The 2000s: 10 Deadliest Natural Disasters
Updated version!
The decade is ending. It's time to compile top ten lists. Best music, movies, fights, scandals, etc. of the decade. I challenge all of you to post several lists like this. Here's my first.
10. Afghanistan blizzard.
The extreme weather event killed 1,337 in February 2008. The mountains got 70 inches of snow overnight. People froze to death. There was lots of frostbite and amputations because people didn't have shoes. Some estimate that the blizzard also killed 100,000 sheep and 300,000 cattle.
9. Hurricane Katrina.
It's one of the greatest disgraces in American history, but only the 8th deadliest natural disaster of the decade. The 2005 storm killed 1,836 and caused $84 billion in damage. The flood waters brought some of the worst aspects of America to the surface -- most notably that George Bush didn't care about black people.
8. Swine flu
Started in Mexico. Moved all over. Killed at least 3,2oo people worldwide in 2009. Far less deadly than seasonal flu, but a new strain, so it makes the decade list.
7. Gujarat earthquake.
In January, 2001, an earthquake registering 7.9 on the Richter scale devastated the Indian state of Gujarat. 20,000 died. 167,000 people were injured. Around 600,000 people were left homeless.
6. Bam earthquake.
The city in southeast Iran was rocked by a 6.5 magnitude quake, which killed 30,000 people. Many were crushed as they slept. About 70% of the houses in Bam were destroyed. "I have lost all my family. My parents, my grandmother and two sisters are under the rubble," 17-year-old Maryam told Reuters at the time.
It's sort of unbelievable to think that 37,451 could die in Europe due to severe heat, but that's exactly what happened in 2003. It was the hottest summer ever in the northern hemisphere. Crops were devastated and fires burned across the continent.
4. Sichuan earthquake.
One of the most disturbing elements of the 2008 earthquake that killed some 70,000 people in Sichuan Province, China was the death of thousands of kids who were crushed in shoddily built schools. The Chinese government has refused to release the actual number of students who died in the earthquake, but the number estimated to be around 10,000.
3. The Great Pakistan Earthquake.
Just before 9 a.m. on October 8, 2005, a devastating 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit the Kashmir region of Pakistan, killing about 70,000. Hundreds of villages and large sections of towns were completely destroyed. We're talking 450,000 homes, 6,000 schools and hundreds of hospitals. To quote an article on the lasting impact of the disaster, "The earthquake left in its wake millions of survivors to face devastation in form of destruction of their homes and means of livelihood."
2. Cyclone Nargis.
May 2, 2008. Cyclone Nargis makes landfall in Myanmar, causing the catastrophic destruction of entire towns and the deaths of 146,000 people. 120 mile per house winds smacked the low-lying Irrawaddy delta in central Myanmar. Most of the victims were in the delta, where farm families sleeping in flimsy shacks barely above sea level were swept to their deaths.
1. Indian Ocean tsunami.
The deadliest tsunami ever. The 5th deadliest natural disaster in the history of mankind. 443,929 people died after the waves hit. It was the day after Christmas, 2004. A 9.2 magnitude earthquake in the Indian Ocean caused the tsunami, which slammed Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand with 100 foot waves. The earthquake that sent the waters on their hell path caused the entire planet to vibrate and triggered other earthquakes as far away as Alaska.
The decade is ending. It's time to compile top ten lists. Best music, movies, fights, scandals, etc. of the decade. I challenge all of you to post several lists like this. Here's my first.
10. Afghanistan blizzard.
The extreme weather event killed 1,337 in February 2008. The mountains got 70 inches of snow overnight. People froze to death. There was lots of frostbite and amputations because people didn't have shoes. Some estimate that the blizzard also killed 100,000 sheep and 300,000 cattle.
9. Hurricane Katrina.
It's one of the greatest disgraces in American history, but only the 8th deadliest natural disaster of the decade. The 2005 storm killed 1,836 and caused $84 billion in damage. The flood waters brought some of the worst aspects of America to the surface -- most notably that George Bush didn't care about black people.
8. Swine flu
Started in Mexico. Moved all over. Killed at least 3,2oo people worldwide in 2009. Far less deadly than seasonal flu, but a new strain, so it makes the decade list.
7. Gujarat earthquake.
In January, 2001, an earthquake registering 7.9 on the Richter scale devastated the Indian state of Gujarat. 20,000 died. 167,000 people were injured. Around 600,000 people were left homeless.
6. Bam earthquake.
The city in southeast Iran was rocked by a 6.5 magnitude quake, which killed 30,000 people. Many were crushed as they slept. About 70% of the houses in Bam were destroyed. "I have lost all my family. My parents, my grandmother and two sisters are under the rubble," 17-year-old Maryam told Reuters at the time.
It's sort of unbelievable to think that 37,451 could die in Europe due to severe heat, but that's exactly what happened in 2003. It was the hottest summer ever in the northern hemisphere. Crops were devastated and fires burned across the continent.
4. Sichuan earthquake.
One of the most disturbing elements of the 2008 earthquake that killed some 70,000 people in Sichuan Province, China was the death of thousands of kids who were crushed in shoddily built schools. The Chinese government has refused to release the actual number of students who died in the earthquake, but the number estimated to be around 10,000.
3. The Great Pakistan Earthquake.
Just before 9 a.m. on October 8, 2005, a devastating 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit the Kashmir region of Pakistan, killing about 70,000. Hundreds of villages and large sections of towns were completely destroyed. We're talking 450,000 homes, 6,000 schools and hundreds of hospitals. To quote an article on the lasting impact of the disaster, "The earthquake left in its wake millions of survivors to face devastation in form of destruction of their homes and means of livelihood."
2. Cyclone Nargis.
May 2, 2008. Cyclone Nargis makes landfall in Myanmar, causing the catastrophic destruction of entire towns and the deaths of 146,000 people. 120 mile per house winds smacked the low-lying Irrawaddy delta in central Myanmar. Most of the victims were in the delta, where farm families sleeping in flimsy shacks barely above sea level were swept to their deaths.
1. Indian Ocean tsunami.
The deadliest tsunami ever. The 5th deadliest natural disaster in the history of mankind. 443,929 people died after the waves hit. It was the day after Christmas, 2004. A 9.2 magnitude earthquake in the Indian Ocean caused the tsunami, which slammed Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand with 100 foot waves. The earthquake that sent the waters on their hell path caused the entire planet to vibrate and triggered other earthquakes as far away as Alaska.
posted by S Goldsmith at 10/19/2009 09:50:00 AM
5 Comments:
Nice picks! But we still got a couple months for more outrageous catastrophes!
You totally forgot the New York Knicks. Hi-yo!
With Cyclone Nargis and the Sichuan earthquake, May 2008 has to be about the deadliest months in world history. Over 200,000 fatalities in a span of about 10 days. Unbelievable.
Eerily, just about the same as the twin atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Very interesting list. I don't know if I would call Hurricane Katrina a natural disaster. It was definitely a complete disaster, but preventable. The disaster part of it came from ignorance, not the event itself. Scary thing sometimes, that Planet Earth.
You might be right Julie, but there were elements of all of these that were made worse by human ignorance, indifference or impotence. I'm not sure the situation was unique to the U.S. natural disaster, maybe more regrettable or outrageous because of the resources our country has. Certainly (like you said) more preventable.
P.S. I should have asked Jana why God let all these happen. That would have been fun.
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