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

Deadliest natural disasters by year excluding epidemics and famines

20th century

21st century

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 −
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 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