number 10 the indian ocean tsunami on december 26 2004 the deadliest tsunami in recorded history
took place bringing destruction to the coasts of 11 countries including sri lanka thailand
indonesia and india it all started with a 9.1 magnitude earthquake the third largest earthquake
ever recorded its epicenter was an underwater fault 31 miles under the ocean floor in the
indian ocean the earthquake lasted for 10 minutes and released a force that was estimated to have
about the same energy as 23 000 atomic bombs this sparked a series of tsunamis with waves that were
responsible for taking the lives of nearly 230 000 people in total across several countries
the foot waves destroyed everything in sight imagine 10 story buildings towering over you
and that's about how big those waves were they crumbled buildings swept people away
and left a path of destruction that devastated entire communities number nine hurricane katrina
hurricane katrina is considered the costliest storm in u.s history in august of 2005 a category
5 hurricane spanned over 400 miles affecting areas of new orleans alabama mississippi florida and
louisiana winds of up to 175 miles per hour were recorded and severe flooding caused about 125
billion dollars in damages in new orleans 80 percent of the city was under water for weeks
but the worst part was the number of lives lost in the storm over 1 800 people died
and thousands more were left homeless and with nothing rescue and relief efforts by
the government were highly criticized because the federal government was not prepared for a natural
disaster the magnitude of hurricane katrina and they were slow to respond to the crisis
many people turned to looting and chaos ensued as cities and towns were destroyed
to this day the effects of this natural disaster can still be felt number eight the sendai tsunami
on march 11 2011 a 9.0 magnitude earthquake took place under the sea in the pacific ocean about
45 miles off the coast of japan it was the biggest earthquake ever recorded in japan and
the fourth biggest earthquake to be recorded in the world it lasted for about six minutes
which triggered a tsunami that made its way to the shore just several minutes later waves reached
average heights of 33 feet but some were even recorded at around 130 feet high they destroyed
everything in sight homes roads railways important buildings and even a dam were all damaged in
the wake of these strong waves to make matters worse the tsunami caused the fukushima daiichi
disaster this was when three nuclear reactors in fukushima daichi nuclear power plant
had a meltdown discharging radioactive waste water into the pacific ocean electricity was lost and
the cooling systems were unable to function properly making heat build up and producing
hydrogen gas that accumulated within the reactor due to poor ventilation the reactors exploded and
tens of thousands of people within 12 miles of the power plant had to be evacuated the total cost and
damage from the tsunami was 360 billion dollars and it is estimated that around 20 000 people died
number seven hurricane maria hurricane maria was considered to be the deadliest storm of
the 2017 hurricane season and the worst natural disaster to have ever taken place in puerto rico
and the caribbean it was a category 5 hurricane that reached wind speeds of up to 175 miles per
hour had severe rainfall that flooded areas and took out the island's power puerto rico had the
largest blackout in the history of the us they were left without power for 11
months and there were shortages of essential supplies due to the government's poor handling
of rescue and relief efforts hurricane maria did about 90 billion dollars worth of damages making
it one of the costliest hurricanes in u.s history and killed over three thousand people number six
typhoon haiyan the philippines was devastated in 2013 by one of the most powerful tropical cyclones
to ever be recorded in fact it's one of the top 12 most powerful storms ever to happen on earth
it was a category 5 super typhoon that not only affected the philippines but also parts of vietnam
palau and taiwan wind speeds were an incredible 195 miles per hour
and storm surges reached up to 20 feet high over 6 300 people lost their lives in the storm
but many others were missing and the death count is expected to be higher than that
over a million people's homes were destroyed the typhoon caused storm surges on neighboring islands
adding even more to the destruction an oil spill occurred as a result of the typhoon which impacted
the wildlife population the damage done by the typhoon was nearly three billion dollars
number five the lisbon portugal tsunami in the beginning of november in the year 1755
a series of earthquakes that took place on the sea floor of the atlantic caused a tsunami
that affected mainly portugal and spain but also shores along the iberian peninsula and northwest
africa the earthquake is believed to have been a magnitude of at least 8.4 the waves that hit
lisbon reached up to 20 feet while the shores of spain experienced waves of up to 65 feet high
but if that wasn't bad enough a firestorm also broke out throughout lisbon this natural
disaster took place on all saints day and many people were celebrating and had candles burning
candles fell over and the fire was started growing into a firestorm and asphyxiating anyone within
about a hundred feet of it lisbon was so hard hit by both the fire and the tsunami that 85 of its
buildings were completely destroyed casualties are estimated to be between thirty thousand and fifty
thousand people making it one of the deadliest tsunamis in history it was the first earthquake
that was studied scientifically which helped lead to the development of modern seismology
and earthquake engineering number four cyclone siddur labeled as an extremely severe cyclonic
storm cyclone sadeur devastated the bay of bengal in bangladesh in the year 2007. this category 5
cyclone had storm surges that were 20 feet high and winds that reached up to 160 miles per hour
around 650 000 people had to be evacuated from the coast of bangladesh where at least one million
homes were affected the cyclone contaminated water and severely damaged infrastructure
over 3 400 deaths were confirmed by the storm but it is believed that the death toll was higher
at around fifteen thousand damage done cost about 2.3 billion dollars electricity and
water were cut off due to the storm and local agriculture was hit hard with the harvest for
that season being completely lost the world heritage site sunderbonds a mangrove forest
is expected to take at least 40 years to fully recover from this natural disaster according
to researchers number three the northern chile tsunami back in august of 1868 two earthquakes
with a magnitude between 8.5 and 9.0 struck arika which was then part of peru but in present day
is part of chile they caused extreme destruction in the south of peru and in chile and even caused
several shipwrecks the earthquakes alone were responsible for about 25 000 deaths but
the devastation was only just beginning tsunami waves made their way to the shores all around the
pacific rim even as far away as new zealand but the most severe damage was made off the coasts of
peru and chile the first wave to hit the shore was nearly 40 feet tall and arrived within 50 minutes
of the earthquake the largest wave was recorded at about 52 feet tall and hit about a little over
an hour later there were about 400 aftershocks recorded from the earthquakes that lasted for
about two weeks the damages along the coast of chile and peru added up to around 300 million
dollars from both the earthquakes and tsunami in total over 25 000 people died in the disaster
number two cyclone nargis this cyclone went down as the worst natural disaster in myanmar ever to
be recorded in history on may 2nd 2008 cyclone nargis hit the coast of myanmar with wind speeds
of 105 miles per hour and even reaching up to 135 miles per hour at some points it spread across
the southern part of myanmar over the course of two days making its way about 25 miles inland
this affected at least 2.4 million people causing them to lose their homes jobs and access to other
necessities like electricity water and supplies nearly 13 billion dollars worth of damage was done
making it the second costliest cyclone to have ever happened in the indian ocean it is
uncertain exactly how many people lost their lives in total but the combination of confirmed deaths
plus those who went missing and were never found suggest that the death toll is over 138 000 deaths
number one the sunda strait tsunami tsunamis don't only just occur after earthquakes volcanic
eruptions can also trigger them and that's exactly what happened on december 22 2018 in indonesia the
anak krakatau volcano erupted making part of the volcano collapse and caused an undersea landslide
about 160 acres of the volcano plunged into the ocean leading to the tsunami the waves hit about
195 miles of the coastline affecting many different towns and villages
waves ranged in size depending on where they hit in some areas they were about three feet tall
but in others they ranged anywhere from 12 feet to 21 feet tall entire villages were wiped out
blackouts ensued and over 400 structures were either completely destroyed or severely damaged
over 14 000 people were injured and at least 426 people died in the disaster would you
rather face 100 foot waves at your beachfront house or have to go 11 months without power