natural disaster A natural disaster is "the negative impact following an actual occurrence of natural hazard in the event that it significantly harms a community". A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property, and typically leaves some econ ...

is a sudden event that always causes widespread destruction, major collateral damage or loss of life, brought about by forces other than the acts of human beings. A natural disaster might be caused by earthquakes, flooding, volcanic eruption, landslide, hurricanes etc. To be classified as a disaster, it will have profound environmental effect and/or human loss and frequently causes financial loss.

Ten deadliest natural disasters by highest estimated death toll excluding epidemics and famines

This list takes into account only the highest estimated death toll for each disaster, and lists them accordingly. It does not include epidemics and famines. It does not include several volcanic eruptions with uncertain death tolls resulting from collateral effects such as crop failures; see List of volcanic eruptions by death toll. The list also does not include the

1938 Yellow River flood The 1938 Yellow River flood (, literally "Huayuankou embankment breach incident") was a flood created by the Nationalist Government in central China during the early stage of the Second Sino-Japanese War in an attempt to halt the rapid advance o ...

, which was caused by the deliberate destruction of dikes.

Deadliest natural disasters by year excluding epidemics and famines

20th century

21st century

Lists of natural disasters by cause

Ten deadliest earthquakes

Ten deadliest famines

''Note: Some of these famines may have been caused or partially caused by humans.'' ''Note: This list is ranked by number of deaths. Not deaths per capita, as in the percentage of the population.''

Deadliest impact events

''Note: While there is only one scientifically verified case of

astronomical object An astronomical object, celestial object, stellar object or heavenly body is a naturally occurring physical entity, association, or structure that exists in the observable universe. In astronomy, the terms ''object'' and ''body'' are often us ...

s resulting in human fatalities, there have been several reported occurrences throughout human history. Consequently, the casualty figures for all events listed are considered unofficial.''

Deadliest limnic eruptions

''Note: Only 2 cases in recorded history.''

Ten deadliest wildfires/bushfires

Ten deadliest avalanches/landslides

Ten deadliest blizzards

Ten deadliest floods

''Note: Some of these floods and landslides may be partially caused by humans – for example, by failure of dams,

levee A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually soil, earthen and that often runs parallel (geometry), parallel to ...

s, seawalls or retaining walls.
This list does not include the man-made

caused entirely by a deliberate man-made act (an act of war, destroying dikes).''

Ten deadliest heat waves

''Note: Measuring the number of deaths caused by a heat wave requires complicated statistical analysis, since heat waves tend to cause large numbers of deaths among people weakened by other conditions. As a result, the number of deaths is only known with any accuracy for heat waves in the modern era in countries with developed healthcare systems.''

Ten deadliest pandemics / epidemics

Death counts are historical totals unless indicated otherwise. Events in boldface are ongoing.

Ten deadliest tornadoes

Ten deadliest tropical cyclones

''Note: Earlier versions of this list have included the so-called '

Bombay Cyclone of 1882 The so-called Bombay Cyclone of 1882 or Great Bombay Cyclone is a hoax (or otherwise fictitious) historical event. Supposedly, the cyclone struck Bombay on 6 June 1882. Though it is widely reported, even in scientific literature, historical rese ...

' in tenth position, but this supposed event has been proven to be a

hoax A hoax is a widely publicized falsehood so fashioned as to invite reflexive, unthinking acceptance by the greatest number of people of the most varied social identities and of the highest possible social pretensions to gull its victims into pu ...

.''

Ten deadliest tsunamis

''Note: A possible tsunami in 1782 that caused about 40,000 deaths in the Taiwan Strait area may have been of "meteorological" origin (a cyclone).''

Ten deadliest volcanic eruptions

Notes

References

External links

Natural Hazards Data
from NOAA National Geophysical Data Center
"When Nature Attacks"
from '' Newsweek''
World's worst natural disasters since 1900

Earthquake Hazards Program
– USGS
EM-DAT: The International Disaster Database
managed by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters
Disasters Database Report
from

Emergency Management Australia Emergency Management Australia (EMA) was an Australian Government body responsible for emergency management coordination. EMA was transferred from the Attorney-General's Department in a machinery of government change to become a division of the n ...

{{Death Natural disasters by death toll

Natural disasters A natural disaster is "the negative impact following an actual occurrence of natural hazard in the event that it significantly harms a community". A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property, and typically leaves some econo ...

Death toll ''Death toll'' is the number of dead as a result of a war, disaster, or other event. It may also refer to: * '' Death Toll'', 2008 action film * ''High-Ballin, 1978 action comedy film also released as ''Death Toll'' See also * List of list ...

Lists of wildfires