A natural disaster 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 An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics of infectious d ...

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 Volcanic eruptions can be highly explosive. Some volcanoes have undergone catastrophic eruptions, killing large numbers of humans or other life forms. This list documents volcanic eruptions by human death toll. Volcanic eruptions See also * ...

. The list also does not include the 1938 Yellow River flood, 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 objects 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, levees,

seawall A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation ...

s or

retaining wall Retaining walls are relatively rigid walls used for supporting soil laterally so that it can be retained at different levels on the two sides. Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to ...

s.
This list does not include the man-made 1938 Yellow River flood 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' in tenth position, but this supposed event has been proven to be a hoax.''

Ten deadliest tsunamis

''Note: A possible tsunami in 1782 that caused about 40,000 deaths in the

Taiwan Strait The Taiwan Strait is a -wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and continental Asia. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide. The Taiwan Strait is itself a ...

area may have been of "meteorological" origin (a cyclone).''

Ten deadliest volcanic eruptions

List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll This is a list of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll. The list covers the name of the event, location and the start and end of each event. Some events may belong in more than one category. In addition, some of the listed events overl ...

List of accidents and disasters by death toll This is a list of accidents and disasters by death toll. It shows the number of fatalities associated with various explosions, structural fires, flood disasters, coal mine disasters, and other notable accidents caused by the effects of neglig ...

List of battles and other violent events by death toll A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...

* List of disasters in Antarctica by death toll *

List of disasters in Australia by death toll This is a list of disasters in Australia by death toll. 100 or more deaths 50 to 99 deaths 20 to 49 deaths Between 10 and 20 Gallery Image:Port arthur outside.jpg, The Port Arthur massacre claimed 35 lives in 1996 when Martin Bryan ...

List of disasters in Canada by death toll This list of Canadian disasters by death toll includes major disasters (excluding acts of war) that occurred on Canadian soil or involved Canadian citizens, in a definable incident, where the loss of life was 10 or more. 200 or more deaths 10 ...

* List of disasters in Croatia by death toll * List of disasters in Great Britain and Ireland by death toll *

List of disasters in New Zealand by death toll This is a list of New Zealand disasters by death toll, listing major disasters (excluding acts of war) which occurred in New Zealand and its territories or involved a significant number of New Zealand citizens, in a specific incident, where the ...

List of disasters in Poland by death toll Listed below are the worst disasters in Poland's history, listed by death toll. This list excludes warfare, the Holocaust and intentional acts of destruction, but may include accidents in which the military, Polish or foreign, was involved (e.g. ...

List of disasters in Romania by death toll The list of disasters in Romania by death toll includes major disasters and accidents – excluding warfare and other intentional acts – that took place on Romanian soil and resulted in at least five fatalities: Disasters References

...

List of disasters in the United States by death toll This list of United States disasters by death toll includes disasters that occurred either in the United States, at diplomatic missions of the United States, or incidents outside of the United States in which a number of U.S. citizens were killed ...

Tsunamis affecting the British Isles Tsunamis affecting the British Isles are extremely uncommon, and there have only been two confirmed cases in recorded history. Meteotsunamis (displacements due to atmospheric pressure, rather than seismic shock) are somewhat more common, especially ...

Notes

References

External links

Natural Hazards Data
from NOAA

National Geophysical Data Center The United States National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) provided scientific stewardship, products and services for geophysical data describing the solid earth, marine, and solar-terrestrial environment, as well as earth observations from spac ...

"When Nature Attacks"
from ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

''
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 The Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) is a research unit of the University of Louvain (UCLouvain). It is part of the School of Public Health located on the UCLouvain Brussels Woluwe campus, in Brussels, Belgium. CRED has ...

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 Death toll Lists of wildfires