Dangerous disasters of the world. The worst disasters in the world. Kursk submarine disaster

Environmental disasters have their own specifics - during them not a single person may die, but at the same time very significant damage to the environment will be caused. Nowadays, the culprit of environmental disasters is mainly man. The growth of industrial and agricultural production not only brings material benefits, but is also slowly killing our environment. Therefore, the biggest environmental disasters in the world are imprinted in human memory for a long time.

1. Oil leakage from the Prestige tanker

The Bahamian-flagged single-hull tanker Prestige was built by the Japanese shipyard Hitachi to transport crude oil and launched in 1976. In November 2002, while passing through the Bay of Biscay, the tanker encountered a strong storm off the coast of Galicia, as a result of which it received a 35 m long crack, from which about a thousand tons of fuel oil began to leak per day.
Spanish coast services did not allow the dirty ship to enter the nearest port, so they tried to tow it to Portugal, but a similar refusal was received there. In the end, the restless tanker was towed to the Atlantic. On November 19, it sank completely, splitting into two parts, which sank to the bottom to a depth of about 3,700 m. Since it was impossible to repair the damage and pump out the oil products, over 70,000 cubic meters of oil ended up in the ocean. A spot more than a thousand kilometers long formed on the surface along the coastline, causing enormous damage to the local fauna and flora.
For Europe, this incident became the most catastrophic oil spill in history. The damage from it was estimated at 4 billion euros, and 300,000 volunteers worked to eliminate its consequences.

2. Exxon Valdez tanker wreck

On March 23, 1989, the Exxon Valdez tanker, fully loaded with oil, sailed from a terminal in the Alaskan port of Valdez, bound for the Californian port of Long Beach. Having taken the ship out of Valdez, the pilot handed over control of the tanker to Captain Joseph Jeffrey, who by that time was already “tipsy.” There were icebergs in the sea, so the captain was forced to deviate from the course, notifying the coast guard. Having received permission from the latter, he changed course, and at 23 o'clock he left the wheelhouse, leaving control of the ship to the third mate and the sailor, who had already served their watch and needed a 6-hour rest. In fact, the tanker was controlled by an autopilot, guided by a navigation system.
Before leaving, the captain instructed the mate that two minutes after passing abeam the island it was necessary to change course. The assistant conveyed this order to the sailor, but either he himself was late, or his execution was late, but at half past one on the night of March 24, the tanker crashed into Blythe Reef. As a result of the disaster, 40,000 cubic meters of oil spilled into the ocean, and environmentalists believe that much more. 2,400 km of coastline were polluted, making the accident one of the world's most significant environmental disasters.

Occasionally, tsunami waves occur in the ocean. They are very insidious - in the open ocean they are completely invisible, but as soon as they approach the coastal shelf, they...

3. Chernobyl disaster

Everyone has probably heard about the largest nuclear power plant accident in the history of mankind, which occurred in Chernobyl. Its consequences are visible today and will continue to be felt for many years to come. On April 26, 1986, an explosion occurred at the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, completely destroying the reactor, and tons of radioactive materials were released into the environment. At the time of the tragedy itself, 31 people died, but this is only the tip of the iceberg - it is simply impossible to calculate the number of victims and injured from this accident.
Officially, about 200 people who were directly involved in its liquidation are considered to have died from the accident; their lives were claimed by radiation sickness. The nature of all of Eastern Europe suffered enormous damage. Tens of tons of radioactive uranium, plutonium, strontium and cesium were dispersed into the atmosphere and began to slowly settle to the ground, carried by the wind. The authorities’ desire not to widely publicize what happened so that panic would not start among the population contributed to the tragedy of the unfolding events around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Therefore, many thousands of residents of cities and villages who were not included in the alienated 30-kilometer zone carelessly remained in their places.
In subsequent years, there was a surge in cancer among them, mothers gave birth to thousands of deformities, and this is still observed. In total, due to the spread of radioactive contamination in the area, the authorities had to evacuate over 115,000 people living within a 30-kilometer zone around the nuclear power plant. More than 600,000 people took part in the elimination of this accident and its lingering consequences, and enormous amounts of money were spent. The territory directly adjacent to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is still a restricted area because it is unsuitable for habitation.

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4. Accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant

The disaster occurred on March 11, 2011. It all started with a strong earthquake and a powerful tsunami, which disabled the backup diesel generators and power supply system of the nuclear power plant. This led to dysfunction of the reactor cooling system and melting of the core in three power units of the station. During the accident, hydrogen was released, which exploded, destroying the outer shell of the reactor, but the reactor itself survived.
Due to the leak of radioactive substances, the level of radiation quickly began to increase, because the depressurization of the shells of the fuel elements caused the leak of radioactive cesium. On March 23, 30 kilometers from the station in the ocean, water samples were taken, which showed an excess of the norms for iodine-131 and cesium-137, but the radioactivity of the water was increasing and by March 31 it exceeded the normal level by almost 4400 times, because even after the accident the water was contaminated with radiation continued to leak into the ocean. It is clear that after some time, animals with strange genetic and physiological changes began to be found in local waters.
The spread of radiation was facilitated by the fish themselves and other marine animals. Thousands of local residents had to be resettled from the radiation-contaminated area. A year later, on the coast near the nuclear power plant, radiation exceeded the norm by 100 times, so decontamination work will continue here for a long time.

5. Bhopal disaster

The disaster in Bhopal, India was truly terrible, not only because it caused enormous damage to the state’s nature, but also because it claimed the lives of 18,000 residents. A subsidiary of the Union Carbide Corporation was building a chemical plant in Bhopal, which, according to the original design, was supposed to produce pesticides used in agriculture.
But in order for the plant to become competitive, it was decided to change the production technology towards something more dangerous and complex, which would not require more expensive imported raw materials. But a series of crop failures led to a decrease in demand for the plant's products, so its owners decided to sell the plant in the summer of 1984. Funding for the operating enterprise was curtailed, the equipment gradually wore out and no longer met safety standards. In the end, liquid methyl isocyanate overheated in one of the reactors, causing a sharp release of its vapors, which ruptured the emergency valve. In a matter of seconds, 42 tons of toxic vapors entered the atmosphere, which formed a deadly cloud with a diameter of 4 kilometers over the plant and the surrounding area.
The affected area included residential areas and a railway station. The authorities did not manage to inform the population about the danger in time, and there was a critical shortage of medical personnel, so on the very first day, 5,000 people died after inhaling poisonous gas. But for a number of years after this, poisoned people continued to die, and the total number of victims of that accident is estimated at 30,000 people.

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6. Disaster at the Sandoz chemical plant

One of the worst environmental disasters, which caused incredible damage to nature, occurred on November 1, 1986 in prosperous Switzerland. Chemical and pharmaceutical giant Sandoz's plant, built on the banks of the Rhine near Basel, produced a variety of chemicals used in agriculture. When a strong fire broke out at the plant, about 30 tons of pesticides and mercury compounds entered the Rhine. The water in the Rhine has turned an ominous red color.
The authorities prohibited residents living on its banks from leaving their homes. Downstream, in some German cities the centralized water supply had to be cut off, and residents were brought drinking water in tanks. Almost all the fish and other living creatures died in the river, some species were irretrievably lost. Later, a program was adopted until 2020, the goal of which was to make the waters of the Rhine suitable for swimming.

7. Disappearance of the Aral Sea

Back in the middle of the last century, the Aral was the fourth largest lake in the world. But the active withdrawal of water from the Syr Darya and Amu Darya for irrigating cotton and other crops led to the fact that the Aral Sea began to quickly become shallow and was divided into 2 parts, one of which has already completely dried up, and the second will follow its example in the coming years.
Scientists estimate that from 1960 to 2007, the Aral Sea lost 1,000 cubic kilometers of water, which led to its reduction by more than 10 times. Previously, 178 species of vertebrates lived in the Aral Sea, but now there are only 38.
For decades, agricultural waste has been dumped into the Aral Sea and settled at the bottom. Now they have turned into poisonous sand, which the wind carries fifty kilometers around, polluting the surrounding area and destroying vegetation. Vozrozhdeniya Island has long been turned into part of the mainland, but once upon a time there was a testing ground for bacteriological weapons on it. There are burial places with such deadly diseases as typhus, plague, smallpox, and anthrax. Some pathogens are still alive, so they can spread into inhabited areas thanks to rodents.

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8. Flixborough chemical plant accident

In the British city of Flixborough there was a Nipro plant that produced ammonium nitrate, and on its territory 4000 tons of caprolactam, 3000 tons of cyclohexanone, 2500 tons of phenol, 2000 tons of cyclohexane and many other chemicals were stored. But various technological containers and spherical tanks were insufficiently filled, which increased the risk of explosion. In addition, the plant's reactors contained various flammable materials under high pressure and high temperature.
The administration sought to increase the plant's productivity, but this reduced the effectiveness of fire extinguishing agents. The company's engineers were often forced to turn a blind eye to deviations from technological regulations and neglect safety standards - a familiar picture. Finally, on June 1, 1974, the plant was shaken by a powerful explosion. Instantly, the production premises were engulfed in flames, and the shock wave from the explosion swept through the surrounding populated areas, shattering windows, tearing roofs off houses and injuring people. 55 people died then. The power of the explosion was estimated at 45 tons of TNT. But the worst thing is that the explosion was accompanied by the emergence of a large cloud of toxic fumes, which is why the authorities had to urgently evacuate residents of some neighboring settlements.
The damage from this man-made disaster was estimated at 36 million pounds - it was the most expensive emergency incident for British industry.

9. Fire on the Piper Alpha oil rig

In July 1988, a major disaster occurred on the Piper Alpha platform, which was used for oil and gas production. Its consequences were aggravated by the indecisive and ill-conceived actions of the personnel, due to which 167 of the 226 people working on the platform died. For some time after the accident, oil products continued to flow through the pipes, so the fire did not die out, but flared up even more. This disaster resulted not only in human casualties, but also in great environmental damage.

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10. Explosion of an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico

On April 20, 2010, an explosion occurred on the Deep Water Horizon oil production platform, owned by British Petroleum, located in the Gulf of Mexico, causing a huge amount of oil to be released from an uncontrolled well into the sea for a long time. The platform itself sank into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Experts were only able to roughly estimate the volume of spilled oil, but one thing is clear - this disaster became one of the most terrible for the biosphere not only of the Gulf Coast, but also of the Atlantic Ocean. Oil was poured into the water for 152 days, 75,000 square meters. km of water in the bay were covered with a thick oil film. All states whose coasts overlook the Gulf of Mexico (Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi) suffered from pollution, but Alabama suffered the most.
About 400 species of rare animals were threatened with extinction, and thousands of seabirds and amphibians died on oil-filled shores. The Office of Specially Protected Resources reported that there had been an outbreak of mortality among cetaceans in the gulf following the oil spill.

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Unfortunately, these things happen. There are probably no right words to describe them, and God forbid you find yourself in such situations.

We present to your attention the most terrible disasters in the world.

The worst plane crash

The rating of “The worst plane crashes” is headed by Tenerife. The fatal collision of 2 Boeing-747 aircraft belonging to different companies (Boeing-747-206B - the brainchild of KLM airline, operated the next flight KL4805 and Boeing-747 - property of Pan American, operated flight 1736), happened on March 27, 1977 on the island of the Canary group , Tenerife, on the runway of Los Rodeo airport. Many people died - 583 people on these two planes. What exactly caused such a devastating accident? The paradox is that the superposition of unfavorable circumstances on top of each other played a cruel joke.

On that ill-fated Sunday spring day, Los Rodeos airport was very congested. Both aircraft performed maneuvers on the narrow runway, including complex turns of 135-180 degrees. Interference in radio communications with the controller and between the pilots, poor weather conditions and visibility, misinterpretation of commands by the air traffic controller, the strong Spanish accent of the controller - all this inevitably led to trouble. The Boeing KLM commander did not understand the dispatcher's command to abort the takeoff, while the commander of the second Boeing reported that their huge plane was still moving along the runway. Fourteen seconds later, the inevitable collision occurred, the fuselage of the Pan American Boeing was very damaged, gaps formed in some places, and some passengers escaped through them. A Boeing KLM without a tail and with damaged wings fell onto the runway 150 meters from the point of collision and drove along the runway for another 300 meters. Both affected aircraft burst into flames.

All 248 people on the Boeing KLM plane were killed. The second plane killed 326 passengers and nine crew members. The American star of Playboy magazine, actress and model Eve Meyer, also died in this worst plane crash.

The worst man-made disaster

The worst disaster in the history of oil production was the explosion on the Piper Alpha oil platform, built in 1976. This happened on 07/06/1988. According to experts, this terrible accident cost 3.4 billion US dollars and claimed the lives of 167 people. Piper Alpha is the only burned-out oil production platform on Earth, owned by the American oil company Occidental Petroleum. There was a huge gas leak and, as a result, a colossal explosion. This happened as a result of ill-considered actions of the maintenance personnel - pipelines from the platform fed the general oil pipeline network, the supply of petroleum products was not stopped immediately after the disaster, awaiting the command of higher authorities. Therefore, the fire continued due to the burning of gas and oil in the pipes; the fire even engulfed residential complexes. And those who were able to survive the first explosion found themselves surrounded by flames. Those who jumped into the water were saved.

The worst disaster on the water

If you remember the biggest disasters on the water, you immediately remember the pictures from the film “Titanic”, which is based on real events of 1912. But the sinking of the Titanic is not the biggest disaster. The greatest maritime disaster was the sinking of the German motor ship Wilhelm Gustlow by a Soviet military submarine on January 30, 1945. There were almost 9 thousand people on board the ship: 3,700 of them were people who had completed elite training as military submariners, 3-4 thousand representatives of the military elite who were evacuated from Danzig. The tourist excursion ship was built in 1938. It was, as it seemed, an unsinkable 9-deck ocean liner, designed using the latest technologies of that time.

Dance floors, 2 theaters, swimming pools, a church, a gym, restaurants, a cafe with a winter garden and climate control, comfortable cabins and personal apartments of Hitler himself. 208 meters long, it could travel halfway around the world without refueling. It couldn't sink a priori. But fate decreed otherwise. Under the command of A.I. Marinesko, the crew of the Soviet submarine S-13 conducted a military operation to destroy the enemy ship. Three fired torpedoes penetrated the Wilhelm Gustlow. It immediately sank in the Baltic Sea. Until now, no one, the whole world, can forget the most terrible disaster.

The biggest environmental disaster

The death of the Aral Sea, which before the drying out began, scientists called the fourth lake by world standards, is considered the most terrible disaster from an environmental point of view. Although the sea is located on the territory of the former USSR, the disaster affected the whole world. Water was taken from it in uncontrolled quantities to water fields and gardens to ensure the fulfillment of the political ambitions and unreasonable plans of Soviet leaders.
Over time, the shoreline moved so deep into the lake that many species of fish and animals died, more than 60,000 people lost their jobs, shipping stopped, the climate changed and droughts became more frequent.

The worst nuclear disaster

Huge numbers of people are exposed to nuclear disasters. So in April 1986, one of the power units of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded. Radioactive substances released into the atmosphere settled on nearby villages and towns. This accident is one of the most destructive of its kind. Hundreds of thousands of people took part in the liquidation of the accident. Several hundred people were killed or injured. A thirty-kilometer exclusion zone has been formed around the nuclear power plant. The scale of the disaster is still unclear.

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Below is a list of the ten largest natural disasters in human history. The rating is based on the number of deaths.

Earthquake in Aleppo

Death toll: about 230,000

The ranking of the largest natural disasters in human history opens with the Aleppo earthquake of magnitude 8.5 on the Richter scale, which occurred in several stages near the city of Aleppo in northern Syria on October 11, 1138. It is often cited as the fourth-deadliest earthquake in history. According to the Damascus chronicler Ibn al-Qalanisi, approximately 230,000 people died as a result of this disaster.

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

Number of victims: 225,000–300,000

An underwater earthquake that occurred on December 26, 2004 in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of North Sumatra, 250 kilometers southeast of the city of Banda Aceh. Considered one of the strongest earthquakes of the 20th–21st centuries. Its magnitude, according to various estimates, ranged from 9.1 to 9.3 on the Richter scale. Occurring at a depth of about 30 km, the earthquake caused a series of destructive tsunamis, the height of which exceeded 15 meters. These waves caused enormous destruction and took the lives of, according to various estimates, from 225 thousand to 300 thousand people in 14 countries. The coasts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand were hit the hardest by the tsunami.

Death toll: 171,000–230,000

Banqiao Dam is a dam on the Zhuhe River, Henan Province, China. On August 8, 1975, due to the powerful Typhoon Nina, the dam was destroyed, thereby causing flooding and a huge wave 10 km wide and 3–7 meters high. This disaster, according to various estimates, claimed the lives of from 171,000 to 230,000 people, of whom about 26,000 died directly from the flood. The rest died from subsequent epidemics and famine. In addition, 11 million people lost their homes.

Number of victims: 242,419

The Tangshan earthquake, measuring 8.2 on the Richter scale, is the deadliest earthquake of the 20th century. It happened on July 28, 1976 in the Chinese city of Tangshan at 3:42 local time. Its hypocenter was located near the millionaire industrial city at a depth of 22 km. The 7.1 aftershocks caused even more damage. According to the Chinese government, the death toll was 242,419 people, but according to other sources, about 800,000 inhabitants died, and another 164,000 were seriously injured. The earthquake also affected settlements located 150 kilometers from the epicenter, including Tianjin and Beijing. More than 5,000,000 houses were completely destroyed.

Flood in Kaifeng

Death toll: 300,000–378,000

The Kaifeng flood is a man-made disaster that primarily struck Kaifeng. This city is located on the southern bank of the Yellow River in the Chinese province of Henan. In 1642, the city was flooded by the Yellow River after the Ming Dynasty army opened the dams to prevent the advance of Li Zicheng's troops. Then the flood and subsequent famine and plague killed about 300,000–378,000 people.

Indian cyclone – 1839

Death toll: over 300,000

Fifth place in the ranking of the largest natural disasters in history is occupied by the Indian cyclone of 1839. On November 16, 1839, a 12-meter wave caused by a powerful storm completely destroyed the large port city of Coringa, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. More than 300,000 people died then. After the disaster, the city was never rebuilt. Nowadays in its place there is a small village with a population (2011) of 12,495 inhabitants.

Death toll: approximately 830,000

This earthquake, measuring approximately 8.0 magnitude, occurred on January 23, 1556, in the Shaanxi province of China, during the Ming Dynasty. More than 97 districts were affected by it, everything was destroyed in an area of ​​840 km, and in some areas 60% of the population died. In total, the China earthquake killed approximately 830,000 people, more than any other earthquake in human history. The huge number of victims is due to the fact that the majority of the population of the province lived in loess caves, which were destroyed or flooded by mudflows immediately after the first tremors.

Number of victims: 300,000–500,000

The most destructive tropical cyclone in history, it struck East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and the Indian state of West Bengal on November 12, 1970. It killed an estimated 300,000–500,000 people, mostly as a result of a 9m high surge that swamped many low-lying islands in the Ganges delta. The sub-districts of Thani and Tazumuddin were the hardest hit by the cyclone, killing more than 45% of the population.

Death toll: about 900,000

This devastating flood occurred on September 28, 1887 in Henan Province, China. The torrential rains that fell here for many days were to blame. Due to the rains, the water level in the Yellow River rose and destroyed a dam near the city of Zhengzhou. The water quickly spread throughout northern China, covering an area of ​​approximately 130,000 square meters. km, taking the lives of about 900 thousand people, and leaving approximately 2 million homeless.

Number of victims: 145,000–4,000,000

The world's largest natural disaster is the Chinese flood, or more precisely a series of floods that occurred in 1931 in South-Central China. This disaster was preceded by a drought that lasted from 1928 to 1930. However, the following winter was very snowy, there was a lot of rain in the spring, and during the summer months, the country suffered from heavy rains. All these facts contributed to the fact that the three largest rivers in China: the Yangtze, Huaihe, and Yellow River overflowed their banks, taking the lives of, according to various sources, from 145 thousand to 4 million people. Also, the largest natural disaster in history caused epidemics of cholera and typhoid, and also led to famine, during which cases of infanticide and cannibalism were recorded.

Sometimes it is quite difficult to assess the scale of a particular global catastrophe, because the consequences of some of them can appear many years after the incident itself.

In this article we will present the 13 worst disasters in the world. Among them are incidents that occurred on water, in the air, and on land, due to human fault and for reasons beyond his control, widely known and those that not a very large circle of people know about.

The wreck of the superliner Titanic

Date Time: 14.04.1912 - 15.04.1912

Primary victims: at least 1.5 thousand people

Secondary victims: unknown

The British superliner Titanic, which was called the “most luxurious ship” of its time and “unsinkable,” gained worldwide fame. Unfortunately - sad. On the night of April 14-15, during its maiden voyage, the superliner collided with an iceberg and sank after more than two hours. The disaster was accompanied by numerous casualties among passengers and crew.

On April 10, 1912, the liner set out on its last voyage from the port of Southampton to New York, America, with almost 2.5 thousand people on board - passengers and crew members. One of the reasons for the disaster was that there was a tense ice situation on the liner’s route, but for some reason the captain of the Titanic, Edward Smith, did not attach any importance to this even after receiving numerous warnings about floating icebergs from other ships. The airliner was moving almost at its maximum speed (21-22 knots); there is a version that Smith fulfilled the unofficial requirement of the White Star Line company, which owned the Titanic, to receive the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic, a prize for the fastest ocean crossing, on the first voyage.

Late at night on April 14, the superliner collided with an iceberg. An ice block, which the lookout did not notice in time, pierced the five bow compartments of the ship on the starboard side, which began to fill with water. The problem turned out to be that the designers did not count on the occurrence of a 90-meter hole in the ship, and here the entire survivability system was powerless. In addition, the “ultra-safe” and “unsinkable” ship did not have a sufficient number of lifeboats, and those that were, for the most part, turned out to be irrationally used (12-20 people floated away on the first boats, 65 on the last ones). -80 with a capacity of 60 people). The result of the disaster was the death, according to various sources, from 1496 to 1522 passengers and crew members.

Today, the remains of the Titanic rest at a depth of about 3.5 km in the Atlantic. The ship's hull is gradually deteriorating and will finally disappear at the turn of the 21st and 22nd centuries.

Explosion of the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

Date Time: 26.04.1986

Primary victims: 31 people from the duty shift of Chernobyl NPP-4 and fire crews who arrived to extinguish the fire

Secondary victims: 124 people suffered acute radiation sickness but survived; up to 4 thousand liquidators died within 10 years after liquidation; from 600,000 to a million suffered from eliminating the consequences of radioactive contamination and staying in contaminated areas or as the radioactive cloud moved

The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is a man-made disaster on the territory of Ukraine, between the cities of Pripyat and Chernobyl. As a result of the explosion of the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, a large amount of radioactive substances were released into the atmosphere, which led to the contamination of surrounding areas and the formation of a radioactive cloud that swept across the territory of the USSR, Europe and reached the United States.

The accident occurred due to several factors - haste on the part of the Chernobyl NPP management, insufficient competence of the ChNPP-4 duty shift, errors in the design and construction of the RBMK-1000 reactor and the nuclear power plant unit itself. On the morning of April 26, reactor tests were planned at Chernobyl NPP-4, which were supposed to demonstrate the ability to operate the reactor cooling system in the interval between shutting down the reactor and starting the emergency diesel generators. However, due to some factors, the test was postponed to the night from April 26 to 27, which is why it was carried out by an unprepared and not warned in advance shift, and xenon gas accumulated in the reactor during 10 hours of idling operation.

All this together led to the fact that when the reactor was artificially shut down, its power first fell below a critical level, and then began to grow like an avalanche. Attempts to activate AZ-5 (emergency protection) instead of eliminating the emergency situation worked as an additional catalyst for increasing the temperature of the reactor, and as a result a powerful explosion occurred. Only one person died directly from the explosion, another died a few hours later from his injuries. The remaining victims received shock doses of radiation in the process of extinguishing the fire and the initial liquidation of the consequences, due to which 29 more people died over the subsequent months of 1986.

The population of the first 10-kilometer and then 30-kilometer zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was resettled. The evicted people were told that they would return back in three days. However, no one actually returned back. Eliminating the consequences of the Chernobyl explosion took more than a year, cost billions of rubles, and 240 thousand people passed through the ChEZ in 1986-1987. The city of Pripyat was completely abandoned, hundreds of villages were razed, Chernobyl-4 is now a partially populated city - military, police and employees of the remaining three Chernobyl nuclear power plant units live there.

Terrorist attack 9/11

Date Time: 11.09.2001

Primary victims: 19 terrorists, 2977 police, military, firefighters, doctors and civilians

Secondary victims: 24 people missing, the exact number of injured is unknown

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (better known as 9/11) are the largest terrorist attack in American history. A series of four coordinated terrorist attacks claimed approximately three thousand lives and caused enormous destruction to the buildings attacked.

According to the official version of events, on the morning of September 11, four groups of a total of 19 terrorists, armed only with plastic knives, hijacked four passenger airliners, sending them to targets - the World Trade Center towers in New York, the Pentagon and the White House (or the Capitol) in Washington. The first three planes hit targets; what happened on board the fourth is not known for certain - according to the official version, the passengers clashed with terrorists, which is why the plane crashed in Pennsylvania before reaching its target.

Of the more than 16 thousand people who were in both towers of the World Trade Center, at least 1,966 people died - mainly those who were at the sites of the aircraft attacks and on the floors above, and also at the time of the collapse of the towers, assisting the victims and evacuating them. 125 people died in the Pentagon building. All 246 passengers and crew members of the hijacked planes were also killed, along with 19 terrorists. In the process of eliminating the consequences of the terrorist attack, 341 firefighters, 2 paramedics, 60 police officers and 8 ambulance workers died. The final death toll in New York alone was 2,606.

The terrorist attack of 9/11 became a real tragedy in the United States; citizens of 91 other countries also died. The terrorist attack provoked the US invasion of Afghanistan, Iraq, and later Syria under the banner of the fight against terrorism. Disputes about the true causes of the terrorist attack and the course of events on this tragic day have not subsided to this day.

Fukushima-1 accident

Date Time: 11.03.2011

Primary victims: 1 person died from the consequences of radiation poisoning, about 50 people died during the evacuation

Secondary victims: up to 150,000 people were evacuated from the radioactive contamination zone, more than 1,000 of them died within a year of the disaster

The disaster, which occurred on March 11, 2011, simultaneously combines the features of man-made and natural disasters. A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of nine and the subsequent tsunami caused a failure of the power supply system of the Daiichi nuclear plant, as a result of which the cooling process of reactors with nuclear fuel was stopped.

In addition to the monstrous destruction that was caused by the earthquake and tsunami, this incident led to serious radioactive contamination of the territory and water area. In addition, the Japanese authorities had to evacuate up to one hundred and fifty thousand people due to the high likelihood of severe illness due to exposure to severe radioactive radiation. The combination of all these consequences gives the right to the Fukushima accident to be called one of the worst disasters in the world in the twenty-first century.

The total damage from the accident is estimated at $100 billion. This amount includes the costs of liquidation of consequences and payment of compensation. But we must not forget that work to eliminate the consequences of the disaster is still ongoing, which accordingly increases this amount.

In 2013, the Fukushima nuclear power plant was officially closed, and only work to eliminate the consequences of the accident is being carried out on its territory. Experts believe that it will take at least forty years to clean up the building and the contaminated area.

The consequences of the Fukushima accident are a reassessment of safety measures in the nuclear energy industry, a drop in the price of natural uranium, and, accordingly, a decrease in the prices of shares of uranium mining companies.

Collision at Los Rodeos Airport

Date Time: 27.03.1977

Primary victims: 583 people - passengers and crew of both airliners

Secondary victims: unknown

Perhaps the world's worst disaster resulting from an aircraft collision was the collision of two aircraft in the Canary Islands (Tenerife) in 1977. At Los Rodeos airport, two Boeing 747 airliners, which belonged to KLM and Pan American, collided on the runway. As a result, 583 out of 644 people died, including both passengers and airline crews.

One of the main reasons for this situation was the terrorist attack at Las Palmas airport, which was carried out by terrorists from the MPAIAC organization (Movimiento por la Autodeterminación e Independencia del Archipiélago Canario). The terrorist attack itself did not cause any casualties, but the airport administration closed the airport and stopped accepting planes, fearing further incidents.

Because of this, Los Rodeos became congested as it was diverted by planes that were bound for Las Palmas, in particular two Boeing 747 flights PA1736 and KL4805. It should be noted that the plane, owned by Pan American, had sufficient fuel to land at another airport, but the pilots obeyed the dispatcher's order.

The cause of the collision itself was fog, which severely limited visibility, as well as difficulties in negotiations between controllers and pilots, which were caused by the thick accents of the controllers, and the fact that the pilots were constantly interrupting each other.

Collision « Dona Paz" with a tanker « Vector"

Date Time: 20.12.1987

Primary victims: up to 4386 people, of which 11 are crew members of the tanker “Vector”

Secondary victims: unknown

On December 20, 1987, the Philippine-registered passenger ferry Doña Paz collided with the oil tanker Vector, resulting in the world's worst peacetime disaster on the water.

At the time of the collision, the ferry was following its standard Manila-Catbalogan route, which it travels twice a week. On December 20, 1987, at about 06:30, the Doña Paz sailed from Tacloban bound for Manila. At approximately 10:30 p.m., the ferry was passing through the Tablas Strait near Marinduque, and survivors reported clear but rough seas.

The collision occurred after the passengers had fallen asleep; the ferry collided with the Vector tanker, which was transporting gasoline and oil products. Immediately after the collision, a strong fire broke out due to the fact that oil products spilled into the sea. The strong impact and fire almost instantly caused panic among passengers; in addition, according to survivors, there were not the required number of life jackets on the ferry.

Only 26 people survived, of which 24 were passengers from Donya Paz and two people from the Vector tanker.

Mass poisoning in Iraq, 1971

Date Time: autumn 1971 - end of March 1972

Primary victims: officially - from 459 to 6,000 deaths, unofficially - up to 100,000 deaths

Secondary victims: according to various sources, up to 3 million people who could have suffered from poisoning in one way or another

At the end of 1971, a shipment of grain treated with methylmercury was imported into Iraq from Mexico. Of course, the grain was not intended to be processed into food, and was to be used only for planting. Unfortunately, the local population did not know Spanish, and accordingly all the warning signs that read “Do not eat” turned out to be incomprehensible.

It should also be noted that the grain was delivered to Iraq late, since the planting season had already passed. All this led to the fact that in some villages grain treated with methylmercury began to be eaten.

After eating this grain, symptoms such as numbness of the limbs, loss of vision, and loss of coordination were observed. As a result of criminal negligence, according to official data, about one hundred thousand people suffered from mercury poisoning, of whom from 459 to 6 thousand died (unofficial data show other pictures - up to 3 million victims, up to 100 thousand deaths).

This incident led the World Health Organization to monitor grain circulation more closely and take the labeling of potentially hazardous products more seriously.

Mass destruction of sparrows in China

Date Time: 1958-1961

Primary victims: at least 1.96 billion sparrows, no known human casualties

Secondary victims: 10 to 30 million Chinese died from famine in 1960-1961

As part of the economic policy of the “Great Leap Forward”, China, under the leadership of the Communist Party and Mao Zedong, carried out a large-scale fight against agricultural pests, among which the Chinese authorities identified the four most terrible - mosquitoes, rats, flies and sparrows.

Employees of the Chinese Research Institute of Zoology calculated that because of sparrows, the amount of grain that could feed about thirty-five million people was lost during the year. Based on this, a plan was developed to exterminate these birds, which was approved by Mao Zedong on March 18, 1958.

All the peasants began to actively hunt birds. The most effective method was to keep them from falling to the ground. To do this, adults and children shouted, hit basins, waved poles, rags, etc. This made it possible to frighten the sparrows and prevent them from landing on the ground for fifteen minutes. As a result, the birds simply dropped dead.

After a year of hunting sparrows, the harvest really increased. However, later caterpillars, locusts, and other pests that ate the shoots began to actively breed. This led to the fact that after another year, harvests fell sharply, and famine occurred, which led to the death of 10 to 30 million people.

Piper Alpha oil rig disaster

Date Time: 06.07.1988

Primary victims: 167 platform staff

Secondary victims: unknown

The Piper Alpha platform was built in 1975, and oil production started on it in 1976. Over time, it was converted for gas production. However, on July 6, 1988, a gas leak occurred, which led to an explosion.

Due to indecisive and ill-considered actions of the personnel, 167 people out of 226 on the platform died.

Of course, after this event, oil and gas production on this platform was completely stopped. Insured losses totaled approximately US$3.4 billion. This is one of the most famous disasters in the world associated with the oil industry.

Death of the Aral Sea

Date Time: 1960 - present day

Primary victims: unknown

Secondary victims: unknown

This incident is the biggest environmental disaster on the territory of the former Soviet Union. The Aral Sea was once the fourth largest lake, after the Caspian Sea, Lake Superior in North America, and Lake Victoria in Africa. Now in its place is the Aralkum desert.

The reason for the disappearance of the Aral Sea is the creation of new irrigation canals for agricultural enterprises in Turkmenistan, which took water from the Syrdarya and Amu Darya rivers. Because of this, the lake has retreated greatly from the shore, which has led to the exposure of the bottom covered with sea salt, pesticides and chemicals.

Due to natural evaporation, the Aral Sea lost about a thousand cubic kilometers of water between 1960 and 2007. In 1989, the reservoir split into two parts, and in 2003, the volume of water was about 10% of its original volume.

The result of this incident was serious changes in climate and landscape. In addition, of the 178 species of vertebrate animals that lived in the Aral Sea, only 38 remain.

Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion

Date Time: 20.04.2010

Primary victims: 11 platform personnel, 2 accident liquidators

Secondary victims: 17 platform staff

The explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform that occurred on April 20, 2010 is considered one of the largest man-made disasters in terms of its negative impact on the environmental situation. 11 people died directly from the explosion and 17 were injured. Two more people died during the liquidation of the consequences of the disaster.

Due to the fact that the explosion damaged pipes at a depth of 1,500 meters, approximately five million barrels of oil spilled into the sea over 152 days, creating a slick with an area of ​​75,000 kilometers; in addition, 1,770 kilometers of coastline were polluted.

The oil spill threatened 400 species of animals and also led to a fishing ban.

Eruption of Mont Pele volcano

Date Time: 8.05.1902

Primary victims: from 28 to 40 thousand people

Secondary victims: not established for certain

On May 8, 1902, one of the most destructive volcanic eruptions in human history occurred. This incident led to the emergence of a new classification of volcanic eruptions, and changed the attitude of many scientists to volcanology.

The volcano awakened back in April 1902, and within a month, hot vapors and gases, as well as lava, accumulated inside. A month later, a huge grayish cloud burst out at the foot of the volcano. The peculiarity of this eruption is that the lava did not come out from the top, but from side craters that were located on the slopes. As a result of a powerful explosion, one of the main ports of the island of Martinique, the city of Saint-Pierre, was completely destroyed. The disaster claimed the lives of at least 28 thousand people.

Tropical Cyclone Nargis

Date Time: 02.05.2008

Primary victims: up to 90 thousand people

Secondary victims: at least 1.5 million injured, 56 thousand missing

This disaster unfolded as follows:

• Cyclone Nargis formed on April 27, 2008, in the Bay of Bengal, and initially moved towards the coast of India, in a northwest direction;
• On April 28, it stops moving, but the wind speed in the spiral vortices began to increase significantly. Because of this, the cyclone began to be classified as a hurricane;
• On April 29, the wind speed reached 160 kilometers per hour, and the cyclone resumed movement, but in a northeast direction;
• On May 1, the wind direction changed to the east, and at the same time the wind was constantly increasing;
• On May 2, the wind speed reached 215 kilometers per hour, and at noon it reached the coast of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Province.

According to the UN, 1.5 million people were injured as a result of the violence, of whom 90 thousand died and 56 thousand were missing. In addition, the major city of Yangon was seriously damaged, and many settlements were completely destroyed. Part of the country was left without telephone communications, internet and electricity. The streets were littered with debris, debris from buildings and trees.

To eliminate the consequences of this disaster, the united forces of many countries of the world and international organizations such as the UN, EU, and UNESCO were needed.

October 13 marks the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction - which is no occasion to remember the most terrible and deadly natural disasters in the history of mankind.

Earthquake in Syria. 1202

The earthquake of 1202, the epicenter of which was in the Dead Sea, was not so powerful as it was long-lasting and large-scale - it was felt over a vast territory located between Syria and Armenia. The exact number of deaths is unknown - in the 13th century no one kept a population count, but even according to the most conservative estimates, the earthquake claimed the lives of more than a million people.

Earthquake in China. 1556

One of the most destructive earthquakes in human history - in China - occurred on January 23, 1556. Its epicenter was in the area of ​​the right tributary of the Yellow River, Weihe, and it affected 97 districts in several Chinese provinces. The earthquake was accompanied by landslides, landslides and changes in river beds, which, in turn, led to floods, and the destruction of houses and temples led to severe fires. As a result of the disaster, the soil liquefied and pulled buildings and people underground; its impact was felt even at a distance of 500 kilometers from the epicenter. The earthquake killed 830 thousand people.

Earthquake and tsunami in Portugal. 1755

The infamous Lisbon earthquake began on November 1, 1755 at nine o'clock in the morning - only twenty minutes passed from the first tremors in the sea to the moment when a 15-meter tsunami covered the central embankment of the city. Most of its inhabitants were at church services - celebrating All Saints' Day, so they had no chance of salvation. Fires started in Lisbon and lasted for ten days. In addition to the capital, sixteen more Portuguese cities were damaged, and neighboring Setubal was almost completely washed away by the tsunami. The victims of the earthquake were from 40 to 60 thousand people. Architectural gems such as the Opera House and the Royal Palace, as well as the paintings of Caravaggio, Titian and Rubens, were lost.

Great Hurricane. 1780

The Great Hurricane - or Hurricane San Calixto II - is the most powerful and deadliest tropical cyclone in human history. It originated in early October 1780 in the Cape Verde Islands and raged for a week. On October 10, at a speed of 320 kilometers per hour, San Calixto II struck Barbados, Martinique, St. Lucia and St. Eustatius, leaving thousands of dead everywhere. The islands of Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua and St. Kitts were also affected. The great hurricane destroyed houses to the ground and tore ships from their anchors and smashed them against the rocks, and heavy cannons flew in the air like matches. As for human casualties, a total of 27 thousand people died during the rampage of San Calixto II.

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History knows several eruptions of the Krakatoa volcano, but the most destructive was the one that happened on August 27, 1883. Then, as a result of the most powerful explosion in the history of mankind, 20 cubic kilometers of stones and ash and a jet of steam 11 meters high literally tore apart a volcanic island in the Sunda Strait - between the islands of Java and Sumatra. The shock waves circled the globe seven times and formed a 36-meter-high tsunami that hit the coast, killing 36,000 people. In total, 200 thousand people died as a result of the Krakatoa eruption.

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Several floods in China, following one after another, claimed a total of 4 (!) million lives. Historians believe that this is the largest and most tragic natural disaster in human history. In August 1931, the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, overflowing their banks as a result of prolonged rains, destroyed the dams holding them back and began to flow, sweeping away everything in their path. The water completely destroyed agriculture in several dozen provinces, and the city of Gaoyu, located on the shore of the lake, was completely washed away. But the most terrible thing was the human sacrifice: those who did not die from the water died from devastation, hunger and epidemics.

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On May 31, 1970, due to an earthquake, the epicenter of which was in the Pacific Ocean, a rock-ice avalanche broke off from Mount Huascarana in Peru and, moving at a speed of a thousand kilometers per hour, covered the towns of Ranragirk and Yungay located in the valley of the Rio Santa River - all that was left of them was a cemetery with the figure of Christ hovering above it. In just a few minutes, the avalanche wiped them and several other small villages, including the ports of Kasma and Chimbote, off the face of the earth. The result of the cataclysm: 70 thousand dead, among whom were Czech climbers who were planning to conquer the Andes, and 150 thousand wounded. The memory of those whose lives were taken by the avalanche was honored in Peru with eight days of mourning.

Cyclone Bhola. 1970

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George Harrison at a charity concert in Bangladesh.

Tropical Cyclone Bhola is one of the worst natural disasters of the 20th century. On November 13, 1970, a wave 15 (!) meters high hit the islands and coast of East Pakistan, washing away entire settlements and agricultural land along its path. In a short time, 500 thousand people died - mostly elderly people and children. The disaster had political consequences: riots began, the participants of which accused the Pakistani government of inaction and slow elimination of the consequences. A civil war broke out between East Pakistan and the central government, which resulted in the declaration of independence of Bangladesh.

The whole world helped restore the affected areas. One of the most famous charity events was the concert organized by George Harrison: inviting many famous performers, he raised a quarter of a million dollars in one day.

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It's hot in Europe. 2003

The heat wave that engulfed the continent in 2003—the hottest summer since the end of World War II—caught European health care systems by surprise, which were unprepared for the strain of not just tens, but hundreds and thousands of people needing medical care. Countries such as France, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Croatia and Bulgaria were particularly affected. Temperatures in some areas did not drop below +40°C. The first to be hit were the elderly, as well as allergy sufferers and those who suffered from cardiovascular diseases. In total, about 70 thousand people died on the European continent that summer.

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Tsunami in the Indian Ocean. 2004

Along with the European heatwave of 2003, many people also remember the tsunami in the Indian Ocean that happened a year and a half later - Ukrainian citizens were among the dead. The deadly wave was the result of the largest earthquake in the history of the Indian Ocean, which occurred on December 26, 2004. Its magnitude on the Richter scale was 9. As a result, a tsunami was formed, the height of which in the coastal zone was 15 meters, and in the splash zone - 30 meters. An hour and a half after the earthquake, it reached the shores of Thailand, two hours later - Sri Lanka and India, and claimed the lives of 250 thousand people.