Here, we list out 7 World’s Worst Natural Disasters that are all terrifying and devastating.
Bhola Cyclone (1970)
The Bhola cyclone that struck East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and West Bengal in India on 12 November 1970 is regarded as the deadliest natural disaster in the 20th century. It was a devastating tropical cyclone in which about 500,000 people lost their lives. The cyclone resulted in a storm surge that flooded much of the low-lying islands of the Gangetic Delta. It was season’s strongest cyclonic storm of the 1970 North Indian Ocean cyclone season.
Haiyuan Earthquake (1920)
The devastating Haiyuan Earthquake happened on 16th December 1920 in Haiyuan County, Ningxia Province, China. It was also known as the 1920 Gansu earthquake as Ningxia was part of Gansu Province when the earthquake happened.
The earthquake was a severe one and measured 7.8 on Richter magnitude scale. It is reported that the earthquake left 273,000 people dead. There was mass scale destruction as nearly all the houses collapsed in the cities of Longde and Huining.
Shaanxi Earthquake (1556)
The Shaanxi earthquake or Huaxian earthquake or Jiajing earthquake is one of the most deadly earthquakes on record, killing about 830,000 people. The earthquake occurred on the morning of 23 January 1556 in Shaanxi, during the Ming dynasty. It affected more than 97 counties in the provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu, Henan, Shanxi, Hebei, Hunan, Shandong, Anhui, and Jiangsu. The earthquake destroyed 840 km wide area. In some counties, nearly 60% of the population was killed.
Tangshan Earthquake (1976)
The Tangshan earthquake hit the industrial city of Tangshan in Hebei, China on July 28, 1976. The earthquake was hit in the early morning and lasted about 16 seconds. The magnitude of the earthquake was around 8.0 on the Richter scale. The death toll was reported to be around 255,000. However, some sources estimate the death toll to be as high as 650,000 as there was a large number of fatalities in the densely populated surrounding areas.
Typhoon Nina (1975)
Typhoon Nina which is known as the Typhoon Bebeng in the Philippines is regarded as the fourth deadliest tropical cyclone on record. An estimated 230,000 people died when the Banqiao Dam collapsed devastating areas downstream. There was a widespread damage caused due to the collapse of the dam by heavy floods. A string of smaller dams also collapsed which added more damage by the typhoon.
Yellow River Flood (1887)
The 1887 Yellow River Flood was a devastating flood that happened on the Yellow River (Huang He) in China.The Yellow River is prone to flooding as it has elevated nature running between dikes above the broad plains that surround it. The 1887 Yellow River Flood is regarded as the deadliest natural disaster ever recorded killing about 900,000 people.
Indian Ocean Earthquake (Tsunami) 2004
It was on December 26, 2004, that an undersea earthquake of magnitude 9.3 having epicenter off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia hit the coasts of several countries in Southeast Asia. It resulted in a devastating tsunami which killed an estimated 225,000 to 230,210 people.
