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The Great White Plague (1600's)
This tuberculosis epidemic in Europe during the 17th century lasted for nearly 200 years. It was the leading cause of death in 1650 and very likely propagated due to poor sanitary conditions. -
Tangshan Earthquake in China (1976)
The Great Tangshan earthquake struck China on July 28, 1976 causing the death of 240,000 people and injured 164,000 more. Regarded as the deadliest earthquake of the 20th century, it also rocked, both literally and politically, the seat of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing. The very large 7.8 earthquake hit an area where it was totally unexpected causing the city of Tangshan to be obliterated. It was caused by the 25-mile long Tangshan Fault, which runs near the city. -
Nevado del Ruiz Volcano Eruption (1985)
Also famed as La Mesa de Herveo, this stratovolcano holds the distinction of causing the second largest volcano-related disaster of the 20th century. The volcano, which generally generates Plinian eruptions or swift-moving currents of hot gas and rock called pyroclastic flows, produced an enormous flow that buried and devastated the town of Armero in Tolima in November 13, 1985. What was tragically known as the "Armero tragedy" caused the death of 25,000 people. -
Hurricane Andrew (1993)
Hurricane Andrew was formed by a tropical wave that moved to the west coast of Africa on August 14, 1997. Though its intensity was initially prevented by a wind shear. During the succeeding days, it developed into a destructive tropical cyclone, named Hurricane Andrew. Due to the massive destruction that caused 65 fatalities and US $26 billion in property damages, this became the 5th costliest hurricane in US history after hurricane Katrina, Wilma, and Ike. -
Indian Ocean Earthquake
Known as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, it was estimated to be a magnitude 9.15, and occurred on December 26, 2004. The quake lasted for only 10 seconds it caused a tsunami that killed 200,000 to 310,000 people along the shores of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, South India, and Thailand with one death even occurring at Port Elizabeth in South Africa, 8,00 miles away from the epicenter. -
Hurricane Katrina (2005)
Hurricane Katrina was the deadliest to hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, it was ranked as the sixth strongest overall to hit the United States. It was also one of the costliest with estimated property damages of US $81 billion. -
Pakistan Earthquake (2005)
The Pakistan earthquake registered a 7.6 in the Richter scale, had its epicenter in Kashmir near the city of Muzaffarabad. It occurred on the morning of October 8, 2005 and the official death toll was 75,000 people with 106,000 people injured. The severity of the damage was attributed to the poor construction of the buildings. over $5.4 billion US dollar in aid arrived from all over the world to help with rescue and relief efforts. -
Cyclone Nargis (2008)
The Cyclone in 2008 was the first one to hit the northern Indian Ocean, Cyclone Nargis made landfall in Myanmar and devastated the Ayeyarwady Delta region along with its 37 townships for two days. 84,500 people were killed with 53,800 missing. An equivalent of a category 3 or 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, led to numerous storm surges and flooding. -
Haiti Earthquake (2010)
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake with a depth of 8.1 miles rocked Haiti on January 12, 2010. it was located just south west of the Port-Au-Prince with 50 aftershocks ranging from 4.2 to 5.9 magnitudes in the strength. This was the strongest quake to hit the country since 1770 it led to over 200,000 deaths, left 2 million homeless, and 3 million in need of emergency aid. It led to a cost of $315 million dollars in damage. -
Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami (2011)
Tōhoku was a 9.0 magnitude quake followed by tsunami waves hit the east coast of Japan in March 11, 2011. With a depth of 24.4 km, this was the largest earthquake to ever strike Japan in recorded history. It is the 7th largest earthquake in the world, it led to about 15 million dead or injured, and 2,814 people missing. It also affected 18 prefectures, with over 250,000 buildings damage or destroyed and a near nuclear disaster.