Top 10 Natural Disasters You Forgot About

1908
To date, this is the most destructive earthquake to hit Europe. In December 1908, just offshore the Strait of Messina in Italy, a colossal earthquake struck, reaching a magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter scale. If that wasn’t bad enough, a 40-foot-tall tsunami followed, hitting the Italian coast. The cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria experienced the worst of it as they were both nearly decimated. But many nearby settlements were badly damaged too, resulting in the loss of as many as 80,000 lives. The quake had an effect on the area for decades after. A load of temporary shacks, or Baraccopoli, which were built to help the homeless survivors in Messina, were still being used as of 2021.

1908
On one fateful day in June 1908, the inhabitants of a town in Siberia were suddenly thrown to the ground by a powerful shockwave. This was the result of what is now referred to as the Tunguska event, which occurred over 35 miles away from them, near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River. Originally thought to be a meteorite, this mysterious event is believed to have been a meteor air burst, where an asteroid explodes after reaching a heavier atmosphere. This explosion flattened around 80 million trees across 830 square miles. The Tunguska blast is estimated to have been around 1,000 times the force of the atomic bomb used in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945. It’s believed three people lost their lives in the event.

1952
On December 5th 1952, the people of London, England woke up to find the air thick with smog. This wasn’t quite a strange occurrence for London, but this particular incident was so bad that it caused thousands of fatalities and injuries in the span of just four days. The Great Smog was caused by high-pressure weather conditions mixed with industrial pollution. It greatly affected visibility and meant citizens struggled to breathe. As such, many resorted to masks to protect themselves. Once the weather changed, the smog vanished quickly, leaving an estimated 10,000-12,000 people dead in its wake. This event caused the government to introduce the Clean Air Act in 1956 to prevent such a catastrophe from happening again.

1815-16
In the early 1800s, Asia experienced several volcano eruptions in a short amount of time. But the biggest was in April 1815 when Mount Tambora in Indonesia exploded, leading to the direct deaths of around 11,000 people. On top of this, it’s believed this eruption released millions of tons of dust, ash, and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, causing an almost three-degree Fahrenheit drop in global temperatures. This meant that the following year was so cold, it was referred to as the Year Without a Summer. This significantly affected agriculture and led to famine and food riots across Europe. It is also believed to have contributed to the rise of a new strain of cholera in Asia, in 1816.

1556
During the Ming Dynasty, China’s Shaanxi province and its surrounding area experienced what many believe is the worst earthquake to happen in human history. The magnitude is estimated to have been between 8.0 to 8.3 on the Richter scale. Not the highest on record, sure, but the impact felt was immense. The earthquake triggered landslides, bringing mountains to the ground and causing rivers to change their paths. In some places, 60-foot-deep crevices were created. Many stone buildings were destroyed, which buried many people underneath. As a result, an estimated 100,000 people were killed, while 730,000 others fled the town. This is believed to have reduced the population in the Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces by about 60 percent.

1925
March 1925 saw the worst tornado outbreak in the U.S., with at least 12 being formed over seven hours. The main states affected were Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. But others in the midwestern and southeastern U.S. experienced tornadoes too. What made this outbreak worse is that it appeared by surprise. At the time, to prevent panicking, tornado forecasting wasn’t used. As such, people were hit unawares by the dangerous weather. Experts believe the major tornado was an F5 on the Fujita scale, as it slew 695 people and resulted in immense property destruction. All of the tornadoes combined caused around 750 fatalities, nearly 2,300 injuries, and the 2023 equivalent of $2.55 billion in structural damage.

1986
When people arrived at a settlement near Lake Nyos, Cameroon, in August 1986, they strangely heard no noise from human beings, wildlife, or insects. Then, they saw the carnage. Around 3,500 livestock and 1,700 people had mysteriously perished, with no clear signs as to why. An investigation later discovered that the cause was an exceptionally rare limnic eruption from Lake Nyos. A large high-pressure cloud of carbon dioxide had been building under the volcanic lake. Some sort of event, like a landslide or eruption, took place, releasing the CO2, which engulfed everything within 16 miles. Amazingly, some people survived. There’s usually around 0.04 percent of CO2 in the atmosphere. Around Lake Nyos, it’s theorized to have reached 10 percent.

536 CE
If you’ve ever wondered what the worst year to be alive was, according to some scientists, that’s 536, when the world underwent rapid climate cooling. For 18 months, Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Asia were plunged into darkness when a fog spread across the globe. The average summer temperature had dropped as much as 37 degrees Fahrenheit in some places, with China even having snow. Famine became common as crops failed to grow and livestock perished. The most popular theory is a volcanic eruption that released enough dust to block out the sun. Others think a comet of some sort impacted the Earth. Either way, this event affected humanity for years.

1970
November 1970 saw the deadliest tropical cyclone on record strike in the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta in present-day Bangladesh. It first formed over the Bay of Bengal before reaching land and causing devastation wherever it went. At its peak, the wind reached speeds of 115 miles per hour. The cyclone also brought a rapid storm surge, causing flooding throughout the low-leveled region. There are estimates that up to 500,000 people were slain, causing entire villages to be wiped out. The government’s response to the crisis was heavily criticized both nationally and internationally. It’s believed this poor reaction contributed to the Bangladesh War of Independence the following year.

1931
From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, China was hit by numerous floods that wreaked complete havoc. The deadliest of those came in June 1931. In the run-up to the event, the country had suffered a drought with lots of snow and ice in the mountains. When that melted and mixed with the heavy rainfall, rivers and lakes quickly overflowed. People were driven from their homes, and crops, which major cities like Wuhan and Nanjing relied on, were destroyed. Estimates of those that perished are as high as four million due to a severe famine that hit the region. On top of this, disease outbreaks like dysentery and cholera happened, due to the polluted river water. The disaster lasted about two months.