Worst Disasters In The World
~~A natural disaster can be described as a sudden unforeseen event that causes widespread destruction and loss of lives that is brought about by forces other than the acts of mankind. This can be as a result of earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruption, flooding, landslide and so forth.
The world has witnessed several disasters over the centuries and most of these are manmade and are due to wars and terrorism. Worst natural disasters ranges from lives lost to cost incurred from the impacts of earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons. Here are some of the most world natural disasters ever recorded:
1. Haiti Earthquake. A 7.0 earthquake with a depth of 8.1 miles rocked the nation of Haiti on January 12, 2010. Its epicentre was located in the south west of Port-Au-Prince with 59 aftershocks ranging from 4.2 to 5.9 magnitudes in strength. Over 200,000 people died with 5 million people left homeless and in need of emergency aid.
2. Cyclone Nargis. This is the first cyclone to hit the northern Indian Ocean in 2008. Cyclone Nargis devastated the Ayeyarwady Delta region together with its 37 townships for two days. 84,500 people were killed and 53,800 missing.
3. Pakistan Earthquake. The Pakistan earthquake occurred in 2005 and registered 7.6 in the Richter scale with its epic centre in Kashmir. The death toll was over 75,000 people with 106,000 injured.
4. Hurricane Katrina. Katrina happens to be the deadliest hurricane to hit the Gulf Coast in 2005. Katrina was ranked the sixth strongest disaster that hit United States and the costliest with damage worth $81 billion.
5. Indian Ocean Earthquake. This was known as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake that struck in 2004 with magnitude 9.15. This earthquake caused a tsunami that killed 200,000 to 310,000 people along the shores of Indonesia, Srilanka, South India, and Thailand with one death occurring at Port Elizabeth in South Africa. (8,000 miles away from the epicentre).
6. Nevado del Ruiz Volcano Eruption. This was a stratovolcano that caused the second largest volcano disaster of the 20th century. This volcano produced an enormous flow that buried and devastated the town of Armero in Tolima in 1985. The death toll was over 25,000.
7. Tangshan Earthquake. The Great Tangshan earthquake struck China in 1976 with magnitude of 7.8 and regarded as the deadliest earthquake of the 20th century. The earthquake caused over 240,000 deaths with over 164,000 injured.
When we hear about a disaster for us, it is usually bad news. But the lives of many were destroyed in a moment