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.