What's the worst disaster ever?

[Batman]

So I've got insomnia and end up watching Engineering Disasters on History Channel International at 1 a.m. Sunday. Good stuff. Got me to thinking about some of the worst disasters of all-time, and what a top-10 list would look like. Woke up this morning and it was still in my head so I figured I'd post a poll and see what SportsJournalists.com's list looks like.
The rules are it can't be an intentional act (so no 9/11) or an act of war (like the Hiroshima and Nagasaki a-bombs). And the worst of the worst should have some major historical implications.

 

[EStreetJoe]

Get Michigan-Appalachian State off the list and put the Hindenberg on the list. Don't know what I'm voting for yet.

 

[spaceman]

what? No bubonic plague? sheesh. The plague gets NO love here.

 

[Flying Headbutt]

To be fair, Spaceman, if it happened before ESPN it really didn't happen.

 

[Philosopher]

The Holocaust? Black Plague?

 

[jgmacg]

Why is Brown Shoes Worn With Tuxedo not on this list?

 

[Armchair_QB]

Isn't the Galveston hurricane the most deadly weather-related disaster in American history?

 

[zeke12]

Krakatoa should surely be on the short list.

 

[Sxysprtswrtr]

Why is Brown Shoes Worn With Tuxedo not on this list?

Or Socks with Birks?

----

I voted for the Galveston hurricane, especially after watching the History Channel special featuring it.

 

[21]

The invention of ringtones.

 

[alleyallen]

what? No bubonic plague? sheesh. The plague gets NO love here.

That was my first thought.

 

[PeteyPirate]

what? No bubonic plague? sheesh. The plague gets NO love here.

That was my first thought.

I'd still go with the tsunami. 283,000 dead, and it didn't take as long as the plague.

 

[Precious Roy]

I think if the black death were up there, I still might pick the flu just for the time in which it occurred and the speed in which it killed. The Bubonic Plague was bad, no question, but it was over time. In the same about of time, the flu killed almost twice as many in a more advanced age.

 

[PeteyPirate]

Yellow River, son. End of thread.

Rank Event Location Date Death Toll (Estimate)
1. 1931 Yellow River flood China summer 1931 1,000,000-4,000,000
2. 1887 Yellow River flood China 1887, September-October 900,000-2,000,000
3. 1970 Bhola cyclone East Pakistan (Now Bangladesh) 1970 November 13 500,000-1,000,000
4. 1938 Yellow River flood China 1938 500,000-900,000
5. 1556 Shaanxi earthquake China 1556 January 23 830,000
6. 1839 India Cyclone India 1839 November 25 300,000+
7. 1642 Kaifeng Flood China 1642 300,000
8. 1976 Tangshan earthquake China 1976 July 28 242,000*
9. 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake/tsunami Indian Ocean 2004 December 26 230,000
10. 1138 Aleppo earthquake Syria 1138 230,000

 

[jgmacg]

Flu pandemic: 50 to 100 million killed worldwide. In a year.

And let's not forget mid-century greats like Mao and Stalin and Hitler.

Couple of big earthquakes in China, too.

And the meteorite that killed the dinosaurs. That must have been pretty bad.

And New Coke. A disaster.

 

[Batman]

OK, added the Hindenburg, Krakatoa and the plague.
I originally left the Hindenburg off the list because, as vivid as it was, it had a relatively low loss of life. Same with Krakatoa. And the plague was several different outbreaks over the course of a couple centuries. Awful, but hard to pin down one. But they're all on the list now. No more additions. Vote for "other" if you disagree.

And dictators like Mao and Stalin, along with the Holocaust, aren't disasters. They're murder and/or acts of war. Different category.

 

[Oggiedoggie]

Halle Berry in "Catwoman," 2004.

 

[BRoth]

That's lookin pretty bad.

And for my vote: black death all the way. As summarized by another unnecessary picture:

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Get Michigan-Appalachian State off the list and put the Hindenberg on the list. Don't know what I'm voting for yet.

Hey, that was a top 5 team losing to 1-AA. Get some perspective.

 

[Precious Roy]

Chef, what's the Black Death?

Latoya Jackson, children