10 World's Worst Disasters

All of the worst disasters in recorded history have been natural disasters — earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones, and floods.

Natural Hazard vs. Natural Disaster

A natural hazard is a naturally-occurring event that poses a threat to human life or property. A natural hazard becomes a natural disaster when it actually takes place, causing significant loss of life and property.

The potential impact of a natural disaster depends on the size and location of the event. If the disaster takes place in a heavily populated area, it immediately causes more damage to both life and property.

There have been numerous natural disasters in recent history, ranging from the January 2010 earthquake that struck Haiti, to Cyclone Aila, which hit Bangladesh and India in May of 2009, killing approximately 330 people and affecting upwards of 1 million.

Top Ten Worst Disasters in the World

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Asia's Worst Natural Disasters

By Kallie Szczepanski

There is debate as to what the deadliest disasters of all time actually are, due to discrepancies in death tolls, especially with disasters that occurred outside of the last century. Following is a list of ten of the deadliest disasters in recorded history, from lowest to highest estimated death toll.

10. Aleppo Earthquake (Syria 1138) - 230,000 dead

9. Indian Ocean Earthquake/Tsunami (Indian Ocean 2004) - 230,000 dead

8. Haiyun Earthquake (China 1920) - 240,000 dead

7. Tangshan Earthquake (China 1976) - 242,000 dead

6. Antioch Earthquake (Syria and Turkey 526) - 250,000 dead

5. India Cyclone (India 1839) - 300,000 dead

4. Shaanxi Earthquake (China 1556) - 830,000 dead

3. Bhola Cyclone (Bangladesh 1970) - 500,000-1,000,000 dead

2. Yellow River Flood (China 1887) - 900,000-2,000,000 dead

1. Yellow River Flood (China 1931) - 1,000,000-4,000,000 dead

Current State of World Disasters

Every day, geologic processes are taking place that can disrupt the current equilibrium and produce natural disasters. These events are generally only catastrophic, however, if they take place in an area where they affect human populations.

Advances have been made in predicting such events; however, there are very few instances of well-documented prediction. There is often a relationship between past events and future events and some areas are more prone to natural disasters (​floodplains, on fault lines, or in areas previously destroyed), but the fact remains that we cannot predict or control natural events, therefore, we remain vulnerable to the threat of natural hazards and the impacts of natural disasters.