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 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 infectiou ...

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 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 u ...

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 (Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually earthen and that often runs parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastli ...

s, seawalls 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 The so-called Bombay Cyclone of 1882 or Great Bombay Cyclone is a hoax (or otherwise fictitious) historical event. Supposedly, the cyclone struck Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capit ...

' 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 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

Notes

References

External links

Natural Hazards Data
from NOAA National Geophysical Data Center
"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 (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

''
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 ne ...

{{Death Natural disasters by death toll Natural disasters

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 li ...

Lists of wildfires