Question: What was the most deadly natural disaster in 2018?

List of natural disasters by death toll

A natural disaster is a sudden event that causes widespread destruction, major collateral damage or loss of life, brought about by forces other than the acts of human beings. A natural disaster might be caused by earthquakes, flooding, volcanic eruption, landslide, hurricanes etc. In order to be classified as a disaster, it will have profound environmental effect and/or human loss and frequently incurs financial loss.
Ten deadliest natural disasters
Notes: The list does not include several volcanic eruptions with uncertain death tolls resulting from collateral effects (crop failures, etc.), though these may have numbered in the millions; see List of volcanic eruptions by death toll.
The list does not include the man-made 1938 Yellow River flood, caused entirely by a deliberate man-made act (an act of war, destroying dikes).
An alternative listing is given by Peter Hough in his 2008 book Global Security.[1]

Ten deadliest natural disasters since 1900
Note: This list does not include industrial or technological accidents, epidemics, or the 1938 Yellow River flood.

Lists of natural disasters by cause
Deadliest earthquakes

Note that the 893 Ardabil earthquake is a 'phantom', considered a mis-recording of the 893 Dvin earthquake[10]


Deadliest famines


Note: Some of these famines may have been caused or partially caused by humans.

Deadliest impact events

Note: Although there have been no scientifically verified cases of astronomical objects resulting in human fatalities, there have been several reported occurrences throughout human history. Consequently, the casualty figures for all events listed are considered unofficial.

Deadliest limnic eruptions

Note: Only 2 cases in recorded history.

Deadliest wildfires / bushfires


Ten deadliest avalanches / landslides


Ten deadliest blizzards


Ten deadliest floods

Note: Some of these floods and landslides may be partially caused by humans – for example, by failure of dams, levees, seawalls or retaining walls.
This list does not include the man-made 1938 Yellow River flood caused entirely by a deliberate man-made act (an act of war, destroying dikes).

Ten deadliest heat waves

Note: Measuring the number of deaths caused by a heat wave requires complicated statistical analysis, since heat waves tend to cause large numbers of deaths among people weakened by other conditions. As a result, the number of deaths is only known with any accuracy for heat waves in the modern era in countries with developed healthcare systems.

Ten deadliest pandemics / epidemics

Death counts are historical totals unless indicated otherwise.

Ten deadliest tornadoes


Ten deadliest tropical cyclones

Note: Earlier versions of this list have included the so-called 'Bombay Cyclone of 1882' in tenth position, but this supposed event has been proven to be a hoax.

Ten deadliest tsunamis

Note: A possible tsunami in 1782 that caused about 40,000 deaths in the Taiwan Strait area may have been of "meteorological" origin (a cyclone).[81]

Ten deadliest volcanic eruptions


See also

List of countries by natural disaster risk
List of all known deadly earthquakes since 1900
List of disasters in Canada
List of disasters in Indonesia
List of disasters in the Philippines
List of disasters in Thailand
List of natural disasters in Great Britain and Ireland
List of natural disasters in Haiti
List of natural disasters in New Zealand
List of natural disasters in Pakistan
List of natural disasters in the United States
Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents
Global catastrophic risk
Other lists organized by death toll
List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll
List of accidents and disasters by death toll
List of battles and other violent events by death toll
List of disasters in Antarctica by death toll
List of disasters in Australia by death toll
List of disasters in Canada by death toll
List of disasters in Croatia by death toll
List of disasters in Great Britain and Ireland by death toll
List of disasters in New Zealand by death toll
List of disasters in Poland by death toll
List of disasters in Romania by death toll
List of disasters in the United States by death toll
Tsunamis in the United Kingdom
Notes




 from NOAA National Geophysical Data Center
 from Newsweek

 – USGS
 managed by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters
 from Emergency Management Australia