ComeRevive.Us

Timelines – Disasters

This is a timeline of Natural Disasters worldwide and from ancient till now. The dates attributed to pre-history are up to some debate. This information is as found on the Intute website.

In an effort to stay scientifically relevant, the dates here may not reflect total Christian belief or values. Please disregard the actual dates of the pre-historic items should they not fit your theology and simply note the historic dating of events. Thank you!

Earthquake Events 2150 BC to 2004 (database of 5,800 events)
Tsunami Events 2150 BC to 2004 (database of 2,400 events)

2001 2002 2003 2004 Global Climate Event Maps

There are 142 events in this section

-438000000 50% of life extinguished by global cataclysm
-360000000 Extinction level event eradicated 70% of life on Earth
-245000000 Asteroid impact destroyed an estimated 96% of life on Earth
-208000000 Asteroid impact in what is now Quebec, Canada, created crater 70km in diameter and wiped out many species
-65000000 Impact at Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, created crater almost 200km across, caused global devastation and possible extinction of dinosaurs, along with an estimated 85% of all life
-2100000 Cataclysmic eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano
-1300000 Cataclysmic eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano
-640000 Last great eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano
-73000 Major eruption of Mount Toba is what is now Sumatra; this has an effect on the global climate
-48000 Iron meteor crashed into the planet in Arizona, creating a crater 4,000 feet wide and 570 feet deep
-7480 Massive volcanic explosion at Lvinaya Past, in the Russian Kurile Islands
-5700 Kurile Lake, on the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula, formed after an enormous volcanic explosion; the caldera formed measures over 100 square kilometres
-4900 Massive volcanic explosion at Crater Lake, Oregon, US
-4350 Enormous volcanic explosion at Kikai, in the Japanese islands
-2000 Major drought kills many of the Mesopotamian civilisation
-1650 Explosion of the volcanic island of Thera (Santorini) reputedly wiped out the Cretan civilisation and gave rise to some of the many Atlantis legends
-750 Chinese scholars make the first record of an earthquake
-373 Greek city of Helike destroyed by an earthquake
-44 Mount Etna on Sicily began a series of major eruptions
79 Eruption of Vesuvius destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum
526 Antioch rocked by major earthquake, killing an estimated quarter of a million people
541 Outbreak of Justinian’s Plague in Europe, which killed an estimated 25% of Europe’s population South of the Alps by 1544
856 Major earthquake in Corinth, Greece
1138 An estimated 230,000 killed in Syria by a major quake
1268 Earthquake at Silicia, Asia Minor, leaves 60,000 dead
1290 100,000 left dead by major earthquake in Chihli, China
1375 An earthquake destroyed the Pharos of Alexandria, a lighthouse standing 122 m (400 ft) high; this was the 6th of the 7 ancient wonders of the world to be destroyed, leaving only the Pyramids
1556 The Shensi Province, China, earthquake killed an estimated 830,000 people, the worst disaster recorded to date
1588 Major storm sinks Spanish Armada, killing an estimated 20,000 sailors
1665 The Great Plague sweeps London, the last major British plague
1707 Japan’s Mount Fuji erupts for the last time to date
1730 140,000 left dead by a fierce earthquake in Hokkaido, Japan
1737 An earthquake in Calcutta, India, kills about 300,000 people
1755 Lisbon devastated by an earthquake
1775 Deadliest tsunami on record to this time kills 60,000 people as far flung as Morocco and the West Indies
1780 Great Hurricane across the Caribbean leaves 22,000 dead
1783 One fifth of Icelandic population (10,000) killed when Laki erupts
1811 Series of earthquakes in American Midwest considered to be worst in US history
1815 Indonesia’s Mount Tambora explodes, sending enough dust into the air to lower temperatures for a year and kill 12,000
1825 Miramichi Fire in New Brunswick burned three million acres and left 160 people dead
1849 Start of major drought in Arizona; it lasts until 1905
1859 Birth of Harry Reid; he later develops the elastic rebound theory of the cause of earthquakes
1864 Massive cyclone near Calcutta, India, killed an estimated 70,000 of the population
1876 Cyclone in Bangladesh kills an estimated 215,000
1876 Start of three year drought and famine in China; an estimated 9 million people die from its effects
1881 Typhoon in China leaves nearly 300,000 dead
1883 The eruption of Krakatau (also known as Krakatoa), Indonesia caused several tsunamis from which 36,000 people in Java and Sumatra died
1884 The UK’s deadliest quake hit Colchester; five people were killed
1887 An estimated 1 million people die as the result of flooding, when the Chinese Yellow River bursts its banks
1889 More than 2000 deaths as dam bursts in Pennsylvania, causing Johnstown flood
1892 Oppressive London smog killed over 1,000 people
1894 Minnesota’s Hinckley fire destroyed 12 towns, leaving 450 people dead and 160,000 acres devastated
1896 98ft tsunami originating in Sanriku, Japan, kills over 27,000 people
1900 Hurricane at Galvestan, Texas, kills 6,000
1902 Mount Pelee, Martinique, erupts, killing most of the population of Saint Pierre
1906 San Francisco earthquake of this year measured close to 8 on the Richter Scale and killed an estimated 3,000
1907 Famine in China kills an estimated 20 million
1908 Messina, Italy, devastated by an earthquake in which 110,000 people died
1909 F4 tornado in Brinkley, Arkansas, killed 49 people
1909 Andrija Mohorovicic’s studies of seismic waves revealed the Mohorovicic discontinuity, or Moho, the boundary between Earth’s crust and mantle
1910 Great Fire destroyed 3 million acres in Idaho and Montana, leaving 86 people dead
1912 Eruption at Novarupta, Alaska, was the largest volcanic activity of the 20th Century
1918 The greatest disaster of the 20th Century; over 20 million killed worldwide by a flu epidemic
1920 Northern China bore the brunt of a fierce quake which killed over 100,000 of the population
1921 Major drought and famine in Ukraine and other regions of the Soviet Union kill up to 5 million people
1923 In Kento, Japan, over 130,000 people were left dead by earthquakes, fires and tsunami
1925 The Tri-State tornado (Missouri, Illionois and Indiana) was the deadliest on record, killing nearly 700 people
1928 Drought conditions in China responsible for the deaths of around 3 million of the population
1929 A rare North Atlantic coast tsunami hit Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, causing loss of life
1931 Flooding in China killed 3.7 million people
1931 Earthquake measuring 6.1 strikes the UK, the largest recorded there
1932 The Russian famine of this year killed an estimated 5 million people
1935 Quetta, India, rocked by powerful earthquake, with an estimated 60,000 deaths
1935 The Great Labor Day hurricane (USA) is the strongest hurricane recorded at its landfall on the Florida Keys
1936 ‘New Famine’ devastates China, with an estimated 5 million fatalities
1939 Major earthquakes in Turkey and Chile cause a loss of life totalling 50,000
1941 Two years of severe droughts in China leave 3 million dead by starvation
1944 Large natural gas explosion in Ohio killed 100 and contaminated 160 acres of land
1946 Tsunami with waves reaching over 30 feet hit Hilo, Hawaii, causing widespread floods and 159 deaths
1950 Hurricanes to be named alphabetically from this year
1952 The Great Smog of December responsible for deaths of an estimated 4,000 people in London
1952 Flood in Lynmouth, Devon, kills dozens in one of Britain’s worst natural disasters
1953 Severe storms and flooding leave 130 dead in Eastern Britain, the UK’s worst natural disaster to date
1956 National Hurricane Research Project set up by US Weather Bureau
1957 Earthquake measuring 9.1 on the Richter Scale is recorded off the coast of Alaska in the Andreanof Islands
1958 Typhoon Vera leaves 1.5 million Japanese homeless, with an estimed 5,000 fatalities
1960 The largest earthquake in modern history occurs in Chile with a moment magnitude of approximately 9.2, generating a Pacific-wide tsunami
1960 The most powerful earthquake recorded hit Chile. 22,000 persons were killed by the quake, which measured 9.5 on the Richter Scale, an energy release equivalent to an explosion of more than 50 of the most powerful nuclear bombs
1962 Last major smog recorded in London
1962 Peruvian avalanche killed almost 4,000 people
1964 Alaskan earthquake measuring 9.2 on the Richter scale caused a tsunami along the Northwestern coast of the US. Damage totalled over 84 million dollars, with 123 deaths reported
1965 Major drought in India responsible for 1.5 million deaths
1965 Earthquake measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale is recorded in the Rat Islands off the Alaskan coast
1969 Hurricane Camille, the second strongest recorded in the US in the 20th century, hit the Gulf Coast and caused several hundred deaths
1969 Severe famine in China was responsible for the deaths of an estimated 20 million of the population
1969 Mississippi ravaged by Hurricane Camille
1970 Cyclone and tidal waves killed over 300,000 people in Bangladesh
1970 7.7 magnitude earthquake strikes in Chimbote, Peru, with 66,000 killed
1971 100,000 killed in Vietnamese floods
1972 Severe blizzards in Iran cost 4,000 lives
1973 Severe monsoons in India leave over 1,200 dead
1974 Massive tornado outbreak on April 3/4 in the US; 148 separate tornadoes grounded, 348 people died and almost 5,500 injured
1975 Chinese seismologists succesfully predict the 4th of February Heicheng earthquake
1976 More than 650,000 people killed in Tangshan, China, by a fierce quake
1977 A devastating cyclone in India results in 20,000 deaths
1978 New England Blizzard severely disrupts Eastern United States
1979 Hurricane David kills over 2,000 in the Eastern US and the Caribbean

1980 Explosion of Mount St Helens, Washington – 57 people killed when Mount St Helens erupts with the force of 500 atomic bombs

1981 104 tornadoes recorded in the UK on November 21
1983 Ash Wednesday fires in Australia leave 76 people dead, destroy almost half a million sheep and cattle, with final damages estimated at close to 1 billion Australian dollars
1985 25,000 people are killed when Colombian volcano Nevada del Ruiz explodes
1987 Severe winter storm in Southern UK leaves several dead
1988 Armenian quake killed 100,000 people
1989 Bangladesh devastated by a massive tornado, which kills over 1,300 people
1990 Strong earthquake in Iran kills 40,000
1991 Last London smog of any major significance
1991 Cyclone in Bangladesh killed 130,000 people and left 9 million more homeless
1991 The Perfect Storm, used as the backdrop to the Hollywood movie of the same name, rages off the Eastern Seaboard of the US
1991 Major eruption of Mount Pinatubo
1992 Hurricane Andrew in Southern Florida cost the US an estimated 26.5 billion dollars in damages
1992 Satellite observation of Hurricane Andrew (see above) enabled thousands of people to evacuate threatened Florida areas
1993 100ft tsunami causes 200 deaths in Japan and Russia
1993 Major earthquake in India kills 22,000
1993 Great Midwest Flood in Mississippi region of US caused 18 billion dollars worth of damages
1993 Storm of the Century hits Eastern United States in March
1998 10m high tsunami in Papua New Guinea kills over 2,000 islanders
1998 Hurricane Mitch hit the Caribbean, and its tailoff over Central America devastated Honduras
1998 Over 2,200 fires ravaged Florida, with over 80,000 people requiring evacuation. The fires caused 390 million dollars worth of timber losses and cost over 133 million dollars to fight
1998 Two major earthquakes in Afghanistan leave 10,000 dead and 45,000 homeless
1999 Tornado which strikes Oklahoma City has wind speeds in excess of 318 mph (509 km/h)
1999 Earthquake measuring 7.4 strikes Izmit, Northern Turkey, killing 17,000
2001 Millions disrupted by extreme flooding in Vietnam and Cambodia
2001 Severe flooding in Mozambique and Southeast Africa
2001 Earthquake measuring 6.9 strikes Gujarat, India; 20,000 killed
2002 The Intute office in Manchester trembled under three days of localised quakes!
2003 Cedar Fire in California caused widespread devastation, with losses estimated at almost 2 billion dollars
2004 Devastating tsunami generated by an earthquake of magnitude 9.0 claims almost 300,000 lives across Indonesia, India and Thailand
2004 Earthquake measuring 9 on the Richter Scale on December 26 causes a tsunami which devastates Southeast Asia and claims over 150,000 lives
2004 Florida is ravaged in the late summer by four major hurricanes, Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne, with estimated losses topping 22 billion dollars
2005 Magnitude 8.7 earthquake recorded off the coast of Sumatra, close to the epicentre of the magnitude 9.0 quake in December 2004
2005 Hurricane Katrina devastates New Orleans, leaving thousands dead and over a million without homes
2005 Devastating earthquake in India and Pakistan kills over 25,000