Biggest Natural Catastrophes


Biggest Natural Catastrophes All Time List

ADDucation’s biggest natural catastrophes list spans millions of years and can only ever be subjective. If you’re aware of a natural catastrophe we should include please let us know in the comments below.

  • This list of the biggest natural disasters was compiled by Robert Junker, last updated 04 Sep 2023.

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Date Where Biggest Natural Catastrophes in History Deaths (estimated)
65 million years ago Peninsula Yucatan, Mexico Meteorite impact. all dinosaurs and maybe 50% of all animals
24 August 79 Pompeii, Italy Volcanic eruption (Vesuvius) more than 2000
20 May 526 Antalya, Turkey Earthquake. 250,000
29 November 533 Aleppo, Syria Earthquake. 130,000
December 856 Damghan, Iran Earthquake. 200,000
17 September 1007 Baghdad, Iraq Earthquake. up to 100,000
1139 Ganja, Azerbaijan Earthquake. 230,000
20 May 1202 Nablus, Palestine Earthquake. up to 1 million
16 January 1219 North Sea Coast 1st St. Marcellus flood. 36,000
13 December 1287 North Sea Coast Lucia flood. 50,000
27 September 1290 China Earthquake. 10,0000
1333-1337 China Famine. around 4 million
1347-1353  Europe Plague. around 25 million
15 January 1362  North Sea Coast 2nd St. Marcellus flood. 100,000
2 February 1556 Shaanxi, China Earthquake. around 830,000
2 November 1570 North Sea Coast Dike breach by hurricane. 100,000
6 June 1662 Japan, China Earthquake and Tsunami. up to 300,000
9 January 1693 Sicily Earthquake. 60,000
1693-1694 France Famine (severe winter which also led to an outbreak of typhus). 1-2 million
31 December 1703 Tokyo, Jaoan Earthquake (intensity 8.2 on the Richter scale). 110,000
11 October 1737 Kolkata, India Earthquake. 300,000
1739 Ireland Famine. 300,000
1 November 1755 Lisbon Earthquake (magnitude 9.0) and Tsunami. Up to 70,000
1770 India Famine. around 6.5 million
1 August Tabriz, Iran Earthquake. up to 200,000
1783-1784 Iceland & Worldwide The Lakagigar volcano erupted and covered the atmosphere with its ash cloud. Crop failures, icy winters and floods caused by snowmelt led to a worldwide famine. around 15,000 Icelanders and 80,000 worldwide
19 April 1815 Sumbawa, Indonesia Volcanic eruption (Tambora). 60,000
3-5 February 1825 North Sea Coast “February flood” and dike breach. 800
1845-1846 Ireland “Potato Famine” (caused by fungal infection of potato and crop failure). around 1.5 million
1876-1879  China Famine. around 11 million
27 August 1883 Krakatoa, Indonesia Volcanic eruption and tsunami (with 40 m high wave). As a result of the violent eruption, ash particles were hurled into the atmosphere and reduced the sunlight for months. Worldwide crop losses and colder winter (in the northern hemisphere) were the result. officially 36,500, but probably four times as many
1887 Yellow River Flood and deluge. 900,000
11-14 March 1888 USA (East Coast) Snow storm (blizzard). 400
28 December 1908 Messina, Italy Earthquake (magnitude 7.2) and Tsunami. up to 110,000
6 June 1912 Alaska, Aleutian Islands The volcanic eruption of Novarupta was one of the largest eruptions of modern times. Relatively few victims as the area was virtually uninhabited.
1918-1920  worldwide Spanish flu. at least 25 million
16 December 1920 Gansu, China Earthquakes (intensity 8.6). 200,000
9 January 1923 Kanto, Japan Earthquakes (intensity 8.3) and Tsunami. Up to 150,000
1928-1929  China Famine. about 10 million
1943-1944  Bengal, India Famine. Up to 1.5 million
1944-1945 Vietnam Famine (caused by Japanese occupation). about 2 million
1959-1961 China (Probably) the greatest famine of all time, triggered by the great leap forward campaign of the Socialist government. between 15 and 45 million
1969-1971 North China Famine. around 20 million
12 November 1970 East Pakistan Cyclone, storm surge. up to 500,000
28 July 1976 Tangshan, China Earthquake (magnitude 7.8). up to 650,000
13 November 1985 Armero, Colombia Volcanic eruption and mudslide. more than 25,000
29 April 1991 Bangladesh Cyclone, flood. around 138,000
15 June 1991 Philippines (Luzon) Earthquake, volcanic eruption (Pinatubo) typhoon. The eruption is considered one of the most violent of modern times. Despite evacuation many people died. about 875
1 August 2003 Europe Extreme heat wave. up to 70,000
26 December 2004 Sumatra, Indonesia Earthquake (strength 9.1) and subsequent tsunami. around 232,000
8 October 2005 Kashmir, India Earthquake (magnitude 7.8). around 86,000
12 May 2008 Sichuan, China Earthquake (7.9 magnitude). 70,000
12 January 2010  Haiti Earthquake (magnitude 7.0). This disaster was one of the biggest natural catastrophes of all time. up to 300,000
11 March 2011 Sendai, Japan Earthquake (magnitude 9.0) and tsunami which lead to a nuclear disaster. 28,000
5-11 November 2013 Philippines Typhoon Haiyan with the wind speed of 380 km/h. It was one of the strongest storm in history. more than 6,200
25 April 2015 Nepal Earthquake (magnitude 7.3) over 7,500

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