Source: National Post
On Saturday, March 23, the hillside across from the small Washington town of Oso gave way to nature’s unstoppable demands. A startling 15 million cubic yards of clay, mud, trees and dirt let loose, crossing the Stillaguamish River and destroying any home, car or building that stood in its path, eventually covering state Highway 530.
Source: The Baltimore Sun
Source: Digestible Politics
For the past year, Mother Nature has let loose a torrent of unpredictable, devastating weather conditions. From bitter cold spells to mind-bending earthquakes, the UK floods are the most recent weather-related problem in a string of worldwide natural disasters. Over the past couple of months, the UK floods have claimed lives, forced thousands from their homes and annihilated local ecosystems.
Check out these devastating images of the damage caused by the UK floods.
Even royals Prince William and Prince Harry joined flood-relief efforts. Source: Global Post
Dangerously high flood waters lap at a residence. Source: Mirror
Source: Digestible Politics
For the past year, Mother Nature has let loose a torrent of unpredictable, devastating weather conditions. From bitter cold spells to mind-bending earthquakes, the UK floods are the most recent weather-related problem in a string of worldwide natural disasters. Over the past couple of months, the UK floods have claimed lives, forced thousands from their homes and annihilated local ecosystems.
Check out these devastating images of the damage caused by the UK floods.
Even royals Prince William and Prince Harry joined flood-relief efforts. Source: Global Post
Dangerously high flood waters lap at a residence. Source: Mirror
Though Hurricane Sandy is no longer physically wreaking havoc in the northeast United States, its economic and emotional effects will be with those in its path for years to come. Taken in Queens, New York, this picture is but a slice of the hurricane’s devastating October 2012 swath in northern North America.
The post Hurricane Sandy’s Harrowing Wake appeared first on All That Is Interesting.
At 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, an earthquake of magnitude of 7.9 hit San Francisco, California. Over 3,000 people perished due to the earthquake itself or the resulting widespread fires that engulfed and destroyed much of San Francisco. The above photograph captures the aftermath of the earthquake from an aerial view.
In January 2010, one of the worst earthquakes ever recorded in history hit Haiti. The earthquake that struck west of the capital, Port-Au-Prince, measured 7.0 on the Richter scale with 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater. It is estimated that 230,000 people died, 300,000 people were injured, and over one million were made homeless. The destruction spread throughout the region, destroying a quarter of a million homes and 30,000 other buildings.
In the early morning of December 26, 2004, an earthquake struck on the Pacific sea floor, 150 miles off the west coast of the Indonesian island Sumatra. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake quickly gave rise to a tsunami that within hours of the initial earthquake, hit the shorelines of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, and the Maldives. The waves, reaching 30 feet high, and racing at the speed of a jet aircraft, engulfed the coastal regions and killed more than 230,000 people and displacing millions more.
Hurricane Katrina, the costliest and sixth deadliest hurricane ravaged the Gulf Coast of America in August 2005. Formed over the Bahamas, the hurricane crossed to southeast Louisiana as a Category 3 storm, causing destruction from central Florida to Texas, with the most lives lost and damages sustained in New Orleans. Over 1,800 people died in the hurricane and subsequent floods and the damage from the disaster totaled $81 billion (USD). Rebuilding efforts continue to date.
At the end of April 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Sri Lanka and Burma, causing widespread destruction. In Sri Lanka, the cyclone caused massive flooding and landslides, and in Burma it resulted in over 100,000 deaths. Overall, 150,000 people died in the cyclone and its aftermath, 50,000 went missing, and the nations incurred a $10 billion damages bill.
Based on the death toll, the Great Tangshan Earthquake is the largest earthquake of the 20th century. On July 28, 1976, the earthquake ravaged the industrial city of Tangshan in Hebei province, killing around 255,000 people and injuring 164,000. The earthquake hit early in the morning and lasted for ten seconds, its magnitude estimated to be between 7.8 to 8.2. It was followed sixteen hours later by a 7.8 magnitude aftershock, which significantly increased the death toll. Railway lines, roads and buildings were completely destroyed, but the Chinese government refused to allow foreign aid into the country.
The eruption of Mount Tambora on Sumbawa Island, Indonesia, was the most powerful explosion recorded in history, measuring 52,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima Bomb of WW2. The eruption occurred from April 6 to April 11, 1815, and was rated a number seven on the Volcanic Explosivity Index. Over 92,00 people were killed, and all of the crops on the island were incinerated, trees fell and ash washed out to sea, drifting all the way to India. The finer ash remained in the atmosphere for three years, caused spectacular sunsets across the planet, and dropped temperatures across the world, resulting in the ‘Year without summer’ in America and Europe.
An earthquake shook the sleepy region of Aleppo, northern Syria, on October 14, 1138, and is considered one of the most devastating earthquakes of human history. The town of Aleppo is located along the Dead Sea Transform system of geological faults, a plate boundary that separates the Arabian and African plate, so the earthquake activity was predictable. Less predictable was the earthquake measuring 8.5 on the Richter scale, and resulting in the death of an estimated 230,000 people.
The arguably most devastating natural disasters ever occurred in China in 1887 and again in 1931, when The Yellow River (Huang He) flooded. Surrounded by flat land, the river is prone to flooding, despite the dikes placed by farmers to control water levels. However, in 1887 and 1931, the flooding reached unfathomable proportions, wiping out land and killing millions. In 1887, heavy rain and the rising seabed broke through the dikes, and the water spread throughout northern China, covering an estimated 50,000 square miles. The flood killed 900,000 – 2,000,000 people, and left 2 million others homeless.
The 1887 flood was later followed by worse flooding in the winter, spring and summer of 1931. Due to heavy snowfall, three major rivers draining into the area flooded Northern China again, this time killing 3.7 – 4 million people through drowning and starvation, and leaving thousands homeless.
On November 8, 1970, a storm formed in the Bay of Bengal, raging over the ocean before traveling north towards land. The Category 3 cyclone that emerged had wind speeds of up to 172 miles an hour, which tore through the coastal region, wiping out crops and killing 500,000 people (both during the storm and subsequent famine). Up to 85 percent of homes were destroyed, and the cyclone was a catalyst that led to the formation of Bangladesh, the small coastal country that separated itself from East Pakistan after the ensuing civil war.
The most powerful earthquake ever recorded at a massive 9.5 magnitude struck near Valdivia, Chile on May 22, 1960. The death toll, though, remained relatively low despite the strength of the quake, with about 6,000 people killed. This was in part thanks to Chile’s preparedness for potential earthquakes. Nevertheless, the quake left widespread destruction in its wake, demolishing 40 percent of houses completely, and ripping apart a nearby volcano, causing it to erupt.
