Top 10 deadliest natural disasters
List excludes diseases and famines, which would otherwise occupy the entire list.
Rank Event Location Date Death Toll (Estimate)
1. 1931 China floods China 1931, July–November 2,000,000-4,000,000*[1]
2. 1887 Yellow River flood China 1887, September–October 900,000–2,000,000
3. 1556 Shaanxi earthquake Shaanxi Province, China 1556, January 23 830,000+
4. 1970 Bhola cyclone Bangladesh 1970, November 13 500,000
5. 1839 India Cyclone India 1839, November 25 ≥ 300,000
6. 526 Antioch earthquake Antioch, Turkey 526, May 20 250,000
7. 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake/tsunami Indian Ocean 2004, December 26 229,866
8. 1976 Tangshan earthquake Tangshan, Hebei, China 1976, July 28 242,000
9. 1920 Haiyuan earthquake Haiyuan, Ningxia-Gansu, China 1920, December 16 240,000
10. 1975 Banqiao Dam failure Henan, China 1975, August 231,000
List excludes diseases and famines, which would otherwise occupy the entire list.
Rank Event Location Date Death Toll (Estimate)
1. 1931 China floods China 1931, July–November 2,000,000-4,000,000*[1]
2. 1887 Yellow River flood China 1887, September–October 900,000–2,000,000
3. 1556 Shaanxi earthquake Shaanxi Province, China 1556, January 23 830,000+
4. 1970 Bhola cyclone Bangladesh 1970, November 13 500,000
5. 1839 India Cyclone India 1839, November 25 ≥ 300,000
6. 526 Antioch earthquake Antioch, Turkey 526, May 20 250,000
7. 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake/tsunami Indian Ocean 2004, December 26 229,866
8. 1976 Tangshan earthquake Tangshan, Hebei, China 1976, July 28 242,000
9. 1920 Haiyuan earthquake Haiyuan, Ningxia-Gansu, China 1920, December 16 240,000
10. 1975 Banqiao Dam failure Henan, China 1975, August 231,000