What was the biggest known natural disaster ever to take place in the history of mankind?
Aug 31, 2010
in
Disaster
Dates of those incidents if available would be helpful. Thanks.
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6 comments
Unknown on August 31, 2010 at 12:01 am
Most definitely the Black Death(Bubonic Plague) mostly in the 1400s(15th Century) but continued(at a much slower pace) to kill people until the 1800s(19th Century).In the 1400s it killed about 400 MILLION people.
Belle on August 31, 2010 at 12:01 am
The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in AD79 was the biggest volcano eruption of all time
And would have been 1000 times more powerful than an atomic bomb blast
Hope this helps
Erwin on August 31, 2010 at 12:01 am
The 1931 central China Floods is by far the most devastating Natural disaster of all time. In the year 1931, a series of floods attacked Yellow river, Yangtze river and the Huai river, resulting in approximately 2-4 million deaths mostly from drowning, typhus and cholera. Following the floods, there were reports of cannibalism and infanticide, wives and daughters were sold and many were dislocated. On the August of 25th, 1931 200000 people drowned in their sleep when a flood in the Grand canal near Gaoyou lake swept away the levee. Damages to property and community was huge. This is by far the deadliest natural disaster to ever take place.
Just Me on August 31, 2010 at 12:01 am
There are actually many and they include earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, floods, pandemics, and famines.
Though not natural, one must also consider the "environmental," disaster that is happening right now with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska. Both will absolutely be included as two of the worst "environmental," disasters in history.
To list just a few that are considered among the worst:
January 2010, the 7.0 earthquake in Haiti. An estimated 230,000 were killed.
December 2004, 9.0 earthquake in Sumatra which triggered tsunamis, killed and estimated 275, 000.
December 1920 8.6 earthquake in Gansu, China killed an estimated 200,000.
From 1900 to present, malaria causes severe illness in 500 million people worldwide each year and kills more than 1 million annually.
From 1980 to present, the worldwide toll from AIDS is at 25 million, 40 million others are infected.
1957-58 the Asian flu killed 2 million worldwide making it the 2nd biggest flu pandemic of the 20th century.
As stated, there are many other natural disasters listed in categories over the past 100 years (and more.) It’s actually very difficult to single one out as the worst.
ROBERT on August 31, 2010 at 12:01 am
There were many volcanoes in the history of man that wiped them out. Mt.Thera in the Mediterranean Sea is one example (app. 1500 BCE) and the largest explosion was Mt.Tambora in Indonesia in 1815 in recorded history. Both of those volcanoes blew their tops off.
Merlin on August 31, 2010 at 12:01 am
Krakatoa – August 26–27, 1883 – Eruption was equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT and ejected approximately 21 cubic kilometers of rock, ash, and pumice. The explosions destroying most of this Indonesian island was heard as far away as Australia and the pressure wave was recorded at several points around the globe. The resulting Tsunami destroyed 165 villages and towns leaving 36,417 dead.
This is the biggest single event in recorded history. Pandemics and droughts have killed more people, but these events are generally ongoing occurrences that play themselves out over the course of years, if not decades.
65 million years ago an asteroid impact at the tip of the he Yucatán Peninsula lead into a global extinction event killing off the dinosaurs. A little closer to home and a mere 10 million years ago the Yellowstone Hotspot reshaped a goodly portion of the western United States.