Not to diminish the current disaster in Indonisia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and India, I thought you all would be interested in some past natural disasters. I realize that many more people can die from the current situation, but some of the past disasters make the tsunami of 2004 look like a cakewalk; sorry if the comparison offends anybody...I'll take the slam. I was around in 1970 and don't remember a cyclone killing 300,000 Bangladeshis. I wonder...do you think if today's communications media were around then, fewer people would have died? Since donating $$ online is a possibility today, I tend to think that technology will prevent the number of people dying from the tsunami of 2004 than from the cyclone of 1970 in Bangladesh...let's hope so anyway...
Worst Natural Disasters In History
POSTED: 4:55 pm EST December 28, 2004
UPDATED: 10:04 am EST December 31, 2004
Here is a list of the worst natural disasters in recorded history.
Currently, the 2004 South Asia tsunamis would have the highest fatality count for a tsunami event, surpassing a tsunami in 1896 that killed 27,000 people in Japan.
2004 - South Asia
An earthquake causes tsunamis that hit Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Thailand and other South Asian nations. The death toll is more than 120,000.
2003 - Iran
A 6.3 quake devastated the Iranian city of Bam, killing more than 50,000 people.
1999 - Venezuela
The death toll is still unclear from the rain-caused landslides that hit Venezuela in mid-December 1999; official estimates are as high as 30,000 deaths.
1998 - Central America
Hurricane Mitch devastates much of Honduras and Nicaragua in Central America. More than 10,000 people were killed and some 2 million left homeless as mudslides swept away whole villages.
1991 - Bangladesh
Bangladesh lost more than 130,000 people in April 1991 from cyclone-induced flooding.
1990 - Iran
An earthquake triggers a landslide, causing from 40,000 to 50,000 deaths in western Iran on June 20, 1990.
1988 - Armenia
In 1988, an earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale devastates Armenia, killing over 100,000 people perished.
1985 - Colombia
And a small eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Colombia on November 13, 1985 leads to a massive mudflow that covers the city of Armero and kills more than 23,000 people.
1983 - Thailand
Monsoons kill 10,000 people in Thailand over the course of three months in 1983. Some 100,000 people contracted waterborne diseases as a result of the storm.
1976 - China
A deadly earthquake of a magnitude 8.0 strikes Tianjin, China, on July 27, 1976. The official casualty figure issued by the Chinese government was 255,000 people.
1970 - Bangladesh
Bangladesh loses more than 300,000 people in November 1970 from cyclone-induced flooding.
1970 - Peru
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake at Mount Huascaran, Peru, on May 21, 1970, causes a rock and snow avalanche that buries 2 towns, killing as many as 20,000 people.
1959 - China
In July 1959, massive floods in China kill at least 2 million people.
1938 and 1939 - China
Floods kill 1 million people in a two-year period in China.
1931 - China
The massive flooding of the Yangtze River in China in 1931 caused more than 3 million deaths from flooding and starvation.
1902 - Martinique
The eruption of Mont Pelée in Martinique, Lesser Antilles, in 1902, kills nearly 30,000 people.
1896 - Japan
About 27,000 people drown following an earthquake-induced tsunami off the coast of Japan.
1887 - China
In 1887, about 900,000 people died when the country's Yellow River burst its banks in the worst-ever recorded flooding.
1883 - Indonesia
On August 26, Krakatoa, a small volcano on an uninhabited island between Sumatra and Java, explodes. The eruption and a tsunami kill 36,000 people in this Indonesian region.
1815 - Indonesia
A volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora on Indonesia's Sumbawa island in 1815 kills than 90,000 people.
1780 - Caribbean
"The Great Hurricane" hits the Caribbean in October 1780 and kills 22,000 people on the islands of Martinique, St. Eustatius, and Barbados.
1556 - China
A quake hits the Chinese province of Shansi on February 2, 1556. It kills 830,000 people.
1201 - Mediterranean
The deadliest earthquake in history kills approximately 1.1 million people in Egypt and Syria.
Sources: Discovery Channel, U.S.G.S., BBC
Originally posted by chancremechanic3 Million in 1931? Thats mind boggling
Not to diminish the current disaster in Indonisia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and India, I thought you all would be interested in some past natural disasters. I realize that many more people can die from the current situation, but some of the past disasters make the tsunami of 2004 look like a cakewalk; sorry if the comparison offends anybody...I'll take ...[text shortened]... pproximately 1.1 million people in Egypt and Syria.
Sources: Discovery Channel, U.S.G.S., BBC
Originally posted by Bobla45my understanding is that around 40 million died in those three countries from the war ... these figures seem to be similar at most net sites anyway.
😀 I had always heard 20 million, the killer mammals getting 15 of them, Uncle Joe getting 5 million of his own....
as for stalin ... during the cold war good westerners were taught that stalin was terrible: 5 mill murdered.
nowadays figures range from denial (http://www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/faq/stalindeaths.html) to 40 million (http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm#Stalin).
Originally posted by flexmoreThanx flex, I read em, will now keep an open mind after reading the second web page. The first one looks like it was probably written by the same people who claim the moon landing was filmed in Arizona
my understanding is that around 40 million died in those three countries from the war ... these figures seem to be similar at most net sites anyway.
as for stalin ... during the cold war good westerners were taught that stalin was terrible: 5 mill murdered.
nowadays figures range from denial (http://www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/faq/stalindeaths.html) to 40 million (http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm#Stalin).
Originally posted by Bobla45Actually, the fake moon landings were orchestrated and perpetuated in a secret military airbase situated near Groom Dry Lake, which is in a remote part of the Nevada desert. It is also refered to by the military as Area 51.
Thanx flex, I read em, will now keep an open mind after reading the second web page. The first one looks like it was probably written by the same people who claim the moon landing was filmed in Arizona
skeeter
Originally posted by skeeterI used to like you. Now I don't. 🙁
Actually, the fake moon landings were orchestrated and perpetuated in a secret military airbase situated near Groom Dry Lake, which is in a remote part of the Nevada desert. It is also refered to by the military as Area 51.
skeeter
(unless that's sarcasm in which case well done)
Originally posted by XanthosNZwell...
I used to like you. Now I don't. 🙁
(unless that's sarcasm in which case well done)
Go to an observatory. Stare up at the moon through the strongest telescope you can find and pinpoint the landing gear, the flag, the footsteps are any other sign of a moon landing you can.
You can't.
It's not that I seriously doubt the moon landing, but there is a nagging irritation at the back of my head that something's rotten in the State of Denmark on this one...
I was watching a program on conspiricy theories and this guy came on and there was a lot of sniggering (the program was generally taking the piss out of the conspiricy theorists, by the way) until he pointed this out. And showed photos of the moon...and there is no landing gear (the rear end of the rocket landing thingy), no flag and no footsteps. The sniggering ended there and then.
Never heard anything more about it either though...
Originally posted by flexmoreThat wasn't a natural disaster though!
around 1940 a pack of killer mammals attacked russia , poland and china killing about 40 million of their people.
I think the black plague killed a lot of Europeans, I'm not sure if it killed more than the amount of Chinese though. That's an aweful lot of people...
Originally posted by XanthosNZWe have a winner!
Population of Europe:
year population
1000 38 million
1100 48 million
1200 59 million
1300 70 million
1347 75 million
1352 50 million
In five years the Black Death wiped out 1/3 of Europe or 25 million people.
Unless we count the dramatic extinction of dinosaurs though...
Originally posted by XanthosNZSorry for the reality check Xanthos and I just hate to lose closet minded fans. Not. Thats my position and most of the S&T frat here at CU.
I used to like you. Now I don't. 🙁
(unless that's sarcasm in which case well done)
You just prove that the US of A put a manned vessel on the surface of the moon and I will withdraw. And, my collegues and I have a very clear platform for what constitutes " reasonable proof".
Good luck
skeeter
Originally posted by skeeterUmm...didn't catch the response?
Sorry for the reality check Xanthos and I just hate to lose closet minded fans. Not. Thats my position and most of the S&T frat here at CU.
You just prove that the US of A put a manned vessel on the surface of the moon and I will withdraw. And, my collegues and I have a very clear platform for what constitutes " reasonable proof".
Good luck
skeeter
skeeter