Earth
World’s deadliest earthquakes
| Location / Year | Estimated death toll | Earthquake magnitude |
|---|
| Shaanxi, China - 1556 | 830 000 | 8 |
| Port-au-Prince, Haiti - 2010 | 316 000 | 7 |
| Antakya, Turkey - 115 | 260 000 | 7.5 |
| Antakya, Turkey - 525 | 250 000 | 7 |
| Tangshan, China - 1976 | 242 769 | 7.5 |
| Gyzndzha, Azerbaijan - 1139 | 230 000 | Unknown |
| Sumatra, Indonesia - 2004 | 227 899 | 9.1 |
| Damghan, Iran - 856 | 200 000 | 7.9 |
| Gansu, China - 1920 | 200 000 | 8.3 |
| Dvin, Armenia - 893 | 150 000 | Unknown |
| Tokyo, Japan - 1923 | 142 807 | 7.9 |
The most deadly earthquake in history was in Shaanxi, China in 1556. It’s estimated to have killed 830,000 people. This is more than twice that of the second most fatal: the recent Port-au-Prince earthquake in Haiti in 2010. It’s reported that 316,000 people died as a result.
Ten deadliest volcanic eruptions
| Location / Year | Estimated death toll | Event |
|---|
| Indonesia - 1815 | 71 000+ | Eruption of Mount Tambora |
| Indonesia - 1883 | 36 000+ | Eruption of Krakatoa |
| Martinique - 1902 | 30 000 | Eruption of Mount Pelée |
| Colombia - 1985 | 23 000 | Armero tragedy |
| Japan - 1792 | 15 000 | Unzen earthquake and tsunami |
| Indonesia - 1586 | 10 000 | Mount Kelud |
| Guatemala - 1902 | 6 000 | Santa Maria |
| Indonesia - 1919 | 5 000 | Mount Kelud |
| Indonesia - 1822 | 4 011 | Mount Galunggung |
| Mexico - 1982 | 3 500 | El Chichón |
Ten deadliest avalanches / landslides
| Location / Year | Estimated death toll | Event |
|---|
| China - 1786 | 100 000 | Dadu River landslide dam |
| China - 1920 | | Haiyuan landslides |
| Peru - 1970 | 22 000 | Huascarán avalanche |
| Venezuela - 1999 | 10 000 - 30 000 | Vargas tragedy |
| Italy - 1916 | 10 000 | White Friday avalanches |
| Tajikistan - 1949 | 5 000 - 28 000 | Khait landslide |
| Peru - 1941 | 4 000 - 6 000 | Huaraz avalanche |
| Peru - 1962 | 4 000 | Huascarán avalanche |
| China - 1310 | 3 466 | Western Hubei landslide |
| China - 1933 | 3 429 | Diexi landslides |
Water
Ten deadliest floods
| Location / Year | Estimated death toll | Event |
| China - 1931 | 400 000 - 4 000 000 | China floods |
| China - 1887 | 900 000 - 2 000 000 | Yellow River (Huang He) flood |
| China - 1975 | 229 000 | Banqiao Dam failure |
| China - 1935 | 145 000 | Yangtze river flood |
| Holy Roman Empire - 1530 | ~100 000 | St. Felix's Flood, storm surge |
| North Vietnam - 1971 | 100 000 | Hanoi and Red River Delta flood |
| China - 1911 | ~100 000 | Yangtze River flood |
| Holy Roman Empire - 1287 | 50 000 - 80 000 | St. Lucia's flood, storm surge |
| Holy Roman Empire - 1212 | 60 000 | North Sea flood, storm surge |
| Holy Roman Empire - 1219 | 36 000 | St. Marcellus flood, storm surge |
Ten deadliest tsunamis
| Location / Year | Estimated death toll | Event |
| Indian Ocean - 2004 | 227 898 | Indian Ocean tsunami |
| Italy - 1908 | 123 000 | Messina earthquake |
| Indonesia - 1883 | 36 417 -120 000 | Eruption of Krakatoa |
| Portugal - 1755 | 40 000 - 50 000 | Lisbon earthquake |
| Greece - 2nd Millennium BC | 30 000 - 100 000 (est.) | Minoan Eruption |
| Japan - 1498 | 31 000 | Meiō Nankaidō earthquake |
| Japan - 1707 | 30 000 | Hōei earthquake |
| Japan - 1896 | 27 122 | Sanriku earthquake |
| Chile - 1868 | 25 674 | Arica earthquake |
| Greece - 365 | 5 700 - 50 000 | Crete earthquake |
Fire
Deadliest wildfires / bushfires
| Location / Year | Estimated death toll | Event |
| Wisconsin, United States - 1871 | 1 200 - 2 500 | Peshtigo Fire |
| Soviet Union - 1936 | 1 200 | Kursha-2 Fire |
| Minnesota, United States - 1918 | 453 | Cloquet Fire |
| Minnesota, United States - 1894 | 418+ | Great Hinckley Fire |
| Michigan, United States - 1881 | 282 | Thumb Fire |
| Sumatra and Kalimantan, Indonesia - 1997 | 240 | Indonesian forest fires |
| Ontario, Canada - 1916 | 223 | Matheson Fire |
| China and Soviet Union - 1987 | 191 | Black Dragon Fire |
| Australia - 2009 | 180 | Black Saturday bushfires |
| Canada - 1825 | 160 - 300 | Miramichi Fire |
| Greece - 2018 | 102 | Attica wildfires |
| Montana and Idaho, United States - 1910 | 87 | Great Fire of 1910 |
| California, United States - 2018 | 86 | Camp Fire |
| Greece - 2007 | 84 | Greek forest fires |
| France - 1949 | 82 | Landes forest fire |
| Australia - 1983 | 75 | Ash Wednesday bushfires |
| Canada - 1911 | 73 - 200 | Great Porcupine Fire |
| Australia - 1939 | 71 | Black Friday bushfires |
| Portugal - 2017 | 66 | Portugal wildfires |
| Washington and Oregon, United States - 1902 | 65+ | Yacolt Burn |
| Australia - 1967 | 62 | Tasmanian fires |
| Australia - 1926 | 60 | Victorian bushfires |
| Indonesia - 1991 | 57 | Indonesian forest fires |
| Nepal - 1992 | 56 | Nepal wildfires |
| Russia - 2010 | 54 | Russian wildfires |
Air
Ten deadliest tornadoes
| Location / Year | Estimated death toll | Event |
| Manikganj, Bangladesh - 1989 | 1 300 | The Daulatpur - Saturia tornado |
| United States (Missouri-Illinois-Indiana) - 1925 | 695 | The Tri-State tornado |
| Bangladesh - 1973 | 681 | Dhaka tornado |
| Bangladesh - 1969 | 660 | East Pakistan tornado |
| Malta - 1551 or 1556 | 600 | The Valletta, Malta tornado |
| Sicily, Two Sicilies (now Italy) - 1851 | 500 | The Sicily Tornadoes |
| Jessore, Bangladesh - 1964 | | The Narail-Magura tornado |
| Bangladesh - 1977 | | The Madaripur-Shibchar tornado |
| Soviet Union (now Russia) - 1984 | 400 | The Ivanovo-Yaroslavl tornado |
| United States (Mississippi-Louisiana) - 1840 | 317 | The Great Natchez tornado |
Ten deadliest tropical cyclones
| Location / Year | Estimated death toll | Event |
| East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) - 1970 | 500 000 | Bhola cyclone |
| India - 1737 | 300 000 | Calcutta cyclone |
| India - 1839 | | India Cyclone |
| China - 1975 | 229 000 | Super Typhoon Nina |
| Bangladesh - 1876 | 200 000 | Great Backerganj Cyclone of 1876 |
| Vietnam - 1881 | 150,000 (30,000 to 300,000) | Haiphong Typhoon |
| Bangladesh - 1991 | 138,866 | Bangladesh cyclone |
| Myanmar - 2008 | 138,373 | Cyclone Nargis |
| Philippines - 1780 | 100 000 | July 1780 typhoon |
| India - 1977 | 50 000 | Andhra Pradesh cyclone |
Ten deadliest blizzards
| Location / Year | Estimated death toll | Event |
| Iran - 1972 | 4 000 | Iran blizzard |
| Norway - 1719 | 3 000 | Carolean Death March |
| Afghanistan - 2008 | 926 | Afghanistan blizzard |
| United States - 1888 | 400 | Great Blizzard of 1888 |
| United States - 1950 | 353 | Great Appalachian Storm of 1950 |
| United States - 1993 | 318 | Storm of the Century |
| United States - 1960 | 286 | December 1960 nor'easter |
| United States and Canada - 1913 | 250 | Great Lakes Storm of 1913 |
| United States - 1888 | 235 | Schoolhouse Blizzard |
| United States - 1966 | 201 | North American blizzard of 1966 |
https://ourworldindata.org/natural-disasters
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_natural_disasters_by_death_toll