World's Deadliest Disasters
World's Deadliest Disasters
This page was assembled in reaction to the events of September 11, 2001. Aghast that so many people could die so suddenly (original estimates were that 10,000 people had perished in the World Trade Centers alone), I wondered if there had ever been a day in history when more people had gone to meet their Creator. As awful as the attacks were, it turns out that that day's hardly even a blip on the screen of single-day, or single-week, suffering.
In general, this page does not include season-long or years-long disasters such as droughts, famines or wars (c.f., the Chinese Famine of 1907, where over 24 million perished from starvation). It does include a few military operations that killed civilians, though this page doesn't pretend to provide a complete list of military "disasters."
Some of the information in this table is adapted from the Disasters pages at the Learning Network's infoplease online encyclopedia. Sections in red are man-made disasters. For a chronological listing, visit the Wars and Rumors of Wars page. This page is updated whenever new disasters occur.
1556
Jan. 23, Shaanxi (Shensi) province, China: Most deadly earthquake in history; 830,000 killed.
1976
Jul. 28, Tangshan China: Twenty sq mi of the city was devastated by an earthquake that measured 7.5 in magnitude. The New China News Agency released figures following the inaugural Congress of the Chinese Seismological Society in Nov. 1979 which claimed 242,000 dead and 164,000 injured. The USGS estimates the real death toll at 655,000. This is the 20th century's worst earthquake.
1642
China: Rebels destroyed Kaifeng seawall; 300,000 drowned.
1970
Nov. 13, East Pakistan: Some 200,000 killed by cyclone-driven tidal wave from Bay of Bengal. Over 100,000 missing.
1138
Aug. 9, Aleppo, Syria: Deadly earthquake claimed lives of 230,000 people.
856
Dec. 22, Damghan, Iran: About 200,000 were killed in one of the deadliest earthquakes on record.
1920
Dec. 16, Jiangsu (Gansu) Province, China: An earthquake measuring an estimated 8.6 in magnitude caused major fractures and landslides and killed 200,000 people.
1927
May 22, Kansu, China: Magnitude-7.9 earthquake claimed approximately 200,000 victims in the Xining area.
893
May 23, Ardabil, Iran: An earthquake killed about 150,000 people.
1923
Sep. 1, Kwanto, Japan: The Great Kanto Earthquake estimated at 7.9 magnitude destroyed one third of Tokyo and most of Yokohama, leaving 2.5 million people homeless. The quake resulted in the Great Tokyo Fire. Floods followed as the rivers Fukuro Chiyo and Takimi burst their banks. At least 143,000 people were killed, although unofficial estimates say as many as 300,000 may have died.
1991
Apr. 30, southeast Bangladesh: A cyclone killed over 131,000 and left as many as 9 million homeless. Thousands of survivors died from hunger and water-borne disease.
1945
Aug. 6, Aug. 9, Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan: Altogether, the two bombings killed an estimated 110,000 Japanese citizens and injured another 130,000. By 1950, another 230,000 Japanese had died from injuries or radiation.
1948
Oct. 5, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan: An earthquake measuring 7.3 magnitude killed 110,000 people.
1228
Holland: Some 100,000 people reputedly drowned by sea flood in Friesland.
1290
Sept., Chihli, China: Earthquake killed about 100,000 people.
1908
Dec. 28, Messina, Sicily: City totally destroyed by earthquake. Death toll 70,000 to 100,000 in Sicily and southern Italy. A tidal wave followed, causing more devastation to the town of Reggio across the straits.
1667
Nov., Shemakha, Caucasia: Earthquake killed about 80,000 people.
1727
Nov. 18, Tabriz, Iran: About 77,000 victims killed in deadly earthquake.
1932
Dec. 25, Gansu, China: Magnitude-7.6 earthquake rattled China, killing approximately 70,000.
1755
Nov. 1, Portugal: An earthquake leveled Lisbon and was felt as far away as southern France and North Africa; 70,000 killed.
1864
Oct. 5, Calcutta, India: About 70,000 killed in cyclone that nearly destroyed city.
1970
May 31, Callejon de Huaylas, Peru: An earthquake measuring 7.8 magnitude destroyed the Northern Peru towns of Casma, Huaraz and Chimbote. A quake-induced rock and snow avalanche on Mt. Huascaran buried the towns of Yungay and Ranrahirca. This entire event resulted in 66,794 dead and 400,000 left homeless.
1935
May 30-31, Quetta, India (now Pakistan): An earthquake killed 30,000 to 60,000 people in the hill station in British-ruled Baluchistan (Balochistan).
1990
Jun. 21, northwest Iran: A 7.7-magnitude quake left 50,000 dead, 100,000 injured, The worst recorded disaster in Iran devastated Gilan and Zanjan in Caspian Sea area. Some 500,000 were made homeless.
1965
May 11-12 and Jun. 1-2, East Pakistan: Cyclones killed about 47,000.
2003
Dec. 26, Bam, Iran: An earthquake measuring 6.3 left 41,000 confirmed dead as entire ancient city made of mud brick collapsed; death toll may reach 45,000.
1902
May 8, Martinique, West Indies: Mt. Pelée erupted and wiped out city of St. Pierre; 40,000 dead.
1942
Oct. 16, Bengal, India: Cyclone in Bay of Bengal, south of Calcutta India, took about 40,000 lives.
1883
Aug. 26-28, Netherlands Indies: Eruption of Krakatau; violent explosions destroyed two-thirds of island, leaving an estimated 36,000 dead. Sea waves occurred as far away as Cape Horn and possibly England.
1939
Jan. 24, Concepcion, Chile: Magnitude-8.3 earthquake razed 50,000 sq mi; about 30,000 killed when quake destroyed the town. About 10,000 of the casualties came from the nearby town of Chillan
1939
Dec. 26-27, Erzincan, northern Turkey: Severe 7.8-magnitude quake destroyed city of Erzingan, resulting in an estimated 100,000 fatalities -- though the USGS reports only 30,000 deaths.
1950
Aug. 15, Assam, India: Earthquake affected 30,000 sq mi; 20,000 to 30,000 killed.
1915
Jan. 13, Avezzano, Italy: Central Italy was struck by an earthquake killing 29,980 people.
1896
Jun. 15, Sanriku, Japan: Earthquake and tidal wave killed 27,000.
1978
Sep. 16, Tabas, Iran: Earthquake measuring between 7.5 and 7.9 destroyed a city and many villages in eastern Iran, leaving 25,000 dead.
1976
Nov. 14-16, Colombia: Eruption of Nevada del Ruiz, 85 mi northwest of Bogotá. Mudslides buried most of the town of Armero and devastated Chinchiná; estimated 25,000 killed.
1985
Sep. 19-20, Mexico City, Mexico: Earthquake registering 8.1 on Richter scale struck central and southwest regions, devastating part of the city and three coastal states; estimated 12,000 to 25,000 killed, 40,000 injured.
1988
Dec. 7, northwest Armenia: A 6.9-magnitude earthquake killed about 25,000, injured 15,000 to 18,000, and left at least 400,000 homeless. The town of Spitak almost totally destroyed and Leninakan half-destroyed.
1976
Feb. 4, Guatemala: A 7.5-magnitude quake and resulting mudslides caused much destruction just north of Guatemala City, leaving over 23,000 dead, 80,000 people injured and 1.5 million homeless.
1963
May 28-29, East Pakistan: Cyclone killed about 22,000 along coast.
1993
Sep. 30, India: Up to 22,000 people were killed in 36 villages destroyed after a series of powerful earthquakes which rocked western and southern India. The first of the five tremors measured 6.4 magnitude. The epicenter was in the region where the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka meet near Latur. Two weeks after the earthquake the number of bodies recovered was just under 10,000 and officials said the true death toll may never be known.
1780
Oct. 10-16, Barbados, West Indies: "The Great Hurricane of 1780" killed 20,000 to 22,000 persons and completely flattened the islands of Barbados, Martinique, and St. Eustatius; it was the deadliest western hemisphere hurricane on record.
1977
Nov. 19, Andhra Pradesh, India: A cyclone and tidal wave claimed lives of 20,000.
1999
Dec. 15-16, northern Venezuela: Heavy rains caused catastrophic flooding and mudslides, killing an estimated 5,000 to 20,000 people, in country's worst modern-day natural disaster.
1905
Apr. 4, India: About 19,000 people were killed in an earthquake that struck the province of Lahore. The earthquake, which measured 8.6 magnitude, demolished the towns of Kangra and Dharmsala.
2001
Jan. 26, Bhuj, India: Magnitude-7.7 earthquake rocked western Indian state of Gujarat, killing nearly 19,000 people and leaving 600,000 homeless. Total cost was estimated at $1.3 billion.
1999
Aug. 17, Kocaeli, northwest Turkey: A magnitude-7.6 tembler centered near Izmit killed over 17,000 and injured about 44,000. Damage estimated at $8.5 billion.
1970
Jan. 5, Yunnan province, China: Magnitude-7.7 quake killed
15,621.
1960
Feb. 29, Agadir, Morocco: Estimated 10,000 to 15,000, out of a population of 40,000, dead as earthquake set off tidal wave and fire, destroying most of city.
1968
Aug. 31, Iran: More than 12,000 people were killed in the northeastern province of Khurasan.
1998
Oct. 26-Nov. 4, Central America (notably Honduras and Nicaragua): "Mitch" killed more than 11,000 people, becoming the deadliest Atlantic storm in 200 years. Winds reached as high as 180 mph. Two to three million people were left homeless; damages were more than $5 billion in Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala.
1960
May 21, Chile: An earthquake struck Santiago and Concepcion, the after effect of which was tidal waves (tsunamis) and volcanic eruptions. The Chilean death toll was more than 10,000 dead and missing.
1962
Sep. 1, Northwestern Iran: Some 10,000 died in an earthquake near Ghazvin. The quake destroyed more than 300 surrounding villages.
1945
Jan. 30, Baltic Sea: Nazi passenger ship Wilhelm Gustloff, carrying German refugees and soldiers, was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine. As many as 9,000 to 10,000 may have died. World's largest marine disaster.
1906
Sep. 18, Hong Kong: A typhoon and tsunami killed an estimated 10,000 persons.
1965
Dec. 15, Karachi, Pakistan: A cyclone killed about 10,000.
1971
Sep. 29, Orissa state, India: A cyclone and tidal wave off the Bay of Bengal killed as many as 10,000.
1999
Oct. 29, Orissa state, India: A supercyclone swept in from the Bay of Bengal, killing at least 9,573 and leaving over 10 million homeless.
1930
Sep. 3, Santo Domingo: A hurricane killed about 8,000 people.
1976
Aug. 16-17, Mindanao, Philippines: An earthquake followed by an 18-foot tidal wave swamped the islands of Mindanao, Sulu, Basilan and Tawi Tawi, leaving some 8,000 dead or missing and 150,000 people homeless.
1974
Sep. 14-19, Honduras: "Fifi" struck northern part of country, leaving 8,000 dead and 100,000 homeless.
1900
Sep. 8, Galveston, Tex.: An estimated 6,000 to 8,000 died in hurricane and tidal surge. The "Galveston Hurricane" is considered the deadliest in U.S. history.
1963
Oct. 2-7, Caribbean: Hurricane Flora killed about 7,200 in Haiti and Cuba.
1972
Dec. 22-23, Managua, Nicaragua: Earthquake measuring 6.5 magnitude devastated city, leaving between 5,000 and 7,000 dead.
1948
Nov., Yingkow, China: An unidentified Chinese troopship evacuating Nationalist troops from Manchuria sank near Yingkow, killing an estimated 6,000 persons.
1949
Aug. 5, Ecuador: An area of some 1,500 square miles was struck by an earthquake measuring 6.75 magnitude. 6,000 people were killed and about 100,000 people were made homeless from the area at Ambato and four other towns.
1960
Oct. 10, East Pakistan: Cyclone and tidal wave killed about 6,000.
1944
Jun. 29, off the coast of Japan: Japanese troop ship carrying troops and crew was torpedoed by American submarine USS Sturgeon. An estimated 5,400 to 5,600 sailors were killed.
1972
Apr. 10, Iran: An earthquake over a 250-mile radius struck southern Iran around Ghir Karzin. 5,374 people were killed.
1976
Nov. 24, Turkey: In Van Province 5,291 confirmed dead with more than 5,000 injured. 50,000 people left homeless with the destruction of the town of Muradiye and hundreds of villages.
1974
Dec. 28, Pakistan: A quake measuring 5.5 magnitude destroyed villages over 100 square miles in the Karakom mountains leaving 5,200 dead and more than 16,000 injured.
1995
Jan. 17, Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe, Japan: More than 5,100 killed in 7.2-magnitude earthquake and 26,800 injured; estimated damage $100 billion.
1944
Jan. 15, Argentina: About 5,000 people were killed in an earthquake that struck San Juan.
1945
May 3: Several days before World War II ended in Europe, the German passenger ship Cap Arcona carrying about 6,000 -- of which an estimated 5,000 were concentration camp prisoners -- was sunk by British aircraft. An estimated 5,000 persons were killed.
1998
May 30, northern Afghanistan: Magnitude-7.1 earthquake and
aftershocks killed an estimated 5,000 and injured at least 1,500. A quake on Feb. 4 in same area had killed about 2,300.
1959
Sep. 27, Honshu, Japan: Typhoon Vera killed an estimated 4,464.
1776
Sep. 2-9, N.C. to Nova Scotia: Called the "Hurricane of Independence," it is believed that 4,170 in the U.S. and Canada died in the storm.
1934
Sep. 21, Japan: Hurricane killed more than 4,000 on Honshu.
1948
Jun. 28, Japan: An earthquake measuring 7.3 killed 3,769 people at Fukui 28 miles northeast of Kyoto.
1960
Apr. 24, Iran: An earthquake measuring 5.75 magnitude struck the southern town of Lar, reducing it to rubble. More than 3,500 people were killed.
1916
Feb. 26, Mediterranean: About 3,100 people died when the French cruiser Provence was sunk by a German submarine.
1948
Dec. 3, Kiangya: Chinese passenger ship carrying refugees fleeing Communist troops sank off Shanghai; over 3,000 believed to have been killed.
1962
Jan. 10, Peru: Avalanche off extinct Huascaran volcano, killed more than 3,000.
1982
Dec. 13, Yemen: Magnitude-6 quake killed 3,000 people and injured 2,000. The earthquake devastated Dhamar province 60 miles southeast of San'a.
2004
Apr. 22, Ryongchon, North Korea: Two fuel trains collided at a North Korean railroad station near the Chinese border, igniting a deafening explosion that rained debris for more than 10 miles around, South Korean media said. As many as 3,000 people may have been killed or injured.
1991
Nov. 5, Central Philippines: Flash floods triggered by tropical storm "Thelma" killed about 3,000 people. City of Ormoc on Leyte was worst hit.
2001
Sep. 11, New York City, Washington, DC and Pennsylvania: Nearly 3,000 killed in simultaneous terrorist suicide attacks on New York's World Trade Center, the US Pentagon and a failed hijacking that crashed in rural Pennsylvania.
1980
Nov. 23, Italy: Magnitude-7.2 earthquake killed 2,735 people and injured more than 7,500. The epicenter was at Eboli but damage was reported over a huge area to Naples. More than 1,500 people were reported missing.
1980
Oct. 10, Algeria: Provisional figures issued by the United Nations said 2,590 people were killed in a 7.3-magnitude quake. The earthquake centered on the town of El Asnam and left 330,000 people homeless.
1941
Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii: Among the Americans there were 2,409 casualties, including 1,177 crewmen killed when U.S. battleship Arizona was sunk during a surprise attack on the American naval base by Japanese warplanes. The devastating air strike, which damaged or destroyed every battleship in the U.S. Pacific Fleet, is the worst naval catastrophe in U.S. history.
1975
Sep. 6, Lice, Turkey: An earthquake which measured 6.8 magnitude devastated the town and surrounding villages. At least 2,350 people were killed and 3,000 injured.
1959
Aug. 20, Fukien Province, China: Typhoon "Iris" killed 2,334.
2003
May 21, Boumerdes, Algeria: A magnitude 6.8 quake killed 2,300 and injured more than 11,000. The earthquake left upwards of 120,000 people homeless.
1999
Sep. 21, central Taiwan: Severe 7.6 earthquake and aftershocks killed 2,295 and injured 8,729.
1889
May 31, Johnstown, Pa.: More than 2,200 died in flood after South Fork Dam of the Little Conemaugh River collapsed, causing a wall of water 40 feet high.
79 AD
Pompeii, Italy: Eruption of Mt.Vesuvius covered the city of Pompeii. To date archeaologists have located about 2,000 victims.
1957
Dec. 13, Iran: A severe earthquake in western Iran killed more than 2,000 people.
1963
Oct. 9, Italy: Landslide into the Vaiont Dam; flood killed about 2,000.
1984
Dec. 3, Bhopal, India: Toxic gas, methyl isocyanate, seeped from Union Carbide insecticide plant, killed more than 2,000, injured about 150,000.
1998
Jul. 17, Papua New Guinea: Spurred by undersea earthquake, three tsunamis wiped out entire villages in the northwest province of Sepik. One tidal wave reported by survivor to be 30 ft high. At least 2,000 found or presumed dead. Many who were injured by the tsunamis were later killed by deadly gangrene infections.
1990
Jul. 16, northern Philippines: Magnitude-7.7 quake killed about 2,000, injured 3,500. Epicenter was in the city of Cabanatuan. About half the deaths were around the tourist center of Baguio. An estimated 148,000 were displaced or made homeless.
1944
Sep. 12, South China Sea: U.S. submarines torpedoed and sank two Japanese troopships, the Kachidoki Maru and the Rakuyo Maru. Unknown to the submarines, the Japanese, in disregard for the rules of treatment of prisoners of war, had forced 2,000 British, Australian, and American POWs into the holds of the ships, which were designed to hold only 300 troops. Later, when the subs discovered the tragedy, they sought to rescue as many survivors as possible. Japanese vessels picked up 656 of Kachidoki Maru's prisoners. Of the 1,318 POWs aboard the Rakuyo Maru, only 136 were rescued by the Japanese and 159 by American submarines.
1949
Dec. 5, off Korea: typhoon struck fishing fleet; several thousand men reported dead.
1928
Sep. 6-20, Lake Okeechobee, Fla.: 1,836 died and 1,870 injured in Category 4 hurricane.
1944
Oct. 24, South China Sea: the Arisan Maru carrying 1,800 American prisoners was torpedoed by a U.S. submarine and sunk. The Japanese destroyer escort rescued Japanese military and civilian personnel and left the POWs to their fate. It is estimated that only ten prisoners survived the disaster.
1954
Jan. 31 - Feb. 5, northwest Europe: storm followed by floods devastated North Sea coastal areas. Netherlands was hardest hit with 1,794 dead.
1949
Sep. 2, China: fire on Chongqing (Chungking) waterfront killed 1,700.
1917
Dec. 6, Halifax Harbor, Nova Scotia: Belgian steamer collided with ammunition ship Mont Blanc, which was carrying over 2,500 tons of explosives. Explosion leveled part of Halifax and left about 1,600 people dead.
1960
Jun. 9, Fukien province, China: "Mary" caused at least 1,600 deaths.
1997
May 10, Ardekul, Iran: Casualty numbers varied, but the official count was 1,560 people killed and at least 4,460 injured when an earthquake measuring 7.1 magnitude rocked rural areas of eastern Iran. The quake leveled 11 villages and inflicted heavy damage on the towns of Qaen and Birjand near its epicenter, as well as uncounted damage over the Afghanistan border.
1942
Apr. 26, Manchuria: explosion in Honkeiko Colliery killed 1,549.
1912
Apr. 14, North Atlantic Ocean: Ocean-liner Titanic hits an iceberg and sinks, leaving 1,489 victims.
1990
Jul. 2, Mecca, Saudi Arabia: a stampede in a 1,800 foot-long pedestrian tunnel leading from Mecca to a tent city for pilgrims killed 1,426 pilgrims who were trampled to death.
1984
Sep. 2-3, Philippines: "Ike" hit seven major islands, leaving 1,300 dead.
1988
Aug.-Sep., Bangladesh: heaviest monsoon in 70 years inundated three-fourths of country, killing more than 1,300 and leaving 30 million homeless. Damage estimated at over $1 billion.
1915
May. 7, about 14 miles off Ireland’s southern coast: On a voyage from New York to Liverpool, the passenger-liner Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat, killing 1,198.
1999
Jan. 25, Armenia, Colombia: A magnitude-6 quake left 1,124dead and 4,000 injured. More than 200,000 left homeless.
1994
Nov. 8-21, Caribbean and southern Fla.: Flooding and mudslides caused by "Gordon" led to an estimated 1,122 deaths in Haiti. There were eight deaths in Fla.; total estimated U.S. damage nearly $400 million.
1943
Nov. 26, Mediterranean Sea: A total of 1,105 U.S. soldiers died when the British troopship HMT Rohna was sunk by a German air-to-surface guided missile. It is the worst U.S. troopship disaster.
1956
Aug. 7, Colombia: About 1,100 reported killed when seven army ammunition trucks exploded at Cali.
1970
Mar. 28, Gediz, Turkey: Some 1,100 people were killed and 3,000 injured when an earthquake struck the town in western Anatolia, almost completely destroying Gediz and surrounding villages.
1999
Nov. 12, Adapazari, Turkey: The Düzce quake, coming just three months after the deadly Izmit quake, killed 1,100 people and injured 5,000.
1906
Mar. 10, France: An explosion in coal mine in Courrières killed 1,060.
1914
May 29, St-Lawrence Seaway, Canada: On a crossing from Liverpool to Quebec City, the Empress of Ireland, blinded by the fog, sank, killing 1,012 passengers and crew.
1893
Aug. 28, Savannah, Ga., Charleston, S.C., Sea Islands, S.C.: At least 1,000 died in hurricane.
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