5 X 5: NATURAL DISASTERS

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5 facts about 5 natural disasters

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A natural disaster is a sudden event that 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 must have profound environmental effects and/or loss of life and frequently causes financial loss.

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• From 1928 to 1930, China was afflicted by a long drought.

• The subsequent winter of 1930–31 was particularly harsh, creating large deposits of snow and ice in mountainous areas. In early 1931, melting snow and ice flowed downstream and arrived in the middle course of the Yangtze during a period of heavy spring rain. Ordinarily, the region experienced three periods of high water during the spring, summer and fall, respectively; however, in early 1931, there was a single continuous deluge

• In May-August 1931, massive flooding of China's Yellow and Yangtze rivers led to almost four million deaths from drowning, disease and starvation.

• This flood is frequently featured in the list of disasters in China by death toll, sometimes topping lists of the world’s deadliest disasters.

• At the time the government estimated that 25 million people had been affected by the flood. Historians since have suggested that the true number may have been as many as 53 million. With no food, people were reduced to eating tree bark, weeds, and earth. Some sold their children to survive, while others resorted to cannibalism.

Reed huts in a refugee camp on the banks of the Han river

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• The 1970 Bhola cyclone (also known as the Great Cyclone of 1970 struck East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) and India's West Bengal.

• It remains the deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded and one of the world's deadliest humanitarian disasters. At least 300,000 people died in the storm, possibly as many as 500,000, primarily as a result of the storm surge that flooded much of the low-lying islands of the Ganges Delta.

• The Pakistani government, led by junta leader General Yahya Khan, was criticized for its delayed handling of relief operations following the storm, both by local political leaders in East Pakistan and by the international media. The poor and discriminating response from the West Pakistan government led to the increasingly widespread disillusionment from the East Pakistani people, allowing the opposition Awami League to gain a landslide victory in the province during the election that took place a month later as well as the Bangladesh Liberation War 7 months later.

• Over 3.6 million people were directly affected by the cyclone, and the total damage from the storm was estimated at US$86.4 million (US$701 million in 2024). The survivors claimed that approximately 85% of homes in the area were destroyed or severely damaged, with the greatest destruction occurring along the coast. Ninety percent of marine fishermen in the region suffered heavy losses, including the destruction of 9,000 offshore fishing boats. Of the 77,000 onshore fishermen, 46,000 were killed by the cyclone, and 40% of the survivors were affected severely. In total, approximately 65% of the fishing capacity of the coastal region was destroyed by the storm, in a region where about 80% of the protein consumed comes from fish.

• Agricultural damage was similarly severe with the loss of US$63 million worth of crops and 280,000 cattle.

1970 Bhopal Cyclone damage

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• The 1980 Mount St. Helens major eruption remains the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in U.S. history. Fifty-seven people were killed; 200 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles (24 km) of railways, and 185 miles (298 km) of highway were destroyed.

• A massive debris avalanche, triggered by a magnitude 5.1 earthquake, caused a lateral eruption that reduced the elevation of the mountain's summit from 9,677 to 8,363 ft (2,950 to 2,549 m), leaving a 1 mile (1.6 km) wide horseshoe-shaped crater

• The 1980 eruption disrupted terrestrial ecosystems near the volcano. By contrast, aquatic ecosystems in the area greatly benefited from the amounts of ash, allowing life to multiply rapidly. Six years after the eruption, most lakes in the area had returned to their normal state.

• After its 1980 eruption, the volcano experienced continuous volcanic activity until 2008. Geologists predict that future eruptions will be more destructive, as the configuration of the lava domes requires more pressure to erupt.

• However, Mount St. Helens is a popular hiking spot and it is climbed year-round. In 1982, the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument was established by President Ronald Reagan and the U.S. Congress.

Mount St Helens before and after eruption.

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• On 26 December 2004 a major earthquake struck with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake was caused by a rupture along the fault between the Burma Plate and the Indian Plate

• A massive tsunami with waves up to 30 m (100 ft) high, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami after the Boxing Day holiday devastated communities along the surrounding coasts of the Indian Ocean, killing an estimated 227,898 people in 14 countries in one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history.

• The direct results caused major disruptions to living conditions and commerce in coastal provinces of surrounded countries, including Aceh (Indonesia), Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu (India) and Khao Lak (Thailand).

• It is the deadliest natural disaster of the 21st century and the worst tsunami disaster in history. It was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Asia, the most powerful earthquake in the 21st century, and at least the third most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the world since modern seismography began in 1900. It caused the planet to vibrate as much as 10 mm (0.4 in) and also remotely triggered earthquakes as far away as Alaska.

• The plight of the affected people and countries prompted a worldwide humanitarian response, with donations totalling more than US$14 billion[22] (equivalent to US$23 billion in 2023 currency).

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• The 2010 Haiti earthquake struck Haiti in 2010, with death toll estimates ranging from 100,000 to about 160,000. Morgues were overwhelmed with tens of thousands of bodies. These had to be buried in mass graves.

• The government of Haiti estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged.

• Haiti's history of national debt, prejudicial trade policies by other countries, and foreign intervention into national affairs contributed to the existing poverty and poor housing conditions that increased the death toll from the disaster.

• Slow distribution of resources in the days after the earthquake resulted in sporadic violence, with looting reported. There were also accounts of looters wounded or killed by vigilantes and neighbourhoods that had constructed their own roadblock barricades.

• Haiti is no stranger to natural disasters. In addition to earthquakes, it has been struck frequently by tropical cyclones, which have caused flooding and widespread damage. The most recent cyclones to hit the island before the earthquake were Tropical Storm Fay and hurricanes Gustav, Hanna and Ike, all in the summer of 2008, causing nearly 800 deaths.
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Damaged buildings in Port-au-Prince