exact number of victims is unknown, approximately - it is nine thousand people.

The worst disasters in Russia

There are several terrible catastrophes that have occurred on the territory of Russia. So, in June 1989, one of the largest railway accidents in Russia occurred near Ufa. There was a massive explosion as two passenger trains passed. An unlimited cloud of fuel-air mixture exploded, which was formed due to an accident on a nearby pipeline. According to some sources, five hundred and seventy-five people died, according to others - six hundred and forty-five. Another six hundred people were wounded.

The worst environmental disaster in the world former USSR considered doom Aral Sea. For a number of reasons: soil, social, biological, the Aral Sea has almost completely dried up in fifty years. Most of its tributaries in the sixties were used for irrigation and some other agricultural needs. The Aral Sea was the fourth largest lake in the world. Since the inflow of fresh water was significantly reduced, the lake gradually died.

In the summer of 2012, a massive flood occurred in the Krasnodar Territory. It is considered the most major disaster on Russian territory. For two July days five months of rain fell. The city of Krymsk was almost completely washed away by water. Officially, 179 people were declared dead, of which 159 were residents of Krymsk. More than 34 thousand local residents suffered.

The worst nuclear disasters

Great amount people are exposed to nuclear disasters. So in April 1986, one of the power units exploded Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Radioactive substances released into the atmosphere settled on nearby villages and cities. This accident is one of the most devastating of its kind. Hundreds of thousands of people took part in the liquidation of the accident. Several hundred people died or were injured. A thirty-kilometer exclusion zone has been formed around the nuclear power plant. So far, the scale of the disaster has not been clarified.

Japan in March 2011 nuclear power plant Fukushima-1 exploded during the earthquake. Because of this a large number of radioactive substances entered the atmosphere. At first, officials hushed up the scale of the disaster.

After Chernobyl disaster The most significant nuclear accident is considered to have occurred in 1999 in the Japanese city of Tokaimura. An accident occurred at a uranium processing plant. Six hundred people were exposed to radiation, four people died.

The worst disaster in human history

The explosion of an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 is considered the most destructive catastrophe for the biosphere in the entire history of mankind. The platform itself went under water after the explosion. As a result, a huge amount of oil products got into the oceans. The spill lasted one hundred and fifty-two days. The oil film covered an area equal to seventy-five thousand square kilometers in the Gulf of Mexico.

In terms of the number of victims, the largest disaster is considered to be that in December 1984, the year occurred in India in the city of Bhapol. There was a chemical leak at one of the factories. Eighteen thousand people died. Until now, the causes of this catastrophe have not been fully elucidated.

It is impossible not to say about the most terrible fire that occurred in London in 1666. The fire spread at lightning speed throughout the city, about seventy thousand houses were destroyed, about eighty thousand people died. The fire continued for four days.

Terrible are not only disasters, but also entertainment. The site has a rating of the scariest rides in the world.
Subscribe to our channel in Yandex.Zen

Humanity will never forget about the accident on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform. The explosion and fire happened on April 20, 2010, 80 kilometers from the coast of Louisiana, at the Macondo field. The oil spill was the largest in US history and effectively ruined the Gulf of Mexico. We remembered the largest man-made and ecological disasters world, some of which are almost worse than the tragedy of Deepwater Horizon.

Could the accident have been avoided? Man-made disasters often occur as a result of natural disasters, but also due to worn-out equipment, greed, negligence, inattention ... The memory of them serves as an important lesson for humanity, because natural disasters can harm people, but not the planet, but man-made ones threaten absolutely the entire world around us.

15. Explosion at a fertilizer plant in the city of West - 15 victims

On April 17, 2013, an explosion occurred at a fertilizer plant in West Texas. The explosion occurred at 19:50 local time and it completely destroyed the plant, which belonged to the local company Adair Grain Inc. The explosion destroyed a school and a nursing home located next to the plant. About 75 buildings in the city of West were seriously damaged. The explosion killed 15 people, about 200 people were injured. Initially, there was a fire at the plant, and the explosion happened at the moment when firefighters were trying to cope with the fire. At least 11 firefighters have died.

According to eyewitnesses, the explosion was so strong that it could be heard about 70 km from the plant, and the US Geological Survey recorded ground vibrations of magnitude 2.1. "It was like an explosion atomic bomb", - eyewitnesses said. Residents of a number of areas near West were evacuated due to the leakage of ammonia used in the production of fertilizers, the authorities warned everyone about the leakage of toxic substances. A no-fly zone was introduced over West at an altitude of up to 1 km. The city resembled a war zone. ..

In May 2013, a criminal case was opened on the fact of the explosion. The investigation revealed that the company had been storing the chemicals that caused the explosion in violation of safety requirements. The US Chemical Safety Committee found that the company failed to take the necessary measures to prevent fire and explosion. In addition, at that time there were no regulations that would prohibit the storage of ammonium nitrate near populated areas.

14. Flooding of Boston with molasses - 21 victims

The molasses flood in Boston happened on January 15, 1919, after a giant molasses reservoir exploded in Boston's North End, sending a wave of sugary liquid through the streets of the city at great speed. 21 people died, about 150 were hospitalized. The disaster occurred at the Purity Distilling Company distillery during Prohibition (fermented molasses was widely used to produce ethanol at the time). On the eve of the introduction of a complete ban, the owners tried to have time to make as much rum as possible ...

Apparently, due to metal fatigue in an overflowing tank with 8700 m³ of molasses, sheets of metal connected by rivets dispersed. The ground trembled, and a wave of molasses up to 2 meters high poured into the streets. The pressure of the wave was so great that it moved the freight train off the tracks. Nearby buildings were flooded to a meter high, some collapsed. People, horses, dogs got stuck in a sticky wave and died from suffocation.

A Red Cross mobile hospital was deployed in the disaster zone, a unit of the US Navy entered the city - rescue operation lasted a week. The molasses was removed with sand, which absorbed the viscous mass. Although the factory owners blamed the anarchists for the explosion, the townspeople secured payments totaling $600,000 (today about $8.5 million) from them. According to Bostonians, even now, on hot days, a sugary smell of caramel emanates from old houses ...

13. Explosion at the Phillips chemical plant in 1989 - 23 victims

The explosion at the Phillips Petroleum Company chemical plant occurred on October 23, 1989, in Pasadena, Texas. Due to the oversight of the employees, a large leak of combustible gas occurred, and there was a powerful explosion, equivalent to two and a half tons of dynamite. A tank of 20,000 gallons of isobutane gas exploded and the chain reaction caused 4 more explosions.
During scheduled maintenance, the air ducts on the valves were accidentally closed. Thus, the control room displayed that the valve was open, while it was as if it were closed. This led to the formation of a cloud of steam, which exploded from the slightest spark. The initial explosion was recorded as 3.5 on the Richter scale and fragments of the explosion were found within a radius of 6 miles from the explosion.

Many of the fire hydrants failed, and the water pressure in the remaining hydrants dropped dramatically. It took firefighters more than ten hours to bring the situation under control and completely extinguish the flames. 23 people died and 314 were injured.

12. Fire at the pyrotechnic factory in Enschede in 2000 - 23 victims

On May 13, 2000, as a result of a fire at the pyrotechnic factory S.F. Fireworks in the Dutch city of Enschede (Enshede) was an explosion, killing 23 people, including four firefighters. The fire started in the central building and spread to two full containers of fireworks illegally stored outside the building. Several subsequent explosions occurred with the largest explosion felt as far away as 19 miles.

During the fire, a significant part of the Rombek district burned down and was destroyed - 15 streets were burned, 1,500 houses were damaged, and 400 houses were destroyed. In addition to 23 deaths, 947 people were injured and 1,250 people were left homeless. Fire crews arrived from Germany to help fight the fire.

When S.F. Fireworks built a pyrotechnic factory in 1977, it was located far from the city. As the city grew, new low-cost housing surrounded the warehouses, causing horrendous destruction, injury, and death. Most of the locals had no idea that they lived in such close proximity to the fireworks warehouse.

11. Explosion at a chemical plant in Flixboro - 64 victims

An explosion occurred in Flixborough, England on June 1, 1974, killing 28 people. The accident happened at the Nipro plant, which was engaged in the production of ammonium. The disaster caused a whopping £36 million in property damage. British industry has never known such a catastrophe. The chemical plant in Flixboro has practically ceased to exist.
A chemical plant near the village of Flixboro specialized in the production of caprolactam, the starting product for synthetic fibers.

The accident happened like this: the bypass pipeline connecting reactors 4 and 6 broke, and steam began to escape from the outlets. A cloud of cyclohexane vapors was formed, containing several tens of tons of the substance. The source of ignition of the cloud was probably the torch of the hydrogen plant. Due to an accident at the plant, an explosive mass of heated vapors was thrown into the air, for which the slightest spark was enough to ignite. 45 minutes after the accident, when the mushroom cloud reached the hydrogen plant, there was powerful explosion. The explosion in its destructive power was equivalent to the explosion of 45 tons of TNT, detonated at a height of 45 m.

About 2,000 buildings outside the enterprise were damaged. In the village of Amcotts, across the River Trent, 73 out of 77 houses were badly damaged. In Flixboro, located at a distance of 1200 m from the center of the explosion, 72 out of 79 houses were destroyed. 64 people died from the explosion and subsequent fire, 75 people at the enterprise and outside were injured of varying severity.

Under pressure from the owners of the Nipro company, plant engineers often deviated from the established technological regulations and ignored safety requirements. The sad experience of this catastrophe showed that it is necessary for chemical plants to have a high-speed automatic fire extinguishing system that allows eliminating fires of solid chemicals no later than 3 seconds.

10 Hot Steel Spill - 35 Victims

On April 18, 2007, 32 people died and 6 were injured when a ladle containing molten steel fell at the Qinghe Special Steel Corporation plant in China. Thirty tons of liquid steel heated to 1500 degrees Celsius fell from the overhead conveyor. Liquid steel broke through the doors and windows into the adjacent room, where the shift workers were.

Perhaps the most horrifying fact that the study of this catastrophe uncovered is that it could have been prevented. The immediate cause of the accident was the misuse of substandard equipment. The investigation concluded that there were a number of safety deficiencies and breaches that contributed to the accident.

When emergency services reached the crash site, they were stopped by the heat of the molten steel and were unable to reach the victims for a long time. After the steel began to cool, they found 32 victims. Surprisingly, 6 people miraculously survived this accident, and with severe burns were taken to the hospital.

9. The collapse of the train with oil in Lac-Megantic - 47 victims

The explosion of the train with oil occurred on the evening of July 6, 2013 in the town of Lac-Megantic in Quebec, Canada. A train owned by The Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway, carrying 74 tanks of crude oil, has derailed. As a result, several tanks caught fire and exploded. It is known about 42 dead, 5 more people are missing. As a result of the fire that engulfed the city, approximately half of the buildings in the city center were destroyed.

In October 2012, epoxy materials were used on the GE C30-7 #5017 diesel locomotive during engine repair in order to complete the repair as soon as possible. In subsequent operation, these materials collapsed, the locomotive began to smoke heavily. Leaking fuels and lubricants accumulated in the turbocharger housing, which led to a fire on the night of the crash.

The train driver was Tom Harding. At 23:00 the train stopped at Nantes station, on the main track. Tom contacted the dispatcher and reported problems with the diesel, strong black exhaust; the solution of the problem with the diesel locomotive was postponed until the morning, and the driver left to spend the night in a hotel. The train with the diesel locomotive running and dangerous goods was left overnight at an unattended station. At 23:50, the 911 service received a message about a fire on the lead diesel locomotive. The compressor was not working in it, and the pressure in the brake line was decreasing. At 00:56, the pressure dropped to such a level that the hand brakes could not hold the cars and the uncontrolled train went down the slope towards Lac Megantic. At 00:14, the train derailed at a speed of 105 km/h and ended up in the city center. Cars derailed, explosions followed, and burning oil spilled along the railroad.
People in the nearest cafe, feeling the tremors of the earth, decided that an earthquake had begun and hid under the tables, as a result, they did not have time to escape from the fire... This train accident became one of the deadliest in Canada.

8. The accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP - at least 75 victims

The accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station is an industrial man-made disaster that occurred on August 17, 2009 - a "rainy day" for the Russian hydropower industry. As a result of the accident, 75 people died, serious damage was caused to the equipment and premises of the station, and electricity production was suspended. The consequences of the accident affected the ecological situation in the water area adjacent to the HPP, the social and economic spheres of the region.

At the time of the accident, the HPP was carrying a load of 4100 MW, out of 10 hydroelectric units, 9 were in operation. At 8:13 local time on August 17, hydroelectric unit No. 2 was destroyed, with significant volumes of water flowing through the shaft of the hydroelectric unit under high pressure. The power plant personnel, who were in the engine room, heard a loud bang and saw the release of a powerful column of water.
Streams of water quickly flooded the engine room and the rooms below it. All hydroelectric power plants were flooded, while working GAs experienced short circuits (their flashes are clearly visible on the amateur video of the disaster), which put them out of action.

The non-obviousness of the causes of the accident (according to the Minister of Energy of Russia Shmatko, “this is the largest and most incomprehensible hydropower accident that has ever been in the world”) caused a number of versions that were not confirmed (from terrorism to a water hammer). The most probable cause of the accident is the fatigue failure of the studs that occurred during the operation of the hydraulic unit No. 2 with a temporary impeller and an unacceptable level of vibration in 1981-83.

7. Explosion on the "Piper Alpha" - 167 victims

On July 6, 1988, the Piper Alpha oil platform in the North Sea was destroyed by an explosion. The Piper Alpha platform, installed in 1976, was the largest structure on the Piper site, owned by the Scottish company Occidental Petroleum. The platform was located 200 km northeast of Aberdeen and served as the site's oil production control center. The platform included a heliport and accommodation for 200 oilmen working in shifts. On July 6, an unexpected explosion occurred on the Piper Alpha. The fire that engulfed the platform did not even give the staff the opportunity to send an SOS signal.

As a result of a gas leak and subsequent explosion, 167 people out of 226 who were on the platform at that moment died, only 59 survived. It took 3 weeks to extinguish the fire, with strong winds (80 mph) and 70 foot waves. The final cause of the explosion could not be established. According to the most popular version, there was a gas leak on the platform, as a result of which a small spark was enough to start a fire. The accident on the Piper Alpha platform led to serious criticism and subsequent revision of the safety standards for oil production in the North Sea.

6. Fire in Tianjin Binhai - 170 victims

On the night of August 12, 2015, two explosions broke out at a container storage area in the port of Tianjin. At 22:50 local time, reports of a fire began to arrive at the warehouses of the Zhuihai company, which transports hazardous chemicals, located in the port of Tianjin. As investigators later found out, it was caused by spontaneous combustion of nitrocellulose dried and heated in the summer sun. Within 30 seconds of the first explosion, a second one occurred - a container of ammonium nitrate. The local seismological service estimated the power of the first explosion at 3 tons of TNT equivalent, the second at 21 tons. Firefighters arrived at the scene for a long time could not stop the spread of fire. The fires raged for several days and there were 8 more explosions. The explosions created a huge crater.

The explosions resulted in the death of 173 people, 797 injured, and 8 people are missing. . Thousands of Toyota, Renault, Volkswagen, Kia and Hyundai vehicles were damaged. 7,533 containers, 12,428 vehicles and 304 buildings were destroyed or damaged. In addition to death and destruction, damage totaled $9 billion. Three apartment buildings were found to have been built within a one-kilometer radius of the chemical warehouse, which is prohibited by Chinese law. Authorities have charged 11 officials from the city of Tianjin in connection with the bombing. They are accused of negligence and abuse of power.

5. Val di Stave, dam burst - 268 victims

In northern Italy, over the village of Stave, the Val di Stave dam collapsed on July 19, 1985. The accident destroyed 8 bridges, 63 buildings, 268 people died. After the crash, an investigation determined that there had been poor maintenance and a low operational safety margin.

In the upper of the two dams, rainfall made the drainage pipe less efficient and clogged. Water continued to flow into the reservoir and the pressure in the damaged pipe increased, which also caused pressure on the coastal rock. The water began to seep into the soil, liquefy into mud, and weaken the banks until, finally, erosion occurred. In just 30 seconds, water and mud flows from the upper dam broke through and poured into the lower dam.

4. The collapse of the waste heap in Nambii - 300 victims

By the 1990s, Nambiya, a mining town in southeast Ecuador, had a reputation for being an "aggressive eco-environment". The local mountains were pitted with miners, riddled with holes from mining, the air is humid and filled with chemicals, toxic gases from the mine and a huge waste heap.

On May 9, 1993, much of the coal slag mountain at the end of the valley collapsed, killing about 300 people in a landslide. 10,000 people lived in the village on an area of ​​about 1 square mile. Most of the city's houses were built right at the entrance to the mine tunnel. Experts have long warned that the mountain has become almost hollow. They said that further coal mining would lead to landslides, and after several days of heavy rains, the soil softened, and the worst predictions came true.

3. Texas explosion - 581 victims

A man-made disaster happened on April 16, 1947 in the port of Texas City, USA. A fire aboard the French ship Grandcamp detonated about 2,100 tons of ammonium nitrate (ammonium nitrate), which led to a chain reaction of fires and explosions on nearby ships and oil storage facilities.

The tragedy killed at least 581 people (including all but one Texas City Fire Department), over 5,000 people were injured, and 1,784 were hospitalized. The port and a significant part of the city were completely destroyed, many enterprises were razed to the ground or burned down. More than 1,100 vehicles were damaged and 362 freight cars were wrecked - property damage was estimated at $100 million. These events sparked the first class action lawsuit against the US government.

The Court found the Federal Government guilty of criminal negligence committed by government agencies and their representatives involved in the production, packaging and labeling of ammonium nitrate, aggravated by gross errors in its transportation, storage, loading and fire fighting measures. 1,394 compensations were paid out, totaling about $17 million.

2. Bhopal disaster - up to 160,000 victims

This is one of the worst man-made disasters in the Indian city of Bhopal. As a result of an accident at a chemical plant owned by the American chemical company Union Carbide, and a pesticide manufacturer, released poisonous substance methyl isocyanate. It was stored at the factory in three tanks partially dug into the ground, each of which could hold about 60,000 liters of liquid.
The cause of the tragedy was an emergency release of methyl isocyanate vapor, which heated above the boiling point in the factory tank, which led to an increase in pressure and a rupture of the emergency valve. As a result, on December 3, 1984, about 42 tons of toxic fumes were released into the atmosphere. A cloud of methyl isocyanate covered the nearby slums and the railway station, located 2 km away.

The Bhopal disaster is the largest in terms of the number of victims in modern history, resulting in the immediate death of at least 18 thousand people, of which 3 thousand died on the day of the accident, and 15 thousand in subsequent years. According to other sources, the total number of victims is estimated at 150-600 thousand people. Big number The number of casualties is explained by the high population density, untimely informing residents about the accident, lack of medical staff, as well as adverse weather conditions - a cloud of heavy vapors was carried by the wind.

Union Carbide, responsible for the tragedy, paid the victims $470 million in an out-of-court settlement in 1987 in exchange for a waiver of claims. In 2010, an Indian court recognized seven former leaders Union Carbide India for negligence resulting in loss of life. The convicts were sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of 100,000 rupees (approximately $2,100).

1. Tragedy at the Banqiao Dam - 171,000 dead

You can’t even blame the designers of the dam for this disaster, it was designed for severe floods, but this one was completely unprecedented. In August 1975, a typhoon broke through the Banqiao Dam in western China, killing about 171,000 people. The dam was built in the 1950s to generate electricity and prevent floods. Engineers have developed it with a margin of safety for a thousand years.

But on those fateful days in early August 1975, Typhoon Nina immediately produced over 40 inches of rain, exceeding the area's annual rainfall total in just one day. After several days of even heavier rains, the dam gave way and was washed away on 8 August.

The break of the dam caused a wave 33 feet high, 7 miles wide, which traveled at a speed of 30 miles per hour. In total, more than 60 dams and additional reservoirs were destroyed due to the destruction of the Banqiao Dam. The flood destroyed 5,960,000 buildings, killed 26,000 people immediately and another 145,000 died later as a result of famine and epidemics due to natural disaster.

The worship of the four natural elements can be traced in many philosophical and religious movements. Certainly, modern man thinks it's funny. He, like the hero of Turgenev's novel, Yevgeny Bazarov, considers nature not a temple, but rather a workshop. However, nature often reminds of its omnipotence, throwing natural disasters at people. And then there is nothing left but to pray to the elements for mercy. Throughout its history, what kind of natural disasters have not interfered with the life of mankind.

Element earth

The epicenter was in Shaanxi province. Today it is difficult to say what its magnitude was, but some scientists, based on geological data, call 8 points. But the essence is not so much in its power, but in the number of victims - 830 thousand people. This number of victims is the largest among all earthquakes.

2.2 billion cubic meters - these are the scales, or rather volumes, of a landslide, all this loose material has slid down from the slopes of the Muzkolsky ridge (height - 5 thousand meters above sea level). The village of Usoy was completely littered, the flow of the Mughrab River stopped, a new lake Sarez appeared, which, growing, flooded several more villages.

Element water

The most devastating flooding also occurred in China. The season was rainy, resulting in flooding of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers. In total, about 40 million people were affected, 4 million people died. In some places, the water came down only after six months.

Although why look for natural disasters in Asian countries, when in 1824 a devastating flood occurred in. And today, on the walls of some old houses, you can see commemorative marks that demonstrate the then water level on the streets. Fortunately, the death toll did not reach a thousand, but no one knows the exact number of victims, many are missing.

This year there was one of the worst tsunamis in Europe. It affected many coastal countries, but Portugal suffered the most damage. The capital Lisbon was practically wiped off the face of the earth. More than 100 thousand people died, cultural and historical monuments disappeared, for example, paintings by Rubens and Caravaggio.

Element air

Hurricane San Calixto II, which raged for a week in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean, claimed over 27 thousand lives of innocent people. There is no exact data on its strength, trajectory of movement, it is likely that its speed exceeded 320 km / h.

This powerful hurricane originated in the Atlantic basin, its maximum speed reached 285 km / h. 11 thousand people died and about the same number disappeared without a trace.

8.

We have witnessed this event. From the news stories watched destructive actions The hurricane, which killed 1,836 people, caused $125 billion in damage.

Element fire

That hot summer in Greece there were 3,000 fires. Territories with a total area of ​​2.7 thousand square meters were affected. km. These were agricultural lands, forests, olive groves. The fires claimed 79 lives.

Speaking of fire, how not to mention fiery eruptions. The powerful eruption of Krakatau that year destroyed the island itself, killing 2,000 people. The explosion of the volcano caused a tsunami that hit the neighboring islands, killing another 36 thousand people.

Below is a list of the ten biggest natural disasters in human history. The rating is based on the number of deaths.

Earthquake in Aleppo

Death toll: about 230,000

The ranking of the largest natural disasters in the history of mankind opens with 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 earthquake in history in terms of the number of deaths. According to the references of the Damascus chronicler Ibn al-Qalanisi, approximately 230,000 people died as a result of this catastrophe.

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

Number of victims: 225,000–300,000

An underwater earthquake that occurred on December 26, 2004 in the Indian Ocean 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 on the Richter scale. Arising at a depth of about 30 km, the earthquake caused a series of destructive tsunami whose height exceeded 15 meters. These waves caused enormous destruction and claimed the lives of, according to various estimates, from 225,000 to 300,000 people in 14 countries. The coasts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand suffered the most from the tsunami.

Death toll: 171,000–230,000

The Banqiao Dam is a dam on the Ruhe River, Henan Province, China. On August 8, 1975, due to the powerful typhoon Nina, the dam was destroyed, thereby causing flooding and a huge wave 10 km wide and 3–7 meters high. This disaster, according to various estimates, claimed the lives of from 171,000 to 230,000 people, of which about 26,000 died directly from the flood. The rest died from subsequent epidemics and famine. In addition, 11 million people have lost their homes.

Number of 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 city of a millionaires at a depth of 22 km. Aftershocks with a power of 7.1 did even more damage. According to the Chinese government, the number of victims was 242,419 people, but according to other sources, about 800,000 people died, and another 164,000 were seriously injured. The earthquake also affected settlements, located at a distance of 150 kilometers from the epicenter, among them Tianjin and Beijing. More than 5,000,000 houses were completely destroyed.

Flood in Kaifeng

Death toll: 300,000–378,000

The Kaifeng flood is a man-made disaster that hit Kaifeng in the first place. This city is located on the south bank of the Yellow River in the Chinese province of Henan. In 1642, the city was flooded by the Yellow River after the Ming Dynasty army opened the dams to prevent the advance of Li Zicheng's troops. Then about 300,000-378,000 people died from the flood and the subsequent famine and plague.

Indian cyclone - 1839

Death toll: over 300,000

The fifth place in the ranking of the largest natural disasters in history is occupied by 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 the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. More than 300,000 people died then. 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, with a magnitude of approximately 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 population of the province lived in loess caves, which were destroyed or flooded by mudflows immediately after the first shocks.

Number of victims: 300,000–500,000

The most destructive tropical cyclone in history that hit the territories of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and the Indian state of West Bengal on November 12, 1970. An estimated 300-500 thousand people died from it, mainly as a result of a 9 m high storm surge that flooded many low-lying islands in the Ganges delta. The sub-districts of Thani and Tazumuddin suffered the most from the cyclone, killing more than 45% of the population.

Death toll: about 900,000

This devastating flood occurred on September 28, 1887 in Henan Province, China. The reason for this was the torrential rains that had been falling here for many days. Due to the rains, the water level in the Yellow River rose and destroyed the 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 catastrophe was preceded by a drought that lasted from 1928 to 1930. However, the following winter was very snowy, with a lot of rain in the spring, and during the summer months, the country suffered from heavy rains. All these facts contributed to the fact that three major rivers China: Yangtze, Huaihe, Huanghe overflowed their banks, taking the lives of, according to various sources, from 145 thousand to 4 million people. Also, the largest natural disaster in history caused epidemics of cholera and typhus, and also led to famine, during which cases of infanticide and cannibalism were recorded.