Every year, dozens of terrible man-made disasters occur in the world, which cause significant harm to the global ecology. Today I invite you to read about several of them in continuation of the post.

Petrobris is a Brazilian state-owned oil company. The company is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. In July 2000, more than a million gallons of oil (about 3,180 tons) flowed into the Iguazu River as a result of an oil refinery disaster in Brazil. For comparison, 50 tons of crude oil spilled recently near a resort island in Thailand.
The resulting slick moved downstream, threatening to poison the drinking water for several cities at once. The liquidators of the accident built several barriers, but they managed to stop the oil only at the fifth. One part of the oil was collected from the surface of the water, while the other left through specially built diversion channels.
Petrobris paid a $ 56 million fine to the state budget and $ 30 million to the state budget.

On September 21, 2001, an explosion occurred at the AZF chemical plant in Toulouse, France, the consequences of which are considered one of the largest man-made disasters. Exploded 300 tons of ammonium nitrate (salt nitric acid) that were in the finished goods warehouse. According to the official version, the plant's management is to blame for not ensuring the safe storage of an explosive substance.
The consequences of the disaster were gigantic: 30 people died, total number more than 3,000 were wounded, thousands of houses and buildings were destroyed or damaged, including almost 80 schools, 2 universities, 185 kindergartens, 40,000 people were left without a roof over their heads, more than 130 enterprises actually ceased their activities. The total amount of damage is 3 billion euros.

On November 13, 2002, off the coast of Spain, the oil tanker Prestige was caught in a severe storm, with more than 77,000 tons of fuel oil in its holds. As a result of the storm, a crack with a length of about 50 meters formed in the ship's hull. On November 19, the tanker broke in half and sank. As a result of the disaster, 63,000 tons of fuel oil fell into the sea.

Cleaning the sea and shores from fuel oil cost 12 billion dollars, the total damage to the ecosystem is impossible to estimate.

On August 26, 2004, near Cologne in western Germany, a fuel tanker carrying 32,000 liters of fuel fell from a 100-meter-high Wiehltal bridge. After the fall, the fuel truck exploded. The culprit of the accident was a sports car, which skidded on a slippery road, which caused the fuel tanker to skid.
This accident is considered one of the most costly man-made disasters in history - a temporary repair of the bridge costs $ 40 million, and a complete reconstruction - $ 318 million.

On March 19, 2007, a methane explosion at the Ulyanovskaya mine in the Kemerovo Region killed 110 people. The first explosion was followed by four more explosions in 5-7 seconds, which caused extensive collapses in the workings in several places at once. The chief engineer and almost the entire management of the mine were killed. This accident is the largest in Russian coal mining over the past 75 years.

On August 17, 2009, a man-made disaster occurred at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station, located on the Yenisei River. This happened during the repair of one of the hydroelectric units of the hydroelectric power station. As a result of the accident, the 3rd and 4th water conduits were destroyed, the wall was destroyed and the turbine hall was flooded. 9 out of 10 hydro turbines were completely out of order, the hydroelectric power station was shut down.
Due to the accident, the power supply to the Siberian regions was disrupted, including the limited supply of electricity in Tomsk, shutdowns affected several Siberian aluminum plants. As a result of the catastrophe, 75 people were killed, another 13 were injured.

The damage from the accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP exceeded 7.3 billion rubles, including environmental damage. The other day in Khakassia, a trial began in the case of a man-made disaster at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station in 2009.

On October 4, 2010, a major environmental disaster occurred in western Hungary. In a large aluminum smelter, an explosion destroyed the dam of a reservoir containing a toxic waste - the so-called red mud. About 1.1 million cubic meters of caustic substance were flooded with a 3-meter stream of the city of Kolontar and Dechever, 160 kilometers west of Budapest.

Red mud is a sludge that forms during the production of aluminum oxide. When it comes into contact with the skin, it acts like an alkali on it. As a result of the disaster, 10 people died, about 150 received various injuries and burns.

On April 22, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of the US state of Louisiana after an explosion that killed 11 people and a 36-hour fire, the Deepwater Horizon controlled drilling platform sank.

The oil spill was stopped only on August 4, 2010. About 5 million barrels of crude oil have spilled into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The platform on which the accident occurred belonged to a Swiss company, and at the time man-made disaster the platform was operated by British Petroleum.

On March 11, 2011, in northeastern Japan at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, after the strongest earthquake, the largest Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. After tremors with a magnitude of 9.0, a huge tsunami wave came to the coast, which damaged 4 of the 6 reactors of the nuclear power plant and disabled the cooling system, which led to a series of hydrogen explosions and the melting of the core.

The total emissions of iodine-131 and cesium-137 after the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant amounted to 900,000 terabekkrels, which does not exceed 20% of emissions after Chernobyl accident in 1986, which then amounted to 5.2 million terabecquerels.
Experts estimated the total damage from the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant at $ 74 billion. The complete elimination of the accident, including the dismantling of the reactors, will take about 40 years.

NPP "Fukushima-1"

On July 11, 2011, an explosion occurred at a naval base near Limassol in Cyprus, which claimed 13 lives and put the island nation on the brink of an economic crisis, destroying the island's largest power plant.
Investigators accused the President of the Republic, Dimitris Christofias, of negligently handling the problem of storing ammunition confiscated in 2009 from the Monchegorsk ship on suspicion of arms smuggling to Iran. In fact, the ammunition was stored directly on the ground in the territory naval base and detonated due to the high temperature.

Destroyed power plant Mari in Cyprus

On February 28, 2012, an explosion occurred at a chemical plant in the Chinese province of Hebei, killing 25 people. The explosion thundered in the workshop for the production of nitroguanidine (it is used as a rocket fuel) at the Hebei Keer chemical plant in Shijiazhuang

On April 18, 2013 in the American city of West, Texas, a powerful explosion occurred at a fertilizer plant.
Almost 100 buildings in the district were destroyed, from 5 to 15 people were killed, about 160 people were injured, and the town itself looked like a war zone or the set of another Terminator movie.

Over the billions of years of our planet's existence, certain mechanisms have been formed on it by which nature works. Many of these mechanisms are subtle and harmless, while others are large-scale and carry enormous destruction. In this rating, we will tell you about 11 of the most destructive natural disasters on our planet, some of which can destroy thousands of people and an entire city in a few minutes.

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Mudflow is a mud or mud-stone flow that suddenly forms in the beds of mountain rivers as a result of heavy rains, rapid melting of glaciers or seasonal snow cover. Deforestation in mountainous areas can serve as a decisive factor in the occurrence - the roots of the trees hold the upper part of the soil, which prevents the occurrence of a mudflow. This phenomenon is short-lived and usually lasts from 1 to 3 hours, typical for small streams up to 25-30 kilometers long. On their way, the streams cut deep channels, which are usually dry or contain small streams. The consequences of mudflows can be catastrophic.

Imagine that a mass of earth, silt, stones, snow, sand fell on the city from the side of the mountains, driven by a strong stream of water. This stream will demolish the dacha buildings located at the foot of the mountains, along with people, and orchards. All this stream will burst into the city, turn its streets into raging rivers with steep banks from ruined houses. Houses will fall off the foundations and, together with people, will be carried away in a stormy stream.

10

Landslide - the sliding of masses of rocks down a slope under the influence of gravity, often while maintaining its cohesion and solidity. Landslides occur on the slopes of valleys or river banks, in the mountains, on the shores of the seas, the most grandiose at the bottom of the seas. The displacement of large masses of earth or rock along the slope is caused in most cases by wetting the soil with rainwater so that the mass of the soil becomes heavier and more mobile. Such large landslides damage agricultural land, businesses, and settlements. To combat landslides, bank protection structures and planting of vegetation are used.

Only rapid landslides, the speed of which is several tens of kilometers, can cause real natural disasters with hundreds of human victims, when there is no time for evacuation. Imagine that huge chunks of soil are rapidly approaching from a mountain directly to a village or city, and under tons of this land buildings are destroyed and people who did not have time to leave the place of the landslide die.

9

A sandstorm is an atmospheric transport phenomenon large quantities dust, soil particles and grains of sand blown several meters from the ground with a noticeable deterioration in horizontal visibility. At the same time, dust and sand rise into the air and, at the same time, dust settles over a large area. Depending on the color of the soil in a given region, distant objects acquire a grayish, yellowish or reddish tint. It usually occurs when the soil surface is dry and the wind speed is 10 m / s or more.

Most often, these catastrophic phenomena are found in the desert. A sure sign that a sandstorm is starting is sudden silence. Rustles and sounds disappear with the wind. The desert literally freezes. A small cloud appears on the horizon, which rapidly grows and turns into a black and purple cloud. The missing wind rises and very quickly reaches speeds of up to 150-200 km / h. Sandstorms can cover streets with sand and dust within a radius of several kilometers, but the main danger of sandstorms is wind and poor visibility, which causes car accidents, which injure dozens of people, and some even die.

8

An avalanche is a mass of snow falling or sliding off the slopes of the mountains. Snow avalanches pose a significant danger, causing casualties among climbers, skiing and snowboarding enthusiasts, and causing significant damage to property. Sometimes avalanches have catastrophic consequences, destroying entire villages and causing the death of dozens of people. Snow avalanches, to one degree or another, are common in all mountainous regions. IN winter period they are the main natural hazard of the mountains.

The tones of snow are held on top of the mountains by friction. Large avalanches come down at the moment when the force of pressure of the snow mass begins to exceed the force of friction. An avalanche is usually triggered by climatic reasons: a sharp change in weather, rains, heavy snowfalls, as well as mechanical effects on the snow mass, including the impact of rockfalls, earthquakes, etc. on the snow man. The volume of snow in an avalanche can reach several million cubic meters... However, even avalanches with a volume of about 5 m³ can be life-threatening.

7

A volcanic eruption is the process of ejection by a volcano onto the earth's surface of incandescent debris, ash, an outpouring of magma, which, having poured out onto the surface, becomes lava. The strongest volcanic eruption can have a time period from several hours to many years. Incandescent clouds of ash and gases, capable of moving at a speed of hundreds of kilometers per hour and rising into the air for hundreds of meters. The volcano emits gases, liquids and solids with high fever. This often becomes the cause of the destruction of buildings and the death of people. Lava and other incandescent erupting substances flow down the slopes of the mountain and burn everything that they meet in their path, bringing innumerable sacrifices and amazing material losses. The only protection from volcanoes is a general evacuation, so the population must be familiar with the evacuation plan and unquestioningly obey the authorities if necessary.

It is worth noting that the danger from a volcanic eruption exists not only for the region around the mountain. Potentially volcanoes threaten the life of all life on Earth, so you should not treat these hot guys with condescension. Almost all manifestations of volcanic activity are dangerous. The danger of boiling lava is understandable. But no less terrible is the ash, which penetrates literally everywhere in the form of a continuous gray-black snowfall that fills the streets, ponds, and entire cities. Geophysicists claim to be capable of eruptions hundreds of times more powerful than ever observed. Largest eruptions volcanoes, however, have already occurred on Earth - long before the advent of civilization.

6

A tornado or tornado is an atmospheric vortex that occurs in a thundercloud and spreads down, often to the very surface of the earth, in the form of a cloud sleeve or trunk tens and hundreds of meters in diameter. Usually, the diameter of a tornado funnel on the ground is 300-400 meters, but if a tornado occurs on the surface of the water, this value can be only 20-30 meters, and when the funnel passes over land it can reach 1-3 kilometers. The largest number of tornadoes is recorded on the North American continent, especially in the central states of the United States. About a thousand tornadoes occur in the United States every year. The most powerful tornado can last up to an hour or more. But most of of these, there are no more than ten minutes.

On average, about 60 people die annually from a tornado, mainly from flying or falling debris. However, it happens that huge tornadoes rush at a speed of about 100 kilometers per hour, destroying all buildings on their way. The maximum recorded wind speed in the largest tornado is about 500 kilometers per hour. During such tornadoes, the death toll can go to hundreds, and the number of victims to thousands, not to mention material damage. The reasons for the formation of tornadoes have not yet been fully understood.

5

A hurricane or Tropical Cyclone is a type of low pressure weather system that occurs over a warm sea surface and is accompanied by powerful thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, and storm-force winds. The term "tropical" refers to both the geographic area and the formation of these cyclones in tropical air masses. It is generally accepted, according to the Beaufort scale, that a storm turns into a hurricane when the wind speed is over 117 km / h. The strongest hurricanes can cause not only extreme strength of downpours, but also big waves on the surface of the sea, storm tides and tornadoes. Tropical cyclones can arise and maintain their strength only over the surface of large bodies of water, while over land they quickly lose strength.

A hurricane can cause showers, tornadoes, minor tsunamis, and floods. The direct effect of tropical cyclones on land is storm winds that can destroy buildings, bridges and other man-made structures. The strongest permanent winds within the cyclone exceed 70 meters per second. The worst impact from tropical cyclones in terms of casualties has historically been storm tide, which is the rise in sea level caused by a cyclone, which, on average, results in about 90% of casualties. Over the past two centuries, tropical cyclones have killed 1.9 million people worldwide. In addition to the direct effect on residential buildings and economic facilities, tropical cyclones destroy infrastructure, including roads, bridges, and power lines, thereby causing enormous economic damage to the affected areas.

The most destructive and terrible hurricane in US history, Katrina, occurred at the end of August 2005. The most severe damage was caused to New Orleans in Louisiana, where about 80% of the city's area was under water. As a result of the natural disaster, 1,836 residents died and the economic damage amounted to $ 125 billion.

4

Flooding - flooding of an area as a result of a rise in the water level in rivers, lakes, seas due to rains, rapid melting of snows, wind surges on the coast and other reasons, which damages human health and even leads to their death, and also causes material damage ... For example, in mid-January 2009, there was the largest flood in Brazil. Then more than 60 cities were affected. About 13 thousand people left their homes, more than 800 people died. Floods and numerous landslides are caused by heavy rainfall.

Heavy monsoon rains have continued in Southeast Asia since mid-July 2001, causing landslides and flooding in the Mekong River area. As a result, Thailand has experienced its worst flooding in half a century. Streams of water flooded villages, ancient temples, farms and factories. At least 280 people have died in Thailand, and another 200 in neighboring Cambodia. About 8.2 million people in 60 of Thailand's 77 provinces have been affected by the flooding, and economic losses are currently estimated at more than $ 2 billion.

Drought is a long period of stable weather with high air temperatures and low precipitation, as a result of which the moisture reserves of the soil are reduced and the oppression and death of cultivated ones occurs. The beginning of a severe drought is usually associated with the establishment of a sedentary high anticyclone. The abundance of solar heat and the gradually decreasing humidity of the air create increased evaporation, in connection with which the reserves of soil moisture are depleted without replenishment by rains. Gradually, as the soil drought intensifies, ponds, rivers, lakes, springs dry up - a hydrological drought begins.

For example, in Thailand, almost every year, severe floods alternate with severe droughts, when a state of emergency is declared in dozens of provinces, and several million people are somehow affected by the effects of drought. As for the victims of this natural phenomenon, in Africa alone from 1970 to 2010 the death toll from droughts is 1 million.

2

Tsunamis are long waves generated by a powerful impact on the entire water column in the ocean or other body of water. Most tsunamis are caused by underwater earthquakes, during which there is an abrupt displacement of a section of the seabed. Tsunamis are formed during an earthquake of any strength, but those that arise due to strong earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 7 on the Richter scale reach great strength. As a result of an earthquake, several waves propagate. More than 80% of tsunamis occur on the periphery of the Pacific Ocean. The first scientific description of the phenomenon was given by José de Acosta in 1586 in Lima, Peru after a powerful earthquake, then a strong tsunami 25 meters high burst onto land at a distance of 10 km.

The largest tsunamis in the world occurred in 2004 and 2011. So, on December 26, 2004 at 00:58 there was a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 9.3 - the second most powerful of all recorded, causing the deadliest of all known tsunamis. The tsunami affected the countries of Asia and African Somalia. The total death toll exceeded 235 thousand people. The second tsunami happened on March 11, 2011 in Japan after the strongest earthquake of magnitude 9.0 with the epicenter, caused a tsunami with a wave height exceeding 40 meters. In addition, the earthquake and the subsequent tsunami caused the accident at the Fukushima I nuclear power plant. As of July 2, 2011, the official death toll from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan is 15,524 people, 7,130 people are missing, 5,393 people injured.

1

An earthquake is a tremor and vibrations of the Earth's surface caused by natural causes. Small tremors can also be caused by the rise of lava during volcanic eruptions. There are about a million earthquakes on the entire Earth every year, but most of them are so insignificant that they go unnoticed. The strongest earthquakes, capable of causing widespread destruction, occur on the planet about once every two weeks. Most of them fall on the bottom of the oceans, and therefore are not accompanied by catastrophic consequences if an earthquake does without a tsunami.

Earthquakes are best known for the devastation they can cause. Destruction of buildings and structures is caused by soil vibrations or giant tidal waves (tsunamis) arising from seismic displacements on seabed... A powerful earthquake begins with the rupture and movement of rocks somewhere in the depths of the Earth. This place is called the focus of the earthquake or the hypocenter. Its depth is usually no more than 100 km, but sometimes it reaches 700 km. Sometimes the focus of an earthquake can be at the surface of the Earth. In such cases, if the earthquake is strong, bridges, roads, houses and other structures are torn and destroyed.

The largest natural disaster is considered an 8.2 magnitude earthquake on July 28, 1976 in the Chinese city of Tangshan, Hebei province. According to official data from the PRC authorities, the death toll was 242,419 people, however, according to some estimates, the death toll reaches 800 thousand people. At 3:42 am local time, the city was destroyed by a strong earthquake. Destruction also took place in Tianjin and in Beijing, located only 140 km to the west. As a result of the earthquake, about 5.3 million homes were destroyed or damaged to the point that it was impossible to live in them. Several aftershocks, the strongest of which had a magnitude of 7.1, resulted in even more casualties. The Tangshan earthquake is the second most fatal in history after the most devastating Shaanxi earthquake in 1556. Then about 830 thousand people died.

October 13 is the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction, which is not a reason to remember the worst and deadliest natural disasters in the history of mankind.

Earthquake in Syria. 1202 year

The earthquake of 1202, the epicenter of which was in the Dead Sea, was not so much powerful as it was prolonged and large-scale - it was felt over the vast territory located between Syria and Armenia. The exact number of deaths is unknown - in the 13th century no one counted the population, but even by the most conservative estimates, the earthquake claimed the lives of more than a million people.

Earthquake in China. 1556 year

One of the most destructive earthquakes in human history - in China - occurred on January 23, 1556. Its epicenter was in the area of ​​the right tributary of the Yellow River - Weihe, and it affected 97 counties in several Chinese provinces. The earthquake was accompanied by landslides, landslides and changes in river channels, which, in turn, led to floods, and the destruction of houses and temples - to severe fires. As a result of the disaster, the soil liquefied and pulled buildings and people underground, its impact was felt even at a distance of 500 kilometers from the epicenter. 830 thousand people became victims of the earthquake.

Earthquake and tsunami in Portugal. 1755 year

The infamous Lisbon earthquake began on November 1, 1755 at nine o'clock in the morning - from the first aftershocks in the sea to the moment when the 15-meter tsunami covered the city's central embankment, it took only twenty minutes. Most of its inhabitants were at the service in churches - they celebrated All Saints Day, so they had no chance of salvation. Fire broke out in Lisbon and continued for ten days. In addition to the capital, sixteen more Portuguese cities were affected, and neighboring Setubal was almost completely washed away by the tsunami. The victims of the earthquake were from 40 to 60 thousand people. Lost architectural gems such as the Opera House and the Royal Palace, and the picturesque masterpieces of Caravaggio, Titian and Rubens.

Great hurricane. 1780 year

The Great Hurricane - or Hurricane San Calixto II - is the most powerful and deadliest tropical cyclone in human history. It originated in early October 1780 in the Cape Verde Islands region and raged for a week. On October 10, at a speed of 320 kilometers per hour, San Calixto II hit Barbados, Martinique, Saint Lucia and Sint Eustatius, leaving behind thousands of dead everywhere. The islands of Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua and Saint Kitts were also affected. The great hurricane destroyed houses to the ground, and tore them from anchors and smashed ships against the rocks, and heavy cannons flew in the air like matches. In terms of human casualties, a total of 27,000 people died during the rampage of San Calixto II.

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History knows several eruptions of the Krakatoa volcano, but the most destructive one was the one that happened on August 27, 1883. Then, as a result of the most powerful explosion in the history of mankind, 20 cubic kilometers of stones and ash and a jet of steam 11 meters high literally smashed to pieces a volcanic island in the Sunda Strait - between the islands of Java and Sumatra. Shock waves seven times went around the globe and formed a tsunami with a height of 36 meters, which struck the coast - it took the lives of 36 thousand people. All in all, as a result of the eruption of Krakatoa, 200 thousand people died.

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Several floods in China, which followed one after another, claimed a total of 4 (!) Million lives. Historians believe that this is the largest and most tragic disaster in the history of mankind. In August 1931, the Yangtze and Yellow He rivers that overflowed their banks as a result of prolonged rains destroyed the dams that contained them and flowed, sweeping away everything in their path. Water completely destroyed Agriculture in several dozen provinces, and the city of Gaoyu, located on the shore of the lake, was completely washed away. But the most terrible thing was the human sacrifice: those who did not die from the water died from devastation, hunger and epidemics.

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May 31, 1970 due to an earthquake, the epicenter of which was in Pacific, from Mount Huascarana in Peru, a stone-ice avalanche broke away and, moving at a speed of a thousand kilometers per hour, covered the towns of Ranragirk and Yungay located in the valley of the Rio Santa River - only the cemetery with the figure of Christ hovering above it remained of them. In just a few minutes, an avalanche wiped them and several other small villages, including the ports of Kasma and Chimbote, off the face of the earth. The result of the cataclysm: 70 thousand dead, including Czech climbers who were going to conquer the Andes, and 150 thousand wounded. The memory of those whose lives were taken away by the avalanche were honored in Peru with eight days of mourning.

Cyclone Bhola. 1970 year

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George Harrison at a benefit concert in Bangladesh.

Tropical cyclone Bhola is one of the worst natural disasters of the 20th century. On November 13, 1970, a 15 (!) Meter high wave hit the islands and coast of East Pakistan, washing away entire settlements and agricultural lands on its way. In a short time, 500 thousand people died - mainly the elderly and children. The disaster had political consequences: riots broke out, the participants of which accused the Pakistani government of inaction and slow elimination of the consequences. Started Civil War between East Pakistan and the central government, which resulted in the declaration of independence of Bangladesh.

The whole world helped to rebuild the affected areas. One of the most famous charity events was a concert organized by George Harrison: having invited many famous performers, he raised a quarter of a million dollars in one day.

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Heat in Europe. 2003 year

The heat that covered the continent in 2003 - that summer was the hottest since the end of World War II - caught the health care system of European countries by surprise, which turned out to be unprepared for the stress when not dozens, but hundreds and thousands of people needed medical care. Countries such as France, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Croatia and Bulgaria were particularly affected. The temperature in some areas did not drop below + 40 ° С. The first to be hit were the elderly, as well as allergy sufferers and those who suffered from cardiovascular diseases. In total, about 70 thousand people died on the European continent that summer.

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Tsunami in the Indian Ocean. 2004 year

Along with the European heat of 2003, many people remember the tsunami in the Indian Ocean, which happened a year and a half later - there were also citizens of Ukraine among the dead. The deadly wave was the result of the largest earthquake in the history of the Indian Ocean, which occurred on December 26, 2004. Its magnitude on the Richter scale was 9 points, as a result of which a tsunami was formed, the height of which in the coastal zone was 15 meters, and in the splash zone - 30 meters. An hour and a half after the earthquake, it reached the shores of Thailand, two hours later - Sri Lanka and India, and claimed the lives of 250 thousand people.

Every year in the world there are many disasters of a different nature due to natural phenomena, technical problems, errors of specialists and many other unfavorable factors. All of them often lead to tragic consequences.
They will forever remain in the memory of those people who have lost loved ones. In the memory of those who provided any help in the center of events, and all those who could not help, but worried about the fate of people in trouble. This article lists the worst disasters that have ever happened in history: on water, in the air, and on land.

In 1931, China experienced the largest flood in history. The Yangtze River ranks third among major rivers, with about 700 different rivers flowing into it. Every year during the rains, it overflowed and caused damage.

In August 1931, the Yangtze River and the neighboring Yellow River overflowed the banks, merging into one powerful stream, and destroyed the dams. This led to a global flood. They, destroying everything in their path, flooded 16 Chinese provinces, which is about 300,000 hectares of land.


More than 40 million people were affected, leaving home, clothing and food homeless. The water did not drain for about 4 months. As a result of prolonged hunger and disease, the death toll has exceeded 3.5 million people... To prevent such a tragedy, two protective dams were later built and two reservoirs created.

Fertilizer plant

In 1984, the Indian city of Bhopal suffered a major environmental disaster in history. On the night of December 3, one of the tanks with the poisonous gas methyl isocyanate exploded at a chemical plant producing fertilizers. The volume of the tank was 40 tons.

Presumably, the cause of this accident was a safety violation. Heating occurred in the methyl isocyanate tank and reached a critical temperature. As a result, the emergency valve burst in it, and the gas escaped from the container.


Due to the strong wind, the gas cloud quickly spread over 40 square kilometers. Unsuspecting, sleeping people corroded their eyes and lungs. In the first week, more than 3000 thousand people... In subsequent years, 15,000 thousand people died from disease. And about 100,000 people needed treatment.
The untreated area of ​​the chemical plant still infects people. Thousands of people suffer from toxic infections, many children are born with disabilities.

Chernobyl tragedy

One of the worst nuclear accidents occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986. The accident had a 7th level of danger on the scale of nuclear events.

The nuclear power plant was located near the city of Pripyat, which was built specifically for work stations. At that time, more than 47,000 people lived in it. In the early morning of April 26, a powerful explosion of a nuclear reactor took place in the building of the fourth power unit.


This was caused by ill-considered and erroneous actions of the station engineers during the tests of the turbine generator. As a result of the accident, the nuclear reactor was completely destroyed, and a fire started in the building of the power unit, which was extinguished for more than a week. 600 firefighters died while extinguishing it, receiving the largest dose of radiation.

The consequences of the accident were frightening, thousands of people lived their calm, measured lives just a few kilometers from the accident and did not know what had happened. Information about the accident was not disseminated for the first day, but when the release of radioactive substances reached a critical level, the evacuation of Pripyat and nearby settlements began.

About 800,000 people took part in the liquidation of the accident.... According to unofficial data, half of the liquidators received a lethal dose of radiation.

Sea walk

In 1987, the largest water disaster occurred. On December 20, the Philippine ferry "Dona Paz" carrying passengers collided with the tanker "Vector", which was carrying more than 8000 thousand barrels of oil.

As a result of the impact, the steam broke in half, and oil poured out of the tanker's holes. Almost instantly, a fire broke out, both ships and the surface of the water were on fire. Escaping people, they jumped into the water, where fire and sharks were waiting for them.

Rescuers arrived only 8 hours later, only 26 people survived. The death toll has exceeded 4200 people... The exact cause of the accident has not been established.

Deadly Tsunami

On December 26, 2004, the most powerful tsunami in history occurred in the Indian Ocean. Due to a strong underwater earthquake of magnitude 9, a rock shift occurred at a depth of 30 kilometers, which gave rise to this devastating tsunami... At that time, there was no system in the Indian Ocean that would detect tsunamis, so they could not prevent this tragedy.

Within a few hours, waves up to 20 meters high reached the coast, crushing everything in their path. Within hours, the waves brought incredible devastation to Thailand, India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

In total, the tsunami reached the shores of 18 countries. It took more life 300,000 thousand people, 15 000 thousand people were missing and about 1.5 million people were left without a roof over their heads. The restoration work lasted about five years, houses, schools and resort areas were rebuilt. After the tragedy, an evacuation system was organized and a tsunami warning system was created.

A cyclone named after a flower

The devastating cyclone Nargis passed through Myanmar on May 3, 2008. The wind speed reached 240 km / h. The tropical cyclone destroyed many small towns. And almost completely destroyed the large city of Yangon. The population was left without shelter and electricity.


As a result of the most terrible natural disaster, the death toll was 90,000 thousand people... More than 55,000 people were never found. In total, more than 1.5 million people were affected. Many countries came to the rescue of Myanmar, providing material and humanitarian assistance.

The cruelty of nature

A powerful earthquake destroyed part of the island of Haiti in 2010, the magnitude of which was 7 points. The first tremors were recorded on January 12, 20 kilometers from the capital of Haiti. A number of the strongest aftershocks were continued by tremors with a magnitude of 5.9 points.
After a terrible shaking, more than 3 million people were left homeless. 60% of residential premises and many public buildings such as schools, hospitals, cathedrals were destroyed.


The death toll during the natural disaster and under the rubble was 222 570 thousand people, 311,000 people were wounded, and about 1,000 people were never found.

An expensive flight

The crash of the Japanese Boeing 747 in 1985 is recognized as the largest plane crash in the air. And ranks second in the number of deaths. On August 12, in connection with the Japanese holiday, there were 524 people on board along with the crew.

The cause of the crash was the poor-quality repair of the aircraft. On the 12th minute of the flight, the aircraft's keel breaks off, the control system fails, and at an altitude of 1500 meters the aircraft crashes into a mountain.


Due to a severe fire at the crash site, the rescue operation began only 14 hours later. Many of the wounded never received help. Rescuers found notes from passengers addressing their families. Of the dead 520 people, only 4 people survived.

This article describes only a small part of the catastrophes that have been recorded in world history. Here are collected the most massive and tragic of them. All of them claimed millions of lives of children, adults, old people of different nationalities and religions. After all, trouble is indifferent to gender, age and race.

The volcano that destroyed ancient Pompeii cannot be responsible for the saddest natural disaster in history, despite the fact that many films have been filmed and many songs have been sung on the topic. Modern natural disasters take away countless human casualties. Take a look at our gloomy list. It contains only the most terrible disasters of all time.

Earthquake in the Syrian city of Aleppo (1138)

Fortunately, these days, news reports do not shock us with giant rifts in the Dead Sea region. Now there is a relatively stable tectonic relief. Syria experienced unprecedented cataclysms in the 12th century. Seismic activity in the north of the country lasted for almost a year and eventually resulted in a destructive cataclysm. In 1138, the city of Aleppo was destroyed to the ground, other settlements and military facilities were damaged. In total, the disaster took the lives of 230,000 people.

Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami (2004)

This is the only event on the list that many of us have seen. This tragedy is considered the deadliest in the entire modern history... It all started with a magnitude 9.3 underwater earthquake off the coast of Indonesia. Then the element was transformed into a brutal tsunami that rushed to the shores of 11 countries. A total of 225,000 people died, and about a million more inhabitants of the Indian Ocean coast were left homeless. It is sad that this happened during the heyday of the development of earthquake-resistant architectural technologies, and not during the days of dugouts with thatched roofs.

Earthquake in Antioch (526)

People love to compare the potential end of the world with biblical catastrophes. Antioch earthquake is the only one natural disaster which is more or less close to the biblical era. This natural disaster occurred in the first millennium from the birth of Christ. The Byzantine city in the period from 20 to 29 May 526 survived an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 points. Due to the high population density (which was rare in the region at the time), 250,000 people died. The fires caused by the cataclysm also contributed to the increase in the number of victims.

Earthquake in China's Gansu province (1920)

The next natural disaster on our list was a giant rift over 160 kilometers long. According to experts, the greatest damage was caused not by the earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, but by landslides, which carried entire cities underground and were the main reason slowing down the provision of assistance. According to various estimates, the cataclysm claimed the lives of 230,000 to 273,000 inhabitants.

Tangshan earthquake (1976)

Another terrible earthquake of the 20th century shows that the natural disaster itself is not so terrible as the imperfections of the infrastructure of the area in which it occurs. Shocks with a magnitude of 7.8 struck Chinese Tangshan on the night of July 28 and instantly razed 92 percent of residential buildings in this millionth city to the ground. Lack of food, water and other resources have become major barriers in rescue work... In addition, railroad tracks and bridges were destroyed, so there was nowhere to wait for help. Many victims died under the rubble.

Cyclone in Coringa, India (1839)

By the early 19th century, Koringa had become the main Indian port city at the mouth of the Godavari River. On the night of November 25, 1839, this title had to be resigned. The attacked cyclone destroyed 20,000 ships and 300,000 people. Many victims were thrown into the open sea. Now on the site of Koringa there is a small village.

Cyclone Bhola, Bangladesh (1970)

Natural disasters occur regularly in the Bay of Bengal, but none have been more devastating than Cyclone Bhola. Gusts of hurricane winds on November 11, 1970 reached 225 kilometers per hour. Due to extreme poverty in the region, no one was able to warn the population of the impending danger. As a result, the cyclone killed more than half a million lives.

China earthquake (1556)

Despite the fact that a system for assessing the magnitude of tremors was not yet introduced in the 16th century, historians have calculated that the earthquake that occurred in China in 1556 could have a magnitude of 8.0 - 8.5. It so happened that the main blow was taken by a densely populated area. The natural disaster created deep canyons that swallowed more than 800,000 people forever.

Flood on the Yellow River (1887)

One of the largest rivers in the world is responsible for more deaths than all other rivers combined. In 1887, the deadliest flood was recorded, which was exacerbated by heavy rains and the destruction of dams in the Changshu area. The flooded low-lying plains claimed the lives of about two million Chinese.

Flood on the Yangtze River (1931)

A record natural disaster happened with the onset of torrential rains and flooding on the Yangtze River in April 1931. This natural disaster, coupled with dysentery and other illnesses, has killed nearly three million lives. In addition, the destruction of rice paddies caused widespread famine.