Of the 1.35 million people who died as a result of natural disasters from 1995 to 2015, more than half died during earthquakes, and the rest due to the dangers associated with weather and climate. This is evidenced by UN Bureau report disaster risk reduction and Disaster Epidemiology Research Center (Belgium).
The vast majority of deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries. The poorest countries paid the highest price in terms of the number of people killed in disasters.
Introducing you ten most devastating disastersthat happened over the past 20 years.
10. Drought in Somalia
This natural disaster, which lasted from 2010 to 2011, claimed the lives of more than twenty thousand Somalis. Due to the small amount of rainfall, the agricultural season in Somalia in 2010-2011 was the driest season since 1950 for two consecutive seasons. And the delivery of humanitarian aid to this country was difficult due to the civil war.
9. The earthquake in Iran
The victims of the disaster in 2003 in the city of Bam, were 26 thousand people. The magnitude of the earthquake on the Richter scale was 6.7. Since it happened early in the morning, many citizens met death in a dream.
8. Flooding in Venezuela
It happened in December 1999 due to rains pouring for a week. Thirty thousand people became victims of the flood, and two hundred thousand families lost their homes.
7. Tsunami in Sri Lanka
In December 2004, a terrible tsunami hit Sri Lanka. The waves caused by a strong earthquake near the island of Sumatra reached a height of 15 meters. They easily washed off the coastal houses of the Lankans into the ocean. As a result of this disaster killed 35 thousand people
6. Heat in Russia
The summer of 2010 was not just hot, but terribly hot. The situation was aggravated by frequent fires in different regions of the country and the smog that arose because of them. From June to August 2010, over 58 thousand people died due to the heat.
5. Earthquake in Pakistan
Once again, the earthquake was in the ranking of the worst natural disasters of the last 20 years. It happened in October 2010 and led to the deaths of 73 thousand people. And about 3 million Pakistani citizens lost their homes.
4. Earthquake in China
In the Chinese province of Sichuan in 2008, 87 thousand people were killed. This was the result of an earthquake of magnitude 8 points. When the main earthquake passed, more than 10 thousand tremors followed. Echoes of the disaster reached Beijing, and from this city to the epicenter - 1.5 thousand kilometers.
3. Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar
2008 was truly disastrous for Myanmar, due to the tropical cyclone Nargis. Initially, it was supposed to pass along the southeast coast of India or Bangladesh. However, on May 1, the cyclone changed direction, and the wind speed increased to 215 km / h. The casualties from Nargis amounted to 139 515 people.
2. Indonesia earthquake and tsunami
In 2004, the third largest underwater earthquake in the history of the observation was recorded in the Indian Ocean. His strength amounted to 9.3 points. This caused the appearance of giant waves, which, reaching the coast of Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and other countries, led to mass casualties. Over 182,136 people died, but the number of victims may be much larger, since the bodies of many people were carried to the ocean.
1. Haiti earthquake
The most terrible and destructive natural disaster in the last 20 years was the earthquake that occurred in 2010 in Haiti. The main shock of magnitude 7 occurred near the capital Port-au-Prince, followed by repeated tremors, many of them with an amplitude of more than 5. Killed about 229,699 people.
