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GEOGRAPHY
Physical - Natural Disasters
Worst Natural Disaster by Death Toll
This list features the worst natural disasters in history based on the number of fatalities.
RANK | DISASTER | LOCATION | DEATH TOLL | YEAR |
1 | Yangtze River Floods | China | 2,000,000-3,700,000 | 1931 |
2 | Yellow River Flood | China | 900,000-2,000,000 | 1887 |
3 | Shaanxi Earthquake | China | 830,000 | 1556 |
4 | Bhola Cyclone | Bangladesh | 300,000-500,000 | 1970 |
5 | Haiti Earthquake | Haiti | 316,000 | 2010 |
6 | Haiphong Typhoon | Vietnam | 300,000 | 1881 |
7 | Coringa Cyclone | India | 300,000 | 1839 |
8 | Calcutta Cyclone | India | 300,000 | 1737 |
9 | Haiyuan Earthquake | China | 273,400 | 1920 |
10 | Antioch Earthquake | Greece | 260,000 | 115 |
References
Live Science. (2013) ‘Top 10 deadliest natural disasters’, Live Science. Available at: https://www.livescience.com/33316-top-10-deadliest-natural-disasters.html (Accessed: 6 July 2025).
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