Natural disasters list. Spanish flu, worldwide

17.04.2013

Natural disasters unpredictable, destructive, unstoppable. Perhaps that is why humanity fears them the most. We offer you the top rating in history, they claimed a huge number of lives.

10. The collapse of the Banqiao Dam, 1975

The dam was built to contain the effects of about 12 inches of precipitation daily. However, in August 1975 it became clear that this was not enough. As a result of the collision of cyclones, Typhoon Nina brought with it heavy rains - 7.46 inches per hour, which means 41.7 inches daily. In addition, due to clogging, the dam could no longer fulfill its role. In a few days, 15.738 billion tons of water broke through it, which swept through the surrounding area in a deadly wave. More than 231,000 people died.

9. Earthquake in Haiyan, China, 1920

As a result of the earthquake, which is on the 9th line in the top ranking deadliest natural disasters in history, affected 7 provinces of China. In the Hainan region alone, 73,000 people died, and more than 200,000 people died nationwide. Tremors continued for the next three years. It caused landslides and large ground cracks. The earthquake turned out to be so strong that some rivers changed course, in some natural dams appeared.

8. Tangshan Earthquake, 1976

It happened on July 28, 1976 and is called the strongest earthquake of the 20th century. The epicenter was the city of Tangshan, located in the province of Hebei, China. From a densely populated, large industrial city, almost nothing remained in 10 seconds. The number of victims is about 220,000.

7. Antakya (Antioch) earthquake, 565

Despite the small number of details that have survived to this day, earthquake was one of the most devastating and claimed more than 250,000 lives and brought enormous damage to the economy.

6. Earthquake in the Indian Ocean / tsunami, 2004


It happened on December 24, 2004, just in time for Christmas. The epicenter was off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, and Thailand were most severely affected. The second earthquake in history of magnitude 9.1 -9.3. it was the cause of a number of other earthquakes around the globe, for example in Alaska. It also triggered a deadly tsunami. More than 225,000 people died.

5. Indian cyclone, 1839

In 1839, an extremely large cyclone came to India. On November 25, a storm nearly destroyed the city of Coringa. He destroyed literally everything he came into contact with. 2,000 ships that were parked in the port have been swept off the face of the earth. The city was not restored. The storm surges it attracted killed over 300,000 people.

4. Cyclone Bola, 1970

After Cyclone Bola swept through the lands of Pakistan, more than half of the arable land was polluted and spoiled, a small part of the rice and grains were saved, but famine was no longer avoided. In addition, about 500,000 people died from the heavy rains and floods that it caused. Wind force -115 meters per hour, hurricane - category 3.

3. Shaanxi earthquake, 1556

The most destructive earthquake in history happened on February 14, 1556 in China. Its epicenter was in the Wei River valley and about 97 provinces were affected as a result. Buildings were destroyed, half of the people living in them were killed. According to some reports, 60% of the population of Huasqian province died. A total of 830,000 people died. The tremors continued for another six months.

2. Flooding of the Yellow River, 1887

The Yellow River in China is extremely prone to flooding and overflowing. In 1887, this led to the flooding of 50,000 square miles around. According to some reports, the flood claimed the lives of 900,000 - 2,000,000 people. Farmers, knowing the characteristics of the river, built dams that saved them from the annual floods, but in that year, the water swept away the farmers and their homes.

1. Flood of central China, 1931

According to statistics, the flood that occurred in 1931 was scariest in history. After a long drought, 7 cyclones came to China at once, bringing hundreds of liters of rain with them. As a result, three rivers burst their banks. The flood killed 4 million people.

Nature, which allows a variety of life forms to exist on Earth, also has enough opportunities to radically change the world around us. Unprecedented movements of water, air and earth cause many of the deadliest natural disasters - earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and landslides.

In this article, we have compiled a list of the seven most devastating natural disasters on Earth.

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7

Landslides

is a geological activity in which the movement of rocks and soil occurs downslope. Heavy rains, small earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and of course gravity are the driving forces behind a landslide. Human intervention, such as mining, construction and quarrying, also causes landslides. They can also be caused by a sudden decrease in the level ground water and soil cracking.

Most often, landslides occur:

On the slopes;
in places of former landslide exits;
on islands.

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6

Volcanic eruption

Volcanoes, in fact, are through holes from the interior of the Earth to the surface. During a volcanic eruption, hot lava, ash and poisonous gases come out of this hole. The convergence and divergence of tectonic plates leads to the formation of volcanoes. Basically, volcanoes are located in the area of ​​the Atlantic and Pacific ridges.

A volcanic eruption occurs when pressure in a magma chamber inside a volcano increases and pushes magma to the Earth's surface through volcanic vents. Volcanic eruptions destroy surrounding areas, limit the ability to fly, and also heat up the atmosphere. Volcanic tremor - a small earthquake near a volcano, the release of steam and gases are signs of volcanic eruptions.

Active volcanoes:

Erta Ale, Ethiopia
Merapi, Indonesia
Yasur, Vanuatu
Colima, Mexico
Erebus, Antarctica
Cleveland, Alaska, USA
Kilauea, Hawaii, USA
Sakurajima, Japan
Stromboli, Italy
Pacaya, Guatemala

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5

Tornado

Tornado (tornado) - a strong, violently rotating air vortex that spreads from clouds to the surface of the earth. Some strong tornadoes have wind speeds reaching up to 480 km per hour, and some sources indicate speeds up to 1300 km per hour. Tornadoes are usually funnel-shaped, which can also be various shapes depending on air pressure. Lightning storms, mixing of cold and humid air with hot air are prerequisites for the formation of strong tornadoes, although the causes of this natural disaster have not been fully studied.

Tornadoes are strong enough to completely destroy Big city and uproot all the trees. Such a strong vortex can form on all continents except Antarctica. Tornado Alley (a region that spans North Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska in the US) is the region most prone to tornadoes.

The regions most commonly affected by tornadoes in the world are:

Oklahoma, USA.
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
New Orleans, USA.
Atlanta, USA
Florida, USA

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4

This is a natural formation of an electric discharge in the air, accompanied by a flash. The end of the discharge on Earth can be mountains, trees, animals or people. Lightning has a temperature of nearly 30,000 degrees, which is about six times hotter than the surface of the Sun.

There are 100 lightning strikes on Earth every second, and they have enough power to cause harm in as soon as possible. The presence of dark clouds in the sky, the light indication of lightning and thunderstorms - this is what this disaster looks like. Lightning mainly enters areas where atmospheric pressure fluctuations are observed.

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3

Tsunamis or tidal waves are generated by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or other forms of activity in the oceans. Tsunami waves have a height of hundreds of meters and the same huge length. Such tidal waves can travel thousands of kilometers and mostly hit coastal areas. Tsunamis have great speed at great depths in the ocean. It decreases as it approaches coastal areas, but the wave remains high.

Countries most frequently affected by tsunamis:

Albania
Chile
China
East Timor
Japan
India
Indonesia
Maldives
Mexico
Sri Lanka

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2

A hurricane is a storm with a wind speed of more than 30 m / s, mainly affecting tropical regions, or typhoons (cyclones), known as common name tropical cyclones. Hurricanes form where the ocean water is above 26 degrees and the wind is blowing in the same direction with the upward force. Evaporation of sea water also increases the strength of the hurricane. But there is no such hurricane that would reach the coast with the same force as it received at the beginning, and still they have enough energy on the coast to generate heavy rains and heavy winds.

Cities prone to hurricanes:

Tampa, Florida USA
Naples, Florida, USA
Jacksonville, USA
Honolulu, Hawaii
Houston, Texas, USA
Savannah, Georgia, USA
Charleston, South Carolina, USA

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1

earthquakes

An earthquake is one of the most dangerous disasters that a person has ever faced. The Earth's surface has a series of so-called tectonic plates. Such plates have sharp corners, and they are constantly in motion and slide over each other. Since the surfaces of the plates are uneven, some sinkers get stuck while sliding and the rest of the parts continue to move. Whenever the force of these plates overcomes friction, energy is released in the form of seismic waves and shakes the outer surface of the Earth. Every day, thousands of small earthquakes occur all over the planet. But most of them are too weak to notice, but some of them are so strong that they can destroy all life.

Seismometers measure seismic waves that are generated by earthquakes. The intensity or magnitude of an earthquake is measured on the Riecher scale. Earthquakes of 3 or less are very weak in nature, while those of 7 or higher are capable of wiping out entire cities.

Most seismic cities world:

Kathmandu, Nepal
Istanbul, Turkey
Delhi, India
Quito, Ecuador
Manila. Philippines
Islamabad, Pakistan
San Salvador, El Salvador
Mexico City, Mexico
Izmir, Turkey
Jakarta, Indonesia

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Conclusion

It was an article Top 7 Most Dangerous Natural Disasters on Earth. Thank you for your attention!

24.11.2012

1 Haiti earthquake (313,000 casualties)

The earthquake in Haiti occurred on January 12, 2010 at 16:53 local time. Its magnitude was 7.0 points, and the epicenter was in the area of ​​​​the city of Leogane, which is almost 25 km west of the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince.

The aftershocks continued until January 24 and had a magnitude of 4.5 points. It is estimated that about 3 million people were affected by the disaster, with the death toll reaching about 316,000, the number of injured 300,000 injured, and a million residents left homeless. The natural disaster became a serious problem as there were serious problems with the distribution of aid, as well as outbreaks of violence and looting.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and 149th out of 182 countries in the Human Development Index. The Haitian education minister, Joel Jean-Pierre, said the country's entire education system has collapsed as nearly 1,300 schools and three major universities in Port-au-Prince have been destroyed. Approximately $1.1 billion has been donated to alleviate the impact.

2 Indian Ocean Tsunami (230,000 casualties)

In December 2004, an earthquake occurred in the Indian Ocean, known in scientific world like the Sumatro-Adaman earthquake. The epicenter of the tremors was an area near the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The tsunami that followed aftershocks claimed the lives of nearly 230,000 people in 14 countries.

The most affected countries were Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. The earthquake was felt at the same time in places like Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Maldives. The amount of energy released as a result of an earthquake can be compared to an explosion 1502 times larger than the explosion of the bomb thrown on Hiroshima, but less than the explosion of the Tsar Bomba.

This tsunami is considered one of the worst disasters in human history. The waves reached a height of thirty meters, and the vibrations had a magnitude of 9.1 and 9.3 points. This is the third largest earthquake ever recorded by seismographs. It also had the longest duration: 8 to 10 minutes. Overall, the international community has donated more than $14 billion for humanitarian work.


3. Cyclone Nargis, Myanmar (146,000 death toll)

Cyclone Nargis is a tropical cyclone that became Myanmar's worst natural disaster on May 2, 2008, killing about 146,000 people and leaving 55,000 people missing. The death toll may be higher, but the Burmese government, fearful of adverse political consequences, underestimated the numbers.

The damage, according to experts, amounted to 10 billion dollars. This cyclone is the most dangerous in the Northern Indian Ocean basin, the second in the number of deaths after Typhoon Nina in 1975. The name of the cyclone "Nargis" is a word of Persian origin and means the name of the flower "narcissus".



4. 2008 Kashmir earthquake in Pakistan (death toll 86,000)

On the morning of 8:52 local time on October 8, 2005, an earthquake hit the Pakistani-controlled part of Kashmir known as Azad Kashmir, affecting neighboring areas of Gilgit-Baltistan and much of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The force of the shocks, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, was 7.8 points. About 75,000 people died, according to official Pakistani government figures, with international experts putting the death toll at 86,000. Various reports suggest that dozens of towns and villages were destroyed in northern Pakistan.

The tremors were also felt in neighboring countries such as Tajikistan, Afghanistan, western China, as well as the Indian part of Kashmir, where about 1,400 people died. The earthquake was a consequence of the growth of the Himalayas. Satellite measurements show that parts of the mountains directly above the epicenter have risen by several meters. About $6.2 billion was received by the Government of Pakistan for disaster relief.


5. Earthquake in Sichuan, China (death toll 67,197)

The 2008 Sichuan earthquake, also sometimes referred to as the Great Sichuan earthquake, struck. The strength of the shocks was 8.0 on the Richter scale. The earthquake began at 14:28 local time on May 12. According to official figures, about 69,197 people died. It also became known that 374,176 people were injured, 18,222 were missing, and about 4.8 million people were left homeless.

This earthquake is considered the deadliest in China, after the 1976 earthquake in Tanhan province, where about 240,000 people died. Fluctuations were also felt in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as in neighboring countries. The Chinese government was forced to spend $146.5 billion to clean up the aftermath of the disaster.



6. Heatwaves from Russia in 2010 (56,000 deaths)

In 2010, the northern hemisphere summer was very extreme in terms of temperature in the United States, Canada, Russia, Mongolia, China, Japan, Korea, Kazakhstan, Indo-China and the European continent as a whole. It was even dubbed the "Russian heat wave".

The entire period from April to June was the warmest in continental areas in the Northern Hemisphere. These extreme weather conditions have led to wildfires in China and the worst drought in 60 years in Yunnan province. Approximately 56,000 people died in the said region due to this disaster. Moscow and the Moscow region were also suffocating in the smoke of forest fires.

departed the most big piece an ice shelf in the Arctic Ocean that connects Greenland and Neirs Strait. Apparently, such anomalies are caused by a high content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which leads to an increase in average temperatures.


7. 2003 Bam earthquake, Iran (43,000 death toll)

An earthquake in the city of Bam and surrounding towns in the province of Kerman in southeastern Iran occurred at 5:46 am local time on December 26, 2003. The earthquake was rated at 6.6 according to the United States Geological Survey. There were 26,271 deaths and about 30,000 injured.

But some other estimates put the death toll at 43,000. The destruction was catastrophic due to the use of mud brick as a standard material in construction, which did not comply with Iran's 1989 building safety regulations. Significantly, about 44 countries immediately sent assistance and 60 made an offer of assistance.

8. The heat wave in Europe in 2003 (the number of victims is 40,000)

In 2003, the European heatwave was a killer factor, especially in France. Due to serious health problems and drought, the death toll has reached almost 40,000. According to the French National Institute of Health, almost 14,802 deaths in France were caused by heat.

In Portugal, where the air temperature reached 48 degrees Celsius, extensive forest fires swept through, almost five percent of the countryside and ten percent of the forests were under fire. In the Netherlands, about 1500 deaths were also associated with high temperatures for this country (almost 37.8 degrees Celsius).

A couple of hundred deaths were reported in Spain and Germany, where temperatures reached 45.1 and 41 degrees Celsius respectively. In Switzerland, many glaciers in the Alps have melted, causing avalanches and floods. A new national temperature record of 41.5 degrees Celsius was set. Thousands of people died across the UK. The productivity of the agricultural sector was reduced by ten percent due to drought and heat.


9. Tsunami and earthquake in the Tohoku region, Japan (the number of victims is 18,400)

The Tohoku earthquake, also known as the "Pacific Northeast Offshore Earthquake", of about 9.0 magnitude hit the coast of Japan around 2:46 pm local time on March 11, 2011. The epicenter was located 72 km east of the Oshika Peninsula in the Tohoku region. Tsunami waves reached 23.6 m. They reached the coast of Japan within a few minutes after the earthquake. A smaller shock wave reached other countries along the Pacific coast a few hours later.

Disasters have been known since ancient times - these are volcanic eruptions, and powerful earthquakes, and a tornado. In the last century, there have been many water disasters and terrible nuclear disasters.

Worst water disasters

Man has been sailing on sailboats, boats, ships across the vastness of the oceans and seas for hundreds of years. During this time, there have been a huge number of disasters, shipwrecks and accidents.

In 1915, a British passenger liner was torpedoed by a German submarine. The ship sank in eighteen minutes, being at a distance of thirteen kilometers from the coast of Ireland. One thousand one hundred and ninety-eight people died.

In April 1944, a terrible disaster occurred in the port of Bombay. It all started with the fact that when unloading a single-screw steamer, which was loaded with gross violations of safety regulations, there was a strong explosion. It is known that the ship had one and a half tons of explosives, several tons of cotton, sulfur, wood, gold bars. After the first explosion, there was a second. The burning cotton scattered in a radius of almost a kilometer. Almost all ships, warehouses were burning, fires started in the city. It took only two weeks to put them out. As a result, about two and a half thousand people ended up in hospitals, and one thousand three hundred and seventy-six people were killed. The port was restored only after seven months.


The most famous of the disasters on the water is the death of the Titanic. Colliding with an iceberg during the first voyage, the ship sank. More than one and a half thousand people died.

In December 1917, near the city of Halifax, the French warship Mont Blanc collided with the Norwegian ship Imo. There was a strong explosion, which led to the destruction of not only the port, but also part of the city. The fact is that Mont Blanc was loaded exclusively with explosives. About two thousand people died, nine thousand were injured. This is the most powerful explosion of the pre-nuclear era.


Three thousand one hundred and thirty people died on a French cruiser after a torpedo attack by a German submarine in 1916. As a result of the torpedoing of the German floating hospital "General Steuben", about three thousand six hundred and eight people died.

In December 1987, a Philippine passenger ferry named Dona Paz collided with the tanker Vector. Four thousand three hundred and seventy-five people died in the process.


In May 1945, a tragedy occurred in the Baltic Sea, which claimed the lives of about eight thousand people. The cargo ship "Tilbek" and the liner "Cap Arkona" came under fire from British aircraft. As a result of the torpedoing of the Goya ship by a Soviet submarine in the spring of 1945, six thousand nine hundred people died.

"Wilhelm Gustlov" - the so-called German passenger liner, sunk by a submarine under the command of Marinesco in January 1945. The exact number of victims is unknown, approximately - it is nine thousand people.

The worst disasters in Russia

There are several terrible catastrophes that have occurred on the territory of Russia. So, in June 1989, one of the largest railway accidents in Russia occurred near Ufa. There was a huge explosion as two passenger trains. An unlimited cloud of fuel-air mixture exploded, which was formed due to an accident on a nearby pipeline. According to some sources, five hundred and seventy-five people died, according to others - six hundred and forty-five. Another six hundred people were wounded.


The worst environmental disaster in the world former USSR considered the death of the Aral Sea. For a number of reasons: soil, social, biological, the Aral Sea has almost completely dried up in fifty years. Most of its tributaries in the sixties were used for irrigation and some other agricultural needs. The Aral Sea was the fourth largest lake in the world. Since the inflow of fresh water was significantly reduced, the lake gradually died.


In the summer of 2012, a massive flood occurred in the Krasnodar Territory. It is considered the largest disaster in Russia. For two days in July, a five-month rainfall fell. The city of Krymsk was almost completely washed away by water. Officially, 179 people were declared dead, of which 159 were residents of Krymsk. More than 34 thousand local residents suffered.

The worst nuclear disasters

A huge number of people are exposed to nuclear disasters. So in April 1986, one of the power units of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded. Radioactive substances released into the atmosphere settled on nearby villages and cities. This accident is one of the most devastating of its kind. Hundreds of thousands of people took part in the liquidation of the accident. Several hundred people died or were injured. A thirty-kilometer exclusion zone has been formed around the nuclear power plant. So far, the scale of the disaster has not been clarified.

In Japan in March 2011, an explosion occurred at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant during an earthquake. Because of this a large number of radioactive substances released into the atmosphere. At first, officials hushed up the scale of the disaster.


After the Chernobyl disaster, the most significant nuclear accident is considered to have occurred in 1999 in the Japanese city of Tokaimura. An accident occurred at a uranium processing plant. Six hundred people were exposed to radiation, four people died.

The worst disaster in human history

The explosion of an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 is considered the most destructive catastrophe for the biosphere in the entire history of mankind. The platform itself went under water after the explosion. As a result, a huge amount of oil products got into the oceans. The spill lasted one hundred and fifty-two days. The oil film covered an area equal to seventy-five thousand square kilometers in the Gulf of Mexico.


In terms of the number of victims, the largest disaster is considered to be that in December 1984, the year occurred in India in the city of Bhapol. There was a chemical leak at one of the factories. Eighteen thousand people died. Until now, the causes of this catastrophe have not been fully elucidated.

It is impossible not to say about the most terrible fire that occurred in London in 1666. The fire spread at lightning speed throughout the city, about seventy thousand houses were destroyed, about eighty thousand people died. The fire continued for four days.

Terrible are not only disasters, but also entertainment. The site has a rating of the scariest rides in the world.
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Catastrophes in the world do not leave anyone indifferent. The tragic events once again confirm that there is nothing more precious than human life.

Tenerife plane crash

The monstrous plane crash that occurred in Tenerife was remembered by many for a long time. On March 27, 1977, two Boeings collided on the runway. One liner belonged to the Dutch airline KLM, and the second belonged to Pan American World Airways. The fatal collision claimed the lives of 580 people. What caused this accident? Finding out the details of what happened indicates that the collision was inevitable and that unknown forces intervened in the course of events.


A chain of fatal coincidences led to such a devastating catastrophe. Los Rodeos International Airport was overloaded on this ill-fated weekend. Both aircraft made maneuvers on a small runway, including difficult turns of 140-170 degrees. On this Sunday, everything went wrong from the very beginning: in the cockpit, due to interference, they could not clearly hear the dispatcher's commands, the weather deteriorated sharply, and visibility became almost zero.


The crew could not understand the instructions of the air traffic controller, speaking with a thick accent. Due to problems with radio communication, the Boeing 747-206B did not abort the takeoff, which led to a collision with the Boeing 747, which was still on the runway.

The Boeing, owned by a Dutch airline, had damaged wings and rear end fuselage. A huge liner crashed a hundred and fifty meters from the accident site and rolled along the runway for another three hundred meters. Due to severe damage to the body of the American aircraft, few passengers were able to get out of the aircraft engulfed in flames. The fire also broke out on a KLM plane. About 250 people died on the first liner, and 335 on the second. Among the passengers was the American actress and Playboy magazine model Evelyn Eugene Turner.

Explosion in the North Sea


The first place in the ranking of the most destructive man-made disasters is occupied by the burnt oil platform Piper Alpha, which was built in the 70s of the last century. The crash happened on July 6, 1988. The damage is estimated at more than three billion dollars. The accident claimed the lives of 176 people.

This case went down in history: Piper Alpha is the only burnt oil platform on the planet. It was owned by Occidental Petroleum. A powerful explosion occurred due to a gas leak. The human factor was to blame: after the explosion, oil and gas production was suspended, but hydrocarbons continued to flow to the platform through the pipelines of the common network. The fire intensified and did not stop. Ill-considered and indecisive actions led to a massive man-made accident. People jumped into the sea in panic. 59 people survived.

Unsinkable Wilhelm Gustloff


Boat Wilhelm Gustloff

When we talk about the worst disasters on the water, we remember the legendary Titanic, which now rests at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The unsinkable Titanic hit an iceberg in 1912, but this disaster is not the largest in human history. In terms of the number of victims, the crash of the German liner Wilhelm Gustloff overshadowed the famous British transatlantic steamer.

On April 30, 1945, the Soviet submarine S-13 sank a luxurious ship with ten thousand people on board: cadets of the submarine training division, refugees, mostly women and children, as well as seriously wounded military personnel. The cruise ship entered service in 1938. The ship was designed and built with the latest technology. It seemed that only the Lord himself could send him to the bottom.

"Wilhelm Gustloff" is a real city on the water: dance floors, gym, restaurants, swimming pools, chapel, theater. Passengers enjoyed the comfort of luxurious cabins. Adolf Hitler himself traveled on a cruise ship.

The length of the vessel was more than two hundred meters. Despite its gigantic size, the ship did not need to be refueled for a long time. A real miracle of engineering!
The commander of the Soviet submarine Marinesko worked out a plan of attack and ordered 3 torpedoes to be fired into the hull of an enemy ship. One of them was emblazoned with the inscription "For the Motherland." Today, this giant rests at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, and the world is still mourning, because the catastrophe turned into the death of innocent people.

Ecological catastrophes of the world

The most terrible ecological catastrophe is the disappearance of the Aral Sea from the face of the Earth. It was the 4th largest lake on the planet. The reservoir was located on the border of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. A local ecological catastrophe affected the whole world and once again proved that humanity does not protect Natural resources and treats them disrespectfully.

The degradation of the salt lake began in the 1960s. Uncontrolled water intake was carried out from the feeding rivers Amudarya and Syrdarya. Water was taken for irrigation and other household needs, which led to a decrease in its level.

The damage was colossal: plants and animals died, the climate in the area changed and became arid, shipping stopped and 60,000 people lost their jobs. Ecological catastrophes of the world never go unnoticed.

The disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

The use of atomic energy to generate electricity has changed our world once and for all. The devastating effects of nuclear disasters do not go away for decades. The planet shuddered when more than thirty years ago there was an explosion at one of the power units of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Radiation radiation covered nearby settlements. Thousands of people were exposed to radiation during the aftermath of the accident. Today, the 30-kilometer zone near Chernobyl and Pripyat is closed to free access, as this territory has been heavily contaminated with radionuclides. Nuclear accidents and use nuclear weapons are the most terrible disasters changing the face of the planet.

We hear about these tragedies in the news and read the horrifying details on the front pages of print publications. Unfortunately, thousands of people die every year in global disasters. We have compiled a list of catastrophes that have left an indelible mark on the history of mankind. There are many videos about the disasters covered in this material on the Web.

Disaster over the Black Sea


On December 25, a Tu-154 aircraft en route to the Syrian city of Latakia crashed in the waters of the Black Sea. The liner belonged to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. On board the aircraft was the Song and Dance Ensemble Russian army named after A. V. Alexandrov. The list of the dead included the famous Dr. Lisa. The disaster claimed the lives of 92 people. The plane took off from the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow at two in the morning and landed at the Adler airport for refueling.

Aircraft RA-85572 disappeared from radar screens 2 minutes after takeoff. The artists were heading to Syria to perform in front of the Russian military. The main cause of the Tu-154 crash is a malfunction of the aircraft, which was put into operation thirty years ago. The crew consisted of experienced pilots. Tu-154 was overhauled three years ago. However, the Ministry of Defense claims that the aircraft worked properly, and the disaster could not have occurred due to a breakdown. Versions are being worked out and the investigation continues. Aircraft crashes always cause a wide public outcry, as this mode of transport is considered the safest. The web already has a 3D reconstruction of the crash. The video was taken from the words of an eyewitness.

Disaster on the submarine "Kursk"


The list of catastrophes that the inhabitants of our country will remember for a long time would be incomplete without mentioning the nuclear submarine missile-carrying cruiser Kursk, which sank in the Barents Sea. 08/12/2000 the submarine, which was on exercises at the combat training ground, did not get in touch. Two days later, the command made a statement that the submarine had sunk to the bottom. When examining the scene, it turned out that the front part of the hull of the nuclear submarine was destroyed, and it entered the bottom at an angle of forty degrees, and the rescue capsule was out of order. Even then it became obvious that the chances of salvation are minimal.

The rescue operation began on 15 August. A Norwegian vessel and deep-sea submersibles took part in it. Despite the joint efforts of Russian, British and Norwegian specialists, it was not possible to save the crew of the submarine. On August 21, divers were able to get inside the ship, which was completely flooded. No one was left alive, the list of the dead includes 118 people. During the investigation, it was possible to find out that an explosion of ammunition led to the crash. The boat was on fire and filled with water in less than 10 hours. The ship's logbook does not record data on emergency situations.

Disaster of the ship "Admiral Nakhimov"


Admiral Nakhimov

August 31, 1986 "Admiral Nakhimov" was in the port of Novorossiysk. The passengers, exhausted by the hot weather, returned from their cabin tours. The ship was very hot on this hot day, and people hurried to open the windows. At 10 pm the ship left for Sochi. weather this summer evening it was magnificent: the calm sea looked like a mill pond, a weak wind was blowing, visibility was good. At the same time, the bulk carrier "Pyotr Vasev" was heading to Novorossiysk, carrying thirty thousand tons of grain. A command was received on the bulk carrier to let the cruise ship through.

An hour after departure, "Admiral Nakhimov" collided with the cargo ship "Peter Vasyov". The blow fell on the starboard side of the passenger ship. Strong destruction of the hull led to the fact that the ship was completely submerged under water for eight minutes. Such a quick dive was affected by the uncovered portholes and watertight bulkheads, which were also left open. Wrong actions of the crew led to the death of 423 people.

Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico


On March 20, 2010, a severe fire broke out on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Fire ships unsuccessfully tried to cope with the fire for more than 30 hours. Two days later, the Deepwater Horizon platform sank to the bottom of the bay. Eleven people were missing, seventeen people were hospitalized with injuries and two people died.

The liquidation of the consequences continued for 150 days. Experts claimed that about 5 thousand barrels of oil fell into the sea every day. The United States Secretary of the Interior said the leak was 100,000 barrels. This amount of oil products got into the water every day. The area of ​​the oil slick reached 75 thousand square meters. km. For 5 months, more than five million barrels of black gold poured into the oceans. An explosion on an oil platform tops the list of disasters that have caused irreparable damage to the environment.

Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster


The best catastrophes sometimes begin with signs of fate. Already during the ship's christening ceremony, those present suspected something was wrong: a bottle of champagne did not break, which is considered a bad omen. This three-hundred-meter vessel impressed with its size, equipment and comfort: one and a half thousand cabins, two-story fitness center, museum, gallery, cinema, casino, library, concert hall, shops, swimming pools and restaurants. Passengers had a place to roam. 01/13/12 the liner ran into an underwater reef. Due to the large hole, the ship began to rapidly sink under the water.

There were more than 4 thousand people on the ship. Almost all passengers and crew members were evacuated ashore, but 32 people could not be saved. The captain of the ship said he veered off course and approached the shore to greet his friend , who lived on this island. Such a dangerous approach to the coastline was not the first time the Costa Concordia. Experts still wonder why the liner landed on a reef, because the crew knew this route like the back of their hand. The damage from the shipwreck occurred is estimated by experts at 1.5 billion dollars. The causes of the disaster are not completely known, but experts call the notorious human factor and a technical malfunction.

Krakatoa volcano eruption in 1883


Volcano Krakatoa

Natural disasters always lead to great destruction. The loudest explosion in the history of the planet was caused by the eruption of the Krakatau volcano. It was heard at a distance of about 5 thousand km. The volcano woke up on May 20 after a two-century slumber. Then an eruptive column 11 thousand meters high, consisting of steam, gases and dust, rose into the air. The critical phase of the eruption occurred on 26 August. The column of volcanic emissions was more than 30 thousand meters.

The strongest explosion was due to the collision of magma with sea ​​water. The latter got inside due to cracks formed on the slopes of the volcano. 5 thousand inhabitants died. The resulting tsunami claimed the lives of 30 thousand people. The height of the destructive waves was equal to a ten-story building. During the eruption of Krakatoa, gases entered the stratosphere, which prevented the penetration of sunlight. The temperature in these areas dropped by 3 degrees. There are not many catastrophes in the world that have so strongly affected the climate of the planet.

Spitak earthquake


On December 7, 1988, at about twelve o'clock in the afternoon, an earthquake occurred in Armenia, which wiped out the city of Spitak from the face of the earth in half a minute. AT locality about 20 thousand people lived. The catastrophe not only claimed the lives of thousands of people, but also changed the history of the Armenian Republic. Thousands of local residents were left homeless. Many were injured, which led to disability. An earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale caused enormous damage to the country's economy. Experts say that its power can be compared with the explosion produced by ten atomic bombs. The seismic wave from the earthquake reached Australia.


In December 2004, an underwater earthquake struck the Indian Ocean, causing a devastating tsunami. Huge waves hit the coast of Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. The natural disaster took the lives of about 300 thousand people. On the Internet, you can find a video where huge masses of water destroy everything in their path, leaving no chance for a person to save. The locals and tourists had only a couple of minutes to escape.

The tsunami developed according to the classical scenario: the water began to recede from the coast into the sea, exposing the seabed, and then giant wave crests appeared on the horizon. The speed of the water shaft during a tsunami reaches 800 km / h. A modern airliner flies at the same speed. At the depth of the ocean, the waves reached 60 m, and closer to the coast - up to 20 m. The catastrophe is considered one of the most destructive in the history of our planet.