For centuries, natural disasters have haunted humanity. Some happened so long ago that scientists cannot estimate the scale of the destruction. For example, the Mediterranean island of Stroggli is believed to have been wiped off the map by a volcanic eruption around 1500 BC. The tsunami caused destroyed the entire Minoan civilization, but no one knows even the approximate number of deaths. However, the 10 worst known disasters, mostly earthquakes and floods, killed an estimated 10 million people.
10. Aleppo earthquake - 1138, Syria (Victims: 230,000)
One of the most powerful earthquakes known to mankind, and the fourth largest in the number of victims (estimated at over 230 thousand dead). The city of Aleppo, a large and populous urban center since antiquity, is geologically located along the northern part of a system of major geological faults, which also includes the Dead Sea Trench, and which separate the Arabian and African tectonic plates, which are in constant interaction. The Damascus chronicler Ibn al-Qalanisi recorded the date of the earthquake - Wednesday, October 11, 1138, and also indicated the number of victims - over 230 thousand people. Such a number of casualties and destruction shocked contemporaries, especially the Western crusader knights, since at that time in northwestern Europe, where most of them were from, there was a rare city with a population of 10 thousand inhabitants. After the earthquake, the population of Aleppo recovered only to early XIX century, when the city again recorded a population of 200 thousand inhabitants.
9. Indian Ocean Earthquake - 2004, Indian Ocean (Victims: 230,000+)
The third, and according to some estimates the second most powerful, is the underwater earthquake in the Indian Ocean that took place on December 26, 2004. It caused a tsunami, which caused most of the damage. Scientists estimate the earthquake's magnitude to be between 9.1 and 9.3. The epicenter was underwater, north of the island of Simeulue, northwest of Indonesian Sumatra. Huge waves reached the shores of Thailand, southern India and Indonesia. Then the wave height reached 15 meters. Many areas suffered enormous destruction and casualties, including Port Elizabeth, South Africa, which is 6,900 km from the epicenter. The exact number of victims is unknown, but it is estimated from 225 to 300 thousand people. The true figure can no longer be calculated, since many bodies were simply carried away into the sea. It is curious, but several hours before the arrival of the tsunami, many animals reacted sensitively to the impending disaster - they left the coastal zones, moving to higher ground.
8. Banqiao Dam Failure - 1975, China (Victims: 231,000)
There are different estimates of the number of victims of the disaster. The official figure, about 26,000 people, only takes into account those directly drowned in the flood itself; Taking into account those who died from epidemics and famine that spread as a result of the disaster, the total number of victims is, according to various estimates, 171,000 or even 230,000. The dam was designed in such a way as to survive the largest floods that occur once every thousand years (306 mm of precipitation per day). However, in August 1975, the largest flooding in 2,000 years occurred as a consequence of the powerful Typhoon Nina and several days of record storms. The flood caused a huge wave of water 10 kilometers wide, 3-7 meters high. The tide moved 50 kilometers from the coast in an hour and reached the plains, creating artificial lakes there with a total area of 12,000 sq. km. Seven provinces were flooded, including thousands of square kilometers of countryside and countless communications lines.
7. Tangshan earthquake - 1976, China (Victims: 242,000)
The second most powerful earthquake also occurred in China. On July 28, 1976, the Tangshan earthquake occurred in Hebei province. Its magnitude was 8.2, which allows us to consider the event the largest natural disaster of the century. The official death toll was 242,419. However, most likely the figure was underestimated by the PRC authorities by 3-4 times. This suspicion is based on the fact that according to Chinese documents, the strength of the earthquake is indicated as only 7.8 points. Tangshan was almost immediately destroyed by powerful tremors, the epicenter of which was located at a depth of 22 km below the city. Even Tianjin and Beijing, which are located 140 kilometers from the epicenter, were destroyed. The consequences of the disaster were terrible - 5.3 million houses were destroyed and damaged to such an extent that they were uninhabitable. The number of victims increased due to the subsequent series of tremors to 7.1. Today in the center of Tangshan there is a stele that reminds of the terrible disaster, and there is an information center dedicated to those events. It is a unique museum on this topic, the only one in China.
6. Kaifeng Flood - 1642, China (Victims: 300,000)
Long-suffering China again. Formally, this disaster can be considered natural, but it was caused by human hands. In 1642, a peasant uprising took place in China, led by Li Zicheng. The rebels approached the city of Kaifeng. In order to prevent the rebels from capturing the city, the command of the Ming Dynasty troops gave the order to flood the city and surrounding area with the waters of the Yellow River. When the water receded and the famine caused by the artificial flood ended, it turned out that of the 600,000 people in the city and surrounding area, only half survived. At that time it was one of the bloodiest punitive actions in history.
5. Indian Cyclone - 1839, India (Victims: 300,000+)
Although the photograph of the cyclone does not date back to 1839, it can be used to appreciate the full power of this natural phenomenon. The Indian cyclone of 1839 was not destructive in itself, but it produced powerful tidal waves that killed 300,000 people. Tidal waves completely destroyed the city of Coringa and sank 20,000 ships that were in the city's bay.
4. Great Chinese Earthquake - 1556 (Victims: 830,000)
In 1556, the most destructive earthquake in human history took place, called the Great Chinese Earthquake. It happened on January 23, 1556 in Shaanxi province. Historians believe the disaster killed about 830,000 people, more than any other similar event. Some areas of Shaanxi were completely depopulated, and in the rest more than half the people died. Such a huge number of victims was explained by the fact that most of the inhabitants lived in loess caves, which immediately collapsed at the first shocks or were subsequently flooded by mudflows. According to modern estimates, this earthquake was assigned a category of 11 points. One of the eyewitnesses warned his descendants that when a disaster begins, they should not rush headlong into the street: “When a bird’s nest falls from a tree, the eggs often remain unharmed.” Such words are evidence that many people died while trying to leave their homes. The destructiveness of the earthquake is evidenced by the ancient steles of Xi'an, collected in the local Beilin Museum. Many of them were crumbling or cracked. During the cataclysm, the Wild Goose Pagoda located here survived, but its foundation sank by 1.6 meters.
3. Bhola Cyclone - 1970 (Casualties: 500,000 - 1,000,000)
A destructive tropical cyclone that struck the territories of East Pakistan and Indian West Bengal on November 12, 1970. The deadliest tropical cyclone and one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history. About half a million people lost their lives when the storm surge flooded many of the low-lying islands of the Ganges delta. It was the sixth storm cyclone of the 1970 North Indian Ocean hurricane season and the strongest of the year.
The cyclone formed over the central part of the Bay of Bengal on November 8, after which it began to move northward, gaining strength. It reached the peak of its power on the evening of November 12, and on the same night there was contact with coastline East Pakistan. The storm surge devastated numerous offshore islands, sweeping away entire villages and destroying the region's farmland in its wake. In the worst-affected area of the country, Tazumuddin upazila, more than 45% of the 167,000 population died.
Political consequences
The unwieldy pace of rescue efforts only increased anger and resentment in East Pakistan and contributed to the local resistance movement. Subsidies were slow to arrive, and transport was slow to deliver desperately needed supplies to storm-ravaged areas. In March 1971, tensions steadily increased; foreign specialists began to leave the province, fearing outbreaks of violence. Subsequently, the situation continued to deteriorate and escalated into the War of Independence, which began on March 26. Later, in December of the same year, this conflict expanded into the Third Indo-Pakistani War, which culminated in the creation of the state of Bangladesh. The events that took place can be considered one of the first cases in which a natural phenomenon provoked a civil war, subsequent external intervention by a third power and the disintegration of one country into two independent states.
2. Yellow River Valley Flood - 1887, China (Victims: 900,000 - 2,000,000)
One of the most terrible floods in modern human history, which, according to various sources, claimed from 1.5 to 7 million human lives, happened in the late spring of 1887 in the northern provinces of China, in the Yellow River Valley. Heavy rains throughout almost all of Hunan that spring caused the river to flood. The first flood occurred at a sharp bend, in the vicinity of the city of Zhangzhou.
Day after day, bubbling waters invaded the cities, destroying and devastating them. In total, 600 cities along the river's banks were affected by the flood, including the walled city of Hunan. The rapid flow continued to wash away fields, animals, cities and people, flooding an area 70 km wide with water that reached a depth of 15 meters.
The water, often against the wind and tide, slowly flooded terrace after terrace, on each of which 12 to 100 families accumulated. Of the 10 houses, only one or two survived. Half of the buildings were hidden under water. People lay on the roofs of houses, and old people who did not die of hunger died of cold.
The tops of the poplars that once stood along the roads stuck out of the water like algae. Here and there, strong men held onto old trees with thick branches and called for help. In one place, a box containing a dead child, whom his parents had placed there for safety, was nailed to a tree. The box contained food and a note with a name. In another place a family was discovered, all the members of which had died, the child was placed on the highest place ... well covered with clothes."
The destruction and devastation left after the waters subsided was simply terrible. Statistics have never been able to cope with the task of counting. By 1889, when the Yellow River finally returned to its course, disease was added to the misfortunes of the flood. It is estimated that half a million people died from cholera.
1. Great Flood - 1931, China (Victims: 1,000,000 - 4,000,000)
The summer monsoon period of 1931 was unusually stormy. Heavy rains and tropical cyclones raged across river basins. The dams withstood intense rain and storms for weeks, but they eventually gave way and collapsed in hundreds of places. Approximately 333,000 hectares of land were flooded, at least 40,000,000 people lost their homes, and crop losses were enormous. Over large areas, the water did not recede for three to six months. Diseases, food shortages, and lack of shelter led to the death of a total of 3.7 million people.
One of the epicenters of the tragedy was the city of Gaoyou in the northern province of Jiangsu. A powerful typhoon hit China's fifth largest lake, Gaoyu, on August 26, 1931. Its water level has already risen to record heights as a result of heavy rains in previous weeks. A squally wind raised high waves that crashed against the dams. After midnight the battle was lost. The dams were broken in six places, and the largest gap reached almost 700 m. A stormy stream swept through the city and the province. In one morning alone, about 10,000 people died in Gaoyu.
“...In fact, humanity does not have not only 100 years, but not even 50 years! The maximum we have is a few decades, taking into account upcoming events. Over the past two decades, alarming changes in the geophysical parameters of the planet, the emergence of a variety of observed anomalies, an increase in the frequency and scale of extreme events, and a sudden increase in natural disasters on Earth in the atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere indicate the emergence of extremely high level additional exogenous (external) and endogenous (internal) energy. As is known, in 2011, this process began to enter a new active phase, as evidenced by noticeable jumps in the released seismic energy recorded during the increasing frequency of strong earthquakes, as well as an increase in the number of powerful destructive typhoons, hurricanes, widespread changes in thunderstorm activity and other anomalous natural phenomena... » from the report
No one knows what humanity expects tomorrow. But the fact that our civilization is already on the verge of self-destruction is no longer a secret to anyone. This is evidenced by daily events around the world to which we simply turn a blind eye. A great deal of material has been accumulated that reflects the reality of our lives and future events. As an example, very impressive videos taking place from September 2015 to the present day.
The following photographs are by no means a method of shock therapy, they are the harsh reality of our life, which is not somewhere THERE, but HERE - on our planet. But for some reason we turn away from this, or we prefer not to notice the reality and seriousness of what is happening.
Hanshin, Japan
Tohoku, Japan
Agree, an indisputable fact is that a huge number of people, as well as each individual individually, do not fully understand the complexity and seriousness of the current situation on Earth today. For some reason, we turn a blind eye to this, adhering to the principle: “the less you know, the better you sleep, I have enough worries of my own, my house is on the edge.” But the fact that every day throughout planet Earth, on different continents, floods, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes occur is reported by scientists, newspapers, television, and the Internet. But, nevertheless, the means mass media, for certain reasons, do not reveal the whole truth, carefully hiding the true climate situation in the world and the urgent need to take urgent measures. This is one of the main reasons why most people naively believe that these terrible events will not affect them, while all the facts indicate that an irreversible global process of climate change has begun. And already in our time there is a rapid increase in such a worldwide problem as global cataclysms.
These graphs clearly demonstrate that over the last decade the world has seen a significant increase in the number of natural disasters, tenfold.
Rice. 1. Graph of the number of natural disasters in the world from 1920 to 2015. Compiled based on the EM-DAT database.
Rice. 2. Cumulative graph showing the number of earthquakes in the United States with a magnitude of 3.0 or higher from 1975 to April 2015. Compiled from USGS database.
The statistics given above clearly show the climate situation on our planet. Most people today, lulled and blinded by illusion, do not even want to think about the future. Many feel that something is happening with the climate throughout the world and understand that natural anomalies of this kind indicate the seriousness of everything that is happening. But fear and irresponsibility push people to turn away and plunge back into the usual bustle. IN modern society It is considered quite normal to shift responsibility for everything that happens to us and around us to someone else. We live our lives, relying on the fact that the government authorities will do everything for us: they will create good conditions for living a peaceful life, and in case of danger, great scientists will warn us in advance and the government authorities will take care of us. The phenomenon is paradoxical, but this is how our consciousness works - we always believe that someone owes us something and forget that we ourselves are responsible for our lives. And here it is important to understand that in order to survive, people themselves need to unite. Only people themselves can initiate the global unification of all humanity; no one else will do this except us. The words of the great poet F. Tyutchev are most appropriate:
“Unity,” proclaimed the oracle of our days, “
Perhaps it is welded together with iron and blood..."
But we will try to solder it with love, -
And then we’ll see what’s stronger...
It would also be appropriate to remind our readers about the current refugee situation in Europe. There are only about three million of them, according to official data, but huge problems of banal survival have already begun. And this is in a civilized, well-fed Europe. Why, it would seem, even rich Europe unable to adequately solve the migrant problem? What will happen if about two billion people are forced to migrate in the coming years?! The following question also arises: Where do you think millions and billions of people who manage to survive global cataclysms will go?But the problem of survival will become acute for everyone: housing, food, work, etc. What will happen then if, in peaceful life, given the format of the consumer society, we constantly fight for our piece of material, starting from MY apartment, MY car and ending with MY mug, MY chair and MY favorite, untouchable slippers?
It becomes clear that we can survive the period of global cataclysms only by combining our efforts. It will be possible to pass the upcoming tests with honor and the least number of human casualties, only if we are one family, united by friendship, humanity and mutual assistance. If we prefer to be a herd of animals, then the animal world has its own laws of survival - the strongest survive. But are we animals?
“Yes, if society does not change, then humanity simply will not survive. During the period of global changes, people, due to the aggressive activation of the Animal nature (subject to the general Animal mind), like any other intelligent matter, will simply single-handedly fight for survival, that is, peoples will destroy each other, and those who remain alive will be destroyed by itself nature. It will be possible to survive the coming cataclysms only with the unification of all humanity and a qualitative transformation of society in the spiritual sense. If people, through joint efforts, are still able to change the direction of movement of the world community from the consumer channel towards true spiritual development, with the dominance of the Spiritual principle in it, then humanity will have a chance to survive this period. Moreover, both society and future generations will be able to enter a qualitatively new stage of their development. But only at the present time it depends on the real choice and actions of everyone! And most importantly, many smart people the planets understand this, they see an impending catastrophe, the collapse of society, but they do not know how to resist all this and what to do.” Anastasia Novykh "AllatRa"
Why don’t people notice, or pretend not to notice, or simply don’t want to notice those numerous threats of planetary global cataclysms and all other acute problems facing all of humanity today? The reason for this behavior of the inhabitants of our planet is the lack of real Knowledge about man and the world. U modern man The concept of the true value of life has been replaced and therefore today few people can confidently answer questions such as: “Why is a person born into this world? What awaits us after the death of our body? Where and why did this whole material world come from, which brings not only happiness, but also a lot of suffering to humans? Surely there must be some meaning to this? Or maybe the Great Divine Plan?
Today you and I have books by Anastasia Novykh that answer all these questions. Moreover, having become acquainted with the Primordial Knowledge about the world and man, set out in these books, most of us accepted them as a guide to action for the internal transformation of ourselves into better side. Now we know the purpose of our life and we know what we need to do in order to achieve it. We gratefully face obstacles on our path and rejoice in victories. And that's great! In fact, this Knowledge is a great gift for humanity. But having come into contact with them and accepting them, we are responsible for our actions and for what happens around us. But why do we forget about this? Why do we constantly forget about what is happening now on other continents, in other cities and countries?
"The personal contribution of each person to the common cause of spiritual and moral transformation of society is very important"- book “AllatRa” "Now"- this is precisely the time to ask yourself the question: What contribution can I personally make to creating the conditions necessary for the unification of all people to survive the impending disasters?
“It is important to raise the level of public awareness about the problems of the near future. All socially active people need to accept today Active participation in the unification and cohesion of world society, ignoring all selfish, social, political, religious and other barriers with which the system artificially divides people. Only by uniting our efforts in the global community, not on paper, but in practice, can we manage to prepare the majority of the planet’s inhabitants for the planetary climate, global economic shocks and changes that are coming. Each of us can do a lot of useful things in this direction! By uniting, people will increase their capabilities tenfold” (From the Report).
To unite all humanity into One Family it is necessary general mobilization our strengths and capabilities. The fate of all humanity today hangs in the balance, and a lot really depends on our actions.
At the moment, ALLATRA IPM participants from all over the world are jointly implementing projects aimed at uniting all people and building a creative society. Anyone who remains concerned about the future of all humanity and feels a spiritual need to sincerely help people not in words, but in deeds, and is ready to lend a helping hand right now, can join this project to inform the inhabitants of the planet about upcoming cataclysms and ways out of existing ones. circumstances through the unification of all people on the planet into a single and friendly family.
It's no secret that there is less and less time left. Therefore it is very important Now understand that only together we can survive the coming cataclysms. Uniting people is the key to the survival of humanity.
Literature:
Report “On the problems and consequences of global climate change on Earth. Effective ways to solve these problems" by an international group of scientists of the International social movement ALLATRA, November 26, 2014http://allatra-science.org/publication/climate
J.L. Rubinstein, A.B. Mahani, Myths and Facts on Wastewater Injection, Hydraulic Fracturing, Enhanced Oil Recovery, and Induced Seismicity, Seismological Research Letters, Vol. 86, Num. 4, July/August 2015 link
Anastasia Novykh “AllatRa”, K.: AllatRa, 2013 http://books.allatra.org/ru/kniga-allatra
Prepared by: Jamal Magomedov
Over the billions of years of our planet’s existence, certain mechanisms by which nature works have formed. Many of these mechanisms are subtle and harmless, while others are large-scale and cause enormous destruction. In this rating, we will talk about the 11 most destructive natural disasters on our planet, some of which can destroy thousands of people and an entire city in a few minutes.
11
A mudflow is a mud or mud-stone flow that suddenly forms in the beds of mountain rivers as a result of rainfall, rapid melting of glaciers or seasonal snow cover. The decisive factor in the occurrence may be deforestation in mountainous areas - tree roots hold the top of the soil, which prevents the occurrence of a mudflow. This phenomenon is short-term and usually lasts from 1 to 3 hours, typical for small watercourses up to 25-30 kilometers long. Along their path, streams carve deep channels that are usually dry or contain small streams. The consequences of mudflows can be catastrophic.
Imagine that a mass of earth, silt, stones, snow, sand, driven by a strong flow of water, fell on the city from the mountains. This stream will demolish the dacha buildings located at the foot of the city along with people and orchards. This entire stream will rush into the city, turning its streets into raging rivers with steep banks of destroyed houses. Houses will be torn off their foundations and, together with their people, will be carried away by a stormy stream.
10
Landslide - mass sliding rocks down a slope under the influence of gravity, often while maintaining its coherence and solidity. Landslides occur on the slopes of valleys or river banks, in the mountains, on the shores of the seas, and the largest ones occur at the bottom of the seas. Bias large masses The erosion of soil or rock along a slope is caused in most cases by wetting the soil with rainwater so that the soil mass becomes heavier and more mobile. Such large landslides damage agricultural lands, enterprises, and populated areas. 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 casualties when there is no time for evacuation. Imagine that huge pieces of soil are quickly moving from a mountain directly onto a village or city, and under tons of this earth, buildings are destroyed and people who did not have time to leave the landslide site die.
9
Sandstorm is atmospheric phenomenon in the form of the transfer of large quantities of dust, soil particles and grains of sand by the wind several meters from the ground with a noticeable deterioration in horizontal visibility. In this case, 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 take on 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 occur 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 quickly 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. A sandstorm can cover streets within a radius of several kilometers with sand and dust, but the main danger of sandstorms is the wind and poor visibility, which causes car accidents in which dozens of people are injured and some even die.
8
An avalanche is a mass of snow falling or sliding down the slopes of mountains. Snow avalanches pose a considerable danger, causing casualties among climbers, skiers and snowboarders 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.
Tones of snow are held on top of mountains due to the force of friction. Large avalanches occur at the moment when the pressure force of the snow mass begins to exceed the force of friction. A snow avalanche is usually triggered by climatic reasons: sudden changes in weather, rain, heavy snowfalls, as well as mechanical effects on the snow mass, including the effects of rockfalls, earthquakes, etc. Sometimes an avalanche can begin due to a minor shock such as a weapon shot or pressure on the snow of a person. 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 a volcano throwing hot debris, ash, and magma onto the earth’s surface, which, when poured onto the surface, becomes lava. A major volcanic eruption can last from a few hours to many years. Hot clouds of ash and gases, capable of moving at speeds of hundreds of kilometers per hour and rising hundreds of meters into the air. The volcano emits gases, liquid and solids with high temperature. This often causes the destruction of buildings and loss of life. Lava and other hot erupted substances flow down the slopes of the mountain and burn out everything they meet on their way, causing innumerable casualties and staggering material losses. The only protection against volcanoes is 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 lives of all life on Earth, so you shouldn’t be lenient towards these hot guys. Almost all manifestations of volcanic activity are dangerous. The danger of boiling lava goes without saying. But no less terrible is the ash, which penetrates literally everywhere in the form of continuous gray-black snowfall, which covers streets, ponds, and entire cities. Geophysicists say they are capable of eruptions hundreds of times more powerful than those ever observed. Major volcanic eruptions, however, have already occurred on Earth - long before the advent of civilization.
6
A tornado or tornado is an atmospheric vortex that arises in a thundercloud and spreads down, often to the very surface of the earth, in the form of a cloud arm or trunk with a diameter of tens and hundreds of meters. Typically, the diameter of a tornado funnel on land is 300-400 meters, but if a tornado occurs on the surface of water, this value can be only 20-30 meters, and when the funnel passes over land it can reach 1-3 kilometers. Largest quantity Tornadoes are 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 strongest tornadoes can last up to an hour or more. But most of them last no more than ten minutes.
On average, about 60 people die from tornadoes each year, mostly from flying or falling debris. However, it happens that huge tornadoes rush at a speed of about 100 kilometers per hour, destroying all buildings in their path. The maximum recorded wind speed in the largest tornado is about 500 kilometers per hour. During such tornadoes, the death toll can number in the hundreds and the number of injured in the thousands, not to mention the material damage. The reasons for the formation of tornadoes have not yet been fully studied.
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 severe thunderstorms, heavy rainfall and gale-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 becomes a hurricane when wind speeds exceed 117 km/h. The strongest hurricanes can cause not only extreme downpours, but also large waves on the sea surface, storm surges 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 heavy rain, tornadoes, small tsunamis and floods. The direct effect of tropical cyclones on land is stormy winds that can destroy buildings, bridges and other man-made structures. The strongest sustained winds within the cyclone exceed 70 meters per second. The worst effect of tropical cyclones in terms of death toll has historically been storm surge, the rise in sea level caused by the cyclone, which on average accounts for about 90% of the 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, 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 heaviest damage was caused to New Orleans in Louisiana, where about 80% of the city's area was under water. The disaster killed 1,836 residents and caused economic losses of $125 billion.
4
Flood - flooding of an area as a result of rising water levels in rivers, lakes, seas due to rain, rapid snow melting, wind surge of water to the coast and other reasons, which damages people's health and even leads to their death, and also causes material damage . For example, in mid-January 2009, the largest flood in Brazil occurred. More than 60 cities were affected then. About 13 thousand people fled their homes, more than 800 people died. Floods and numerous landslides are caused by heavy rains.
Heavy monsoon rains have continued in Southeast Asia since mid-July 2001, causing landslides and flooding in the Mekong River region. As a result, Thailand experienced the most severe floods over the past half century. Streams of water flooded villages, ancient temples, farms and factories. At least 280 people died in Thailand, and another 200 in neighboring Cambodia. Some 8.2 million people in 60 of Thailand's 77 provinces have been affected by the floods, and economic losses so far are estimated to exceed $2 billion.
Drought is a long period of stable weather with high air temperatures and low precipitation, as a result of which the soil moisture reserves decrease and the suppression and death of crops occurs. The onset of severe drought is usually associated with the establishment of a sedentary high anticyclone. The abundance of solar heat and gradually decreasing air humidity create increased evaporation, and therefore the reserves of soil moisture are depleted without replenishment by rain. Gradually, as soil drought intensifies, ponds, rivers, lakes, and 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 feel the effects of the drought in one way or another. As for the victims of this natural phenomenon, in Africa alone, from 1970 to 2010, the death toll from droughts is 1 million people.
2
Tsunamis are long waves generated by a powerful impact on the entire thickness of water in the ocean or other body of water. Most tsunamis are caused by underwater earthquakes, during which a portion of the seabed suddenly shifts. 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 are propagated. More than 80% of tsunamis occur in the periphery 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, a powerful earthquake of magnitude 9.3 occurred - the second most powerful of all recorded, which caused the deadliest tsunami of all known. Asian countries and African Somalia were hit by the tsunami. The total number of deaths exceeded 235 thousand people. The second tsunami occurred on March 11, 2011 in Japan after a strong earthquake of magnitude 9.0 with an epicenter caused a tsunami with a wave height exceeding 40 meters. In addition, the earthquake and 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 wounded.
1
An earthquake is an underground tremors 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. About a million earthquakes occur throughout the Earth each year, but most are so small that they go unnoticed. The strongest earthquakes, capable of causing widespread destruction, occur on the planet approximately 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 occurs without a tsunami.
Earthquakes are best known for the devastation they can cause. Destructions of buildings and structures are caused by soil vibrations or giant tidal waves (tsunamis) that occur during seismic displacements on the seabed. A powerful earthquake begins with the rupture and movement of rocks somewhere deep within the Earth. This location is called the earthquake focus or hypocenter. Its depth is usually no more than 100 km, but sometimes it reaches 700 km. Sometimes the source of an earthquake can be near 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 to be an earthquake of magnitude 8.2 on July 28, 1976 in Chinese city 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 local time the city was destroyed strong earthquake. There was also destruction in Tianjin and Beijing, just 140 km to the west. As a result of the earthquake, about 5.3 million houses were destroyed or damaged so much that they were uninhabitable. Several aftershocks, the strongest of which had a magnitude of 7.1, led to even greater casualties. The Tangshan earthquake is the second-largest in history after the most destructive earthquake in Shaanxi in 1556. About 830 thousand people died then.
Majority explanatory dictionaries interprets the basic meaning of the word “catastrophe” as an event with tragic consequences. It is precisely such events that still horrify our contemporaries with their scale and quantity. dead people and animals, the history of our planet has quite a few. The most terrible disasters sometimes influenced further development affected countries or even an entire civilization.
With the development of technology, people began to explore ocean spaces that were unsuitable for their existence, and then turned their dreams and aspirations to the sky. With the advent of huge ocean cruisers and multi-seat passenger airliners, the number of deaths and injuries in disasters has increased significantly. In the last century, there have been more man-made disasters, which can also be called one of the largest.
Worst civil aviation accident
The worst plane crashes include the Tenerife plane crash, which resulted in the death of 583 people. It all happened on March 27, 1977 directly on the runway of Los Rodeos airport, located near the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands). All passengers on the KLM Boeing were killed, including 14 crew members, with the exception of one passenger, Robina Van Lanskot, who decided to interrupt the flight to meet a friend and disembarked in Tenerife. But there were survivors on board the Pan American Boeing after the crash. 61 people managed to escape - 54 passengers and 7 crew members.
Due to the terrorist attack that occurred the day before at the largest airport in the Canary Islands, Las Palmas, it was closed, and Los Rodeos airport was heavily overloaded due to these events. It was a day off; many planes, rejected by Las Palmas, filled all the parking lots. Some of them were standing on taxiways. The reasons that led to the terrible disaster are known:
- fog, due to which visibility was initially limited to 300 meters, and a little later became even less;
- lack of lights on the boundaries of the runway and taxiway;
- the dispatcher’s strong Spanish accent, which the pilots did not understand well, asked again and clarified his orders;
- lack of coordinated actions on the part of the pilots during negotiations with the dispatcher; they entered into a conversation and interrupted each other.
KLM subsequently accepted responsibility for the tragedy and paid significant compensation to the victims' families and victims.
On May 5, 1937, a German cruise liner was launched, named after Wilhelm Gustloff, one of the leaders of the National Socialists of Switzerland, who died a year earlier.
The passenger liner had ten decks, was designed for 1.5 thousand people, and was served by 417 crew members. The ship was built using the most advanced technologies, and it was very comfortable. The liner was intended primarily for long and leisurely cruises. In 1939, the Wilhelm Gustloff was transferred to the German Navy. It soon became a floating hospital, and then after 1940 it was assigned to the submarine school in Gotenhafen. Its color became camouflage again and it lost the protection of the Hague Convention.
After a torpedo attack carried out by a Soviet submarine under the command of A.I. Marinescu, "Wilhelm Gustloff" sank off the coast of Poland on January 30, 1945. According to official data, 5,348 people died, however, the exact number of passengers remained unknown.
Near the coast of Crimea, on November 7, 1941, Nazi aircraft sunk the Soviet motor ship Armenia, which allegedly carried more than 3,000 people.
From an environmental point of view, one of the largest catastrophes is currently happening on the planet - a decrease in the level of the Aral Sea and its drying out. The so-called Aral Sea was the fourth largest lake on the planet after the Caspian Sea (which, due to its isolation, can be qualified as a lake), Lake Superior in North America and Lake Victoria in Africa.
But after the runoff of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers, which fed the Aral, began to be drawn through the constructed irrigation systems, the lake became shallow. In the summer of 2014, its eastern part almost dried out, the volume of water decreased to 10%.
All this resulted in climate change, which became continental. On the protruding day former sea The Aralkum sand and salt desert appeared. Dust storms carry tiny particles of salt interspersed with pesticides and agricultural fertilizers, which once entered the Aral Sea from fields through rivers and can negatively affect the health of people and animals. Due to salinity, most species of marine life disappeared, ports were closed, and people lost their jobs.
Among such disasters, affecting the population of the entire planet with their disastrous consequences, we must first of all include the accident at Chernobyl nuclear power plant. During the explosion of the fourth nuclear reactor, it was completely destroyed. Work to eliminate the consequences has not yet been completed. After April 26, 1986, all people were evacuated from the disaster site within a radius of 30 km - 135,000 people and 35,000 heads of livestock. A protected exclusion zone was created. Ukraine, Belarus, and western Russia suffered the most from radioactive substances released into the air. In other countries, an increase in radioactive background levels was also noted. More than 600,000 people participated in the aftermath of this disaster.
The largest earthquake in Japan, which occurred on March 11, 2011, and then the tsunami, caused a radiation accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, which has the highest, seventh level. External power supplies and backup diesel generators were disabled, which resulted in a failure in the cooling system, and then a meltdown of the reactor core at power units 1, 2, and 3. The entire financial damage, which includes decontamination work, compensation for victims and internally displaced persons, is approximately $189 billion.
Another disaster that affected the state of the entire biosphere of the Earth is the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, which occurred on April 20, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil spill caused by the accident was the largest. At the moment of the explosion itself and in the subsequent fire on the semi-submersible installation, 11 people died and 17 out of 126 were injured who were on the platform at that moment. Two more died later. Oil flowed into the gulf for 152 days; in total, more than 5 million barrels entered the gulf. This man-made disaster had a devastating impact on the ecology of the entire area. Were injured different kinds sea animals, fish and birds. And in the northern Gulf of Mexico, increased mortality of cetaceans was recorded in the same year. In addition to oil, a large number of underwater oil plumes formed on the surface of the water (the size of the spot reached 75,000 km²), the length of which reached 16 km, and the width and height were 5 km and 90 m, respectively.
These are just a few terrible accidents that can be classified as the worst disasters in the history of mankind. But there were others, sometimes less known, that brought a lot of destruction and misfortune to people. Often these disasters were caused by war or a whole series of accidents, and in some cases grief brought destructive force nature.
Every year, many disasters of various types occur in the world due to natural phenomena, technical problems, specialist errors and many other unfavorable factors. All of them often lead to tragic consequences.
They remain forever in the memory of those people who have lost relatives and friends. In memory of those who provided any assistance at the center of events, and all those who could not help, but were worried about the fate of people in trouble. This article lists the worst disasters that have ever happened in history: on water, in air, and on land.
In 1931, China experienced the largest flood in history. The Yangtze River ranks third among large rivers, about 700 different rivers flow into it. Every year during the rains it overflowed and caused damage.
In August 1931, the Yangtze River and the neighboring Yellow River overflowed their 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 thousand hectares of land. 
More than 40 million people were affected, left without shelter, clothing or food. The water did not go away for about 4 months. As a result of prolonged famine and disease, the death toll exceeded 3.5 million people. To prevent such a tragedy, two protective dams were later built and two reservoirs were created.
Fertilizer plant
In 1984, a major disaster occurred in the Indian city of Bhopal. ecological catastrophy in history. On the night of December 3, at a chemical plant producing fertilizers, one of the tanks containing the poisonous gas methyl isocyanate exploded. The volume of the tank was 40 tons.
Presumably, the cause of this accident was a violation of safety regulations. Heating occurred in the tank containing methyl isocyanate and reached a critical temperature. As a result, the emergency valve burst and gas escaped from the container. 
Due to strong winds, the gas cloud quickly spread over 40 square kilometers. Unsuspecting, sleeping people had their eyes and lungs eaten away. In the first week, more than 3000 thousand people. In subsequent years, 15,000 thousand people died from disease. And about 100,000 thousand people needed treatment.
The uncleaned area of the chemical plant is still infecting people. Thousands of people suffer from toxic contaminations, 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 was level 7 on the nuclear event scale.
The nuclear power plant was located near the city of Pripyat, which was built specifically for station workers. At that moment, more than 47,000 thousand people lived in it. Early in the morning of April 26, there was a powerful explosion of a nuclear reactor in the building of the fourth power unit. 
This was led to by the ill-conceived and erroneous actions of the station engineers during testing of the turbogenerator. As a result of the accident nuclear reactor was completely destroyed, and a fire started in the power unit building, 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 terrifying; 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 24 hours, but when the release of radioactive substances reached a critical level, the evacuation of Pripyat and nearby settlements began.
About 800,000 thousand people participated in the liquidation of the accident. According to unofficial data, half of the liquidators received a lethal dose of radiation.
Boat trip
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 8,000 thousand barrels of oil.
As a result of the impact, the ferry was broken in half, and oil poured out of the holes in the tanker. Almost instantly a fire started, both ships and the surface of the water were burning. To escape, people jumped into the water, where fire and sharks awaited them.
Rescuers arrived only after 8 hours, only 26 people remained alive. 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 destructive tsunami. At that time, there was no system in the Indian Ocean that would detect a tsunami, 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 caused incredible destruction in Thailand, India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
In total, the tsunami reached the shores of 18 countries. It claimed the lives of more than 300,000 thousand people, 15,000 thousand people were missing and about 1.5 million people were left homeless. Restoration work lasted about five years, houses, schools and resort areas were rebuilt. After the tragedy, a system of evacuation of people was organized and a tsunami warning system was created.
Cyclone named after a flower
The devastating cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar on May 3, 2008. The wind speed reached 240 km/h. The tropical cyclone destroyed many small settlements. And almost completely destroyed Big City 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 thousand 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.
Nature's cruelty
A powerful earthquake destroyed part of the island of Haiti in 2010, the magnitude of which was 7.0. The first tremors were registered on January 12, 20 kilometers from the capital of Haiti. A number of the strongest tremors continued with tremors of magnitude 5.9.
After the terrible shaking, more than 3 million people were left homeless. 60% of residential buildings and many public buildings such as schools, hospitals, cathedrals were destroyed. 
The number of deaths during the natural disaster and under the rubble was 222,570 thousand people, 311,000 thousand people were wounded, and about 1,000 people were never found.
Not a cheap flight
The crash of a Japanese Boeing 747 in 1985 is considered the worst air disaster. And it ranks second in terms of death toll. On August 12, due to a Japanese holiday, there were 524 people on board along with the crew.
The cause of the disaster was poor-quality repairs to the aircraft. 12 minutes into the flight, the plane’s keel comes off, the control system fails, and at an altitude of 1,500 meters the plane crashes into a mountain. 
Due to a strong fire at the crash site, rescue operation started only 14 hours later. Many of the wounded never received help. Rescuers found notes from passengers with appeals to their families. Dead 520 people, only 4 people survived.
This article describes only a small part of the disasters that have been recorded in world history. The most widespread and tragic of them are collected here. All of them claimed millions of lives of children, adults, and old people of different nationalities and religions. After all, trouble is indifferent to gender, age and race.