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, cyclones, etc. To be classified as a disaster, it must have profound environmental effects or loss of life and frequently causes financial loss.

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.
Death toll EventLocationDate
40000001931 China floodsChina
20000001887 Yellow River floodChina
5000001970 Bhola cycloneEast Pakistan
3160002010 Haiti earthquakeHaiti
1976 Tangshan earthquakeChina
300000526 Antioch earthquakeByzantine Empire
1839 Coringa cycloneAndhra Pradesh, India
1737 Calcutta cycloneWest Bengal and Bangladesh
2734071920 Haiyuan earthquakeChina
1139 Ganja earthquakeSeljuk Empire

Lists of deadliest natural disasters by cause

Avalanche and landslides (landslips)

RankDeath toll EventLocationDate
1.1000001786 Dadu River landslide dam; triggered by the 1786 Kangding-Luding earthquakeChina
1.1000001920 Haiyuan landslides; triggered by the 1920 Haiyuan earthquakeChina
3.+Landslides triggered by the 1718 Tongwei–Gansu earthquake.China
4.220001970 Huascarán avalanche; triggered by the 1970 Ancash earthquakePeru
5.–30,000Vargas tragedyVenezuela1999
5.1815 Singaraja landslide; triggered by 1815 Bali earthquakeIndonesia1815
5.White Friday avalanchesItaly
8.–28,000Khait landslideTajikistan
9.4000–6,0001941 Huaraz avalanchePeru
9.40001962 Huascarán avalanchePeru

Disease outbreaks

Death counts are historical totals unless indicated otherwise.
Events in boldface are ongoing.
RankDeath toll EventLocationDatePathogen −
1.75–200 millionBlack DeathEurope, Asia and North Africa1346–1353Yersinia pestis −
2.50 million+ Spanish fluWorldwide1918–1920Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 −
3.43 million HIV/AIDS pandemicWorldwide1981–presentHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) −
4.30–50 millionPlague of JustinianEurope and West Asia541–542Yersinia pestis −
5.7–29 millionCOVID-19 pandemicWorldwide2019–2023SARS-CoV-2 −
6.12–24 million Third plague pandemicWorldwide1855–1960Yersinia pestis −
7.5–15 millionCocoliztli Epidemic of 1545–1548Mexico1545–1548Uncertain. Likely Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica − or viral hemorrhagic fever but no consensus.
8.5–10 millionAntonine PlagueRoman Empire165–180 Likely Variola −, possibly alongside Measles morbillivirus −
9.5–8 million1520 Mexico smallpox epidemicMexico1519–1520Variola virus −
10.2.5 million1918–1922 Russia typhus epidemicRussia1918–1922Rickettsia prowazekii −

Earthquakes

RankDeath toll EventLocationDate
1.–655,0001976 Tangshan earthquakeChina
2.2010 Haiti earthquakeHaiti
3.250000–300,000526 Antioch earthquakeByzantine Empire
4.2734071920 Haiyuan earthquakeNingxia, Republic of China
5.270,0001303 Hongdong earthquakeMongol Empire
6.260000115 Antioch earthquakeRoman Empire
7.2300001138 Aleppo earthquakeZengid dynasty
7.2300001139 Ganja earthquakeSeljuk Empire 20 September 1139
9.2004 Indian Ocean earthquakeIndonesia
10.200000856 Damghan earthquakeAbbasid Caliphate

Famines

Note: Some of these famines may have been caused or partially caused by humans.
RankDeath tollEventLocationDate
1.11,000,000–40,000,000Great Chinese FamineChina–1961
2.25,000,000Chinese famine of 1906–1907Qing dynasty–1907
3.9,000,000–13,000,000Northern Chinese Famine of 1876–1879Qing dynasty–1879
4.11,000,000Chalisa famineNorth India–1784
4.11,000,000Doji bara famine or Skull famineIndia–1793
6.10,000,000Great Bengal famine of 1770, incl. Bihar & OrissaBritish company India–1773
7.7,500,000Great European FamineEurope–1317
8.7,400,000Deccan famine of 1630–1632Mughal Empire, now India–1632
9.5,000,000–8,000,000Soviet famine of 1930–1933Soviet Union–1933
10.8,200,000Indian Great Famine of 1876–1878British India–1878

Floods

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. Some of the death tolls below are unverified, see separate lists.
RankDeath tollEventLocationDate
1.422,499–4,000,0001931 China floodsChina1931
2.930,000–2,000,0001887 Yellow River (Huang He) floodChina1887
3.230,0001975 Banqiao Dam failureChina1975
4.145,0001935 Yangtze floodChina1935
5.100,000+St. Felix's flood, storm surgeHoly Roman Empire, 1530
7.100,0001911 Yangtze River floodChina1911
8.100,000The flood of 1099Netherlands & England1099
9.50,000–80,000St. Lucia's flood, storm surgeHoly Roman Empire, 1287
10.60,000North Sea flood, storm surgeHoly Roman Empire, 1212

Hailstorm

RankDeath tollEventLocationDate
1.2461888 Moradabad hailstormIndia
2.2001932 Henan hailstormChina
3.921986 Gopalganj hailstormBangladesh
4.252002 Henan hailstormChina
5.231923 RostovRussia
5.232009 Anhui ProvinceChina
7.221930 Siatista district, Greek MacedoniaGreece
8.142009 Anhui ProvinceChina
9.92003 Dingxi Prefecture, GansuChina
10.81784 Winnsborough, South CarolinaUnited States

Heat waves

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.
RankDeath tollEventLocationDate
1.72,0002003 European heatwaveEurope2003
2.62,7002024 European heatwavesEurope2024
3.56,0002010 Russian heat waveRussia2010
4.24,501-70,0002022 European heatwavesEurope2022
5.47,0002023 European heatwavesEurope2023
6.41,0721911 France heat waveFrance1911
7.14,507–16,5002025 European heatwavesEurope2025
8.9,5001901 eastern United States heat waveUnited States1901
9.5,000–10,0001988–1990 North American droughtUnited States1988
10.3,9512019 European heatwavesEurope2019
---Europe-

Limnic eruptions

Note: Only 2 cases in recorded history.
RankDeath tollEventLocationDate
1.1,744Lake Nyos disasterCameroonAugust 21, 1986
2.37Lake Monoun disasterCameroonAugust 15, 1984

Tornadoes

RankDeath tollEventLocationDate
1.1,300The Daulatpur–Saturia tornadoManikganj, Bangladesh1989
2.751The 1925 Tri-State tornadoUnited States 1925
3.681The 1973 Faridpur District tornadoBangladesh1973
4.6601969 East Pakistan tornadoEast Pakistan 1969
5.6001996 Bangladesh tornadoBangladesh1996
6.600The Valletta, Malta tornadoMalta1551 or 1556
7.500The 1851 Sicily tornadoesSicily, Two Sicilies 1851
7.500Narail-Magura tornadoJessore, East Pakistan, Pakistan 1964
7.500Madaripur-Shibchar tornadoBangladesh1977
10.400The 1984 Soviet Union tornado outbreakSoviet Union 1984

Tropical cyclones

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.
RankDeath tollEventLocationDate
1.500,000+1970 Bhola cycloneEast Pakistan
2.1839 Coringa cycloneBritish India
3.300,000+1737 Calcutta cycloneBritish India
4.229,000Super Typhoon Nina—contributed to Banqiao Dam failureChina
5.200,000Great Backerganj Cyclone of 1876British Raj
6.138,8661991 Bangladesh cycloneBangladesh
7.138,373Cyclone NargisMyanmar
8.100,000July 1780 typhoonPhilippines
9.60,000+1864 Calcutta cycloneIndia and Bangladesh
10.50,000-220,0001912 China typhoonChina

Tsunamis

Note: A possible tsunami in 1782 that caused about 40,000 deaths in the Taiwan Strait area may have been of "meteorological" origin.
RankDeath tollEventLocationDate
1.2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamiIndian Ocean
2.1908 Messina earthquakeItaly
3.364171883 eruption of KrakatoaIndonesia
4.40000–50,0001755 Lisbon earthquakePortugal
5.30000–100,000Minoan eruptionGreece2nd Millennium BC
6.310001498 Meiō earthquakeJapan
7.300001707 Hōei earthquakeJapan
8.271221896 Sanriku earthquakeJapan
9.256741868 Arica earthquakeChile
10.5700–50,000365 Crete earthquakeGreece

Volcanic eruptions

RankDeath tollEventLocationDate
1.71,000+1815 eruption of Mount Tambora Indonesia
2.36,000+1883 eruption of KrakatoaIndonesia
3.30,0001902 eruption of Mount PeléeMartinique
4.23,000Armero tragedyColombia
5.15,0001792 Unzen earthquake and tsunamiJapan
6.13,000Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 ADItaly
7.10,000+1586 Kelud eruptionIndonesia
8.6,0001902 Santa Maria eruptionGuatemala
9.5,0001919 Kelud mudflowIndonesia
10.4,0111822 Galunggung eruptionIndonesia

Wildfires

RankDeath tollEventLocationDate
1.1,200–2,500Peshtigo fireWisconsin, United States
2.1,000+Kursha-2 fireSoviet Union
3.453Cloquet fireMinnesota, United States
4.418–476Great Hinckley FireMinnesota, United States
5.282Thumb FireMichigan, United States
6.2401997 Indonesian forest firesSumatra and Kalimantan, Indonesia
7.160–3001825 Miramichi fireCanada
8.223Matheson FireOntario, Canada
9.2111987 Black Dragon fireChina and Soviet Union
10.173Black Saturday bushfiresAustralia

Winter storms

RankDeath toll EventLocationDate
1.40001972 Iran blizzardIran
2.3000Carolean Death MarchNorway
3.9262008 Afghanistan blizzardAfghanistan
4.400Great Blizzard of 1888United States
5.353Great Appalachian Storm of 1950United States
6.3181993 Storm of the CenturyUnited States
7.2021 North American winter stormUnited States and Mexico
8.286December 1960 nor'easterUnited States
9.250Great Lakes Storm of 1913United States and Canada
10.235Schoolhouse BlizzardUnited States