Major disasters in the 20th century include massive tornadoes, earthshaking tremors, disease, famine, release of radiation into

the atmosphere
and more. Learn about some of the most devastating events that took place
during the 1900s.

20th Century Disasters

The following are just some of the many major disasters in the 20th century.
Although all are tragic, not all are the worst to have happened during the
1900s. Hundreds, thousands and even millions of lives have been lost over a
short period of time by weather, disease and man.

Mount Pelee Eruption, 1902

On the morning of May 8, 1902 Mount Pele erupted and wiped out the
village of St. Pierre on the island of Martinique. It took less than 1 minute for
the pyroclastic flow to reach the village and kill roughly 28,000 people. Only
2 people are known to survive. This is the highest number of deaths from a
volcanic eruption in the 20th century.

San Francisco Earthquake, 1906

A powerful earthquake, measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale, shook San
Francisco on April 18, 1906. The earthquake lasted only roughly 45 seconds
but nearly 3,000 people lost their lives due to the tremor and the resulting
firesthat burned for 3 days. In some places, the ground was displaced 20
feet and the effects were felt from far away, from southern Oregon to south
of Los Angeles and as far as central Nevada. Over 200,000 people were left
homeless and the estimated damage cost was around $400,000.

The Titanic, 1912

On April 10, 1912 the luxury liner claimed to be "practically unsinkable" set
sail for the first time from Southampton to New York. On April 14 shortly
before midnight the Titanic hit an iceberg and 2 hours and 40 minutes later
sank. Of the 2,223 people on board, only 706 survived and 1,517 lost their
lives. If the ship had been filled to capacity, hundreds more would have
died. Insufficient lifeboats played a major role in the majority of deaths.

The Influenza Pandemic, 1918-1919

Unlike today, this flu known as the Spanish flu affected most people
between the ages of 20 to 40 years old rather than the young and old.
Healthy individuals would die within hours from complications such as
pneumonia and blood poisoning (septicemia). An estimated 70 million

people worldwide died, including 675,000 Americans. India had the highest
death toll, about 16 million fatalities. In mid-1919, the pandemic ended
without a treatment being found.

China Flooding, 1931

The Yellow River in China has a long history of flooding. It is about 3,000
miles long and millions of people live nearby in harm's way. In 1931, after a
long period of drought, vast rainstorms from July to November caused the
river to flood roughly 42,000 square miles of land. About 140,000 people
died from the floods; however, the death toll reached nearly 4 million from
famine and diseases as a result of the flood. Seven years later in 1938,
another flood claimed a million more lives.

The Great Famine of China, 1958-1961

China was primarily an agricultural nation until the Chinese Communist
Party made quick changes to industrialize its country. The goal was to
surpass the United Kingdom and the United States in industrial production.
As a result, China's food supply plunged dramatically and an estimated 30
million people died.

Bangladesh Cyclone, 1970

Bangladesh is known to have the worst cyclones in the world. The cyclone
that hit in November 1970 was a particularly violent one. The wind speeds
reached over 124 mph and the water level rose close to 40 feet in some
areas. An estimated 300,000 people died from the cyclone and a total of
about 1 million died when counting those who suffered from the aftereffects
of famine and disease.

Tornado Outbreak, 1974

In a 16 hour period, 148 tornadoes touched down in 13 states, including
Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, North
Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. This
event which took place on April 3rd-4th claimed 330 lives and injured 5,484
people, making it the worst tornado outbreak in the United States. Today,
technology allows earlier warnings to help prevent such a high number of
casualties.

Chernobyl, 1986
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant, located in the Ukraine, exploded and
burned for 10 days, releasing radiation into the atmosphere compared to
200 Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs. At least 30 plant workers died

immediately and roughly 2,500 have died to date as a result of radiationrelated disease. This figure is expected to rise in years to come.

Hurricane Mitch, 1998

The last on this list of major disasters in the 20th century is Hurricane Mitch,
the deadliest hurricane to hit the Western Hemisphere since "The Great
Hurricane" in 1780. Near the end of October, this powerful category 5 storm
devastated Central America, mostly Honduras and Nicaragua. Sustained
winds were 178 mph with gusts well over 200 mph. It remained a category 5
for an amazing 33 hours. At least 11,000 people lost their lives with
thousands of more missing. Estimated damage costs were over $5 billion.