The history of mankind has undergone a large number of disasters with various natural disasters. Some have occurred so long ago that most scientists cannot assess the extent of destruction.
Natural disasters are extremely unpredictable, very destructive and often insurmountable. That is why people are most afraid of them. Your attention is invited to a list of some of the most terrifying natural disasters and technological disasters that claimed many lives.
10. Banqiao Dam
In 1952, there was a disaster at Banqiao, a soil dam that was built to defend against flooding. During the construction of the dam, gross erroneous actions were made; as a result, the dam was covered with microcracks, and later could not resist the pressure of the tropical hurricane Nina. As a result of the flood, 26 thousand people died. Seven areas in China were flooded, the few surviving communications were destroyed after the rain.
A dangerous disease with hunger quickly spread among the survivors, the consequences of the disaster claimed another 170-220 thousand people.
9. Indian cyclone - 1839
On November 25, 1839, a cyclone with a storm occurred in India, which destroyed the city of Coring. He destroyed almost everything with which he was in contact. 2 thousand ships that were in the bay were destroyed. The city was not restored. The storm wave that the cyclone lifted washed away almost 300 thousand people.
The incident was one of the worst floods ever to hit the typhoon-damaged area. The ancient city of Coring was never restored.
8. The flood in Kaifeng
The year 1642 was marked by tragedy - a flood in Kaifeng, a man-made catastrophic event. Kaifeng was located on the southern banks of the river. The yellow river. The city was covered with yellow river waters immediately after the army of the Ming Dynasty ordered the opening of the dam, to prevent the advance of Li Jicheng's troops. Then the subsequent famine with the plague and the flood claimed the lives of 300-380 thousand people.
7. Earthquake in Aleppo
One of the terrifying natural disasters that ever occurred in nature was the Aleppo earthquake in October 1138. According to some reports, more than 230 thousand people died. In those ancient times, Aleppo was the largest urban center. The city was located along the largest geological faults. After the earthquake, the population of Aleppo was able to recover closer to the beginning of the XIX century.
6. The Chinese earthquake - 1556
In 1556, one of the most devastating earthquakes recorded in historical handbooks occurred on January 23, 1556 in the Shaanxi region. In historical references, it is believed that the tragedy claimed the lives of more than 820 thousand people.
In some areas of Shaanxi, no one was left alive at all, while in others more than half the population died. Such losses among people were due to the fact that more people lived in caves that collapsed as a result of tremors.
5. The Indian Ocean earthquake in 2004
The third largest in history was the earthquake in the Indian Ocean at the end of December 2004. This led to a very large wave that caused great harm. The magnitude of the earthquake was estimated by scientists as 9.1-9.3 points.
The earthquake was recorded under water, large waves, about 15 meters high, reached the coast of Thailand, the southern regions of India and Indonesia. Many territories suffered very much, the earthquake brought a lot of damage, the exact losses are unknown, according to approximate estimates, it is 220-300 thousand people.
4. Tangshan earthquake
In the provincial Chinese town of Hebei in 1976, a major earthquake of the 20th century occurred. According to official statistics, the authorities of the PRC disasters have the following indicators: the number of deaths was estimated at 250 thousand, an earthquake with a magnitude of fluctuations of 7.9. Unofficial estimates revealed that the number of victims is 650-800 thousand people.
The epicenter of the earthquake occurred at a depth of 22 kilometers. The city collapsed almost to the bottom in a couple of tens of seconds. About 800 thousand people were injured with varying degrees of severity.
3. Cyclone Bhol
November 1970 was marked by tragic events with terrible consequences. Almost 500 thousand people died as a result of the action of a storm tidal wave on the coast of East Pakistan.
The typhoon was truly fatal, as the map of states changed significantly. Due to harsh criticism of the authorities for their slow actions in eliminating the consequences of the hurricane, the Eastern Opposition Party won the election. After this, a protracted confrontation began, which led to military conflicts. As a result, Bangladesh was formed.
2. Floods on the Yellow River in 1887
Flooding on the river. The Yellow River in late spring 1887 became one of the most terrifying in history. According to some sources, 1.4 to 2 million people died. Disasters occurred in the northern provinces of China in the Yellow River Valley. Heavy rain in almost all areas of the Yellow River provoked floods on the river, which led to flooding of 50 thousand square meters. miles around. Peasants, aware of the peculiarities of the frequent flooding of the Yellow River, built dams to save them from annual flooding. However, that year the river demolished everything in its path.
1. Flood in China - 1931
The long dry summers in China brought summer torrential monsoon rains with tropical cyclones. The result was river banks that flooded over 333 thousand hectares of land, at least 40 million people were left without houses with huge crop losses. In large areas, the water did not leave from 3 to 6 months. Diseases, lack of food, a missing roof over his head - all this led to great losses, according to some reports up to 4 million people.