History of Disasters with highest death tolls

The 115 Antioch earthquake occurred on 13 December 115 AD. It had an estimated magnitude of 7.5 on the surface wave magnitude scale and an estimated maximum intensity of XI (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. The origin of the reported death toll of 260,000 is uncertain, as it only appears in catalogues of about the last hundred years.

The Antonine Plague of 165 to 180 AD, also known as the Plague of Galen (from the name of the Greek physician living in the Roman Empire who described it), was an ancient pandemic brought back to the Roman Empire by troops returning from campaigns in the Near East. The disease broke out again nine years later, according to the Roman historian Dio Cassius (155–235), causing up to 2,000 deaths a day in Rome, one quarter of those who were affected, giving the disease a mortality rate of about 25%. The total deaths have been estimated at five million, and the disease killed as much as one-third of the population in some areas and devastated the Roman army.

342 Antioch earthquake occurred on 342, in Roman Empire (now Turkey), there were an estimated 40,000 deaths.

The 365 Crete earthquake occurred at about sunrise on 21 July 365 in the Eastern Mediterranean, with an assumed epicentre near Crete. Geologists today estimate the undersea earthquake to have been a magnitude 8.0 or higher. The Crete earthquake was followed by a tsunami which devastated the southern and eastern coasts of the Mediterranean, particularly Libya, Alexandria and the Nile Delta, killing thousands and hurling ships 3 km (1.9 mi) inland.

458 Antioch earthquake occurred in September 458 in Byzantine Empire (now Turkey), there were an estimated 80,000 deaths.

The 526 Antioch earthquake hit Syria (region) and Antioch in the Byzantine Empire in 526. It struck during late May, probably between 20–29 May, at mid-morning, killing approximately 250,000 people. The earthquake was followed by a fire that destroyed most of the buildings left standing by the earthquake. The maximum intensity in Antioch is estimated to be between VIII (Severe) and IX (Violent) on the Mercalli intensity scale.

533 Aleppo earthquake occurred on November 29, 533 in Byzantine Empire (now Syria), there were an estimated 130,000 deaths.

The Plague of Justinian (541–542 AD) was a pandemic that afflicted the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire and especially its capital, Constantinople, as well as the Sasanian Empire, and port cities around the entire Mediterranean Sea, as merchant ships harbored rats that carried fleas infected with plague. Some historians believe the plague of Justinian was one of the deadliest pandemics in history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 25–50 million people during two centuries of recurrence, a death toll equivalent to 13–26% of the world's population at the time of the first outbreak.

587 Antioch earthquake occurred on September 30, 587 in Byzantine Empire (now Turkey), there were an estimated 60,000 deaths.

A large meteorite fell onto the rebel Lu Ming-Yueh's camp, destroying a wall-attacking tower in 616. The death toll from this enent is estimated to be more than 10 people.

662 Damghan earthquake occurred on April 26, 662, in Umayyad Caliphate (now Iran), there were an estimated 40,000 deaths.

844 Damascus earthquake occurred on September 18, 844, in Abbasid Caliphate (now Syria), there were an estimated 50,000 deaths.

847 Damascus earthquake occurred in 847, in Abbasid Caliphate (now Syria), there were an estimated 70,000 deaths.

850 Iran earthquake occurred on July 15, 850, in Abbasid Caliphate (now Iran), there were an estimated 45,000 deaths.

856 Corinth earthquake occurred in November 856, in Byzantine Empire (now Greece), there were an estimated 45,000 deaths.

856 Tunisia earthquake occurred on December 3, 856, in Abbasid Caliphate (now Tunisia), there were an estimated 45,000 deaths.

The 856 Damghan earthquake or the 856 Qumis earthquake occurred on 22 December 856 (242 AH). The earthquake had an estimated magnitude of 7.9, and a maximum intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. The earthquake's epicenter is estimated to be close to the city of Damghan, which was then the capital of the Persian province of Qumis. It caused approximately 200,000 deaths and is listed by the USGS as the sixth deadliest earthquake in recorded history.

Several earthquake catalogues and historical sources describe the 893 Ardabil earthquake as a destructive earthquake that struck the city of Ardabil, Iran, on 23 March 893. The magnitude is unknown, but the death toll was reported to be very large. The USGS, in their "List of Earthquakes with 50,000 or More Deaths", give an estimate that 150,000 were killed, which would make it the ninth deadliest earthquake in history.

The 1990 Manjil–Rudbar earthquake occurred on June 21 at 00:30:14 local time in northern Iran. The shock had a moment magnitude of 7.4 and a Mercalli Intensity of X (Extreme). Widespread damage occurred to the northwest of the capital city of Tehran, including the cities of Rudbar and Manjil. The National Geophysical Data Center estimated that $8 billion in damage occurred in the affected area. Other earthquake catalogs presented estimates of the loss of life in the range of 35,000–50,000, with a further 60,000–105,000 that were injured.

The 1997 group of forest fires in Indonesia that lasted well into 1998 were probably among the two or three, if not the largest, forest fires group in the last two centuries of recorded history. In the middle of 1997 forest fires burning in Indonesia began to affect neighbouring countries, spreading thick clouds of smoke and haze to Malaysia and Singapore. A total of 240 people perished in the wildfires.

1033 Ramala earthquake occurred on December 10, 1033 in Fatimid Caliphate (now West Bank), there were an estimated 77,000 deaths.

1042 Tabriz earthquake occurred on November 4, 1042, in Abbasid Caliphate (now Iran), there were an estimated 50,000 deaths.

1101 Khorasan earthquake occurred in 1101, in Great Seljuq Empire (now Iran), there were an estimated 60,000 deaths.

The 1138 Aleppo earthquake was among the deadliest earthquakes in history. Its name was taken from the city of Aleppo, in northern Syria, where the most casualties were sustained. The quake occurred on 11 October 1138 and was preceded by a smaller quake on the 10th. However, the figure of 230,000 dead is based on a historical conflation of this earthquake with earthquakes in November 1137 on the Jazira plain and the large seismic event of 30 September 1139 in the Transcaucasian city of Ganja. The first mention of a 230,000 death toll was by Ibn Taghribirdi in the fifteenth century.

1169 Aleppo earthquake occurred in 1169, in Zengid dynasty (now Syria), there were an estimated 80,000 deaths.

North Sea flood happened in 1212, in Holy Roman Empire. The death toll from this flood is estimated to be 60,000 people.

The Cilicia earthquake occurred northeast of the city of Adana in 1268. Over 60,000 people perished in the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia in southern Asia Minor.

St. Lucia's flood (Sint-Luciavloed) was a storm tide that affected the Netherlands and Northern Germany on 14 December 1287, the day after St. Lucia Day, killing approximately 50,000 to 80,000 people in one of the largest floods in recorded history.

The 1290 Chihli earthquake occurred on 27 September with an epicenter near Ningcheng, Zhongshu Sheng (Zhili or Chihli), Yuan Empire. The earthquake had an estimated surface wave magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum felt intensity of IX (Violent) on the Mercalli intensity scale. One estimate places the death toll at 7,270, while another has it at 100,000.

The 1303 Hongdong earthquake occurred in China, then part of the Mongol Empire, on September 25. The shock was estimated to have a magnitude of 8.0 and it had a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). With catastrophic damage, it was one of the deadliest recorded earthquakes of all time. In Taiyuan and Pingyang, nearly 100,000 houses collapsed and over 200,000 people died from collapsing buildings and loess caves in a similar manner to the situation that would be experienced 253 years later in the 1556 Shaanxi earthquake (陕西).

1310 Western Hubei landslide in 1310, in China. The death toll from this landslide is estimated to be 3,466 people.

The Great Famine of 1315–1317 (occasionally dated 1315–1322) was the first of a series of large-scale crises that struck Europe early in the 14th century. Most of Europe (extending east to Russia and south to Italy) was affected. The famine caused millions of deaths (7,500,000) over an extended number of years and marked a clear end to the period of growth and prosperity from the 11th to the 13th centuries.

The Black Death, also known as the Pestilence (Pest for short), the Great Plague or the Plague, or less commonly the Black Plague, was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia and peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351.

Saint Marcellus' flood or Grote Mandrenke was a massive southwesterly Atlantic gale (also known as a European windstorm) which swept across the British Isles, the Netherlands, northern Germany, and Denmark (including Schleswig/Southern Jutland) around 16 January 1362, causing at minimum 25,000 deaths.

1455 Naples earthquake occurred on December 5, 1455, in Crown of Aragon (now Italy), there were an estimated 40,000 deaths.

The Ch'ing-yang event of 1490 (also Ch'ing-yang, Chi-ing-yang or Chíing-yang meteor shower) is a presumed meteor shower or air burst in Qingyang in March or April 1490. The area was in the province of Shaanxi but is now part of Gansu. If a meteor shower did occur, it may have been the result of the disintegration of an asteroid during an atmospheric entry air burst. More than 10,000 people were struck dead. All of the people in the city fled to other places.

The 1498 Nankai earthquake (明応地震 Meiō Jishin) occurred off the coast of Nankaidō, Japan, at about 08:00 local time on 20 September 1498. It had a magnitude estimated at 8.6 Ms and triggered a large tsunami. The death toll associated with this event is uncertain, but between 5,000 and 41,000 casualties were reported.

The St. Felix's flood (in Dutch Sint-Felixvloed) happened on Saturday, 5 November 1530, the name day of St. Felix. This day was later known as Evil Saturday (kwade zaterdag). Large parts of Flanders and Zeeland were washed away, including the Verdronken Land van Reimerswaal. According to Audrey M. Lambert, "all the Oost Wetering of Zuid-Beveland was lost, save only the town of Reimerswaal." More than 100,000 were killed in Netherlands by the St. Felix's flood.

The Grand Harbour of Malta tornado was a tornado that hit the Grand Harbour of Malta on September 23, 1551 with very intense strength. It began as a waterspout killing at least 600 people.

The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake or Huaxian earthquake is the deadliest earthquake in recorded history: according to imperial records approximately 830,000 people lost their lives. It occurred on the morning of 23 January 1556 in Shaanxi, during the Ming Dynasty. More than 97 counties in the provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Gansu, Hebei, Shandong, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu and Anhui were affected.

Mount Kelud was a volcanic eruptions in Indonesia. It began in 1586. The death toll from this disaster estimated to be 10,000 people.

The Russian famine of 1601–1603 was Russia's worst famine in terms of proportional effect on the population, killing perhaps two million people, about 30% of the Russian people.

The Deccan famine of 1630–1632 was a famine in the Deccan Plateau and Gujarat. The famine was the result of three consecutive staple crop failures, leading to intense hunger, disease, and displacement in the region. This famine remains one of the most devastating famines in the history of India, and was the most serious famine to occur in the Mughal Empire. The Dutch report gives an overall death toll of 7.4 million by late 1631, which might be for the whole region.

A monk died after being struck on the thigh by a meteorite on Milan, Lombardy, Italy, in 1633.

10 homes destroyed in Changshou District, Chongqing, China, in 1639. The death toll from this event is estimated to be "Tens" .

The 1667 Shamakhi earthquake occurred on 25 November 1667 with an epicenter close to the city of Shamakhi, Azerbaijan (then part of Safavid Iran). It had an estimated surface wave magnitude of 6.9 and a maximum felt intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. An estimated 80,000 people died.

1668 Shandong earthquake occurred on July 25, 1668, in Qing Empire (now China), there were an estimated 42,571 deaths.

The 1693 Sicily earthquake struck parts of southern Italy near Sicily, Calabria, and Malta on January 11 at around 21:00 local time. The main quake had an estimated magnitude of 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, the most powerful in Italian recorded history, and a maximum intensity of XI (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale, destroying at least 70 towns and cities, seriously affecting an area of 5,600 square kilometres (2,200 sq mi) and causing the death of about 60,000 people.

French Famine (1693–1694) was a famine in France. It began in 1693. The death toll from this famine is estimated to be in the range of 1,300,000–1,500,000.

Deccan Famine of 1702–1704 was a famine in India. It began in 1702. The death toll from this famine is estimated to be in the range of 2 million people.

The 1707 Hōei earthquake (Hōei jishin 宝永地震) struck south-central Japan at 14:00 local time on 28 October 1707. It caused moderate to severe damage throughout southwestern Honshu, Shikoku and southeastern Kyūshū. The earthquake, and the resulting destructive tsunami, caused more than 5,000 casualties.

1718 Gansu earthquake occurred on June 19, 1718 in Qing Empire (now China), there were an estimated 73,000 deaths.

The Carolean Death March or the Catastrophe of Øyfjellet is the disastrous retreat by a Swedish-Carolean army under the command of Carl Gustaf Armfeldt across the Tydal mountain range in Trøndelag around the new year 1718–1719. About 3,000 men remained on the mountain, frozen to death. During the continued voyage down to Duved, where lodging had been arranged for the soldiers, another 700 men died. About 600 of the surviving 2,100 soldiers were crippled for life.

The 1721 Tabriz earthquake occurred on April 26, with an epicenter near the city of Tabriz, Iran. It leveled some three-quarters of the city, The total number of casualties caused by the earthquake is between 8,000 and 250,000; it was most likely approximately 80,000.

The 1727 Tabriz earthquake occurred on 18 November with an epicenter near Tabriz in northwest Iran. The maximum felt intensity was VIII (Severe) on the Mercalli intensity scale, and there were an estimated 77,000 deaths.

On 7 October 1737, a natural disaster struck the city of Calcutta (modern-day Kolkata) in India. For a long time this was believed in Europe to have been the result of an earthquake, but it is now believed to have been a tropical cyclone. Thomas Joshua Moore, the duties collector for the British East India Company in Calcutta, wrote in his official report that a storm and flood had destroyed nearly all the thatched buildings and killed 3,000 of the city's inhabitants. Other reports from merchant ships indicated an earthquake and tidal surge were to blame, destroying 20,000 ships in the harbor and killing 300,000 people. The population of Calcutta at the time was around 3,000–20,000.

1754 Cairo earthquake occurred on September 2, 1754, in Ottoman Empire (now Egypt), there were an estimated 40,000 deaths.

1755 Tabriz earthquake occurred on June 7, 1755, in Iran, there were an estimated 40,000 deaths.

The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, occurred in the Kingdom of Portugal on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In combination with subsequent fires and a tsunami, the earthquake almost totally destroyed Lisbon and adjoining areas. Estimates place the death toll in Lisbon alone between 10,000 and 100,000 people, making it one of the deadliest earthquakes in history.

The Great Bengal Famine of 1770 was a famine between 1769 and 1773 (1176 to 1180 in the Bengali calendar) that affected the lower Gangetic plain of India from Bihar to the Bengal region. The famine is estimated to have caused the deaths of about 10 million people.

1780 Tabriz earthquake occurred on January 8, 1780 in Iran, there were an estimated 200,000 deaths.

July 1780 typhoon was a typhoon in Philippines. It began in July 1780. The death toll from this typhoon is estimated to be 100,000 people.

The Chalisa famine of 1783–1784 in the Indian subcontinent followed unusual El Niño events that began in 1780 and caused droughts throughout the region. The famine affected many parts of North India, especially the Delhi territories, present-day Uttar Pradesh, Eastern Punjab, Rajputana, and Kashmir, then all ruled by different Indian rulers. It is thought that up to 11 million people may have died in the two famines.

The 1783 Calabrian earthquakes were a sequence of five strong earthquakes that hit the region of Calabria in southern Italy (then part of the Kingdom of Naples), the first two of which produced significant tsunamis. The epicenter of the first earthquake occurred in the plain of Palmi. The earthquakes occurred over a period of nearly two months, all with estimated magnitudes of 5.9 or greater. Estimates of the total number of deaths lie in the range 32,000 to 50,000.

1786 Dadu River landslide dam; triggered by the 1786 Kangding-Luding earthquake in China. The death toll from this landslide is estimated to be 100,000 people.

The Doji bara famine (also, Skull famine) of 1791-92 in the Indian subcontinent was brought on by a major El Niño event lasting from 1789 CE to 1795 CE and producing prolonged droughts. The resulting famine, which was severe, caused widespread mortality in Hyderabad, Southern Maratha Kingdom, Deccan, Gujarat, and Marwar.

The 1792 Unzen earthquake and tsunami resulted from the volcanic activities of Mount Unzen (in the Shimabara Peninsula of Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan) on 21 May. This caused the collapse of the southern flank of the Mayuyama dome in front of Mount Unzen, resulting in a tremendous megatsunami, killing 15,000 people altogether.

The 1797 Riobamba earthquake occurred at 12:30 UTC on 4 February. It devastated the city of Riobamba and many other cities in the Interandean valley, causing between 6,000–40,000 casualties.

The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora was the most powerful in human recorded history, with a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 7. Although its eruption reached a violent climax on 10 April 1815, increased steaming and small phreatic eruptions occurred during the next six months to three years. Tanguy pointed out that there may have been additional victims on Bali and East Java because of famine and disease. Their estimate was 11,000 Oppenheimer wrote that there were at least 71,000 deaths in total. Reid has estimated that 100,000 people on Sumbawa, Bali, and other locations died from the direct and indirect effects of the eruption.

Galunggung had its first historical eruption in 1822 that produced pyroclastic flows and lahars that killed 4,011 people.

The 1825 Miramichi fire, or Great Miramichi Fire, or Great Fire of Miramichi, as it came to be known, was a massive forest fire complex that devastated forests and communities throughout much of northern New Brunswick in October 1825. It ranks among the three largest forest fires ever recorded in North America. About 160 people died in and around Newcastle, including prisoners in the Newcastle Jail. Elsewhere, the totals were likely higher, given the number of lumbermen in the forests at the time (about 3000). To escape the blaze many residents took refuge with livestock and wildlife in the Miramichi River.

On 25 November 1839, an enormous cyclone caused a 40-foot storm surge (unconfirmed) that hit Coringa, Andhra Pradesh, wiped out the harbor city, destroyed vessels in its bay, and killed 300,000 people. Survivors never entirely rebuilt the city.

The Great Natchez Tornado hit Natchez, Mississippi, on Thursday, May 7, 1840. This tornado was the second deadliest tornado in United States history; at least 317 people were killed and at least 109 were injured.

The Great Famine, or the Great Hunger, was a period of mass starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1849. During the famine, about one million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland, causing the island's population to fall by between 20% and 25%.

The Sicily tornadoes were two tornadoes that swept the Marsala countryside in western Sicily, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (now Italy) in early December (possibly late November) 1851. The total number of victims is unknown, but is assessed at over 500. It is one of the 10 deadliest tornadoes ever, achieving the highest death toll for a tornado event in continental Europe and the second in European history after the Valletta, Malta Tornado.

In November, 1854, Great Nankaidō earthquakes and tsunamis kill 80,000 people. An earthquake and tsunami struck Shimoda on the Izu peninsula.

Third Pandemic is the designation of a major bubonic plague pandemic that began in Yunnan province in China in 1855, fifth year of the Xianfeng Emperor of the Qing dynasty. This episode of bubonic plague spread to all inhabited continents, and ultimately more than 12 million people died in India and China, with about 10 million killed in India alone. According to the World Health Organization, the pandemic was considered active until 1960, when worldwide casualties dropped to 200 per year.

The Doab famine of 1860–1861 was a famine in India that affected the Ganga-Yamuna Doab in the North-Western Provinces, large parts of Rohilkhand and Awadh, the Delhi and Hissar divisions of the Punjab, all in British India, then under Crown rule, and the eastern regions of the princely states of Rajputana. Up to 2 million people are thought to have perished in the famine.

The Orissa famine of 1866 affected the east coast of India from Madras northwards, an area covering 180,000 miles and containing a population of 47,500,000; the impact of the famine, however, was greatest in Orissa, now Odisha, which at that time was quite isolated from the rest of India. In Odisha, one third of the population died due to famine. In Odisha alone, at least 1 million people, a third of the population, died in 1866, and overall in the region approximately 4 to 5 million died in the two-year period

The 1868 Arica earthquake occurred on 13 August 1868, near Arica, then part of Peru, now part of Chile, at 21:30 UTC. It had an estimated magnitude between 8.5 and 9.0. A tsunami (or multiple tsunamis) in the Pacific Ocean was produced by the earthquake, which was recorded in Hawaii, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. The earthquake caused almost complete destruction in the southern part of Peru, including Arica, Tacna, Moquegua, Mollendo, Ilo, Iquique, Torata and Arequipa, resulting in an estimated 25,000 casualties.

The 1868 Ecuador earthquakes occurred at 19:30 UTC on August 15 and 06:30 UTC on 16 August 1868. They caused severe damage in the northeastern part of Ecuador and in southwestern Colombia. They had an estimated magnitude of 6.3 and 6.7 and together caused up to 70,000 casualties.

The Rajputana famine of 1869 (1868-1870) affected an area of 296,000 square miles (770,000 km2) and a population of 44,500,000, primarily in the princely states of Rajputana, India, and the British territory of Ajmer. The death toll from this famine is estimated to be in the range of 1.5 million people.

The Great Persian famine of 1870–1872 was a period of mass starvation and disease in Persia between 1870 and 1872. There is no agreement among scholars as to the total number of deaths during the famine, although it is believed that it resulted a considerable decline in Iran's population. The death toll from this famine is estimated to be in the range of 1.5 million people.

The Peshtigo fire was a very large forest fire that took place on October 8, 1871, in northeastern Wisconsin, including much of the Door Peninsula, and adjacent parts of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The largest community in the affected area was Peshtigo, Wisconsin. With the estimated deaths of around 1,500 people, and possibly as many as 2,500.

The Great Backerganj Cyclone of 1876 (29 October – 1 November 1876) was one of the deadliest cyclones in history. It hit the coast of Backerganj (near Meghna estuary) in present-day Barisal, Bangladesh, killing about 200,000 people, half of whom were drowned by the storm surge, while the rest died from the subsequent famine.

The Northern Chinese Famine of 1876–1879 occurred in the late Qing dynasty in China. It is usually referred to as Dīngwù Qíhuāng (丁戊奇荒) in China. A drought began in northern China in 1875, leading to crop failures the following years. The provinces of Shanxi, Zhili (now mostly part of Hebei), Henan, Shandong and the northern parts of Jiangsu were affected. Between 9 and 13 million people died in the famine, out of 108 million in the five affected provinces.

The Great Famine of 1876–1878 (also the Southern India famine of 1876–1878 or the Madras famine of 1877) was a famine in India under Crown rule. It began in 1876 after an intense drought resulting in crop failure in the Deccan Plateau. The death toll from this famine is estimated to be in the range of 5.5 million people.

The Thumb Fire took place on September 5, 1881, in the Thumb area of Michigan in the United States. The fire, which burned over a million acres (4,000 km²) in less than a day, was the consequence of drought, hurricane-force winds, heat, the after-effects of the Port Huron Fire of 1871, and the ecological damage wrought by the era's logging techniques. The blaze, also called the Great Thumb Fire, the Great Forest Fire of 1881 and the Huron Fire, killed 282 people in Sanilac, Lapeer, Tuscola and Huron counties. The damage estimate was $2,347,000 in 1881.

The 1881 Haiphong typhoon was a typhoon that struck Haiphong, in Dai Nam (now Vietnam), and the northern part of the Captaincy General of the Philippines (now the Philippines) on October 8, 1881. About 300000 people were killed in and around Haiphong by the typhoon alone (casualties likely went up even in the storm's passing due to disease and starvation).

The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa (Indonesian: Krakatau ) in the Sunda Strait began on the afternoon of Sunday, 26 August 1883, and peaked on the late morning of Monday, 27 August 1883, when over 70% of the island of Krakatoa and its surrounding archipelago were destroyed as it collapsed into a caldera. At least 36,417 deaths are attributed to the eruption and the tsunamis it created.

The 1887 Yellow River flood was a devastating flood on the Yellow River (Huang He) in China. This river is prone to flooding due to the elevated nature of the river, running between dikes above the broad plains surrounding it. The flood, which began in September 1887, killed about 900,000 people. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded.

The Schoolhouse Blizzard, also known as the Schoolchildren's Blizzard, School Children's Blizzard, or Children's Blizzard, hit the U.S. plains states on January 12, 1888. The blizzard came unexpectedly on a relatively warm day, and many people were caught unaware, including children in one-room schoolhouses. The death toll from this blizzard is estimated to be in the range of 235 people.

The Great Blizzard of 1888, Great Blizzard of '88, or the Great White Hurricane (March 11–14, 1888) was one of the most severe recorded blizzards in American history. The storm paralyzed the East Coast from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine, as well as the Atlantic provinces of Canada. The death toll from this blizzard is estimated to be 400 people.

The Great Hinckley Fire was a conflagration in the pine forests of the U.S. state of Minnesota in September 1894, which burned an area of at least 200,000 acres (810 km2; 310 sq mi) (perhaps more than 250,000 acres [1,000 km2; 390 sq mi]), including the town of Hinckley. The official death count was 418; the actual number of fatalities was likely higher.

The 1896 Sanriku earthquake was one of the most destructive seismic events in Japanese history. The 8.5 magnitude earthquake occurred at 19:32 (local time) on June 15, 1896, approximately 166 kilometres (103 mi) off the coast of Iwate Prefecture, Honshu. It resulted in two tsunamis which destroyed about 9,000 homes and caused at least 22,000 deaths.

Indian Famine of 1896–1902 was a famine in India. It began in 1896. The death toll from this famine is estimated to be in the range of 2 million people.

1900 to eradication. Declared eradicated May 8, 1980. 300 million smallpox deaths between 1900 and eradication would mean that, out of 4,713,503,215 worldwide deaths between 1900 and 1995, 6.36% were from smallpox. Applied to the estimated total of ca. 95 billion deaths between 50000 BC and 1900, this would mean that over 6 billion deaths in this period were from smallpox.

The 1901 eastern U.S. heat wave was the most severe and deadly heat wave in the United States prior to the 1930s Dust Bowl. In the most extensive study of American heat waves, it was estimated that the 1901 Eastern heat wave had claimed the lives of 9,500 people, which makes it easily the most destructive disaster of its type in US history.

Mount Pelée (Montagne Pelée, meaning "bald mountain" or "peeled mountain") is a volcano at the northern end of Martinique, an island and French overseas department in the Lesser Antilles island arc of the Caribbean. Its volcanic cone is composed of stratified layers of hardened ash and solidified lava. The stratovolcano's eruption in 1902 destroyed the town of Saint-Pierre, killing 28,000 people in the space of a few minutes, in the worst volcanic disaster of the 20th century.

The Yacolt Burn is the collective name for dozens of fires in Washington state and Oregon occurring between September 8 and September 12, 1902, causing 38 deaths in the Lewis River area, at least nine deaths by fire in Wind River and 18 deaths in the Columbia River Gorge.

The first eruption of Santa María in recorded history occurred in October 1902. The eruption began on 24 October, and the largest explosions occurred over the following two days, ejecting an estimated 8 cubic kilometres (1.9 cu mi) of magma. Estimates are that 6,000 people died as a result of the eruption.

Chinese Famine of 1907 was a period in China between the years 1907 and 1911. Estimates of deaths due to starvation 25,000,000.

The Tunguska event was a large explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate (now Krasnoyarsk Krai), Russia, on the morning of 30 June 1908 (NS). The explosion over the sparsely populated Eastern Siberian Taiga flattened 2,000 square kilometres (770 square miles) of forest, and may have caused up to three human casualties.

The 1908 Messina earthquake (also known as the 1908 Messina and Reggio earthquake) occurred on 28 December in Sicily and Calabria, southern Italy with a moment magnitude of 7.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). The cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria were almost completely destroyed and between 75,000 and 82,000 lives were lost.

The Great Fire of 1910 (also commonly referred to as the Big Blowup, the Big Burn, or the Devil's Broom fire) was a wildfire in the western United States that burned three million acres (4,700 sq mi; 12,100 km2) in North Idaho and Western Montana, with extensions into Eastern Washington and Southeast British Columbia, in the summer of 1910. It killed 87 people, mostly firefighters.

The Great Porcupine Fire of 1911 was one of the most devastating forest fires ever to strike the Ontario northland. Spring had come early that year, followed by an abnormally hot dry spell that lasted into the summer. This created ideal conditions for the ensuing disaster, in which a number of smaller fires converged. Official counts list 73 dead, though it is estimated the actual toll could have been as high as 200.

1911 Yangtze River flood happened in 1911, in China. The death toll from this flood is estimated to be up to 100,000 people.

The Great Lakes Storm of 1913, historically referred to as the "Big Blow" the "Freshwater Fury," or the "White Hurricane," was a blizzard with hurricane-force winds that devastated the Great Lakes Basin in the Midwestern United States and Ontario, Canada from November 7 through November 10, 1913. The deadliest and most destructive natural disaster to hit the lakes in recorded history, the Great Lakes Storm killed more than 250 people, destroyed 19 ships, and stranded 19 others.

The great Matheson Fire was a deadly forest fire that passed through the region surrounding the communities of Black River-Matheson and Iroquois Falls, Ontario, Canada, on July 29, 1916. 223 people were killed according to the official estimate.

White Friday occurred during the Italian Front of World War I, when an avalanche struck an Austrian barracks on Mount Marmolada, killing 270 soldiers. Other avalanches the same day struck Italian and other Austrian positions, killing hundreds. An accurate estimation of the number of casualties from the White Friday avalanches is not available. Historical documents suggest at least 2,000 victims among the soldiers and a few dozens among civilians.

The Persian famine of 1917–1919 was a period of widespread mass starvation and disease in Persia (Iran) under rule of Qajar dynasty during World War I. According to the estimates acknowledged by the mainstream view, about 2 million people died between 1917 and 1919 because of hunger and from diseases, which included cholera, plague and typhus, as well as influenza infected by 1918 flu pandemic.

The 1918 influenza pandemic (January 1918 – December 1920; colloquially known as Spanish flu) was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic, the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus. It infected 500 million people around the world, including people on remote Pacific islands and in the Arctic. Probably 50 million, and possibly as high as 100 million (three to five percent of Earth's population at the time) died, making it one of the deadliest epidemics in human history.

The Cloquet fire was an immense forest fire in northern Minnesota, United States in October, 1918, caused by sparks on the local railroads and dry conditions. The fire left much of western Carlton County devastated, mostly affecting Moose Lake, Cloquet, and Kettle River. Cloquet was hit the hardest by the fires. It was the worst natural disaster in Minnesota history in terms of the number of casualties in a single day. In total, 453 people died and 52,000 people were injured or displaced.

On May 19, 1919, an eruption at Kelud killed an estimated 5,000 people, mostly through hot mudflows (also known as "lahars").

1920 Haiyuan landslides; triggered by the 1920 Haiyuan earthquake in China. The death toll from this landslide is estimated to be 100,000 people.

1920 Haiyuan earthquake occurred on December 16 in Haiyuan County, Ningxia Province, Republic of China. It was also called the 1920 Gansu earthquake because Ningxia was a part of Gansu Province when the earthquake occurred. The earthquake hit at 19:05:53 Gansu-Sichuan time (12:05:53 UTC), reportedly 7.8 on the Richter magnitude scale, and was followed by a series of aftershocks for three years. Total casualties were reported as 200,000 in a summary published by the United States Geological Survey, and 235,502 according to the Catalog of Damaging Earthquakes in the World (through 2008) maintained by the International Institute of Seismology and Earthquake Engineering.

The Russian famine of 1921–22, also known as the Povolzhye famine, was a severe famine in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic which began early in the spring of 1921 and lasted through 1922. This famine killed an estimated five million people, primarily affecting the Volga and Ural River regions, and peasants resorted to cannibalism.

The Great Kantō earthquake (関東大地震 Kantō dai-jishin) struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshū at 11:58:44 JST (02:58:44 UTC) on Saturday, September 1, 1923. Varied accounts indicate the duration of the earthquake was between four and ten minutes. Estimated casualties totaled about 142,800 deaths, including about 40,000 who went missing and were presumed dead.

The Tri-State Tornado of Wednesday, March 18, 1925 was the deadliest tornado in United States history. It was also the most exceptional tornado during a major outbreak of at least 12 known significant tornadoes, spanning a large portion of the Midwestern and Southern United States. This one tornado alone inflicted 695 fatalities, more than twice as many as the second deadliest, the Great Natchez, Mississippi Tornado.

During the 1925–1926 Victorian bushfire season a series of major bushfires occurred between 26 January and 10 March 1926 in the state of Victoria in Australia. A total of 60 people were killed, 700 injured, and 1000 buildings were destroyed across the south-east of the state.

The 1927 Gulang earthquake occurred at 6:32 a.m. on 22 May (22:32 UTC on 21 May). This 7.6 magnitude event had an epicenter near Gulang, Gansu in the Republic of China. There were more than 40,900 casualties.

The Chinese famine of 1928–1930 occurred as widespread drought hit Northwestern and Northern China, most notably in the provinces of Henan, Shaanxi and Gansu. Estimates of mortality range from about 3 million to 10 million people. The inefficiency of relief has been pointed out as a factor which aggravated the famine.

The 1931 China floods, or the 1931 Yangtze–Huai River floods, were a series of devastating floods that occurred in the Republic of China. They were some of the deadliest floods in history, and together formed one of the most lethal natural disasters of the 20th century, excluding pandemics and famines. Estimates of the total death toll range from 422,499 to between 3.7 million and 4 million.

The Soviet famine of 1932–1933 was a major famine that killed millions of people in the major grain-producing areas of the Soviet Union, including Ukraine, Northern Caucasus, Volga Region, and Kazakhstan, the South Urals, and West Siberia. It has been estimated that between 3.3 and 3.9 million died in Ukraine and 2 million (40% of all Kazakhs) died in Kazakhstan.

1933 Diexi landslides; triggered by the 1933 Diexi earthquake in China. This earthquake destroyed the town of Diexi and surrounding villages, and caused many landslides, and killed about 9,000 people. The old town of Diexi sank into the landslide dam-created Diexi Lake.

The 1935 Quetta earthquake occurred on 31 May between 2:33 am and 3:40 am at Quetta, Balochistan, British India (now part of Pakistan). The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.7 Mw  and anywhere between 30,000 and 60,000 people died from the impact.

After the 1931 Central China floods, The Yangtze again flooded in 1935, causing great loss of life. Death toll (estimate): 145,000.

Kursha-2 , named so after a road sign, was an industrial community in the Central Meshchyora, Ryazan Oblast, Russia. It was built soon after the October Revolution for the exploitation of the local forests, and was annihilated by a firestorm on 3 August 1936. The disaster caused 1200 human deaths, making it one of the world's deadliest wildfires.

Chinese Famine of 1936 was a famine in China. It began in 1936. The death toll from this famine is estimated to be in the range of 5 million people.

The Black Friday bushfires of 13 January 1939, in Victoria, Australia, were among the worst natural bushfires (wildfires) in the world. Almost 20,000 km2 (4,942,000 acres, 2,000,000 ha) of land was burned, 71 people died, several towns were entirely obliterated and the Royal Commission that resulted from it led to major changes in forest management. Over 1,300 homes and 69 sawmills were burned, and 3,700 buildings were destroyed.

1941 Huaraz avalanche in 1941, in Peru. The death toll from this avalanche is estimated to be 6,000 people.

The Chinese famine of 1942–1943 occurred mainly in Henan, most particularly within the eastern and central part of the province. The famine occurred within the context of the Second Sino-Japanese War and resulted from a combination of natural and human factors. 2 to 3 million people died of starvation or disease and upwards of 4 million fled Henan.

The Bengal famine of 1943-1944 was a devastating famine in the Bengal province of British India during World War II. An estimated 2.1–3 million, out of a population of 60.3 million, died of starvation, malaria, or other diseases aggravated by malnutrition, population displacement, unsanitary conditions and lack of health care.

Japanese famine occurred in 1944–1945 in java. About 2.4 million people died in Java from famine during 1944–1945.

The last major famine to hit the USSR began in July 1946, reached its peak in February–August 1947 and then quickly diminished in intensity, although there were still some famine deaths in 1948. The situation spanned most of the grain-producing regions of the country: Ukraine, Moldova and parts of central Russia. The death toll from this famine is estimated to be in the range of 1,000,000–1,500,000.

The 1948 Ashgabat earthquake occurred on 6 October with a surface wave magnitude of 7.3 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). The shock occurred in Turkmenistan near Ashgabat The earthquake at 1:12 AM. Media sources vary on the number of the casualties, from 10,000 to 110,000, equivalent to almost 10% of the Turkmen SSR's population at the time.

The Khait or Hoit landslide occurred on July 10, 1949 in the Hoit district in the Gharm Oblast in the Tajikistan, then part of the Soviet Union. The landslide was triggered by the 1949 Khait earthquake and buried 33 villages and has by some estimates killed 28,000 people.

A major wildfire occurred from 19 August 1949 to 25 August 1949 in the Landes forest in France. 50,000 hectares (500 km2) of forest land were burnt - and 82 people killed. It was considered the most deadly forest fire in Europe until the 2007.

The Great Appalachian Storm of November 1950 was a large extratropical cyclone which moved through the Eastern United States, causing significant winds, heavy rains east of the Appalachians, and blizzard conditions along the western slopes of the mountain chain. In all, the storm impacted 22 states, killing 353, injuring over 160, and creating US$66.7 million in damage (1950 dollars).

The Great Chinese Famine (Chinese: 三年大饑荒, "three years of famine") was a period in the People's Republic of China between the years 1959 and 1961 characterized by widespread famine. The policies of ruler Mao Zedong contributed the most to the famine. Estimates of deaths due to starvation 15,000,000–43,000,000.

The December 1960 nor'easter was a significant early-season winter storm that impacted the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions of the United States. Overall, the storm and subsequent cold snap were blamed for at least 286 deaths across a wide area, but primarily in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and the New England states.

HIV/AIDS is a global pandemic. As of 2018, approximately 37.9 million people are infected with HIV globally. In 2018, approximately 43% are women. There were about 770,000 deaths from AIDS in 2018. The 2015 Global Burden of Disease Study, in a report published in The Lancet, estimated that the global incidence of HIV infection peaked in 1997 at 3.3 million per year. Global incidence fell rapidly from 1997 to 2005, to about 2.6 million per year, but remained stable from 2005 to 2015.

1962 Huascarán avalanche in 1914, in Peru. The death toll from this avalanche is estimated to be 4,000 people.

The Narail-Magura tornado was a tornado in Jessore, East Pakistan, Pakistan. It began in 1964. The death toll from this tornado is estimated to be 500 people.

The Blizzard of 1966 swept across most of the United States and Canada east of the Rocky Mountains on January 29, 1966, and brought record low temperatures, high winds and heavy snowfall in its wake. Within days, at least 142 people had been killed — 31 had frozen to death, 46 died in fires that started while people were trying to heat their home.

The 1967 Tasmanian fires were an Australian natural disaster which occurred on 7 February 1967, an event which came to be known as the Black Tuesday bushfires. They were the most deadly bushfires that Tasmania has ever experienced, leaving 62 people dead, 900 injured and over seven thousand homeless.

1969 East Pakistan tornado was a tornado in East Pakistan. It began in 1969. The death toll from this tornado is estimated to be 660 people.

The 1970 Ancash earthquake (also known as the Great Peruvian earthquake) occurred on 31 May off the coast of Peru in the Pacific Ocean at 15:23:29 local time. Combined with a resultant landslide, it is the most catastrophic natural disaster in the history of Peru. Due to the large amounts of snow and ice included in the landslide that caused an estimate of 66,794 to 70,000 casualties, it is also considered to be the world's deadliest avalanche.

The 1970 Bhola cyclone was a devastating tropical cyclone that struck East Pakistan and India's West Bengal on November 3, 1970. It remains the deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded and one of the deadliest natural disasters. At least 500,000 people lost their lives in the storm, primarily as a result of the storm surge that flooded much of the low-lying islands of the Ganges Delta. This cyclone was the sixth cyclonic storm of the 1970 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, and also the season's strongest.

1970 Huascarán avalanche; triggered by the 1970 Ancash earthquake in Peru. The death toll from this avalanche is estimated to be 22,000 people.

Hanoi and Red River Delta flood happened in 1971, in North Vietnam . The death toll from this flood is estimated to be in the range of 100,000 people.

The Iran Blizzard of February 1972 was the deadliest blizzard in history. A week-long period of low temperatures and severe winter storms, lasting 3–9 February 1972, resulted in the deaths of approximately 4,000 people. Storms dumped more than 3 metres (9.8 ft) of snow across rural areas in northwestern, central and southern Iran.

1973 Dhaka tornado was a tornado in Bangladesh. It began in 1973. The death toll from this tornado is estimated to be 681 people.

Typhoon Nina, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Bebeng, was the fourth-deadliest tropical cyclone on record. At least 229,000 people died after the Banqiao Dam (in Zhumadian, Henan Province, China) collapsed and devastated areas downstream. The collapse of the dam due to heavy floods also caused a string of smaller dams to collapse, adding more damage caused by the typhoon.

The 1976 Tangshan earthquake, also known as Great Tangshan earthquake, was a natural disaster resulting from a magnitude 7.6 earthquake that hit the region around Tangshan, Hebei, People's Republic of China on 28 July 1976, at 3:42 in the morning. At least 242,000 people died (some have said three times that), making this the third (or possibly second) deadliest earthquake in recorded history.

Famine during the Biafran War (1967–1970) was a famine in Nigeria. It began in 1967. The death toll from this famine is estimated to be in the range of 2 million people.

The 1977 Andhra Pradesh cyclone was a devastating tropical cyclone that hit Andhra Pradesh on November 14, 1977, killing at least 10,000 people.

The Madaripur-Shibchar tornado was a tornado in Bangladesh. It began in 1977. The death toll from this tornado is estimated to be 500 people.

The 1980 El Asnam earthquake occurred on October 10 at 13:25:25 local time with a moment magnitude of 7.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). The shock occurred in the Algerian town of El Asnam (now known as Chlef). l was damaged significantly enough that victims had to be transported more than 160 km (100 mi) away to the next nearest hospital. Both events caused considerable damage with at least 2,633 killed and 8,369 injured.

The 1980 United States heat wave was a period of intense heat and drought that wreaked havoc on much of the Midwestern United States and Southern Plains throughout the summer of 1980. It is among the most devastating natural disasters in terms of deaths and destruction in U.S. history, claiming at least 1,700 lives and because of the massive drought, agricultural damage reached US$20.0 billion (equivalent to $61 billion in 2018 dollars).

The 1981 Golbaf earthquake occurred on June 11 at 10:54:25 local time with a moment magnitude of 6.6 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII+ (Severe). Total damage was considered moderate and amounted to $5 million in financial losses, with many injured, and 1,400–3,000 killed.

The 1982 North Yemen earthquake hit near the city of Dhamar, North Yemen (now part of Yemen) on December 13. Measuring 6.2 on the moment magnitude scale, with a maximum perceived intensity of VIII (Severe) on the Mercalli intensity scale, as many as 2,800 people were killed and another 1,500 injured.

The 1982 eruption of El Chichón is the largest volcanic disaster in modern Mexican history. The powerful 1982 explosive eruptions of high-sulfur, anhydrite-bearing magma destroyed the summit lava dome and were accompanied by pyroclastic flows and surges that devastated an area extending about 8 km around the volcano. A total of 9 villages were completely destroyed, killing 2,000 people.

The Ash Wednesday bushfires, known in South Australia as Ash Wednesday II, were a series of bushfires that occurred in south-eastern Australia on 16 February 1983, which was Ash Wednesday in the Christian calendar. In Victoria 47 people died. There were 28 deaths in South Australia. This included 14 CFA and 3 CFS volunteer fire-fighters who died across both states that day.

The 1983 Erzurum earthquake occurred in Turkey on 30 October 1983 at 07:12 local time (04:12 UTC). It was an Ms 6.9 earthquake. Death toll (estimate): 1,342.

The 1984 Soviet Union tornado outbreak, also known as the 1984 Ivanovo tornado outbreak, was one of only three disastrous tornado outbreaks in modern Russian history (one of the others being the 1904 Moscow tornado) and the third-deadliest tornado outbreak in European history. Occurring on June 9, 1984, the outbreak struck the Ivanovo and Yaroslavl regions north of Moscow, an area over 400,000 km2. In all, the entire tornado outbreak killed at least 57 people (though the exact death toll is unknown) and injured 804.

Several people reported hearing a loud noise on August 15, 1984 around 22:30. A gas cloud reportedly emanated from a crater in the eastern part of the lake. The victims were said to have skin burns, which reports later clarified as "skin damage" such as discoloration. Survivors reported that the whitish, smoke-like cloud smelled bitter and acidic. The death toll from this disaster is estimated to be 37 people.