List of disasters
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This is a list of world disasters, both natural and man-made.
A disaster is a natural or man-made event that negatively affects life, property, livelihood or industry often resulting in permanent changes to human societies, ecosystems and environment. Disasters manifest as hazards exacerbating vulnerable conditions and exceeding individuals' and communities' means to survive and thrive. Most of the catastrophic disasters listed in this article have occured at a specific non-enduring time in history rather than a longer time-period (e.g. this excludes entire long-lasting wars while including specific events during wars).
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Natural disasters
Prehistoric disasters
- The Snowball Earth hypothesis.
- Various extinction events, some of an undetermined nature.
- Impact events.
- Great prehistoric floods, many brought on by rising sea levels and melting glacial dams at the end of the most recent ice age
Classical antiquity disasters
- Thera volcanic eruption caused tsunamis in the Aegean sea, destroyed Minoan fleet, leaving Crete open to mainland invaders
- Vesuvius volcanic eruption, Italy, 79 AD buried Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae.
- Alexandria earthquake which destroyed the Pharos of Alexandria
- Rhodes earthquake destroyed the Colossus of Rhodes
- (Sodom and Gomorrah which were destroyed in an undetermined Biblical disaster.)
- Climatic disaster of 535 AD, triggered by an Indonesian volcanic eruption; grassland failures spurred migrations of Avars and others; plagues, conjectured collapse of Late Antiquity (David Keys theory, in Catastrophe: An Investigation into the Origins of the Modern World, 2000. See climate changes of 535-536.
Modern natural disasters
- 1755 Lisbon earthquake (November 1st, 1755)
- Krakatoa, Indonesia, volcanic eruption, (August 26, 1883)
- Galveston Hurricane of 1900, Galveston, Texas (September 8, 1900)
- 1906 San Francisco earthquake, San Francisco, California (April 18, 1906)
- Great Lakes Storm of 1913, Great Lakes basin region (November, 1913)
- Great Kanto Earthquake, Tokyo, Japan (September 1 1923)
- Tri-State Tornado, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana (March 18, 1925)
- 1931 Huang He floods, China (August 1931)
- North Sea Flood of 1953, United Kingdom and The Netherlands
- Escuminac Disaster, Escuminac, New Brunswick, Canada (June 20, 1959)
- North Sea Flood of 1962, Germany
- Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak, Midwest, United States (April 11, 1965)
- Bhola cyclone in East Pakistan/Bangladesh, (November 13, 1970)
- Super Outbreak, tornadoes in 13 U.S. states (April 3, 1974)
- Tangshan earthquake, China (July 26 1976)
- USA Heat Wave of 1980, (June to September 1980)
- Spitak Earthquake, Spitak, Armenia (December 7, 1988)
- Mount Pinatubo volcanic eruption (June 15th, 1991)
- Chicago Heat Wave of 1995, Chicago, Illinois
- Kobe Earthquake, Kobe, Hyogo (January 17, 1995)
- Kocaeli Earthquake, Kocaeli, Turkey (August 17, 1999)
- Kaprun disaster, Kaprun, Austria (November 11, 2000)
- 2001 Gujarat Earthquake, Bhuj, India (January 26, 2001)
- P36 Offshore Oil Platform Sinking, South America (March, 2001)
- European Heat Wave of 2003, Europe
- Bam Earthquake, Iran (December 26, 2003)
- 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, Indonesia (December 26, 2004)
- 2005 Sumatran earthquake, Indonesia (March 28, 2005)
Transportation disasters
Air disasters
This is a list of disasters involving objects in flight or near-flight. See also: List of space disasters, Accidents and incidents in aviation
- Hydravion disaster Rio de Janeiro 3 December 1928 (at least 6 killed)
- Airship R101 disaster (October 5 1930) 48 killed
- Hindenburg disaster (May 6 1937) 36 killed (including one ground crew)
- Superga air disaster (May 4 1949) 31 killed
- Munich air disaster (February 6 1958) 24 killed
- Staines air disaster (July 18 1972) 118 killed
- Ermenonville air disaster north of Paris (March 3 1974) 346 killed
- Tenerife disaster collision between KLM and PanAm Boeing 747's (March 27, 1977) 583 killed, the world's largest multiple aircraft air disaster
- Mount Erebus disaster in Antarctica (November 28 1979) 257 killed
- Korean Air Flight 7 Boeing 747 shootdown (September 1 1983) 269 killed
- Air India Flight 182 (June 23, 1985) 329 killed
- Japan Airlines Flight 123 (August 12, 1985) 520 killed, the world's largest single aircraft air disaster
- Challenger space shuttle explosion (January 28 1986) 7 killed
- Mulhouse-Habsheim Airshow Airbus A320 air disaster (June 26, 1988) 3 killed
- Iran Air Flight 655 Airbus A300 USS Vincennes shootdown (July 3, 1988) 290 killed
- Ramstein airshow disaster (August 28, 1988) 3 pilots and 67 spectators killed
- Lockerbie disaster (December 21 1988) 270 killed (including 11 on the ground)
- Kegworth air disaster (January 8 1989) 47 killed
- Sioux City air disaster (July 19, 1989) 107 killed
- Long Island Flight 052 air disaster (January 25, 1990) 73 killed
- Bangalore India Airlines A320 air disaster (February 14, 1990) 90 killed
- Los Angeles International Airport air disaster (February 1, 1991) 34 killed
- Dahran Scud attack (February 25, 1991) 28 killed
- Lauda Air Boeing 767 air disaster (May 26, 1991) 223 killed
- Strasbourg Air Inter A320 air disaster (January 20, 1992) 87 killed
- Bijlmerramp disaster, Bijlmerramp, Netherlands (October 4 1992) 43 killed
- Mamony Baikal Air Tupolev 154 air disaster (January 3, 1994) 125 killed (including one on the ground)
- Nagoya Airport air disaster (April 26, 1994) 264 killed
- Flight ZD576 Helicopter air disaster (June 2, 1994) 29 killed
- China Northwest Airlines Tupolev 154 air disaster (June 6, 1994) 160 killed
- Pittsburgh Boeing 737 disaster (September 8, 1994) 132 killed
- Zairian Trans Service Airlift Electra air disaster (December 18, 1994) 141 killed
- Cali air disaster (December 20, 1995) 163 killed
- Kinshasa Antonov 32 air disaster (January 8, 1996) at least 350 killed (most on the ground)
- Dominican Republic Boeing 757 disaster (February 7, 1996) 189 killed
- Peruvian Fawcett Airlines Boeing 737 air disaster (March 2, 1996) 123 killed
- Pakistan Ariana Afghan Airlines Antonov 12 air disaster (January 13, 1998) 51 killed
- Philippines Cebu Pacific Air DC-9-30 air disaster (February 2, 1998) 104 killed
- Sudanese Air Force Antonov 26 air disaster (February 12, 1998) 26 killed
- Taiwan China Airlines Airbus A300 air disaster (February 16, 1998) 196 killed
- Afghanistan Ariana Afghan Airlines Boeing 727 air disaster (March 19, 1998) 45 killed
- Peruvian Air Force Antonov 32 air disaster (March 28, 1998) 21 killed
- Colombia TAME Ecuador Boeing 727 air disaster (April 20, 1998) 53 killed
- Peru Occidental Petroleum Boeing 737-200 air disaster (May 5, 1998) 74 killed
- Mauretanian Air Force Yunshuji Y-7 air disaster (May 12, 1998) 39 killed
- Lao Aviation Yakovlev 40 air disaster (May 25, 1998) 26 killed
- Mongolia MIAT Y-12 air disaster (May 26, 1998) 28 killed
- Myanma Airways Fokker F-27 air disaster (August 24, 1998) 36 killed
- Ecuador Cubana Tupolev 154 air disaster (August 29, 1998) 70 killed
- Swissair Flight 111 (September 2, 1998) 229 killed
- Angola Prestavia Antonov 26 air disaster (September 2, 1998) 24 killed
- Morocco Paukn Air BAe-146 air disaster (September 25, 1998) 38 killed
- Sri Lanka LionAir Antonov 24 air disaster (September 29, 1998) 55 killed
- Lignes Aériennes Congolaises Boeing 727 air disaster (October 10, 1998) 41 killed
- Thai Airways Airbus A310 air disaster (December 11, 1998) 101 killed
- Nicaraguan Air Force Antonov 26 air disaster (January 21, 1999) 28 killed
- China Southwest Tupolev 154 air disaster (February 24, 1999) 61 killed
- Sudanese Air Force Antonov 32 air disaster (June 3, 1999) 50 killed
- Argentina LAPA Boeing 737-200 air disaster (August 31, 1999) 63 killed
- EgyptAir disaster (October 31, 1999) 217 killed
- Yugoslavia United Nations ATR-42 air disaster (November 12, 1999) 24 killed
- Portugal SATA Air Açores BAe ATP air disaster (December 11, 1999) 35 killed
- Venezuela Cubana Yakovlev 42 air disaster (December 25, 1999) 22 killed
- Libya Sirte Oil Company Shorts 360 air disaster (January 13, 2000) 22 killed
- Côte d'Ivoire Kenya Airways Airbus A310 air disaster (January 30, 2000) 169 killed
- Alaska Airlines MD-80 air disaster (January 31, 2000) 88 killed
- Sri Lankan Air Force Antonov 26 air disaster (March 30, 2000) 40 killed
- Air Philippines Boeing 737-200 air disaster (April 19, 2000) 131 killed
- Rwanda AF Antonov 8 air disaster (April 19, 2000) 24 killed
- China Wuhan Airlines Yunshuji Y-7 air disaster (June 22, 2000) 42 killed
- India Alliance Air Boeing 737-200 air disaster (July 17, 2000) 55 killed
- Concorde disaster (July 25, 2000) 109 killed
- Royal Nepal Airlines DHC-6 Twin Otter air disaster (July 27, 2000) 25 killed
- Democratic Republic of the Congo STAER Airlines Antonov 26 air disaster (August 12, 2000) 27 killed
- Bahrain Gulf Air Airbus A320 air disaster (August 23, 2000) 143 killed
- Georgia Russian Air Force Ilyushin 18 air disaster (October 25, 2000) 83 killed
- Taiwan Singapore Airlines Boeing 747 air disaster (October 31, 2000) 83 killed
- Angola ACA-Ancargo Air Antonov 26 air disaster (October 31, 2000) 48 killed
- Angola ASA Pesada Antonov 24 air disaster (November 15, 2000) 57 killed
- Venezuela Rutaca Douglas DC-3 air disaster (January 25, 2001) 24 killed
- Florida Air National Guard Shorts 330 air disaster (March 3, 2001) 21 killed
- Turkish Air Force CASA CN235 air disaster (May 16, 2001) 34 killed
- Iran Faraz Qeshm Yakovlev 40 air disaster (May 17, 2001) 29 killed
- Russia Vladivostokavia Tupolev 154 air disaster (July 4, 2001) 145 killed
- September 11, 2001 attacks (September 11, 2001) 2986 killed (Flights 11 and 175: 92 and 65 killed, plus 2595 in the towers; Flight 77: 64 killed, plus 125 in the Pentagon; Flight 93: 44 killed)
- Sibir Airlines Tupolev 154 air disaster (October 4, 2001) 78 killed
- Italy SAS 110 MD-80 air disaster (October 8, 2001) 110 killed
- American Airlines Airbus A300 air disaster (November 12, 2001) 260 killed
- Russia IRS Aero Ilyushin 18 air disaster (November 19, 2001) 27 killed
- Switzerland Crossair BAe-146 air disaster (November 24, 2001) 24 killed
- Colombia Petroproduccion Fairchild FH-227 air disaster (January 17, 2002) 26 killed
- Colombia TAME Ecuador Boeing 727 air disaster (January 28, 2002) 94 killed
- Iran Air Tours Tupolev 154 air disaster (February 12, 2002) 119 killed
- South Korea Air China Boeing 767 air disaster (April 15, 2002) 129 killed
- Nigeria EAS Airlines BAC 111 air disaster (May 4, 2002) 71 killed
- China Northern MD-80 air disaster (May 7, 2002) 112 killed
- China Airlines Boeing 747 air disaster (May 25, 2002) 225 killed
- Bashkirskie Avialinii Tupolev 154 air disaster (July 1, 2002) 69 killed
- Central African Republic New Gomair Boeing 707 air disaster (July 4, 2002) 28 killed
- Ukraine airshow disaster (July 27, 2002) 84 killed (all spectators)
- Brazil Rico Linhas Aéreas Embraer 120 air disaster (August 30, 2002) 23 killed
- Luxembourg Luxair Fokker 50 air disaster (November 6, 2002) 20 killed
- Iran Aeromist Kharkiv Antonov 140 air disaster (December 23, 2002) 44 killed
- Turkey THY BAe-146 air disaster (January 8, 2003) 75 killed
- Peru TANS Fokker F-28 air disaster (January 9, 2003) 46 killed
- Space Shuttle Columbia disaster (February 1, 2003) 7 killed
- Iranian Revolutionary Guard Ilyushin 76 air disaster (February 19, 2003) 275 killed
- Air Algérie Boeing 737-200 air disaster (March 6, 2003) 102 killed
- Turkey UM Air Yakovlev 42 air disaster (May 26, 2003) 75 killed
- Sudan Airways Boeing 737-200 air disaster (July 8, 2003) 116 killed
- Haiti Tropical Airways Let 410 air disaster (August 24, 2003) 21 killed
- Congolese Air Force Antonov 26 air disaster (November 29, 2003) 20 killed
- Benin UTA Boeing 727 air disaster (December 25, 2003) 141 killed
- Egypt Flash Airlines Boeing 737-300 air disaster (January 3, 2004) 148 killed
- Uzbekistan Airways Yakovlev 40 air disaster (January 13, 2004) 37 killed
- U.A.E. Kish Air Fokker 50 air disaster (February 10, 2004) 43 killed
- Brazil Rico Linhas Aéreas Embraer 120 air disaster (May 14, 2004) 33 killed
- Venezuelan Air Force Shorts 360 air disaster (August 21, 2004) 30 killed
- Volga-Aviaexpress Tupolev 134 air disaster (August 24, 2004) 44 killed
- Sibir Airlines Tupolev 154 air disaster (flight 1047) (August 24, 2004) 46 killed
- China Yunnan Canadair Regional Jet air disaster (November 21, 2004) 53 killed
- Indonesia Lion Airlines MD-80 air disaster (November 30, 2004) 26 killed
- Afghanistan Kam Air Boeing 737-200 air disaster (February 3, 2005) 104 killed
Rail disasters
- St-Hilaire train disaster 1864 - Canada's worst railway disaster - 99 killed
- Abergele train disaster (1868)
- Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster 1876
- Armagh rail disaster (June 12 1889)
- Sunshine station disaster (April 20 1908)
- Wellington avalanche (March 1 1910)
- Tangiwai railway disaster (December 24 1953)
- Granville railway disaster (January 18 1977)
- Eschede train disaster (June 3 1998)
- Ladbroke Grove rail crash (October 5 1999)
- Hatfield rail crash (October 17 2000)
- Potters Bar rail crash (May 10 2002)
- Neyshabur disaster (February 18, 2004)
- Madrid train terror attacks (March 11 2004)
- Ryongchon disaster (April 22 2004)
- "Queen of the Sea" train disaster, Telwatta, Sri Lanka: Approximately 1700 are killed in the world's worst rail disaster to date as a train is overwhelmed by a tsunami created by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake (December 26, 2004)
See also: List of rail accidents
Ship and ferry disasters
See also: List of shipwrecks
- Lexington fire (January 13, 1840) — 139 deaths
- Tayleur sinking (January 21, 1854) — 380 deaths
- Central America sinking (September 11, 1857) — about 425 deaths
- Lady Elgin sinking (September 7, 1860) — about 400 deaths
- Sultana explosion (April 27, 1865) — about 1,700 deaths
- Atlantic sinking (April 1, 1873) — 546 deaths
- Deutschland grounding (December 6, 1875) — 157 deaths
- General Slocum fire (June 15, 1904) — 1,021 deaths
- Titanic sinking (April 15, 1912) — 1,496–1,503 deaths
- Empress of Ireland sinking (May 30, 1914) — 1,012 deaths
- Lusitania sinking (May 7, 1915) — 1,195–1,198 deaths
- Eastland sinking (July 24,1915) — 845 deaths
- Iolaire sinking (January 1, 1919) — at least 205 deaths
- Morro Castle fire (September 8, 1934) — 137 deaths
- HMT Lancastria sinking (June 17, 1940) — 2,000–5,000 deaths
- SS Caribou sunk by German U-boat (October, 1942) — 135 deaths
- Tango Maru sinking (June 29, 1944) — about 3,000 deaths
- Ryusei Maru sinking (June 29, 1944) — 4,998 deaths
- Toyama Maru sinking (June 29, 1944) — about 5,600 deaths
- Koshu Maru sinking (August 3, 1944) — about 1,540 deaths
- Junyo Maru sinking (September 18, 1944) — about 5,620 deaths
- Wilhelm Gustloff sinking (January 30, 1945) — about 9,000–10,000 deaths (believed to be worst ship disaster ever)
- Steuben sinking (February 9, 1945) — about 4,000–4,500 deaths
- Goya sinking (April 16, 1945) — more than 7,000 deaths
- Cap Arcona sinking (May 3, 1945) — about 7,000 to 8,000 deaths together with Thielbek and Athen
- Thielbek sinking (May 3, 1945); about 2,750 deaths
- Noronic fire (September 17, 1949) — 118 to 139 deaths
- Princess Victoria sinking (January 31, 1953) — 132 deaths
- Novorossiysk sinking (29 October 1955) — 608 deaths
- SS Andrea Doria sinking (July 26, 1956) — about 45 deaths
- Lakonia fire (December 22, 1963) — 128 deaths
- Yarmouth Castle fire (November 13, 1965) — 90 deaths
- Betelgeuse fire and explosion in Bantry Bay (January 8 1979) — 51 deaths
- Admiral Nakhimov sinking (August 31, 1986) — 398 deaths
- Herald of Free Enterprise (March 6, 1987) — 134 deaths
- Doña Paz sinking (December 21, 1987) — about 4,000 deaths
- M/S Scandinavian Star fire (April 7, 1990) — 159 deaths
- M/S Estonia sinking (September 28,1994) — 852 deaths
- Kursk sinking (August 12,2000) — 118 deaths
Road disasters
- A dynamite truck blew up in Thailand, 150+ killed (February 15, 1945)
- 7 ammunition trucks explode in Colombia, 1,200 killed (August 7, 1956)
- Two trucks collided in Togo, 125+ killed (December 6,1965)
- A bus drove into an irrigation canal in Egypt, 127 killed (August 9, 1973)
- A suspension bridge collapsed in Nepal, 148 killed (November 23, 1974)
- A gasoline tanker exploded in Spain, 120+ killed (July 11,1978)
- A gasoline tanker explodes in the Salang Tunnel in Afghanistan, 2,000+ killed (November 3, 1982)
- A bus hit a bridge in Kenya, 106 killed (December,1992)
- An explosion created a hole, in which 100 cars fell in South Korea, 110 killed (April 28,1995)
- A gasoline tanker hit cars and exploded in Nigeria, 150+ killed (November 4 2000)
Other man-made disasters
Nuclear disasters
- Three Mile Island, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania (March 28 1979)
- Chernobyl nuclear power-plant disaster, Chernobyl, Ukraine (April 26, 1986)
- See also List of nuclear accidents
War disasters
An attack with much collateral damage may be considered a disaster, such as the attack on KdF Ship Wilhelm Gustloff, 1945, the worst or perhaps second worst maritime incident in history (after Cap Arcona in two vessels), in terms of loss of life in a single vessel (see also note at the end of the article RMS Titanic).
- Bombing of Dresden in World War II (February 13-15, 1945)
- Bombing of Tokyo in World War II (February 23, March 9 and May 26 1945
- Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 6 and August 9 1945, respectively)
Dam disasters
- Great Sheffield flood, Sheffield, England (March 11, 1864)
- Johnstown flood, Johnstown, Pennsylvania (May 31, 1889)
- St. Francis Dam disaster, Los Angeles, California (March 12, 1928)
- Vajont Dam disaster, Longarone, Italy (October 9, 1963)
- Banqiao Dam disaster, Henan Province, China (August 8 1975)
Environmental disasters
- Torrey Canyon oil spill in the English Channel (March 18, 1967)
- Love Canal, Niagara Falls, New York (1970s)
- Seveso disaster, Italy, 1976
- Bhopal Disaster, Bhopal, India (December 3, 1984)
- Exxon Valdez oil spill, Prince William Sound (March 24, 1989)
- Prestige oil spill, off the Spanish coast, (November 13, 2002)
Mining disasters
- Brunner, New Zealand, 67 killed (March, 1896)
- Scofield, Utah, United States, 200 killed (May 1, 1900)
- Fraterville Mine disaster, Tennessee, United States, 184 killed (May, 1902)
- Courriere, France,1099 killed (March, 1906)
- Monongah, West Virginia, United States, 362 killed (December, 1907)
- Burns Pit Disaster, Stanley, County Durham, England, 160+ killed (February 16, 1909)
- Cherry, Illinois, United States, 259 killed (December, 1909)
- Hillcrest, Alberta, Canada, 189 killed (June 19, 1914). Canada's worst mine disaster
- Dawson, New Mexico, United States, 263 killed (October, 1913)
- Gresford, Wrexham 266 killed (September,1934)
- Smith Mine #3, Montana, United States, 74 killed (February 27, 1943)
- Springhill Mining Disaster, Springhill, Nova Scotia, Canada, 125 killed (October 23, 1958)
- Luisenthal (near Völklingen), Germany (February 7, 1962), 299 killed
- Buffalo Creek Flood, Logan County, West Virginia, United States, 125 killed (February 26, 1972)
- Kellogg, Idaho, United States, 91 killed (May, 1972)
- Westray Mine Disaster, Plymouth, Nova Scotia, Canada (May 9, 1992)
Explosion disasters
- Mobile magazine explosion (May 25, 1865)
- 1887 Nanaimo Mine Explosion, Nanaimo, BC (May 3, 1887)
- Halifax explosion, Halifax, Nova Scotia (December 6, 1917)
- The Bombay Blasts, Victoria Dock Bombay, India (April 14, 1944)
- The Port Chicago Explosion (July 17 1944)
- Texas City Explosion, Texas City, Texas, (April 16, 1947)
- BLEVE explosion at a refinery in Feyzin, France (January 4, 1966)
- Flixborough disaster, North Lincolnshire (June 1 1974)
- Piper Alpha explosion, North Sea, Scotland, (July 6 1988)
Fire disasters
Main article: List of historic fires
- Great Fire of London, London, England (September 2-September 5 1666)
- Great Chicago Fire, Chicago, Illinois (October 8, 1871)
- Peshtigo Fire, Peshtigo, Wisconsin (October 8, 1871)
- The Great Fire of 1892, St. John's, Newfoundland, (July 8, 1892)
- Hartford Circus Fire, Hartford, Connecticut (July 6, 1944)
- Summerland disaster, Isle of Man (August 2, 1973)
- Bradford City Disaster, Bradford, England (May 11, 1985)
- Kaprun disaster, Kaprun, Austria (November 11, 2000)
Miscellaneous
- The Boston Molasses Disaster, Boston, Massachusetts (January 15 1919)
- Great Smog of 1952, London, England
- 24 hours of Le Mans disaster, France, (June 11, 1955)
- Aberfan disaster, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales (October 21, 1966)
- Second Ibrox disaster, Glasgow, Scotland (January 2, 1971)
- Hyatt Regency walkway collapse, Kansas City, Missouri (July 17 1981)
- Heysel Stadium disaster, Brussels, Belgium (May 29, 1985)
- Hillsborough disaster, Sheffield, England (April 15, 1989)
- Sampoong Department Store collapse, Seoul, South Korea (June 30, 1995)
- Enschede fireworks disaster, Enschede, Netherlands (May 13, 2000)
- P36 Offshore Oil Platform Sinking, South America (March, 2001)
Causes of hypothetical future disasters
- Supervolcano
- Asteroid impact event
- Megatsunami
- Recurrence of Cascadia Earthquake
- Global warming