Is the recent Asian Tsunami the worst natural disaster in known
history with the exception of the Biblical flood?  Is the loss of life
the highest ever?

Dear levite-ga;

Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question.

The answer is ?No?. There have been MANY other natural disasters that
caused a greater loss of life than the recent earthquake/tsunami in
the Indian Ocean.

In 1201 AD an earthquake in the eastern Mediterranean killed 1.1
million people in Egypt and Syria.

In 1556, 830,000 died in an earthquake in China?s Shansi province. 

In 1876, the Yellow River flood resulted in the deaths of an estimated
900,000 human beings.

In an almost absurd twist of irony, that same year began a three-year
drought in China from 1876-1879 led to the deaths of 9 million more
people.

In 1931, the Yangtze River in China flooded and, including those who
also dired from starvation after the fact, 3 million people died.

In 1970, a cyclone and subsequent flood killed somewhere between
300,000 to 500,000 people in Bangladesh alone.

In 1976, somewhere between 255,000 and 655,000 people died in an
earthquake in China.

In the early 1980s, hundreds of thousands of Africans - particularly
in Ethiopia - died of starvation from a similar drought.

In 1988, over 100,000 perished in an earthquake in Armenia.

There are many examples - these are but a few.

Even before one factors in the additional numbers of victims who will
surely die as a direct result of this single tragedy due to subsequent
disease, starvation and dysentery, the recent tsunami was certainly
one of the deadliest waves ever known to have occurred. In 1883,
36,000 people were killed by a tsunami on Krakatoa, off southern
Sumatra and another rogue wave in the South China Sea killed 40,000 in
1782. Officially though (if one accepts this as an official record)
The Guinness? Book of World Records says that an 1896 tsunami near
Japan was the worst, killing 27,000. As you can see, all thress of
these natural disasters COMBINED pale in comparison to the December
26, 2004 tsunami.

I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher





INFORMATION SOURCES

HOW DOES THIS TRAGEDY RANK AGAINST OTHERS?
http://www.reachm.com/amstreet/archives/2004/12/29/how-does-this-tragedy-rank-against-others/

THE QUAKE PROJECT
http://www.rialto.k12.ca.us/curriculum/quake/history.html

RED CROSS
?DISASTERS HAVE NO LIMITS?
http://www.redcross.int/EN/conference/7a.asp


SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

Deadliest

Worst

Greatest

Natural 

Disasters

I am extremely impressed and enlightened by the answer.  As a pastor,
this could become an excellent tool for me.  Thank you very much.

Phenomenal work! I'm very impressed. I was wondering, ... wasn't there
a recent middle-east earthquake that also killed some 30,000+ people?

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001439.html has it, in the
unfortunately (?) named Bam, Iran... Dec. 26, 2003 Bam, Iran:
magnitude 6.6 earthquake devastated the ancient historic city of Bam
in southeast Iran, killed more than 30,000 people, injured 30,000, and
left 75,000 homeless, as mud-brick buildings collapsed.

Wow... two years in a row on December 26th.

I just wonder how the dead were counted in the 1201 AD earthquake in
Egypt and Syria. We now have no really clear idea how many died as a
result of this incident.
Regards,
Can1972

Here are some pretty comprehensive lists of super-disasters and the toll they took:

http://www.emergency-management.net/earthqu1.htm

http://www.geocities.com/dtmcbride/hist/disasters-war.html

tutuzdad-ga