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Smoke from a forest fire by Marcus Kauffman –

10 of the Deadliest Natural Disasters that happened in India

Every year, some of the deadliest natural disasters including, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, wildfires, and droughts, on average kill nearly 60,000 people, according to Global Change Data Lab. Many disasters are the result of man-made activities, but many are part of the routine of nature. India has faced some very deadly disasters in its history.

Natural disasters are also called the ‘wrath of God’. Today man is exploiting the forests, plains, mountains, and minerals indiscriminately for his personal selfishness. As a result, natural calamities are increasing day by day. The following natural disasters are the deadliest of all time in India.

1. The Bengal Famine of 1770

The Bengal Famine of 1770 was a famine that struck the Bengal region between 1769 and 1770 and affected some 30 million people. It occurred during a period of dual governance in Bengal. This existed after the East India Company had been granted the Diwani, or the right to collect revenue in Bengal by the Mughal emperor in Delhi, but before it had wrested the nizamat, or control of civil administration, which continued to lie with the Mughal governor, the Nawab of Bengal.

Between seven and ten million people were thought to have died. The loss to cultivation was estimated to be a third of the total cultivation.

2. The 2007 Bihar Flood

Floods by Chris Gallagher –

The 2007 Bihar flood, which started in August 2007, was described by the United Nations as the worst flood in the “living memory” of Bihar. It is believed to be the worst flood in Bihar in the last 30 years. By 3 August, the estimated death toll was 41 people, and 48 schoolgirls were marooned in a school in the Darbhanga district.

By 8 August, the flooding had affected an estimated 10 million people in Bihar. Army helicopters delivered food packets to Bihar residents and 180 relief camps were established. By 10 August, aid workers in Bihar reported that there was a dramatic increase in people with diarrhea, and by 11 August, flood deaths were still occurring. The total deaths recorded in the 2007 Bihar floods was 1,287, which was the second-highest death toll in the state after 1,399 deaths in the 1987 Bihar floods.

3. The 1894 Third Plague Pandemic

The third plague pandemic was a major bubonic plague pandemic that began in Yunnan, China, in 1855 during the fifth year of the Xianfeng Emperor of the Qing dynasty. This episode of bubonic plague spread to all inhabited continents and ultimately led to more than 12 million deaths in India and China, with at least 10 million killed in India alone, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in history. 

According to the World Health Organization, the pandemic was considered active until 1960, when worldwide casualties dropped to 200 per year. Plague deaths have continued at a lower level every year since. 

4. The 1998 Malpa Landslide

An accident by John Middelkoop –

The Malpa landslide was one of the worst landslides in India. On 18 August 1998 at 3.00 a.m., massive landslides wiped away the entire village of Malpa in the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand, then in Uttar Pradesh in Kali Valley of Higher Kumaon division of the Himalayas. The rockfall started on 16 August bringing down huge rocks which initially killed three mules. 

A total of 221 people died, including 60 Hindu pilgrims traveling to Tibet as part of the “Kailash Manas Sarovar Yatra”. One noted death was that of the Indian dancer Protima Bedi. The rockfall continued till 21 August. As the area lies in a seismic zone, the earthquakes of 1979 and 1980 may have been the underlying cause, as was attributed to a report by the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology.

5. The 1999 Odisha cyclone

The 1999 Odisha cyclone was the most intense recorded tropical cyclone in the North Indian Ocean and among the most destructive in the region. The 1999 Odisha cyclone organized into a tropical depression in the Andaman Sea on 25 October, though its origins could be traced back to an area of convection in the Sulu Sea four days prior. 

Although its primary effects were felt in a localized area of India, the outer fringes of the super cyclone impacted Myanmar and Bangladesh. Ten people were killed in the former, while two were killed in the latter by the storm’s rainbands. The storm was the most severe to strike Odisha in the 20th century, raking the state and adjacent areas with high storm surges, powerful winds, and torrential rainfall.

6. The 1839 Coringa Cyclone

Effects of a tornado by Mick Haupt –

On 25 November 1839, the port city of Coringa in Andhra Pradesh on the southeastern coast of British India was battered by a tropical cyclone that destroyed the harbor. Known as the 1839 Coringa cyclone and sometimes also referred to as the 1839 India cyclone and 1839 Andhra Pradesh cyclone, its storm surge caused wide damage.

It killed over 300,000 people, making it the second-deadliest storm worldwide after the 1970 Bhola cyclone. Many ships were destroyed and houses were washed out by rising rivers and streams. Croplands were inundated and many animals drowned due to the floods and storm surges. 

7. The 2002 Indian heatwave

More than 1,030 people were killed in the 2002 heatwave in South India. Most of the dead were poor and elderly and a majority of deaths occurred in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. In the districts that were impacted most, the heat was so severe that ponds and rivers evaporated and in those same districts birds had fallen from the sky and animals were collapsing from the intense heat.

It is said by officials to be the worst heatwave in four years. The relief commissioner of Andhra Pradesh, Rosaiah, said that the maximum number of 172 deaths related to heat took place in the East Godavari district. There were also 166 deaths in Prakasam and 144 deaths in West Godavari.

8. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

A lava fountain by USGS –

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami occurred at 07:58:53 local time on 26 December, with an epicenter off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake was caused by a rupture along the fault between the Burma Plate and the Indian Plate. 

The earthquake was the third-largest ever recorded, the largest in the 21st century, and had the longest duration of faulting ever observed, between eight and ten minutes. Communities along the surrounding coasts of the Indian Ocean were devastated, and the tsunamis killed an estimated 227,898 people in 14 countries, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. 

9. The 2001 Gujarat earthquake

The 2001 Gujarat earthquake, also known as the Bhuj earthquake, occurred on 26 January, India’s 52nd Republic Day, at 08:46 am IST. The epicenter was about 9 km south-southwest of the village of Chobari in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District of Gujarat, India. 

The intraplate earthquake measured 7.7 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum felt intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. The earthquake killed between 13,805 and 20,023 people, injured another 167,000, and destroyed nearly 340,000 buildings.

10. The 2013 Maharashtra Drought

The 2013 drought in Maharashtra in India came about after the region received lower rainfall during the monsoon season from June to September 2012. It is considered the region’s worst drought in 40 years. 

The worst-hit areas in Maharashtra were Solapur, Parbhani, Ahmednagar, Latur, Pune, Satara, Beed, and Nashik. Residents of Latur, Osmanabad, Nanded, Aurangabad, Jalna, Jalgaon, and Dhule districts were also affected by this famine.