Mother Nature is a Bitch

The Rath of Mother Nature.

Please give what you can to help in the wake of Katrina.

79 AD,
Mt. Vesuvius erupted in southern Italy, destroying the ancient Roman city of Pompeii and two other communities. Thousands died.

1181,
In Japan, a famine kills at least 100,000 people.

1201,
The deadliest earthquake in history hit the eastern Mediterranean in July. Approximately 1.1 million people were killed, mostly in Egypt and Syria. This earthquake claimed the most lives of any other natural disaster in recorded history.

1228,
An estimated 100,000 lives lost from the flooding after some dykes broke in the Netherlands.

1290,
China, Earthquake takes at least 100,000 people.

1556,
The second deadliest earthquake struck the Chinese province of Shansi on February 2, 1556. It killed 830,000 people.

1642,
China, Flooding takes about 300,000 lives.

1730,
Japan, Earthquake took the lives of some 137,000 people.

1737,
India, Earthquake or was it a typhoon? killed some 300,000 in Calcutta.

1755,
Portugal, Over 100,000 lost their lives in the Lisbon earthquake and resulting tsunami.

1780,
The Hurricane that hit the Caribbean in October 1780 is the most deadly Western Hemisphere hurricane on record. It killed 22,000 people on the islands of Martinique, St. Eustatius, and Barbados.(This may change due to Katrina)

As many as 200,000 were killed in an earthquake near Tabriz, Iran.

1783,
Laki,Iceland, a volcanic eruption that included the largest basalt flow in recorded history, poisoned the island's pastures and caused the deaths of approxamately 10,000.

1815,
Mount Tambora on Sumbawa Island, Indonesia erupted with massive force. The eruption destroyed Tambora's peak and formed a crater six by seven kilometres wide. The eruption and resulting tsunamis killed 10,000 people. The agricultural loss, famine and disease brought about by the thick ash deposits caused the deaths of 82,000 more.

1826,
Japan, Tsunami kills about 27,000.

1871,
In 1871, after a period of drought, a massive forest fire spread over 1,036 square kilometres of Wisconsin. Nine towns were destroyed and 1,500 people were killed.

1876,
The deadliest drought in history occurred in China between 1876 and 1879. Rivers dried up, crops and livestock died. The drought led to the deaths of nine million people.

1883,
Indonesia was rocked again in 1883. Krakatoa, a small volcano on an uninhabited island between Sumatra and Java erupted sending an ash cloud 80 kilometres high and was heard in Australia, 4,800 kilometres away. The eruption also unleashed a tsunami, which pounded the shores of Java and Sumatra. 36,000 people were killed.

1887,
The worst flood in history happened in China in 1887. The Yellow River overflowed its banks, leading to the deaths of 900,000 people.

1896,
The highest death toll from a tsunami until 2004 happened in 1896, when 27,000 people were drowned following an earthquake off the coast of Japan, according to the Guinness Book of Records.

1902,
St. Pierre, Mont Pelee, Mt Pelee erupted. Superheated gas and steaming volcanic ash spewed out, pouring down the mountain with tremendous speed. Within seconds, the deadly gas cloud had destroyed the town of St. Pierre and incinerated everyone in it, except for one prisoner in a basement cell. It was the worst volcano disaster of the 20th century.

1906,
San Francisco, USA, an earthquake estimated at 8.3 on the Richter scale, sparked fires that burned uncontrollably for three days, burning down two thirds of the city and completely wiping out the downtown business district. Tens of thousands of people lost their homes and fled the city and an estimated 3000 people died.

1908,
Dec. 28, 1908 - Southern Italy was ravaged by a 7.2 magnitude quake that triggered a tsunami that hit the Messina-Reggio-Calabria area, killing 123,000.

1920,
China, In the north China there was a drought that caused 20 million victims and took at least 500,00 lives.

China, Gansu, China is hit with an earthquake measuring 8.6 and kills around 200,000 people.

1923,
Sept. 1, 1923 - A third of Tokyo and most of Yokohama were levelled when a magnitude 8.3 earthquake shook Japan. About 143,000 were killed as fires ravaged much of Tokyo.

1925,
A tornado tore through three states in the U.S. midwest, lasting a record 3.5 hours. Starting in Missouri, the twister followed a course along a ridge through Illinois and into Indiana. The tornado reached its peak in Illinois, where it ravaged the town of Gorham, killing or injuring half the residents. It then barrelled through a number of other small towns, leaving a total of 689 dead and 1,980 injured.

1927,
China, An earthquake 7.9 - hit Nanshan City and took about 200,000 people.

1931,
China, A flood on the Changjiang River took at least 145,000 people other estimates go over a million.

1932,
China, A earthquake, in northwest Gansu Province, killed about 70,000 people.

1933,
China, Yellow River flood caused 50 dikes to burst - about 18,000 people killed.

1934,
In the midst of the Depression, the American and Canadian midwest suffered through an eight-year drought that ruined once-fertile soil, kicked up tremendous dust storms and caused thousands of deaths. The lack of rain left vast amounts of farmland bone dry. The dry topsoil was swept up by the wind, creating massive dark clouds of dust that turned day into night. People died of starvation and lung diseases caused by breathing in the dust-laden air, while hordes of farmers were left bankrupt. Three hundred and fifty thousand people fled the region, their livelihood swept away in the worst drought in North American history.

1935,
China, Another Yellow River flood caused 27 counties inundated and 3.4 million victims. An actual death toll was never released.

China, Another Changjiang River flood takes the lives of at least 140,000 people.

Pakistan, About 30,000 lost their lives in a 7.5 earthquake.

1939,
Chile, Some 28,000 people were killed from an 8.3 earthquake.

China, A flood takes about 200,000 lives.

Turkey, More than 32,000 lives were lost from a 7.9 quake in Erzican Province.

1942,
China, A drought in the Henan province took the lives of more than a million people.

1948,
Oct. 5, 1948 - More than 110,000 were killed when a 7.3 quake rolled through the area around Ashgebat in Turkmenistan.

1950, India, Around 30,000 people lost their lives in a quake of 8.6 magnitude in Assam.

1970,
Bangladesh, a cyclone and the resulting floods killed 500,000 people, making it the worst natural disaster of the 20th Century. Packing winds of up to 230 km/h, the cyclone slammed into the heavily populated coastal area, where several river deltas provide fertile land. The strong winds produce massive waves, which deluged entire villages. Millions of people were left homeless.

A single landslide in Peru in 1970 killed more than 18,000 people in the town of Yungay.

1971,
August 1971 - An estimated 100,000 died when heavy rains led to severe flooding around Hanoi in what was then North Vietnam.

1975,
Aug. 5, 1975 - At least 85,000 were killed along the Yangtze River in China when more than 60 dams failed following a series of storms, causing widespread flooding and famine. This disaster was kept secret by the Chinese government for 20 years.(AGAIN!)

1976,
The most devastating earthquake in modern times hit northeast China, measuring 8.3 on the Richter scale, rocked the industrial mining city of Tangshan, almost destroying it completely. A total of 240,000 people died, while another 164,000 were severely injured. Ninety per cent of the buildings were destroyed. It took ten years and massive investment to rebuild the city from the ruins.(Take note of this one! 10 years...)

1978,
Iran, An earthquake measuring 7.7 takes about 25,000 lives.

1980's,
In the early-1980s, No rain fell, rivers and lakes dried up and agriculture was impossible in twenty African nations between 1981 and 1984. The situation was particularly grim in Ethiopia, where a civil war ravaged the country, leaving hunger-stricken civilians to fend for themselves. At the height of the famine, it's estimated that 20,000 children were starving to death each month. In 1984, an estimated 150 million people faced starvation. The situation was brought to the world's attention by a BBC news crew, after which support and donations began to roll in. Unfortunately, it was too late for the hundreds of thousands who had already died.

1983,
Southern Australia, one the worst forest fires in recent times. The fire spread rapidly, ripping through the bush at 160 kilometres per hour, and changed direction without warning. When the fires were finally extinguished, farmers were ruined, 8,500 people were homeless and 71 people were dead.

And one of the worst monsoons in living memory claimed the lives of 10,000 people in Thailand over the course of three months in 1983. Some 100,000 people contracted waterborne diseases as a result of the storm.

1985,
Nov. 13-14, 1985 - At least 25,000 are killed near Armero, Colombia, when the Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted, triggering mudslides.

1988,
In 1988, an earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale devastated Armenia, then a republic of the Soviet Union. The town of Spitak was virtually destroyed and all of its residents killed. In Leninakan, Armenia's second largest city, eighty per cent of the buildings collapsed, and over 100,000 people perished.

1989,
The deadliest tornado in history ripped through Bangladesh on April 26, 1989. Thirteen hundred people died and as many as 50,000 were left homeless.

1990,
Iran, a 7.7 earthquake in northwest Iran killed at least 50,000 people.

1991,
In 1991, China suffered another massive flood. Most of the country was pelted with exceptionally heavy rains. At one point, 40 centimetres fell in two days. Flooding was rampant. The worst of the flooding occurred when Tai Hu, a lake at the mouth of the Yangtze River, engulfed an important industrial and agricultural region. The economic loss was devastating, and the human toll was costly - over 2,000 people died. In one province, a million homes were swept away. Overall, the flood affected the lives of 220 million people.

July 15, 1991 - Mt. Pinatubo on Luzon Island in the Philippines erupted, blanketing 750 square kilometres with volcanic ash. More than 800 died.

Bangladesh, Flooding again took its toll on this nation. About 139,000 lost their lives.

1992,
The most costly hurricane in U.S. history was Andrew. The storm ripped through Florida and Louisiana in 1992 causing $27 billion worth of damage. It killed 58 people.(Again this will change thanks to Katrina)

1993,
"The Storm of the Century" that blasted the eastern United States and Canada in 1993 was unprecedented in size and scale. The collision of a huge mass of Arctic air with warm air from the Gulf of Mexico unleashed a massive snowfall from Florida to Nova Scotia, along with strong, bitter winds, and freezing temperatures. The blizzard paralyzed the eastern U.S., shutting down every major airport, something that had never happened before. The heavy snowfalls caused rooves to collapse and powerlines to fall. The powerful winds battered the coast, sweeping some homes into the sea. When it was finally over the storm had caused $3 billion in damage and 243 people were dead.

1998,
The devastation left by the second-deadliest Western Hemisphere storm may still be fresh in your mind - Hurricane Mitch laid waste to Honduras and Nicaragua in November 1998. It's estimated Mitch killed at least 10,000 people, while leaving two million homeless. Mudslides caused my torrential rains may have buried thousands of more people. Months after, disease and famine were still rampant in the storm's aftermath, as Honduras and Nicaragua struggled to pick up the pieces.

1999,
In December 1999, unseasonably cold, rainy weather, courtesy of La Nina, brought Venezuela one of the worst floods South America has experienced this century. Ten days of torrential rains triggered deadly flash floods and massive mudslides in Venezuela's northern states, where 75 percent of the country's population live. Thousands of homes were swept away and washed-roads hampered rescue efforts drastically. The death toll has been estimated as high as 10,000 or more, and 150,000 are estimated to be homeless.

Turkey, an earthquake struck in Golcuk killing about 17,000 people.

2003,
A 6.3 quake devastated the Iranian city of Bam, killing 26,271, according to official figures.

2004,
Dec. 26, 2004 - A magnitude 9.0 quake struck off the coast of Sumatra, triggering tsunamis that swept through the coastal regions of a dozen countries bordering the Indian Ocean. More than 156,000 died and thousands more are missing.

2005,
New Orleans, USA, Hurricane Katrina, ... we can only guess at this time.

There are two morals to this story:

1: Don't mess with Mother Nature!
2: Mother Nature does not like China!