List of natural disasters by death toll

A natural disaster is a sudden event that causes widespread destruction, major collateral damage, or loss of life, brought about by forces other than the acts of human beings. A natural disaster might be caused by earthquakes, flooding, volcanic eruption, landslide, hurricanes, etc. To be classified as a disaster, it must have profound environmental effects and/or loss of life and frequently causes financial loss.

Global multihazard mortality risks and distribution (2005) for cyclones, drought, earthquakes, floods, landslides, and volcanoes (excluding heat waves, snowstorms, and other deadly hazards).

Ten deadliest natural disasters by highest estimated death toll excluding epidemics and famines

This list takes into account only the highest estimated death toll for each disaster and lists them accordingly. It does not include epidemics and famines. The list also does not include the 1938 Yellow River flood, which was caused by the deliberate destruction of dikes. The Shaanxi earthquake has not been included here which killed approximately 830,000 people in 1556.

Death toll (Highest estimate)	Event	Location	Date
4,000,000[1][a]	1931 China floods	China	July 1931
2,000,000[2][3][4]	1887 Yellow River flood		September 1887
655,237[b]	1976 Tangshan earthquake		July 28, 1976
500,000[8][1]	1970 Bhola cyclone	East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)	November 13, 1970
316,000[9]	2010 Haiti earthquake	Haiti	January 12, 2010
300,000[10]	526 Antioch earthquake	Byzantine Empire (now Hatay/Turkey)	May 526
≈300,000[11]	1839 Coringa cyclone	Andhra Pradesh, India	November 25, 1839
≈300,000[12]	1737 Calcutta cyclone	West Bengal and Bangladesh	October 1737
273,407[13]	1920 Haiyuan earthquake	China	December 16, 1920
230,000[14]	1139 Ganja earthquake	Seljuk Empire (present-day Azerbaijan)	September 30, 1139

Deadliest natural disasters by year excluding epidemics and famines

20th century

Year	Death tolls	Event	Countries affected	Type	Date
1900	6,000–12,000	1900 Galveston hurricane	United States	Tropical cyclone	September 9
1901	9,500	1901 eastern United States heat wave	United States	Heat wave	June–July
1902	29,000	1902 eruption of Mount Pelée	Martinique	Volcanic eruption	April–August
1903	3,500	1903 Manzikert earthquake	Turkey	Earthquake	April 29
1904	400	1904 Sichuan earthquake	China		August 30
1905	20,000+	1905 Kangra earthquake	India		April 4
1906	15,000	1906 Hong Kong typhoon	Hong Kong	Tropical cyclone	September 18
1907	12,000–15,000	1907 Qaratog earthquake	Uzbekistan	Earthquake	October 21
1908	75,000–82,000	1908 Messina earthquake	Italy		December 28
1909	6,000–8,000	1909 Borujerd earthquake	Iran		January 23
1910	2,450	1910 Costa Rica earthquakes	Costa Rica		May 4
1911	41,072[15]	1911 France heat wave	France	Heat wave	June–August
1912	50,000–220,000	1912 China typhoon	China	Tropical cyclone	August 29
1913	942–1,900	1913 Eshan earthquake	China	Earthquake	December 21
1914	2,344	1914 Burdur earthquake	Turkey		October 4
1915	29,978-32,610	1915 Avezzano earthquake	Italy		January 13
1916	2,000–10,000	White Friday avalanches	Italy	Avalanche	December 13
1917	1,500	1917 Bali earthquake	Indonesia	Earthquake	January 21
1918	1,000	1918 Shantou earthquake	China		February 13
1919	5,000	1919 Kelud mudflow	Indonesia	Volcanic eruption	May 19
1920	258,707–273,407	1920 Haiyuan earthquake	China, Mongolia	Earthquake	December 16
1921	215	September 1921 San Antonio floods	United States	Flood	September 7 –11
1922	50,000–100,000+	1922 Shantou typhoon	Philippines, China	Tropical cyclone	July 27 –August 3
1923	105,385-142,800	1923 Great Kantō earthquake	Japan	Earthquake	September 1
1924	1,000	Great flood of 99	India	Flood	July
1925	5,000	1925 Dali earthquake	China	Earthquake	March 16
1926	709	1926 Havana–Bermuda hurricane	Cuba, United States, Bahamas, Bermuda	Tropical cyclone	October 14 –28
1927	40,912	1927 Gulang earthquake	China, Tibet	Earthquake	May 22
1928	4,112+	1928 Okeechobee hurricane	United States, Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, Bahamas, Dominica,	Tropical cyclone	September 12 –21
1929	3,257–3,800	1929 Kopet Dag earthquake	Iran, Turkmenistan	Earthquake	May 1
1930	2,000–8,000	1930 San Zenón hurricane	Dominican Republic	Tropical cyclone	September 3
1931	422,499–4,000,000	1931 China floods	China	Flood	July – November
1932	3,103+	1932 Cuba hurricane	Cayman Islands, Cuba	Tropical cyclone	November 9
1933	6,865–9,300	1933 Diexi earthquake	China	Earthquake	August 25
1934	10,700–12,000	1934 Nepal–India earthquake	Nepal, India		January 15
1935	145,000	1935 Yangtze flood	China	Flood	July 6
1936	5,000+	1936 North American heat wave	United States, Canada	Heat wave	June – September
1937	11,021	1937 Great Hong Kong typhoon	China	Tropical cyclone	September 2
1938	715+	1938 Hanshin flood	Japan	Flood	July
1939	32,700–32,968	1939 Erzincan earthquake	Turkey	Earthquake	December 27
1940	1,000	1940 Vrancea earthquake	Romania		November 10
1941	1,200	1941 Jabal Razih earthquake	Yemen		January 11
1942	61,000	1942 West Bengal cyclone	India	Tropical cyclone	October 14 – 18
1943	2,824-5,000	1943 Tosya–Ladik earthquake	Turkey	Earthquake	November 27
1944	10,000	1944 San Juan earthquake	Argentina		January 15
1945	4,000	1945 Balochistan earthquake	Pakistan		November 28
1946	2,550	1946 Dominican Republic earthquake	Dominican Republic		August 4
1947	1,077	Typhoon Kathleen	Japan	Tropical cyclone	September 15
1948	10,000–110,000	1948 Ashgabat earthquake	Soviet Union, Iran	Earthquake	October 6
1949	7,200	1949 Khait earthquake	Tajikistan	Earthquake	July 10
1950	4,800	1950 Assam-Tibet earthquake	India, China		August 15
1951	4,800	1951 Manchuria flood	China	Flood	September 18
1952	2,336	1952 Severo-Kurilsk earthquake	Russia	Earthquake	November 4
1953	2,551	North Sea flood of 1953	Netherlands, Belgium, England, Scotland	Flood	January 31–February 1
1954	33,000	1954 Yangtze floods	China		June – September
1955	1,023+	Hurricane Janet	Lesser Antilles, Mexico	Tropical cyclone	September 22 – 30
1956	4,935	Typhoon Wanda	China		August 1
1957	1,500	1957 Sangchal earthquake	Iran	Earthquake	July 2
1958	1,269	Typhoon Ida	Japan	Tropical cyclone	September 26
1959	5,098	Typhoon Vera
1960	14,174	Severe Cyclonic Storm Ten	East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)		October 31
1961	11,468	Cyclone Winnie			May 6 – 9
1962	50,935	Tropical Storm Harriet	Thailand, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)		October 19 – 31
1963	22,000	Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Two	East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)		May 28
1964	7,000	Tropical Storm Joan	Vietnam		November 4 – 11
1965	47,000	1965 Bengal cyclones	East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)		May 11 – 12 and June 1 – 2
1966	8,064	1966 Xingtai earthquakes	China	Earthquake	March 22
1967	10,000	1967 Paradip cyclone[16]	India	Tropical cyclone	October 26
1968	15,000	1968 Dasht-e Bayaz and Ferdows earthquakes	Iran	Earthquake	August 31
1969	3,000	1969 Yangjiang earthquake	China		July 26
1970	300,000-500,000	1970 Bhola cyclone	India, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)	Tropical cyclone	November 13
1971	100,000	Hanoi and Red River Delta flood	North Vietnam	Flood	August 1
1972	5,374	1972 Qir earthquake	Iran	Earthquake	April 10
1972	4,000-11,000	1972 Managua earthquake	Nicaragua		December 23
1973	2,175–2,204	1973 Luhuo earthquake	China		February 6
1974	8,210+	Hurricane Fifi–Orlene	Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, Mexico	Tropical cyclone	September 18 – 20
1975	26,000-240,000	1975 Banqiao Dam Failure disaster triggered by Typhoon Nina	China		August 7
1976	242,419–655,000[b]	1976 Tangshan earthquake		Earthquake	July 28
1977	10,000–50,000	1977 Andhra Pradesh cyclone	India	Tropical cyclone	November 19
1978	15,000–25,000	1978 Tabas earthquake	Iran	Earthquake	September 16
1979	2,078	Hurricane David	Dominican Republic, Dominica	Tropical cyclone	August 15 – September 8
1980	2,633-5,000	1980 El Asnam earthquake	Algeria	Earthquake	October 10
1981	3,000	1981 Golbaf earthquake	Iran		June 11
1982	2,800	1982 North Yemen earthquake	Yemen		December 13
1983	1,342	1983 Erzurum earthquake	Turkey		October 30
1984	1,474	Typhoon Ike	Philippines	Tropical cyclone	August 26 – September 6
1985	23,000	Armero tragedy	Colombia	Volcanic eruption	November 13
1986	1,746	Lake Nyos disaster	Cameroon	Limnic eruption	August 21
1987	1,000	1987 Ecuador earthquakes	Ecuador	Earthquake	March 6
1988	25,000-50,000	1988 Armenian earthquake	Armenia		December 7
1989	3,814	1989 Sichuan flood	China	Flood	July 27
1990	35,000-45,000	1990 Manjil–Rudbar earthquake	Iran	Earthquake	June 21
1991	138,866	1991 Bangladesh cyclone	Bangladesh	Tropical cyclone	April 24 – 30
1992	2,500	1992 Flores earthquake and tsunami	Indonesia	Earthquake, Tsunami	December 12
1993	9,748	1993 Latur earthquake	India	Earthquake	September 30
1994	3,063	Typhoon Fred	China, Taiwan	Tropical cyclone	August 21
1995	6,434	Great Hanshin earthquake	Japan	Earthquake	January 17
1996	1,077	1996 Andhra Pradesh cyclone	India	Tropical cyclone	November 4 – 7
1997	3,123	Tropical Storm Linda	Vietnam, Thailand	Tropical cyclone, Flood	November 1 – 9
1998	11,374	Hurricane Mitch	Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, Mexico	Tropical cyclone	October 22 – November 9
1999	10,000-30,000	Vargas tragedy	Venezuela	Mudslide, Flood	December 14 – 16
2000	700–800	2000 Mozambique flood	Mozambique	Flood	February – March

21st century

Year	Death toll	Event	Countries affected	Type	Date
2001	13,805–20,023	2001 Gujarat earthquake	India	Earthquake	January 26
2002	1,200	2002 Hindu Kush earthquakes	Afghanistan		March 25
2003	72,000	2003 European heat wave	Europe	Heat wave	July – August
2004	227,898	2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami	Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Maldives, Somalia	Earthquake, Tsunami	December 26
2005	86,000–87,351	2005 Kashmir earthquake	India, Pakistan	Earthquake	October 8
2006	5,749–5,778	2006 Yogyakarta earthquake	Indonesia		May 26
2007	15,000	Cyclone Sidr	Bangladesh, India	Tropical cyclone	November 11 – 16
2008	138,373	Cyclone Nargis	Myanmar		April 27 – May 3
2009	1,115	2009 Sumatra earthquakes	Indonesia	Earthquake	September 30
2010	100,000–316,000	2010 Haiti earthquake	Haiti	Earthquake	January 12
2011	19,749	2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami	Japan	Earthquake, Tsunami	March 11
2012	1,901	Typhoon Bopha	Philippines	Tropical cyclone	December 4 – 5
2013	6,340	Typhoon Haiyan	Philippines, Vietnam, China		November 8 – 10
2014	2,700	2014 Badakhshan mudslides	Afghanistan	Landslide	May 2
2015	8,964	April 2015 Nepal earthquake	Nepal, India	Earthquake	April 25
2016	1,111[17]	2016 Indian heat wave	India	Heat wave	April – May
2017	3,059	Hurricane Maria	Puerto Rico, Dominica	Tropical cyclone	September 19 – 21
2018	4,340	2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami	Indonesia	Earthquake, Tsunami	September 28
2019	3,951+	2019 European heat waves	Europe	Heat wave	June – July
2020	6,511	2020 South Asian floods	Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka	Floods	May – October
2021	2,248	2021 Haiti earthquake	Haiti	Earthquake	August 14
2022	24,501	2022 European heatwaves	Europe	Heat wave	June 12 – September 12
2023	59,259–62,013	2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes	Turkey, Syria	Earthquake	February 6
2024	1,878	2024 India floods	India	Floods	26 May – 30 September
2025	5,407	2025 Myanmar earthquake	Myanmar, Thailand	Earthquake	28 March

Lists of deadliest natural disasters by cause

Avalanche and landslides (landslips)

Main articles: List of avalanches by death toll, List of landslides, Avalanche, and Landslide

Rank	Death toll (estimate)	Event	Location	Date
1.	100,000	1786 Dadu River landslide dam; triggered by the 1786 Kangding-Luding earthquake[18]	China	1786
		1920 Haiyuan landslides; triggered by the 1920 Haiyuan earthquake[18]		1920
3.	70,001+	Landslides triggered by the 1718 Tongwei–Gansu earthquake.[19]		1718
4.	22,000	1970 Huascarán avalanche; triggered by the 1970 Ancash earthquake[20]	Peru	1970
5.	10,000–30,000	Vargas tragedy[21]	Venezuela	1999
	10,000	White Friday avalanches[22][23]	Italy	1916
7.	5,000–28,000	Khait landslide[24][25]	Tajikistan	1949
8.	4,000–6,000	1941 Huaraz avalanche[26]	Peru	1941
	4,000	1962 Huascarán avalanche[20]		1962
10.	3,466	1310 Western Hubei landslide[18]	China	1310

Disease outbreaks

Main articles: List of epidemics and pandemics, Epidemic, and Pandemic

Death counts are historical totals unless indicated otherwise. Events in boldface are ongoing.

Rank	Death toll (estimate)	Event	Location	Date	Pathogen − (disease caused)
1.	75–200 million[27]	Black Death	Europe, Asia and North Africa	1346–1353	Yersinia pestis − (Plague)
2.	50 million+ (17–100 million)[28][29]	Spanish flu	Worldwide	1918–1920	Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 − (Influenza/"the flu")
3.	43 million (as of 2024)[30]	HIV/AIDS pandemic	Worldwide	1981–present	Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) − (HIV/AIDS)
4.	30–50 million[31][32][33]	Plague of Justinian	Europe and West Asia	541–542	Yersinia pestis − (Plague)
5.	7–29 million[34][35][36]	COVID-19 pandemic	Worldwide	2019–2023[37]	SARS-CoV-2 − (COVID-19)
6.	12–24 million (Indian Subcontinent and China)[38]	Third plague pandemic	Worldwide	1855–1960	Yersinia pestis − (Bubonic plague)
7.	5–15 million[39][40][41][42]	Cocoliztli Epidemic of 1545–1548	Mexico	1545–1548	Uncertain. Likely Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica − (Enteric fever) or viral hemorrhagic fever but no consensus.
8.	5–10 million[43]	Antonine Plague	Roman Empire	165–180 (possibly up to 190)	Likely Variola − (Smallpox), possibly alongside Measles morbillivirus − (Measles)
9.	5–8 million[41]	1520 Mexico smallpox epidemic	Mexico	1519–1520	Variola virus − (Smallpox)
10.	2.5 million[44]	1918–1922 Russia typhus epidemic	Russia	1918–1922	Rickettsia prowazekii − (Epidemic typhus)

Earthquakes

Main articles: Lists of earthquakes § Deadliest earthquakes, and Earthquake

Rank	Death toll (estimate)	Event	Location	Date
1.	242,419–655,000[45]	1976 Tangshan earthquake	China	July 28, 1976
2.	110,000−316,000	2010 Haiti earthquake	Haiti	January 12, 2010
3.	250,000–300,000[10]	526 Antioch earthquake	Byzantine Empire (now Turkey)	May 526
4.	273,407[13]	1920 Haiyuan earthquake	Ningxia, Republic of China (now People's Republic of China)	December 16, 1920
5.	270,000	1303 Hongdong earthquake[46]	Mongol Empire (now China)	September 17, 1303
6.	260,000[47]	115 Antioch earthquake	Roman Empire (now Turkey)	December 13, 115
7.	230,000	1138 Aleppo earthquake	Zengid dynasty (now Syria)	October 11, 1138
		1139 Ganja earthquake	Seljuk Empire (now Azerbaijan)	20 September 1139
9.	227,898	2004 Indian Ocean earthquake	Indonesia	December 26, 2004
10.	200,000	856 Damghan earthquake	Abbasid Caliphate (now Iran)	December 22, 856

Famines

Main articles: List of famines and Famine

Note: Some of these famines may have been caused or partially caused by humans.

Rank	Death toll	Event	Location	Date
1.	11,000,000–40,000,000	Great Chinese Famine	China	1959–1961
2.	25,000,000[48]	Chinese famine of 1906–1907	Qing China	1906–1907
3.	9,000,000–13,000,000[49]	Northern Chinese Famine of 1876–1879		1876–1879
4.	11,000,000	Chalisa famine	North India	1783–1784
		Doji bara famine or Skull famine	India	1789–1793
6.	10,000,000	Great Bengal famine of 1770, incl. Bihar & Orissa	British company India	1769–1773
7.	7,500,000	Great European Famine	Europe	1315–1317
8.	7,400,000	Deccan famine of 1630–1632	Mughal Empire, now India	1630–1632
9.	5,000,000–8,000,000	Soviet famine of 1930–1933	Soviet Union	1930–1933
10.	5,500,000	Indian Great Famine of 1876–1878	British India	1876–1878

Floods

Main articles: List of floods, List of deadliest floods, and Flood

Note: Some of these floods and landslides may be partially caused by humans – for example, by failure of dams, levees, seawalls or retaining walls.
This list does not include the man-made 1938 Yellow River flood caused entirely by a deliberate man-made act (an act of war, destroying dikes).

Rank	Death toll	Event	Location	Date
1.	422,499–4,000,000[50]	1931 China floods	China	1931
2.	930,000–2,000,000	1887 Yellow River (Huang He) flood		1887
3.	230,000[51]	1975 Banqiao Dam failure		1975
4.	145,000	1935 Yangtze flood		1935
5.	100,000+	St. Felix's flood, storm surge	Holy Roman Empire	1530
7.	100,000 [52]	1911 Yangtze River flood	China	1911
8.	100,000[53][54][55][56]	The flood of 1099	Netherlands & England	1099
9.	50,000–80,000[54]	St. Lucia's flood, storm surge	Holy Roman Empire	1287
10.	60,000	North Sea flood, storm surge		1212

Heat waves

Main articles: List of heat waves and Heat wave

Note: Measuring the number of deaths caused by a heat wave requires complicated statistical analysis, since heat waves tend to cause large numbers of deaths among people weakened by other conditions. As a result, the number of deaths is only known with any accuracy for heat waves in the modern era in countries with developed healthcare systems.

Rank	Death toll	Event	Location	Date
1.	72,000	2003 European heatwave	Europe	2003
2.	56,000	2010 Russian heat wave	Russia	2010
3.	41,072[15]	1911 France heat wave	France	1911
4.	24,501	2022 European heatwaves	Europe	2022
5.	9,500	1901 eastern United States heat wave	United States	1901
6.	5,000–10,000	1988–1990 North American drought	United States	1988
7.	3,951	2019 European heatwaves	Europe	2019
8.	3,418[57]	2006 European heatwave		2006
9.	2,541[57]	1998 Indian heat wave	India	1998
10.	2,500	2015 Indian heat wave		2015

Limnic eruptions

Main article: Limnic eruption

Note: Only 2 cases in recorded history.

Rank	Death toll	Event	Location	Date
1.	1,744	Lake Nyos disaster	Cameroon	August 21, 1986
2.	37	Lake Monoun disaster		August 15, 1984

Tornadoes

Main articles: Tornado records and Tornado

Rank	Death toll	Event	Location	Date
1.	1,300	The Daulatpur–Saturia tornado	Manikganj, Bangladesh	1989
2.	751	The 1925 Tri-State tornado	United States (Missouri–Illinois–Indiana)	1925
3.	681	The 1973 Faridpur District tornado	Bangladesh	1973
4.	660	1969 East Pakistan tornado	East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)	1969
5.	600	The Valletta, Malta tornado	Malta	1551 or 1556
6.	500	The 1851 Sicily tornadoes	Sicily, Two Sicilies (now Italy)	1851
		Narail-Magura tornado	Jessore, East Pakistan, Pakistan (now Bangladesh)	1964
		Madaripur-Shibchar tornado	Bangladesh	1977
9.	400	The 1984 Soviet Union tornado outbreak	Soviet Union (Volga Federal District, Central Federal District, and Northwestern Federal District in Russia)	1984
10.	317	The Great Natchez Tornado	United States (Mississippi–Louisiana)	1840

Tropical cyclones

See also: List of the deadliest tropical cyclones and Tropical cyclone

Note: Earlier versions of this list have included the so-called 'Bombay Cyclone of 1882' in tenth position, but this supposed event has been proven to be a hoax.

Rank	Death toll	Event	Location	Date
1.	500,000+	1970 Bhola cyclone	East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)	November 13, 1970
2.	300,000	1839 Coringa cyclone[11]	British India (now India and Bangladesh)	November 25, 1839
3.	300,000+	1737 Calcutta cyclone		October 11, 1737
4.	229,000	Super Typhoon Nina—contributed to Banqiao Dam failure	China	August 7, 1975
5.	200,000[58]	Great Backerganj Cyclone of 1876	British Raj (now Bangladesh)	October 31, 1876
6.	138,866	1991 Bangladesh cyclone	Bangladesh	April 29, 1991
7.	138,373	Cyclone Nargis	Myanmar	May 2, 2008
8.	100,000	July 1780 typhoon[59]	Philippines	1780
9.	60,000+	1864 Calcutta cyclone	India and Bangladesh	October 5, 1864
10.	50,000-220,000	1912 China typhoon	China	August 29, 1912

Tsunamis

See also: List of tsunamis and Tsunami

Note: A possible tsunami in 1782 that caused about 40,000 deaths in the Taiwan Strait area may have been of "meteorological" origin (a cyclone).^[60]

Rank	Death toll	Event	Location	Date
1.	227,898	2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami	Indian Ocean	December 26, 2004
2.	~80,000[61]	1908 Messina earthquake	Italy	December 28, 1908
3.	36,417	1883 eruption of Krakatoa	Indonesia	August 27, 1883
4.	40,000–50,000[62]	1755 Lisbon earthquake	Portugal	November 1, 1755
5.	30,000–100,000	Minoan eruption	Greece	2nd Millennium BC
6.	31,000	1498 Meiō earthquake	Japan	September 20, 1498
7.	30,000	1707 Hōei earthquake		October 28, 1707
8.	27,122[63]	1896 Sanriku earthquake		June 15, 1896
9.	25,674	1868 Arica earthquake	Chile	August 13, 1868
10.	5,700[64]–50,000[65]	365 Crete earthquake	Greece	July 21, 365

Volcanic eruptions

Main articles: List of volcanic eruptions by death toll and Volcanic eruption

Rank	Death toll	Event	Location	Date
1.	71,000+[66]	1815 eruption of Mount Tambora (see also Year Without a Summer)	Indonesia	April 10, 1815
2.	36,000+[67]	1883 eruption of Krakatoa		August 27, 1883
3.	30,000[68]	1902 eruption of Mount Pelée	Martinique	May 7, 1902
4.	23,000[69]	Armero tragedy	Colombia	November 13, 1985
5.	15,000[70]	1792 Unzen earthquake and tsunami	Japan	May 21, 1792
6.	13,000[71]	Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD	Italy	79
7.	10,000+	1586 Kelud eruption	Indonesia	1586
8.	6,000[72]	1902 Santa Maria eruption	Guatemala	October 24, 1902
9.	5,000[73]	1919 Kelud mudflow	Indonesia	May 19, 1919
10.	4,011[74]	1822 Galunggung eruption		1822

Wildfires

Main articles: List of wildfires and Wildfire

Rank	Death toll	Event	Location	Date
1.	1,200–2,500	Peshtigo fire	Wisconsin, United States	October 8, 1871
2.	1,000+	Kursha-2 fire	Soviet Union	August 3, 1936
3.	453	Cloquet fire[75]	Minnesota, United States	October 12, 1918
4.	418–476	Great Hinckley Fire		September 1, 1894
5.	282	Thumb Fire	Michigan, United States	September 5, 1881
6.	240	1997 Indonesian forest fires[76][77]	Sumatra and Kalimantan, Indonesia	September 1997
7.	160–300	1825 Miramichi fire	Canada	October 7, 1825
8.	223	Matheson Fire	Ontario, Canada	July 29, 1916
9.	211	1987 Black Dragon fire[76][77]	China and Soviet Union	May 1, 1987
10.	173	Black Saturday bushfires[76][77]	Australia	February 7, 2009

Winter storms

Main articles: List of blizzards, Blizzard, and Winter storm

Rank	Death toll (estimate)	Event	Location	Date
1.	4,000	1972 Iran blizzard	Iran	1972
2.	3,000	Carolean Death March	Norway	1719
3.	926	2008 Afghanistan blizzard	Afghanistan	2008
4.	400	Great Blizzard of 1888	United States	1888
5.	353	Great Appalachian Storm of 1950		1950
6.	318	1993 Storm of the Century		1993
7.	299–978	2021 North American winter storm	United States and Mexico	2021
8.	286	December 1960 nor'easter	United States	1960
9.	250	Great Lakes Storm of 1913	United States and Canada (Great Lakes region)	1913
10.	235	Schoolhouse Blizzard	United States	1888

See also

• List of countries by natural disaster risk
• List of all known deadly earthquakes since 1900
• List of disasters in Canada
• List of disasters in Indonesia
• List of disasters in the Philippines
• List of disasters in Thailand
• List of natural disasters in the British Isles
• List of natural disasters in Haiti
• List of natural disasters in New Zealand
• List of natural disasters in Pakistan
• List of natural disasters in the United States
• Natural disasters in India
• Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents
• Global catastrophic risk

Other lists organized by death toll

• List of accidents and disasters by death toll
• List of battles by casualties
• List of disasters in Antarctica by death toll
• List of disasters in Australia by death toll
• List of disasters in Canada by death toll
• List of disasters in Croatia by death toll
• List of disasters in Great Britain and Ireland by death toll
• List of disasters in New Zealand by death toll
• List of disasters in Poland by death toll
• List of disasters in Romania by death toll
• List of disasters in the United States by death toll
• Tsunamis affecting the British Isles

Notes

1. Estimate by Nova's sources are close to 4  million and yet Encarta's sources report as few as 1  million. Expert estimates report wide variance.
2. In January 1977, Taiwan's Military Intelligence Bureau, unfriendly to the mainland Chinese government, claimed they obtained an internal document dated nine days after the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, that found 655,237 dead.^[5] Scholars found 655,237 to be a "suspiciously accurate figure" just 9 days after the earthquake.^[6] An internal document dated seven weeks after the earthquake that historians could verify found 263,299 deaths.^[7] Modern historians estimated "at least 300,000".^[7]