Natural Disasters of the Millennium

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Natural Disasters of the Millennium

1100s

1138: Aleppo, Syria—Earthquake claimed 230,000 lives.

1200s

1228: Netherlands—Sea flood killed 100,000 people.
1290: Chihli, China—Earthquake killed about 100,000 people.

1300s

1300: North America—For about two decades in Arizona and New Mexico, rivers disappeared, crops failed, and towns declined, bringing death and destruction to that area.
1316: England—Long periods of heavy rains ruined crops, causing death for one-tenth of the population due to malnutrition or disease.
1346: Constantinople—The eastern arch of St. Sophia's crumbled during a strong earthquake that struck the Byzantine capital.

1500s

1556: Shaanxi, China—In the deadliest earthquake in history, 830,000 people were killed.
1570: Northern Europe—Over 1,000 people were killed when a tidal wave in the North Sea destroyed sea walls from the Netherlands to Denmark.

1600s

1667: Shemakha, Caucasia—Earthquake killed about 80,000 people.

1700s

1727: Tabriz, Iran—Earthquake killed about 77,000 people.
1755: Lisbon, Portugal—More than 10,000 people were killed in an earthquake that devastated Lisbon. The earthquake occurred on All Saints' Day, when churches in this city of a quarter of million people were full, and the quake lasted about nine minutes. Floods and fires followed the event.
1776: Eastern Seaboard from North Carolina to Nova Scotia—At least 4,100 were killed during the storm called the Hurricane of Independence.
1780: Barbados, West Indies—Hurricane killed up to 22,000 people.

1800s

1811: Mississippi Valley/New Madrid, Missouri, USA—Earthquake reversed the course of the Mississippi River. Due to the sparse population of the area at the time, the number of fatalities is unknown.
1815: Sumbawa, Indonesia—Tambora volcano erupted, throwing so much ash into the atmosphere that the year that followed was called the "Year without a Summer." In June and July of 1815, New England and northern Europe suffered frost and even snow.
1840: Natchez, Mississippi, USA—Tornado killed 317 people.
1842: China—Flooding killed 300,000 people.
1864: India—Cyclone killed 70,000; Calcutta was the most affected.
1883: Indonesia—Eruption of Krakatau, with sea waves sent as far away as Cape Horn, and possibly England. Possibly 36,000 killed.
1886: Charleston, South Carolina, USA—Earthquake killed 60 people.
1887: Huang He (Yellow River), China—Flood waters killed 900,000 people.

1888: East Coast of the United States—400 people died in the blizzard of 1888.
1889: Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA—Flood killed more than 2,200 people.
1896: Sanriku, Japan—Earthquake and tidal wave killed 27,000 people.

1900s

1900: Galveston, Texas, USA—Hurricane killed more than 6,000–8,000 people.
1902: Martinique, West Indies—Volcano eruption killed 40,000 people.
1906: San Francisco, California, USA—Earthquake killed more than 1,000 people.
1908: Messina, Italy—Earthquake killed about 85,000 people.
1920: Gansu, China—Earthquake killed 200,000 people.
1923: Tokyo, Japan—Earthquake killed more than 132,000 people. Regional rivers burst their banks, bringing the total deaths to over 300,000.
1925: Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, USA—Tri-state tornadoes killed 689 people.
1927: Xining, China—Earthquake killed about 200,000 people.
1930s: New York through the Midwest to California, USA—Drought caused the "Great Dust Bowl" of the south central plains during the mid-1930s.
1931: Huang He (Yellow River), China—In what may be the greatest death toll due to a natural disaster, 3,700,000 people may have lost their lives in flooding.
1933: Long Beach, California, USA—Earthquake killed 117 people.
1935: Pakistan—Quetta earthquake left 30,000–60,000 dead.
1936: Mississippi and Georgia, USA—Tornadoes killed 455 people.
1939: Chile—Earthquake killed about 30,000 people.
1939: Northern Turkey—Earthquake caused about 100,000 deaths, mostly near Erzingan.
1954: Alaska, USA—Strongest earthquake in North America occurred east of Anchorage. Seismic wave 50 feet high traveled more than 8,000 miles at 450 mph.
1970: East Pakistan—Cyclone and tidal wave killed at least 300,000 people.
1970: Peru—Earthquake killed more than 50,000 people.
1972: Rapid City, South Dakota, USA—Flash flood caused 237 deaths.
1972: Mid Atlantic region, USA—Tropical Storm Agnes killed 129 people.
1974: Eastern and Central USA—Worst tornado outbreak in history killed at least 315 people.
1976: Big Thompson Canyon, Colorado, USA—Flash flood killed 139 people.
1976: Tangshan, China—Earthquake left 242,000–655,000 people dead.
1985: Mexico—Earthquake killed an estimated 25,000 people near and around Mexico City.
1985: Colombia—Earthquake killed about 25,000 people.
1989: San Francisco, California, USA—Earthquake killed 67 people.
1990: Northwest Iran—Earthquake killed at least 50,000 people.
1991: Bangladesh—Cyclone killed over 131,000 people.
1993: Midwestern USA—Major flooding killed almost 50 people.
1994: San Fernando Valley, California, USA—Earthquake killed 61 people.
1995: Osaka, Japan—Earthquake killed 5,100 people.
1995: Chicago, Illinois, USA—A July heat wave killed at least 465 people.
1998: China—At least 3,000 people were killed in flooding.
1998: Papua New Guinea—Tsunamis killed at least 2,000 people.
1999: Oklahoma and Kansas, USA—Tornadoes killed almost 50 people.
1999: Turkey—Earthquake killed 14,000 people.