The largest cataclysms. The worst tragedies of the 20th century

Sometimes it is quite difficult to assess the scale of a particular world catastrophe, because the consequences of some of them can manifest themselves many years after the incident itself.

In this article, we will present 10 of the worst disasters in the world that were not caused by purposeful action. Among them are accidents that took place on the water, in the air, and on the ground.

Fukushima accident

The catastrophe that occurred on March 11, 2011, simultaneously combines the features of man-made and natural disasters. A violent magnitude nine earthquake and a subsequent tsunami caused a power failure at the Daiichi nuclear plant, shutting down the cooling process of the nuclear-fueled reactors.

In addition to the monstrous destruction that was caused by the earthquake and tsunami, this incident led to serious radioactive contamination of the territory and water area. In addition, the Japanese authorities had to evacuate more than two hundred thousand people due to the high likelihood of serious illness due to exposure to severe radiation. The combination of all these consequences gives the Fukushima accident the right to be called one of the worst disasters in the world in the twenty-first century.

The total damage from the accident is estimated at $ 100 billion. This amount includes the costs of liquidation of consequences and payment of compensation. But at the same time, we must not forget that work to eliminate the consequences of the disaster continues to this day, which accordingly increases this amount.

In 2013, the Fukushima nuclear power plant was officially closed, and on its territory only work is being carried out to eliminate the consequences of the accident. Experts believe that it will take at least forty years to put the building and the contaminated area in order.

The consequences of the Fukushima accident are a reassessment of safety measures in the nuclear power industry, a drop in the cost of natural uranium, and, accordingly, a decrease in the prices of shares of uranium mining companies.

Collision at Los Rodeos Airport

Perhaps the biggest plane crash in the world occurred in the Canary Islands (Tenerife) in 1977. At Los Rodeos airport, two Boeing 747 airliners owned by KLM and Pan American collided on the runway. As a result, 583 of 644 people died, including both passengers and crews of airliners.

One of the main reasons for this situation was the terrorist attack at Las Palmas airport, which was staged by terrorists from the MPAIAC organization (Movimiento por la Autodeterminación e Independencia del Archipiélago Canario). The terrorist attack itself did not entail any casualties, but the airport administration closed the airport and stopped accepting planes, fearing repeated incidents.

Because of this, Los Rodeos was overloaded, as planes were sent to Las Palmas, in particular, two Boeing 747 flights PA1736 and KL4805. At the same time, it should be noted that the aircraft belonging to Pan

American, had enough fuel to land at another airport, but the pilots obeyed the controller's orders.

The cause of the collision itself was fog, which severely limited visibility, as well as difficulties in negotiations between controllers and pilots, which were caused by the strong emphasis of the controllers, and the fact that the pilots were constantly interrupting each other.

Collision of Dona Paz with tanker Vector

On December 20, 1987, the Philippines-registered passenger ferry Doña Paz collided with the oil tanker Vector, causing the largest peacetime water disaster in the world.

At the time of the collision, the ferry was following its standard Manila-Katbalogan route, which it passed twice a week. On 20 December 1987, at about 06:30, the Doña Paz sailed from Tacloban and headed for Manila. At about 22:30, the ferry passed the Tablas Strait near Marinduke, according to surviving eyewitnesses, the weather was clear, but with rough seas.

The collision took place after the passengers fell asleep, the ferry collided with the tanker "Vector", which was carrying gasoline and oil products. Immediately after the collision, a severe fire broke out due to the fact that oil products spilled over the sea. The severe blow and fire almost instantly caused panic among the passengers, in addition, according to the survivors, the ferry did not have the required number of life jackets.

Only 26 people survived, of which 24 were passengers from Donja Paz and two from the tanker "Vector".

Mass poisoning in Iraq 1971

At the end of 1971, a consignment of grain treated with methylmercury was imported to Iraq from Mexico. Of course, the grain was not intended to be processed into food and was only to be used for planting. Unfortunately, the local population did not know Spanish, and accordingly all the warning signs that read "Do not eat".

Also, it should be noted that the grain was delivered to Iraq with a delay, since the planting season has already passed. All this led to the fact that in some villages, grain treated with methylmercury began to be eaten.

After eating this grain, symptoms such as numbness of the limbs, loss of vision, and impaired coordination were observed. As a result of criminal negligence, about one hundred thousand people were poisoned with mercury, of which about six thousand died.

This incident led to the fact that the World Health Organization began to monitor the circulation of grain more closely, and began to take more seriously the labeling of potentially hazardous products.

Mass extermination of sparrows in China

Despite the fact that we do not include in our list the disasters caused by the purposeful actions of people, this case is an exception, since it is caused by banal stupidity and insufficient knowledge of the environment. Nevertheless, this case fully deserves the title of one of the most terrible catastrophes in the world.

As part of the economic policy of the "Great Leap Forward", a large-scale fight against agricultural pests was carried out, among which the Chinese authorities identified the four most terrible - mosquitoes, rats, flies and sparrows.

Employees of the Chinese Research Institute of Zoology calculated that due to sparrows, the volume of grain was lost during the year, with the help of which about thirty-five million people could be fed. Based on this, a plan for the destruction of these birds was developed, which was approved by Mao Zedong on March 18, 1958.

All the peasants began to actively hunt birds. Most effective method was not to let them sink to the ground. For this, adults and children shouted, beat in basins, brandished poles, rags, etc. This made it possible to scare the sparrows and prevent them from landing on the ground for fifteen minutes. As a result, the birds simply fell dead.

After a year of hunting sparrows, the harvest has really increased. However, later, caterpillars, locusts, and other pests began to actively breed, which ate the shoots. This led to the fact that a year later, the harvests fell dramatically, and famine ensued, which led to the death of 10 to 30 million people.

Piper Alpha oil platform disaster

The Piper Alpha platform was built in 1975, and oil production started on it in 1976. Over time, it was converted for gas production. However, on July 6, 1988, a gas leak occurred, which led to an explosion.

Due to the indecisive and ill-considered actions of the personnel, 167 people out of 226 who were on the platform died.

Of course, after this event, oil and gas production on this platform was completely stopped. Insured losses amounted to approximately US $ 3.4 billion. This is one of the most famous disasters in the world associated with the oil industry.

The death of the Aral Sea

This incident is the largest environmental disaster in the territory of the former Soviet Union... The Aral Sea was once the fourth largest lake after the Caspian Sea, Lake Superior in North America, Lake Victoria in Africa. Now in its place is the Aralkum desert.

Cause of disappearance The aral sea is the creation of new irrigation canals for agricultural enterprises on the territory of Turkmenistan, which took water from the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers. Because of this, the lake receded greatly from the coast, which led to the exposure of the bottom covered with sea salt, pesticides and chemicals.

Due to natural evaporation of the Aral Sea between 1960 and 2007, the sea lost about a thousand cubic kilometers of water. In 1989, the reservoir split into two parts, and in 2003 the volume of water was about 10% of the original.

This incident resulted in severe climate and landscape changes. In addition, of the 178 species of vertebrates that lived in the Aral Sea, only 38 remain .;

Explosion of the oil platform Deepwater Horizon

The explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform that occurred on April 20, 2010 is considered one of the largest man-made disasters in the world. negative impact on the ecological situation. 11 people died directly from the explosion, and 17 were injured. Two more people died during the liquidation of the consequences of the disaster.

Due to the fact that the explosion damaged pipes at a depth of 1,500 meters, about five million barrels of oil spilled into the sea in 152 days, which created a slick with an area of ​​75 thousand kilometers, in addition, 1770 kilometers of the coast were polluted.

The oil spill threatened 400 species of animals and also led to the imposition of a fishing ban

The eruption of the Mont Pele volcano

On May 8, 1902, one of the most destructive volcanic eruptions occurred in history of mankind... This incident led to the emergence of a new classification of volcanic eruptions, and changed the attitude of many scientists to volcanology.

The volcano awakened in April 1902, and within a month, hot vapors and gases, as well as lava, accumulated inside. A month later, a huge grayish cloud erupted at the foot of the volcano. A feature of this eruption is that the lava did not come out of the summit, but from side craters that were located on the slopes. As a result of a powerful explosion, one of the main ports of the island of Martinique, the city of Saint Pierre, was completely destroyed. The catastrophe claimed the lives of thirty thousand people.

Tropical cyclone Nargis

This disaster developed as follows:

• Cyclone Nargis was formed on April 27, 2008, in the Bay of Bengal, and initially moved to the coast of India, in a northwest direction;
• On April 28, it stops moving, but the wind speed in the spiral eddies began to increase significantly. Because of this, the cyclone began to be classified as a hurricane;
• On April 29, the wind speed reached 160 kilometers per hour, and the cyclone resumed its movement, but this time in a northeasterly direction;
• On May 1, the direction of wind movement changed to the east, and at the same time the wind was constantly increasing;
• On May 2, the wind speed reached 215 kilometers per hour, and at noon it reaches the coast of Myanmar province of Ayeyarwaddy.

According to the UN, as a result of the riot of the elements, 1.5 million people suffered, of which 90 thousand died, and 56 thousand were missing. Also seriously injured Big City Yangon, and many settlements were completely destroyed. Part of the country was left without telephone communications, internet and electricity. The streets were littered with debris, debris from buildings and trees.

To eliminate the consequences of this catastrophe, the combined forces of many countries of the world and such international organizations as the UN, EU, UNESCO were needed.

For centuries, natural disasters have not let go of humanity. Some happened so long ago that scientists cannot estimate the extent of the destruction. For example, the Mediterranean island of Stroggly is believed to have been razed to the ground by a volcanic eruption around 1500 BC. The tsunami wiped out the entire Minoan civilization, but no one even knows the approximate death toll. However, the 10 most devastating disasters known, mostly earthquakes and floods, have killed an estimated 10 million people.

10. Earthquake in Aleppo - 1138, Syria (victims: 230,000)

One of the most powerful earthquakes known to mankind, and the fourth in the number of victims (according to an approximate estimate of over 230 thousand dead). The city of Aleppo, a large and populous urban center since antiquity, is geologically located along the northern part of a system of large geological faults, which also include the Dead Sea Basin, which separate the Arabian and African tectonic plates, which are in constant interaction. The Damascus chronicler Ibn al-Kalanisi recorded the date of the earthquake - Wednesday, October 11, 1138, and also indicated the number of victims - over 230 thousand people. A similar number of casualties and destruction shocked contemporaries, especially the Western knights-crusaders, because then in northwestern Europe, where most of them were from, a rare city had a population of 10 thousand inhabitants. After the earthquake, the population of Aleppo recovered only by early XIX century, when the city again recorded a population of 200 thousand inhabitants.

9. Indian Ocean earthquake - 2004, Indian Ocean (victims: 230,000+)

The third, and according to some estimates the second strongest, is the underwater earthquake in the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004. It caused the tsunami, which caused the bulk of the damage. Scientists estimate the magnitude of the earthquake to be from 9.1 to 9.3 points. The epicenter was under water, north of Shimolue Island, which is northwest of Indonesian Sumatra. Huge waves reached the shores of Thailand, southern India and Indonesia. Then the wave height reached 15 meters. Many territories were subjected to tremendous destruction and casualties, including in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, which is 6900 km from the epicenter. The exact number of victims is unknown, but it is estimated from 225 to 300 thousand people. It will not be possible to calculate the true figure, since many bodies were simply carried away by water into the sea. It is curious, but a few hours before the arrival of the tsunami, many animals reacted sensitively to the impending catastrophe - they left the coastal zones, moving to the hills.

8. The destruction of the Banqiao Dam - 1975, China (victims: 231,000)

There are different estimates of the number of victims of the disaster. The official figure, about 26,000 people, takes into account only those directly drowned during the flood itself; taking into account the deaths from epidemics and hunger that spread as a result of the disaster, then total number casualties are, according to various estimates, 171,000 or even 230,000. The dam was designed to survive the largest floods that occur once every thousand years (306 mm of rainfall per day). However, in August 1975, the largest flood in 2,000 years occurred, as a consequence of the powerful typhoon Nina and several days of record storms. The flood caused a huge wave of water 10 kilometers wide, 3-7 meters high. In an hour, the tide went 50 kilometers from the coast and reached the plains, creating artificial lakes there with a total area of ​​12,000 square kilometers. Seven provinces were flooded, including thousands of square kilometers of countryside and countless communications.

7. Tangshan earthquake - 1976, China (casualties: 242,000)

The second strongest earthquake also occurred in China. On July 28, 1976, the Tangshan earthquake took place in Hebei province. Its magnitude was 8.2 points, which makes the event the largest natural disaster of the century. The official death toll was 242,419. However, most likely the figure was underestimated by the PRC authorities by 3-4 times. This suspicion is based on the fact that according to Chinese documents, the earthquake strength is indicated only at 7.8 points. Tangshan was almost immediately destroyed by powerful aftershocks, the epicenter of which was at a depth of 22 km under the city. Even Tianjin and Beijing, which are located at a distance of 140 kilometers from the epicenter, were destroyed. The consequences of the disaster were dire - 5.3 million homes were destroyed and damaged to such an extent that it was impossible to live in them. The number of victims increased due to the subsequent series of aftershocks to 7.1 points. Today in the center of Tangshan there is a stele that reminds of a terrible catastrophe, there is also an information center dedicated to those events. It is a kind of museum on this subject, the only one in China.

6. Flood in Kaifeng - 1642, China (casualties: 300,000)

Long-suffering China again. Formally, this disaster can be considered natural, but it was arranged by human hands. In 1642 in China there was peasant uprising led by Li Zicheng. The rebels approached the city of Kaifeng. In order to prevent the capture of the city by the rebels, the command of the troops of the Ming dynasty gave the order to flood the city and the surrounding area with the waters of the Yellow River. When the water receded and the famine caused by the artificial flood ended, it turned out that of the 600,000 people in the city and the surrounding area, only half survived. At that time, it was one of the bloodiest punitive actions in history.

5. Cyclone in India - 1839, India (Victims: 300,000+)

Although the photograph of the cyclone does not belong to 1839, it can be used to appreciate the full power of this natural phenomenon. The Indian cyclone of 1839 was not destructive in itself, but it caused powerful tidal waves that killed 300,000 people. The tidal waves completely destroyed the city of Koringa and drowned 20,000 ships that were in the bay of the city.

4. The Great China Earthquake - 1556 (Victims: 830,000)

In 1556, the most destructive earthquake in the history of mankind took place, called the Great China Earthquake. It happened on January 23, 1556 in the Shaanxi province. Historians believe that the natural disaster claimed the lives of about 830,000 people, more than any other similar event. Some areas of Shaanxi were completely depopulated, while in the rest more than half of the people died. Such a huge number of victims was explained by the fact that most of the inhabitants lived in loess caves, which, at the first aftershocks, immediately collapsed or were subsequently flooded by mudflows. According to modern estimates, this earthquake was assigned a category of 11 points. One of the eyewitnesses warned his descendants that when a disaster begins, one should not rush headlong into the street: "When a bird's nest falls from a tree, eggs often remain unharmed." Such words are evidence that many people died while trying to leave their homes. The destructiveness of the earthquake is evidenced by the ancient steles of Xi'an, collected in the local Beilin Museum. Many of them have crumbled or cracked. During the cataclysm, the Wild Goose Pagoda located here survived, but its foundation sank by 1.6 meters.

3. Cyclone Bhola - 1970 (Victims: 500,000 - 1,000,000)

A devastating tropical cyclone that struck East Pakistan and Indian West Bengal on November 12, 1970. The deadliest tropical cyclone and one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history. About half a million people lost their lives as a result of the impact of a storm tide that flooded many of the low-lying islands of the Ganges delta. It was the sixth storm cyclone in the 1970 North Indian Ocean hurricane season and the most severe this year.
The cyclone formed over the central part of the Bay of Bengal on November 8, after which it began to move northward, gaining strength. It reached its peak on the evening of November 12, and on the same night made contact with the coastline of East Pakistan. The storm tide has devastated numerous coastal islands, sweeping away entire villages and destroying agricultural land in the region. In the most affected region of the country - Upazil Tazumuddin - more than 45% of the 167,000 population perished.
Political implications
The sluggish pace of the rescue efforts only heightened resentment and resentment in East Pakistan and fueled local resistance movements. Subsidies came in slowly, with transport slowly delivering urgently needed funds to areas devastated by the storm. In March 1971, the tension grew steadily, foreign specialists began to leave the province, fearing outbursts of violence. In the future, the situation continued to deteriorate and escalated into the War of Independence, which began on March 26. Later, in December of that year, this conflict expanded into the third Indo-Pakistani war, which culminated in the creation of the state of Bangladesh. The events that took place can be considered one of the first cases when a natural phenomenon provoked a civil war, the subsequent external intervention of a third force and the disintegration of one country into two independent states.

2. Flood in the Yellow River Valley - 1887, China (Victims: 900,000 - 2,000,000)

One of the worst floods in modern human history, which, according to different sources, claimed from 1.5 to 7 million lives, happened in the late spring of 1887 in the northern provinces of China, in the valley of the Yellow River. Heavy rains across nearly all of Hunan that spring caused the river to flood. The first flood occurred at a steep bend in the vicinity of the city of Zhangzhou.
Day after day, bubbling waters invaded the cities, destroying and devastating them. A total of 600 riverside cities were affected by the flood, including the walled city of Hunan. The rushing stream continued to wash away fields, animals, cities and people, flooding an area 70 km wide with water reaching a depth of 15 meters.
Water often against wind and tide slowly flooded terrace after terrace, each of which accumulated from 12 to 100 families. Of the 10 houses, only one or two survived. Half of the buildings were hidden under water. People were lying on the roofs of houses, and old people who did not die of hunger were dying of cold.
The tops of the poplars that once stood along the roads stuck out of the water like seaweed. Here and there, old trees with thick branches were held strong men and called for help. In one place, a box with dead child, who was placed there for safety by his parents. The drawer contained food and a note with a name. Elsewhere, a family was found, all of whose members died, the child was placed on the highest place ... well covered with clothes. "
The devastation and devastation left after the water subsided was terrible. Statistics could not cope with the task of calculating. By 1889, when the Yellow River finally returned to its course, disease was added to all the misfortunes of the floods. It is estimated that half a million people have died from cholera.

1. Great Flood - 1931, China (Victims: 1,000,000 - 4,000,000)

The summer period of monsoon rains in 1931 turned out to be extremely stormy. Heavy rains and tropical cyclones raged in river basins. The dams withstood heavy rainfalls and storms for weeks, but in the end they could not withstand the load and collapsed in hundreds of places. Approximately 333,000 hectares of land were flooded, at least 40,000,000 people lost their homes, and the loss of crops was enormous. On large areas, the water did not drain from three to six months. Disease, lack of food, lack of shelter have led to the death of a total of 3.7 million people.
One of the epicenters of the tragedy was the city of Gaoyu in the northern province of Jiangsu. A powerful typhoon hit the fifth largest lake in China, Gaoyu, on August 26, 1931. The water level in it has already risen to a record height as a result of heavy rains that have passed in the previous weeks. The squally wind raised high waves that beat against the dams. After midnight, the battle was lost. The dams were broken in six places, and the largest breach reached almost 700 m. A stormy stream swept through the city and the province. In one morning alone, about 10,000 people died in Gaoyu.

Every year, dozens of terrible man-made disasters occur in the world, which cause significant harm to the global ecology. Today I invite you to read about several of them in continuation of the post.

Petrobris is a Brazilian state-owned oil company. The company is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. In July 2000, more than a million gallons of oil (about 3,180 tons) flowed into the Iguazu River as a result of the disaster at the oil refinery in Brazil. For comparison, recently about resort island in Thailand 50 tons of crude oil spilled.
The resulting stain moved with the current, threatening to poison drinking water for several cities at once. The liquidators of the accident built several barriers, but they managed to stop the oil only at the fifth. One part of the oil was collected from the surface of the water, while the other left through specially built diversion channels.
Petrobris paid a $ 56 million fine to the state budget and $ 30 million to the state budget.

On September 21, 2001, an explosion occurred at the AZF chemical plant in Toulouse, France, the consequences of which are considered one of the largest man-made disasters. Exploded 300 tons of ammonium nitrate (nitric acid salt), which were in the warehouse finished products... By official version, the management of the plant is to blame, which did not ensure the safe storage of an explosive substance.
The consequences of the disaster were gigantic: 30 people died, the total number of injured was more than 3,000, thousands of houses and buildings were destroyed or damaged, including almost 80 schools, 2 universities, 185 kindergartens, 40,000 people were left without a roof over their heads. more than 130 enterprises have actually ceased their activities. The total amount of damage is 3 billion euros.

On November 13, 2002, off the coast of Spain, the oil tanker Prestige was caught in a severe storm, with more than 77,000 tons of fuel oil in its holds. As a result of the storm, a crack with a length of about 50 meters formed in the ship's hull. On November 19, the tanker broke in half and sank. As a result of the disaster, 63,000 tons of fuel oil fell into the sea.

Cleaning the sea and shores from fuel oil cost 12 billion dollars, the total damage to the ecosystem is impossible to estimate.

On August 26, 2004, near Cologne in western Germany, a fuel tanker carrying 32,000 liters of fuel fell from a 100-meter-high Wiehltal bridge. After the fall, the fuel truck exploded. The culprit of the accident was a sports car, which skidded on a slippery road, which caused the fuel tanker to skid.
This accident is considered one of the most costly man-made disasters in history - a temporary repair of the bridge costs $ 40 million, and a complete reconstruction - $ 318 million.

On March 19, 2007, a methane explosion at the Ulyanovskaya mine in the Kemerovo Region killed 110 people. The first explosion was followed by four more explosions in 5-7 seconds, which caused extensive collapses in the workings in several places at once. The chief engineer and almost the entire management of the mine were killed. This accident is the largest in Russian coal mining over the past 75 years.

On August 17, 2009, a man-made disaster occurred at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station, located on the Yenisei River. This happened during the repair of one of the hydroelectric units of the hydroelectric power station. As a result of the accident, the 3rd and 4th water conduits were destroyed, the wall was destroyed and the turbine hall was flooded. 9 out of 10 hydro turbines were completely out of order, the hydroelectric power station was shut down.
Due to the accident, the power supply to the Siberian regions was disrupted, including the limited supply of electricity in Tomsk, shutdowns affected several Siberian aluminum plants. As a result of the disaster, 75 people died, and 13 were injured.

The damage from the accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP exceeded 7.3 billion rubles, including environmental damage. The other day in Khakassia, a trial began in the case of a man-made disaster at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station in 2009.

On October 4, 2010, a major environmental disaster occurred in western Hungary. In a large aluminum smelter, an explosion destroyed the dam of a reservoir containing a toxic waste - the so-called red mud. About 1.1 million cubic meters of caustic substance were flooded with a 3-meter stream of the city of Kolontar and Dechever, 160 kilometers west of Budapest.

Red mud is a sludge that forms during the production of aluminum oxide. When it comes into contact with the skin, it acts like an alkali on it. As a result of the disaster, 10 people died, about 150 received various injuries and burns.

On April 22, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of the US state of Louisiana after an explosion that killed 11 people and a 36-hour fire, the Deepwater Horizon controlled drilling platform sank.

The oil spill was stopped only on August 4, 2010. About 5 million barrels of crude oil have spilled into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The platform on which the accident occurred belonged to a Swiss company, and at the time of the man-made disaster, the platform was operated by British Petroleum.

On March 11, 2011, in the northeast of Japan at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, after a strong earthquake, the largest accident occurred in the last 25 years after the Chernobyl disaster. After tremors with a magnitude of 9.0, a huge tsunami wave came to the coast, which damaged 4 of the 6 reactors of the nuclear power plant and disabled the cooling system, which led to a series of hydrogen explosions and the melting of the core.

The total emissions of iodine-131 and cesium-137 after the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant amounted to 900,000 terabekkrels, which does not exceed 20% of the emissions after the Chernobyl accident in 1986, which then amounted to 5.2 million terabekkerels.
Experts estimated the total damage from the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant at $ 74 billion. The complete elimination of the accident, including the dismantling of the reactors, will take about 40 years.

NPP "Fukushima-1"

On July 11, 2011, an explosion occurred at a naval base near Limassol in Cyprus, which claimed 13 lives and put the island nation on the brink of an economic crisis, destroying the island's largest power plant.
Investigators accused the President of the Republic, Dimitris Christofias, of negligently handling the problem of storing ammunition confiscated in 2009 from the Monchegorsk ship on suspicion of arms smuggling to Iran. In fact, the ammunition was stored right on the ground on the territory of the naval base and detonated due to the high temperature.

Destroyed power plant Mari in Cyprus

There have always been disasters: environmental, man-made. Over the past hundred years, a lot of them have happened.

Major disasters on the water

People have been crossing seas and oceans for hundreds of years. During this time, there have been many shipwrecks.

For example, in 1915, a German submarine fired a torpedo and blew up a British passenger liner. It happened not far from the Irish coast. The vessel sank to the bottom in a matter of minutes. About 1200 people died.

In 1944, the catastrophe happened right in the Bombay port. During the unloading of the steamer, a powerful explosion occurred. The cargo ship contained explosives, gold bars, sulfur, timber and cotton. It was the burning cotton, scattered within a radius of one kilometer, that caused the fire of all ships in the port, warehouses and even many city objects. The city burned for two weeks. 1,300 people died, more than 2,000 were injured. The port entered its operating mode only 7 months after the disaster.

The most famous and large-scale disaster on the water is the wreck of the famous "Titanic". He went under water on his maiden voyage. The giant was unable to change course when an iceberg appeared directly in front of him. The liner sank, and with it one and a half thousand people.

At the end of 1917, there was a collision of the French and Norwegian ships - "Mont Blanc" and "Imo". The French ship was fully loaded with explosives. A powerful explosion, along with the port, destroyed part of the city of Halifax. The consequences of this explosion in human lives: 2000 dead and 9000 injured. This explosion is considered the most powerful before the appearance of nuclear weapons.

In 1916, the Germans torpedoed a French ship. 3130 people died. After the attack on the German hospital, General Steuben left afloat 3,600 people.

In early 1945, a submarine commanded by Marinesco fired a torpedo into the German liner Wilhelm Gustlov, which was carrying passengers. At least 9,000 people died.

Major disasters in Russia

Several catastrophes have occurred on the territory of our country, which in terms of their scale are considered the largest in the history of the state's existence. These include an accident at railroad near Ufa. An accident occurred on the pipeline, which was located next to the railway track. As a result of the accumulated fuel mixture in the air at the moment when the passenger trains met, an explosion thundered. 654 people died and about 1000 were injured.

The largest ecological catastrophe not only in the country, but throughout the world also occurred on the territory of Russia. It is about the Aral Sea, which has practically dried up. This was facilitated by many factors, including social and soil. The Aral Sea was gone for some half a century. In the 60s of the last century, the fresh waters of the tributaries of the Aral Sea were used in many areas in agriculture... By the way, the Aral Sea was considered one of the largest lakes in the world. Now its place is taken by land.

Another indelible mark on the history of the fatherland was left by the flood in 2012 in the city of Krymsk, Krasnodar Territory. Then, in two days, as much precipitation fell as it does in 5 months. Due to the natural disaster, 179 people died, and 34 thousand local residents were injured.

The largest nuclear disaster

The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in April 1986 went down in the history of not only the Soviet Union, but the whole world. The power unit of the station exploded. As a result, there was a powerful release of radiation into the atmosphere. To the present day, within a radius of 30 km from the epicenter of the explosion, it is considered an exclusion zone. There is still no exact data on the consequences of this terrible catastrophe.

Same nuclear explosion occurred in 2011, when the nuclear reactor at Fukushima-1 failed. This happened due to a strong earthquake in Japan. A huge amount of radiation entered the atmosphere.

The largest disasters in the history of mankind

In 2010, an oil platform exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. After a stunning fire, the platform quickly went under water, but oil poured into the ocean for another 152 days. According to scientists, the area covered by the oil film was 75 thousand square kilometers.

The most terrible global disaster in terms of the number of deaths was the explosion of a chemical plant. It happened in the Indian city of Bhapol in 1984. Killed 18 thousand people a large number of people received radiation.

In 1666, a fire broke out in London, which is still considered the most powerful fire in history. The fire wiped out 70 thousand houses from the face of the earth and took the lives of 80 thousand residents of the city. It took 4 days to eliminate the fire.

You cannot live in the past, dream about the future, you need to value the present, rejoice in every day you live. The horrors that befell humanity in the twentieth century cannot be forgotten. You will find the most tragic events, shocking lessons of fate in our review.

Water disasters

The death of thousands of people in the water is caused by different reasons: human factor, design errors, military operations, natural disasters. Consider the most ambitious in terms of the number of victims of the tragedies that occurred in the last century on the water:

1. "Goya". 7,000 people perished on a military ship confiscated by the Germans after they occupied Norwegian territories during the Great Patriotic War. On April 16, 1945, a torpedo was directed at a powerful ship from a Russian submarine, as a result of which the Goya sank in the Baltic Sea.

2. "Wilhelm Gustloff". The German ship is named after a Nazi party leader. At the time of construction, it was considered the largest ship in the world. Before the war, it was used as a means of recreation. The ship sank on January 30, 1945. The reason is the attack by the Soviet military from a submarine. The exact composition of the passengers is unknown, but according to the official version, 5,348 people died. There were women and children on board.

3. Mont Blanc. On December 6, 1917, a French military ship exploded in a Canadian harbor, colliding with the ship Imo (Norway). Few managed to survive as a result of the fire. The mortality rate is 2,000 people (1,950 people were identified), and the reason is a banal human factor. Apart from the pre-nuclear era, this explosion was the most powerful in the history of mankind. About the terrible tragedy, you can watch the film, filmed in Canada in 2003 - "City of Destruction".

4. "Bismarck". The German battleship was sunk by British aircraft on June 12, 1944 during the war. The number of victims was 1,995.

The sinking of the Titanic

At the time of commissioning, the ship was considered the largest on earth. The giant ship sank on its first cruise on April 15, 1912, colliding with an iceberg.

Horror and death in the air

In the middle of the twentieth century, air travel became widespread. The active development of passenger aviation has led to an excess of the death of people in the sky in comparison with the "water" mortality. Here is a list of "bright" tragedies that claimed the lives of many innocent people:

1. Collision in Tenerife. The disaster took place on March 27, 1977. Event location - Canary Islands(Tenerife). The fatal "meeting" of the two liners caused the death of 583 people. 61 people managed to escape the tragedy. For the period of the twentieth century, this plane crash is the largest in terms of the number of civil aviation.

2. The disaster near Tokyo. On August 12, 1985, the Japanese airliner, 12 minutes after its takeoff, lost control, having lost its vertical stabilizer. For 32 minutes, the crew fought to save the plane in the air, but the collision with Mount Otsutaka affected the destructive outcome of events. Killed 520 people, but only 4 survived. The catastrophe is called the largest in the history of "one plane".

3. Charkhi Dadri (city in India). The plane crash occurred as a result of a collision of the flagship and Kazakhstani airliners at an altitude of 4,109 meters. All passengers were killed, including the crew of both aircraft (349 people in total).

4. Air crash near Paris. On March 3, 1974, a wide-body airliner built by a Turkish company killed 346 people. A few minutes after takeoff, the cargo compartment door suddenly opened.

Explosive compression destroyed all control systems. The plane was picketing and crashed into the forest. Investigations have indicated that the compartment has an imperfect locking mechanism. Since then, many airlines have redesigned their aircraft to avoid catastrophic repetitions.

5. Terrorist attack near Cork. On the way to London, India's flagship carrier was the victim of a brutal terrorist attack. Literally a few minutes before arrival, an explosion occurred on board the aircraft and all those who were in it were killed (329 people). This is the largest terrorist attack in the history of Canada.

Tragedies on earth

Some of the tragedies that happened on earth in the last century still cause concern and apprehension, continuing to destroy the health and lives of ordinary people, namely:

1. Bhopal disaster. The man-made tragedy is the largest in history. An accident occurred at a chemical plant in India (1984). Killed 18,000 people. 3,000 of those killed became victims of instant death, and the rest died in the months and years after the tragedy. It was not possible to establish the cause of the terrible event.

2. ChNPP. On April 26, 1986, there was a major fatal accident, an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (Ukraine). The release of a huge amount of radioactive substances into the air caused the death of hundreds of people, and not immediately, but gradually.

3. Piper Alpha. At the oil station in 1988, 167 people (staff members) died, 59 people were lucky, they managed to survive. This disaster is the largest in the oil industry.

In addition to man-made tragedies in the twentieth century, there were many other shocking events - a war, the total number of millions of victims of which can no longer be counted: World War I (1914-1818), Civil War in Russia (1917-1923), World War II (1939 -1945), Korean War (1950-1053).

Natural disasters

1. Cyclone "Bhola". The disaster happened in 1970. The tropical disaster swept across several territories of Pakistan and Bengal, wiping out cities and small villages from the face of the earth. The researchers were unable to find out the exact number of citizens who died (approximately 5,000,000 people).

2. Valdiv earthquake (1960 - Chile). The resulting tsunami did not save many innocent residents. The number of victims has reached several thousand people. In addition to death, a natural phenomenon caused impressive damage to the affected territories (estimated cost - $ 500 million).

3. Megatsunami in Alaska (1958). Earthquake, landslides, the collapse of stones and ice into the water, the world's highest tsunami. The element has casualties in the amount of 5,000,000 people.