Random Facts About Natural Disasters  

Over the past few decades, the frequency and impact of natural disasters have increased dramatically. Millions have been killed, billions have been affected, and the cost of damage has been immeasurable. But while we can’t change when, where or how often they occur, we can prepare and minimize their impact. 

Natural disasters can be incredibly scary. Check out this list of facts about crazy, awe-inspiring natural disasters from around the world.

10 Facts about Natural Disasters and the Effects they caused 

• Over 2.6 billion people have been affected by natural disasters in the past decade.
• The number of natural disasters has quadrupled in the past 30 years.
• There have been over 3,400 floods worldwide since 1980.
• The cost of damage caused by disasters is 15 times higher than it was 50 years ago.
• Geophysical disasters killed an average of 69,098 people per year between 2001-2010.
• More than 2,600 severe storms have occurred in the last 30 years.
• Hydrological disasters made an average of 106.7 million victims per year between 2001-2010.
• The greatest famine in history killed around 45 million people in China between 1958 and 1962.
• In 2010, Haiti suffered the deadliest earthquake in almost 500 years, killing over 316,000 people.
• The total cost of damage caused by natural disasters in the 1990s reached over $650 billion.

20 Random Facts About Natural Disasters

1. The largest earthquake ever recorded anywhere in the world occurred in 1960 in Chile. It was a whopping 9.5 on the Moment Magnitude scale. The resulting Tsunami caused damage over 9,000 miles away on the California coast.
2. The intensity of a tornado is rated on the (enhanced) Fujita scale. It examines the damage done to man-made structures after the fact. The scale ranges from F0 (Gale) with winds of 40-73 mph to an F5 (Incredible) with winds from 261-319 mph.
3. According to National Geographic, in 90 percent of avalanche fatalities, the avalanche is started by the victim or someone in the victim’s party. Digging the victim out quickly means the difference between life and death. Ninety-three percent of victims rescued within 15 minutes survived. That rate drops to 20 to 30 percent after 45 minutes and gets a lot worse from there.
4. There are approximately 1,900 active volcanoes. About 90 percent of them exist in the Ring of Fire in the Pacific Ocean.
5. For a tropical storm or cyclone to be upgraded to hurricane status, it must have maximum sustained winds of at least 74 miles per hour.
6. The Huang He (Yellow) River in China has been responsible for some of the most lethal floods in history. The worst flood took place in 1931; deaths from the flood are estimated to range from 1.5 million to as many as 4 million.
7. The 1906 earthquake that shook San Francisco did considerable damage, but it was the three-day fire that followed that caused most of the devastation.
8. A cow is most often blamed for starting the 1871 fire that engulfed Chicago.
9. Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are all the same thing.
10. The world’s biggest tidal wave occurred in Latuya Bay, Alaska, and was over 1,720 feet tall. That’s 500 feet taller than the Empire State Building.
11. The largest hailstone ever recorded in the United States was over seven inches in diameter and weighed almost two pounds.
12. Lava, the molten rock expelled by a volcano, can reach temperatures of approximately 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
13. Each year, Southern California has over 10,000 earthquakes. Most are too small to be felt.
14. In Lake Nyos, Cameroon, a linmic eruption (a release of carbon dioxide gas) killed approximately 1,700 villagers in 1986. The odorless and colorless gas is heavier than air and floated across the ground to the village where it asphyxiated the residents while they slept.
15. In February of 1972, a week-long blizzard in Iran killed approximately 4,000 people.
16. It’s estimated that over 24 million people died of starvation during the Chinese famine of 1907.
17. The world’s deadliest tsunami was the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the energy released was equal to 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs.
18. Hurricane Audry in 1957 had a storm surge that was seen as far as 25 miles inland.
19. Tornadoes have touched down in all 50 states. However, most tornadoes strike in Florida and the infamous “Tornado Alley,” an area of the southern plains in the central U.S.
20. In China in 1958, massive flooding killed an estimated 2 million people.


Phathutshedzo Osborne Magada