What are the top ten disasters in the 20th century?

1. Bermuda’s “Devil’s Black Triangle”?

On December 5, 1945, the 19th U.S. Flying Team mysteriously disappeared during training. The scheduled flight plan at that time was that the Bermuda Triangle was a triangle. So people later extended the Atlantic Ocean on the southeastern coast of the United States from Bermuda in the north to Miami in southern Florida, then through the Bahamas, through Puerto Rico, to San Juan near the 40° west longitude line, and then back to Bermuda.

The area formed is called the "Devil's Triangle" in the Bermuda Triangle. Hundreds of ships and planes have crashed in this area, and thousands of people have died. From 1880 to 1976, there were approximately 158 disappearances, most of which occurred in the 30 years since 1949. There were 97 disappearances, and at least 2,000 people died or disappeared here.

It is mainly located in an area called the "Sargasso Sea" in the western Atlantic Ocean, which is a wide area of ??water between 20°-40° north latitude and 35°-75° west longitude. The world-famous Mexican Warm Current flows here at 120-190 kilometers every day and night, and there are many whirlpools, typhoons and tornadoes. Not only that, the sea here is 4,000-5,000 meters deep, and there is the Puerto Rico Trench, which is more than 7,000 meters deep, with the deepest point reaching 9,218 meters.

2. Black Storm in the United States

On Sunday, April 14, 1935, after a brief period of clear weather, at two or three o'clock in the afternoon, a wave of sand appeared in the southern Great Plains of the United States. The "black cloud" of dust rolled in rapidly. In an instant, the sky became dark and all the cars on the plains were turned off. The city swept by the wind and sand could only rely on electricity for lighting, and there was no home a few meters away from home. People seek shelter in the darkness, fearing that they will suffocate.

This storm was the most influential and violent storm in the 1930s. Therefore, April 14th is also known as "Black Sunday". Before and after "Black Sunday", thousands of large and small dust storms occurred in the southern Great Plains of the United States in the 1930s, affecting more than 27 states in the continental United States and becoming a huge ecological disaster.

3. London's "Fog Disaster"

In the early morning of December 3, 1952, the London Meteorological Observatory reported that a cold front would pass through at night, and the temperature at noon could reach 6 degrees Celsius. Humidity is about 70%. Under the sunshine, the British Isles look particularly warm and warm; under the north wind, people feel even more relaxed and happy. At this time, fluffy cumulus clouds appear in the sky from time to time, making the blue sky more spectacular and beautiful.

On this day, the wind blowing from the North Sea blew all over England, blowing the thick smoke coming out of the factories and urban residents' chimneys in central England to the sky, so the air became Extra fresh, clean and comfortable. In the evening, London is on the southeastern edge of a huge high-pressure cyclone, with relatively strong northerly winds blowing clockwise around this anticyclone.

The next day, December 4, the center of the cyclone had moved several hundred kilometers west of London, moving southeast along its regular path. In the morning, the wind speed gradually decreased, and the clouds almost covered the entire sky. By noon, dark clouds completely covered the sun, and the sky over London was filled with haze. The weather station's thermometer read 3.3 degrees Celsius, and the relative humidity rose to 82%.

4. Tangshan Earthquake

The death toll of the earthquake that occurred on July 28, 1976 was second only to the Haiyuan earthquake among the earthquakes that occurred in the world in the 20th century. Although the earthquake lasted only 23 seconds, it caused the tragedy of more than 240,000 people dead and more than 160,000 people seriously injured. On July 28, 1976, at 3:42:53.8, it is known as the earthquake that shocked the world. Great earthquake in Tangshan, Japan.

An earthquake with an intensity of 7.8 on the Richter scale (moment magnitude of 7.5) occurred in the Fengnan area of ??Tangshan, Hebei Province, China (118.2° east longitude, 39.6° north latitude), with an epicenter intensity of 11 degrees and a focal depth of 12 kilometers. Lasts about 23 seconds. The earthquake caused 242,769 deaths and 164,000 serious injuries. It ranked second in the world's earthquake fatalities in the 20th century, second only to the Haiyuan earthquake.

5. The 19th Peruvian avalanche

The avalanche was caused by an earthquake and is the largest and most tragic avalanche disaster in the world so far. According to statistics from relevant departments, about 12,000 people died due to the earthquake, and more than 20,000 people died due to avalanches. The earthquake triggered mudslides, and about 20,000 people died due to mudslides. The total death toll reached 52,000, and the economic losses were as high as 55,000. More than 100 million US dollars.

Continuous earthquakes are followed by the continuous collapse of ice, snow and rocks on the top of the mountain. As a result, avalanches one after another continue to rush down, and the white ocean continues to wash away the "snow basin" below the mountain. , so the mushroom cloud composed of flying snow rose from the basin again and again, and fell again and again.

Avalanches continued, and the "snow basin" at the foot of the mountain could no longer hold such a huge amount of snow. The "snow sea" then roared away not far away. People who escaped the earthquake thought that It was safe. Suddenly, waves of thunder sounded from far to near, coming from the direction of Huascaran Mountain. Not long after, a strong wind blew in our face, followed by a sea of ??snow.

6. Severe floods in Bangladesh

In July 1987, Bangladesh experienced the largest flood in history. More than 2,000 people died and 20 million people were affected by the disaster. According to a report by CNN on September 1, according to estimates by the International Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), since June this year Since then, at least 1,200 people have died in Bangladesh and surrounding areas.

More than 41 million people have been affected by heavy rains and severe flooding. Heavy rain is now moving towards northwest Pakistan and is expected to cause more damage.

7. Plague in India

In September and October 1994, India suffered a fatal plague. On the day after Quan Shen Festival, Surat City Hospital received 30 patients with similar conditions. At first the doctor did not know that the patient had plague. However, people died one after another, and news came of the plague in Latur near Maharashtra. Only then did they realize that a disaster had struck.

For a time, train stations and bus stations were crowded with thousands of refugees. 300,000 Surat citizens fled to all directions of India, bringing the plague and this fear to all parts of the country. ?

8. Poisonous gas at the bottom of Cameroon's lake

On the evening of August 21, 1986, the shores of Lake Nyos were attacked by poisonous gas from the bottom of the lake. People in various villages died in northwest Nigeria, Cameroon, Africa. On the night of August 21, 1986, Oss Crater Lake suddenly erupted into a large amount of toxic gas, killing 1,740 people. The gas emitted is mainly carbon dioxide, while the stench comes from hydrogen sulfide.

9. Tunguska Explosion

On June 30, 1908, a rare explosion struck Siberia. Is its destructive power equivalent to 500 atomic bombs? The Tunguska explosion occurred at 7:17 am on June 30, 1908 (0:17 UTC) over the Evenki Autonomous Region in Siberia, Russia today.

The explosion occurred near the Tunguska River, 800 kilometers northwest of Lake Baikal, at 60.55 degrees north latitude and 101.57 degrees east longitude. At the time, it was estimated that the explosion was as powerful as 20 million tons of TNT and burned down more than 80 million trees within 2,150 square kilometers.

10. Indonesian tsunami

A tsunami occurred in Indonesia on December 26, 2004, affecting several countries and causing more than 200,000 casualties. A violent earthquake occurred in Sulawesi, Indonesia and triggered a tsunami: At 6:02 pm on September 28, 2018, Beijing time, a major earthquake occurred in Sulawesi, Indonesia.

China initially reported the magnitude to be 7.4, and the United States initially reported the magnitude to be 7.5, with a focal depth of only 10 kilometers. A video broadcast by local media showed that the tsunami "wave wall" suspected of being an earthquake in Indonesia rushed from the horizon to the town in just 30 seconds, like an overwhelming mountain, and the speed was extremely fast.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Top Ten Natural Disasters of the 20th Century