2010 HAITI EARTHQUAKE

HAITI

Overview

One of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, Haiti in recent years has struggled with problems ranging from near-constant political upheaval, health crises, severe environmental degradation and an annual barrage of hurricanes.

On Jan. 12, 2010, a devastating earthquake struck Haiti, reducing much of its capital to rubble. It was the worst earthquake in the region in more than 200 years. A study by the Inter-American Development Bank estimated that the total cost of the disaster was between $8 billion to $14 billion, based on a death toll from 200,000 to 250,000. That number was revised in 2011 by Haiti's government to 316,000.

More than a million displaced people still live under tents and tarpaulins. International donors promised Haiti $5.3 billion at a March 2010 donor’s conference. But reconstruction involving better buildings and roads has barely begun. Officials’ sole point of pride six months after the earthquake — that disease and violence had been averted — vanished with the outbreak of cholera.

Two conservative rivals face off in a March 20, 2011, election runoff. Mirlande H. Manigat, a former first lady and college administrator who was the top vote getter in the election in November 2010, is running against Michel Martelly, a performer with the stage name Sweet Micky. 

And in mid-March, days before the election, and despite warnings from President Obama that his return could cause yet another tumultuous political development here, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the twice-exiled former president of Haiti, returned home.

The Duvalier Legacy

Haiti occupies an area roughly the size of Maryland on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Nearly all of the 8.7 million residents are of African descent and speak Creole and French. The capital is Port-au-Prince.

The country is the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, with four out of five people living in poverty and more than half in abject poverty. Deforestation and over-farming have left much of Haiti eroded and barren, undermining subsistence farming efforts, driving up food prices and leaving the country even more vulnerable to natural disasters. Its long history of political instability and corruption has added to the turmoil.

In 1791, Haiti became the world's first black republic and the first independent nation in the region after it won independence in 1804 in a slave revolt against Napoleonic France. Its history has been shaped by profound political disarray, chaotic rule marked by corruption and brutal repression and, beginning in 1915, a two-decade occupation by the United States. Haiti's most infamous leader was François Duvalier, known as Papa Doc, who was elected president in 1957, beginning a long rule known for venality and human rights abuses. His son Jean-Claude Duvalier ruled from 1971 until he fled in 1986 but not before looting the treasury in another Haitian tradition. What followed was another period of alternating civilian and military regimes.

Regime Change and Free Elections

In 1991, Jean-Bertrand Aristide became president after winning 67 percent of the vote, but he was overthrown shortly after taking office in a violent coup leading to a three-year period of military rule that ended only after the intervention of a United Nations force led by the United States. While the 1995 election of René Préval, a prominent political ally of Mr. Aristide, was widely praised, subsequent elections were plagued with allegations of fraud, including the 2000 restoration of Mr. Aristide to his old post.

Over the following years, violence spread throughout the country as the government cracked down on opposition party leaders, holding power in part with the aid of extra-legal gangs. In February 2004, after groups opposed to the Aristide government seized control of cities and towns throughout Haiti and closed in on the capital, Mr. Aristide resigned and fled to South Africa. United States-led armed forces under the authority of the United Nations Security Council were sent to Port-au-Prince to bring order and oversee the installation of an interim government. The United Nations has spent some $5 billion on peacekeeping operations since 2004.

In 2006, Mr. Préval was re-elected president amidst allegations of impropriety.

Despite bouts of optimism brought on by the implementation of a new constitution and the first peaceful transfer of power between two elected presidents in the nation’s history, Haiti’s politics in the post-earthquake era remain as tumultuous as ever.

The Return Duvalier and Aristide

On March 18, 2011, Mr. Aristide returned to Port-au-Prince from exile in South Africa. Mr. Aristide became the second major figure in Haitian history to return in recent months: Jean-Claude Duvalier, the former dictator known as Baby Doc, suddenly returned from exile in January and is living quietly in the city while courts iron out pending human rights and corruption charges related to his government.

After Mr. Duvalier, who was overthrown in 1986, arrived in the capital in January 2011, Mr. Aristide demanded that his exile end, too. In February 2011, Haitian officials issued him a diplomatic passport, denied to him since his departure.

Both men claim that they are interested in national reconciliation; both are doubted by critics of their governments. Experts inside and outside Haiti fear that the presence of the two former leaders could further destabilize the country, which is already struggling with cholera, tent cities created by the 2010  earthquake and political instability before the delayed presidential runoff on March 20.

Political Instability and Natural Disasters

Since 2008, Haiti's situation has worsened dramatically. It has staggered under the double whammy of food riots, government instability and a series of hurricanes that killed hundreds and battered the economy — all of this before the deadliest earthquake in the country’s history.

The January 2010 earthquake left the country and its densely populated Port-au-Prince in flattened, its poorly constructed buildings and shanties destroyed or seriously compromised and the government broken. Upwards of 250,000 lives were lost.

More than 3,000 school buildings in the earthquake zone were in shambles; hundreds of teachers and thousands of students were killed. Some schools may never reopen, leaving vast numbers of children languishing in camps or working in menial jobs, struggling to sustain themselves.

The United States and Its Tone

Humanitarian aid from around the world has streamed into Haiti. The United States, which has a history of either political domination or neglect in its backyard, has tried to strike the right tone, coordinating relief efforts and pledging financial aid.

Since 1994, Haiti has resurfaced in the American conscience only during times of crisis: the Aristide meltdown; and after four devastating storms in 2008 that wiped out most of the country’s food crops and damaged irrigation systems, causing acute hunger for millions.

In the aftermath of the January earthquake, the United States was among the largest single donors, committing $1.15 billion on top of the more than $900 million already spent.

Pledges added up to nearly $5.3 billion over two years, and a total of $9.9 billion over three years or more, according to Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general. But the very size of the outpouring raised questions about whether the commitments would be met and how fast the financial support could help salve the needs of the Haitian people.

Hopes Fade for a New Haiti

By May 2010, the hope that a more efficient, more just Haiti might rise from the rubble was giving way to stalemate and bitterness. Haitians complained that the politically connected were benefiting most from the scant reconstruction work and that crime was returning. Meanwhile, unproductive politicians and aid groups struggled with temporary refugee camps that looked more permanent every day.

Parliament was essentially disbanded; power rested with Mr. Préval, his cabinet and a reconstruction commission led by the Haitian prime minister and former President Bill Clinton. Haiti’sfirst election since the January earthquake took place in late November 2010, characterized by disorganization, voter intimidation, the ransacking of polling stations and fraud.

Even before the polls closed, 12 of the 18 presidential candidates had called for the election’s cancellation. In early December, following an election in which polling places were ransacked and ballot boxes stuffed, the country’s electoral board announced that Jude Célestin, seen as Mr. Préval’s hand-picked successor, and Mirlande Manigat, a former Haitian first lady, had won the first round of voting. Michel Martelly, a singer with an impassioned following in the streets of Haiti’s bedraggled capital, came in third.

The results set off violent protests that have shut down the capital and spread outside the city. And  many of Mr. Martelly's supporters contended that the authorities would not permit the political newcomer to win.

Mr. Préval, whose popularity has fallen as the pace of rebuilding from the January 2010 earthquake has slowed, came under intense diplomatic pressure to accept the conclusion of a team of international experts who said Mr. Célestin had not earned a spot in the runoff because of tainted results.

Ms. Manigat and Mr. Martelly share many positions, both promising to slow a cholera epidemic, speed up rebuilding after the earthquake and improve safety. Political analysts said the election might turn on personalities more than positions; both are considered relative conservatives, particularly on law-and-order concerns. Both candidates have both promised to make Haiti less dependent on foreign governments and the hundreds of nongovernmental organizations that form the backbone of social services and operate essentially as a shadow government.

The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 M_w earthquake, with anepicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately 25 km (16 miles) west of Port-au-Prince,Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.^[6][7]

By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater had been recorded.^[8] An estimated three million people were affected by the quake;^[9] the Haitian government reported that an estimated 316,000 people had died, 300,000 had been injured and 1,000,000 made homeless.^[10][11] The death toll has also been suggested to be much lower at somewhere between 92,000^[4] and 220,000, with around 1.5 million^[12] to 1.8 million homeless.^[13] The government of Haiti also estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildingshad collapsed or were severely damaged.^[14]

The earthquake caused major damage in Port-au-Prince, Jacmel and other settlements in the region. Many notable landmark buildings were significantly damaged or destroyed, including the Presidential Palace, the National Assembly building, the Port-au-Prince Cathedral, and the main jail. Among those killed were Archbishop of Port-au-Prince Joseph Serge Miot,^[15] and opposition leader Micha Gaillard.^[16][17] The headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), located in the capital, collapsed, killing many, including the Mission's Chief, Hédi Annabi.^[18][19]

Many countries responded to appeals for humanitarian aid, pledging funds and dispatching rescue and medical teams, engineers and support personnel. Communication systems, air, land, and sea transport facilities, hospitals, and electrical networks had been damaged by the earthquake, which hampered rescue and aid efforts; confusion over who was in charge, air traffic congestion, and problems with prioritisation of flights further complicated early relief work. Port-au-Prince's morgues were quickly overwhelmed with many tens of thousands of bodies having to be buried in mass graves.^[20] As rescues tailed off, supplies, medical care and sanitation became priorities. Delays in aid distribution led to angry appeals from aid workers and survivors, and looting and sporadic violence were observed.

On 22 January the United Nations noted that the emergency phase of the relief operation was drawing to a close, and on the following day the Haitian government officially called off the search for survivors.

TOP 10 DEADLIEST NATURAL DISASTERS

A natural disaster is the consequence of a natural hazard (e.g. volcanic eruption, earthquake, landslide) which moves from potential in to an active phase, and as a result affects human activities. In some cases these disasters have lead to the loss of millions of lives. This is a list of the top 10 natural disasters (ranked by number of fatalities). From fewest to most killed:

10. Aleppo Earthquake – 1138, Syria [Deaths: 230,000]

The Citadel at Aleppo

Aleppo is located along the northern part of the Dead Sea Transform system of geologic faults, which is a plate boundary separating the Arabian plate from the African plate. The earthquake was the beginning of the first of two intense sequences of earthquakes in the region: October 1138 to June 1139 and a much more intense series from September 1156 to May 1159.

The worst hit area was Harim, where Crusaders had built a large citadel. Sources indicate that the castle was destroyed and the church fell in on itself. The fort of Atharib, then occupied by Muslims, was destroyed. The citadel also collapsed, killing 600 of the castle guard, though the governor and some servants survived, and fled to Mosul.

9. Indian Ocean Earthquake – 2004, Indian Ocean [Deaths: 230,000]

The tsunami hits

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, was an undersea earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC (07:58:53 local time) December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake triggered a series of devastating tsunamis along the coasts of most landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing large numbers of people and inundating coastal communities.

The magnitude of the earthquake was originally recorded as 9.0, but has been increased to between 9.1 and 9.3. At this magnitude, it is the second largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph. It was large enough that it caused the entire planet to vibrate as much as half an inch, or over a centimetre.

8. Banqiao Dam Failure – 1975, China [Deaths: 231,000]

The dam After it failed

Banqiao Dam was designed to survive a 1-in-1,000-year flood (306 mm (12 inches) rainfall per day). In August of 1975, however, a 1-in-2,000 year flood occurred, pouring more than a year’s rainfall in 24 hours, which weather forecasts failed to predict. The sluice gates were not able to handle the overflow of water, partially due to sedimentation blockage. As a result of the blockage, 64 dams failed.

When the dam finally burst, it caused a large wave, which was 10 kilometers (6 miles) wide, 3-7 meters (9-23 feet) high, to rush downwards into the plains below at nearly 50 kilometers per hour (31 mph). It almost wiped out an area 55 kilometers long, 15 kilometers wide, and created temporary lakes as large as 12,000 km² (4,600 square miles). Evacuation orders had not been fully delivered because of weather conditions and poor communications.

7. Tangshan Earthquake – 1976, China [Deaths: 242,000]

Aftermath of the quake

The Tangshan earthquake is one of the largest earthquakes to hit the modern world, in terms of the loss of life. The epicentre of the earthquake was near Tangshan in Hebei, China, an industrial city with approximately one million inhabitants. The earthquake hit in the early morning, at 03:42:53.8 local time (1976 July 27 19:42:53.8 UTC), and lasted for around 15 seconds. Chinese Government’s official sources state 7.8 on the Richter magnitude scale, though some sources list it as 8.2. It was the first earthquake in recent history to score a direct hit on a major city.

The People’s Republic of China government refused to accept international aid, and its own efforts were criticized as inadequate. It was also criticized for having ignored scientists’ warnings of the need to prepare for an earthquake. The ramifications of the political situation created, largely contributed to the end of the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

6. Kaifeng Flood – 1642, China [Deaths: 300,000]

Kaifeng today

Kaifeng, a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province, People’s Republic of China, located along the southern bank of the Yellow River, was flooded in 1642 by the Ming army with water from Yellow River to prevent the peasant rebel Li Zicheng from taking over. Roughly half of the 600,000 residents of Kaifeng were killed by the flood and the ensuing peripheral disasters such as famine and plague, making it one of the deadliest single acts of war in history (excluding systematic genocide) and the second greatest single loss of human life of its time. The flood is sometimes referred to as a natural disaster due to the role of the Huang He river.

5. India Cyclone – 1839, India [Deaths: 300,000+]

A site near Coringa today

In 1839, a 40-foot tidal wave caused by an enormous cyclone wiped out the harbor city of Coringa that was never entirely rebuilt; 20,000 vessels in the bay were destroyed and 300,000 people died. This was not the first major catastrophe to occur in Coringa: in 1789 three tidal waves caused by a cyclone destroyed the harbour city at the mouth of the Ganges river. Most ships were sunk and estimated 20,000 people drowned.

4. Shaanxi Earthquake – 1556, China [Deaths: 830,000]

The effect of the quake

The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake or Hua County earthquake is the deadliest earthquake on record, killing approximately 830,000 people. It occurred on the morning of 23 January 1556 in Shaanxi, China. More than 97 counties were affected. A 520 mile-wide area was destroyed and in some counties, sixty percent of the population was killed. Most of the population in the area at the time lived in yaodong, artificial caves in loess cliffs, many of which collapsed during the catastrophic occurrence, with great loss of life.

Modern estimates, based on geological data, give the earthquake a magnitude of approximately eight on the moment magnitude scale. While it was the most deadly earthquake and the fifth deadliest natural disaster in history, there have been earthquakes with higher magnitudes. Aftershocks continued several times a month for half a year.

An account written at the time says:

“In the winter of 1556 AD, an earthquake catastrophe occurred in the Shaanxi and Shanxi Provinces. In our Hua County, various misfortunes took place. Mountains and rivers changed places and roads were destroyed. In some places, the ground suddenly rose up and formed new hills, or it sank in abruptly and became new valleys. In other areas, a stream burst out in an instant, or the ground broke and new gullies appeared. Huts, official houses, temples and city walls collapsed all of a sudden.”

3. Bhola Cyclone – 1970, Bangladesh [Deaths: 500,000 - 1,000,000]

The impact of the cyclone

The 1970 Bhola cyclone was a devastating tropical cyclone that struck East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) on November 12, 1970. It was the deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded, and one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern times. Up to 500,000 people lost their lives in the storm, primarily as a result of the storm surge that flooded much of the low-lying islands of the Ganges Delta. The Pakistani government was severely criticized for its handling of the relief operations following the storm, both by local political leaders in East Pakistan and in the international media.

The cyclone intensified into a severe cyclonic storm on November 11, and began to turn towards the northeast as it approached the head of the Bay. A clear eye formed in the storm, and it reached its peak later that day with sustained winds of 185 km/h (115 mph). The cyclone made landfall on the East Pakistan coastline during the evening of November 12, around the same time as the local high tide.

2. Yellow River Flood – 1887, China [Deaths: 900,000 - 2,000,000]

Boats on the Yellow River

The Yellow River (Huang He) in China is prone to flooding, due to the broad expanse of largely flat land around it. The 1887 Yellow River floods devastated the area, killing between 900,000-2,000,000 people. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded. For centuries, the farmers living near the Yellow River had built dikes to contain the rising waters, caused by silt accumulation on the riverbed. In 1887, this rising seabed, coupled with days of heavy rain, overcame the dikes, causing a massive flood. The waters of the Yellow River are generally thought to have broken through the dikes in Huayankou, near the city of Zhengzhou in Henan province.

Owing to the low-lying plains near the area, the flood spread quickly throughout Northern China, covering an estimate 50,000 square miles, swamping agricultural settlements and commercial centers. After the flood, two million were left homeless. The resulting pandemic and lack of basic essentials claimed as many lives as those lost directly by the flood itself.

1. Yellow River Flood – 1931, China [Deaths: 1,000,000 - 4,000,000]

Refugees caused by another Yellow River flood

The 1931 Yellow River flood (Huang He flood) is generally thought to be the deadliest natural disaster ever recorded, and almost certainly of the twentieth century (when pandemics are discounted). Estimates of the number of people killed in the 1931 flooding range from 1 to 4 million. Deaths caused by the flooding include but are not limited to drowning, disease, ensuing famines, and droughts. Lesser population densities in prehistoric times make it unlikely that this toll had previously been surpassed.

Between July and November, some 88,000 sq km of land were completely flooded, and about 21,000 sq km more were partially flooded. The river is often called “China’s sorrow” because millions of people have been killed by flooding.

TOP 10 DEADLY ACCIDENTS AND DISASTERS

Natural disasters are one of the most deadly occurrences in the world.  Earthquakes,
tornados, hurricanes, natural floods, mudslides, and avalanches routinely cause mass
destruction and death.  Some other common disasters include explosions, structural
fires, unnatural floods, and coal mining accidents.  This list will be examining the most
deadly accidents of the 20th century.  It is organized by death toll. 

10. Sverdlovsk Anthrax Leak (1979)

Most Deadly Biological Accident

105 Confirmed Casualties

The closed city of Sverdlovsk, located 1450 km east of Moscow, has been a major
production center of the Soviet military-industrial complex since World War II.  In
1958, a major nuclear accident occurred in this region.  A military reactor was damaged,
resulting in the release of radioactive dust.  The contamination covered an area of
1,000 square kilometers.

The biological weapons facility in Sverdlovsk was built after World War II, using
documentation captured from the Japanese germ warfare program.  The strain of anthrax
produced in Military Compound 19 near Sverdlovsk was the most powerful in the
Soviet arsenal (Anthrax 836).  During the production of the anthrax, a culture has to be
dried, which produces a fine powder.  This way the lethal powder can be used as an
aerosol.  Large filters over the exhaust pipes were the only barriers between the anthrax
dust and the outside environment. 

On the last Friday of March 1979, a technician working in the plant removed a clogged
filter in one of the drying machines.  He left a written notice, but did not add the
information in the logbook.  The supervisor of the next shift did not find anything
unusual and turned the machines on.  Workers eventually realized that the filter was
missing and reinstalled it, but the damage had been done.  All workers of a ceramic plant
located across the street from the facility fell ill during the next few days.  Within a
week most were dead.  The death toll from the leak was at least 105, but the exact
number is unknown as evidence was destroyed by the KGB.  The military facility
remains closed to inspection.  Many journalists have deemed the accident a "biological
Chernobyl."
 
Immediatley following the outbreak of deaths the Soviet Union released a statement
which blamed the casulaties on intestinal exposure due to the consumption of tainted
meat from the area.  All medical records of the victims have been removed in order to
avoid revelations of serious violations of the Biological Weapons Convention.  The
true impact of the Sverdlovsk Anthrax Leak remains unknown. 

9. Tenerife airport disaster (1977)

Most Deadly Aviation Disaster

583 Fatalities

The Tenerife airport is located on the Spanish island of Tenerife, which is one of the
Canary Islands.  On March 27, 1977 two Boeing 747 airliners were maneuvering
around the Tenerife airport.  The airport had one single runway.  It was an extremely
foggy day, which compromised the visual ability of the pilots and the air traffic control
center.  Air traffic control directed Pan Am Flight 1736 to backtax across the runway at
the same time KLM Flight 4805 was taking off.  The KLM Flight stuck the top end of
the Pan Am flight at high speed.  In fact it was briefly air born.  Both airplanes were
destroyed. 

All 234 passengers and 14 crew members in the KLM plane died, while 326 passengers
and 9 crew members aboard the Pan Am flight were also killed, marking a total of 583
fatalities.  The large death toll was primarily due to the fire and explosions resulting
from the fuel spilled in the impact, also rescue crews were unaware for over 20 minutes
that the Pan Am aircraft was involved in the accident, due to the heavy fog and the
separation of the crippled aircraft following the collision.  56 passengers and 5 crew
members aboard the Pan Am aircraft survived, including the captain, first officer, and
flight engineer.   The subsequent investigation concluded that the fundamental cause of
the accident was that the KLM captain took off without a takeoff clearance.  The
Tenerife airport disaster remains the deadliest accident in aviation history.    

8. Xinjiang Theatre Fire (1977)

Most Deadly Structural Fire

694 Fatalities

Satellite View of Xinjiang

Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, which is also
claimed by the territory of the Republic of China.  In February of 1977 the area was
celebrating the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, which is the most important of the
traditional Chinese holidays.  It is often called the Lunar New Year.  On this day,
hundreds of children loaded a theatre in Xinjiang to watch an afternoon show.  During
the production a fire started in the lobby.  It rapidly spread and engulfed the exits
trapping hundreds of people.  In total 694 people were killed that day, with 597 of them
being children.
  The poor construction of theatre played a role in the disaster.  It did not contain the
proper number of exits.  The Xinjiang fire of 1977 is the 6th most deadly structural fire
in history, the top 5 coming in the 1800’s.  I really had a hard time finding information
surrounding this fire and its events.  

7. Modane Train Disaster (1917)

800-1000 Casualties

In the middle of the 19th century the government of the Kingdom of Sardinia (Piedmont)
began building a railway through the valley of Susa, with the hope of building a tunnel
through the Alps.  The line from Turin to Susa was inaugurated on May 22, 1854.
Work on the tunnel began on August 31, 1857 and it was completed in September of
1871.  The line was originally a single track, but was doubled in 1908 between many
other locations.  In 1917, the Fréjus railway line was the scene of one of the world’s
most deadly train accidents.  The horrible accident began when between 800-1000
French soldiers loaded the train in hopes of returning home after fighting in North East
Italy. 

During World War I there was a shortage of locomotives able to run in the area, so the
decision was made to couple two trains, consisting of nineteen coaches attached to a
single 4-6-0 engine.  The first three coaches had air brakes, while the remaining coaches
only had hand brakes or no brakes at all.  The driver initially refused to run the engine
with such an overloaded train, which was four times the safety limit, but he was
threatened with military discipline and the train continued.  On its approach to Modane
the train descended into a deep valley, the driver applied the brakes without effect due to
the heavy load.  After continuing with excessive speeds into the valley for nearly 4 miles
at an estimated 75 mph the first coach derailed causing a pile-up that resulted in an
enormous fire.  The train cars were made mainly of wood.  Between 800-1000 French
soldiers were killed in the accident.
The Queen of the Sea rail disaster is the most deadly in history.  It is not detailed on this
list, as it was directly caused by a natural disaster, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
tsunami.  An overcrowded passenger train was destroyed on a coastal railway in Sri
Lanka by the tsunami.  It is estimated that approximately 2,000 people lost their lives.

6. Courrières Mine Disaster (1906)

1,099 Fatalities

Courrières is an area of France, which is located in the department of Pas-de-Calais and
the region Nord-Pas-de-Calais.  On the morning of March 10, 1906 a large explosion
was heard coming from the Courrières mine.  First responders quickly discovered that
the area was completely devastated.  An elevator cage at Shaft 3 was thrown to the
surface, many pit-head workings were damaged, windows and roofs were blown out.
Like most coal mine disasters during this time in history.  It was thought that the
majority of the destruction was caused by an explosion of coal dust which swept through
the mine.  It remains unclear to this day what caused the dust cloud to ignite and explode.  Two
main hypotheses exist.  One is that the event occurred after a worker made a deadly
mistake while handing mining explosives.  The other involves the accidental ignition of
methane by the naked flame of a miner's lamp, which would have caused a gas
explosion.  The Courrières mine disaster is Europe's worst mining accident.  It caused
the death of 1,099 individuals.  Most of the victims were instantly killed by the blast. 

The Courrières mine disaster is the second most deadly in history and was surpassed by
the Benxihu Colliery accident which occurred in China on April 26, 1942.  It killed
1,549 miners, which was 34% of the miners working that day.  The cause of the Benxihu
Colliery mining accident was also a gas and coal-dust explosion.

   

5. Al-Ma'aisim Tunnel Stampede (1990)

Most Deadly Peacetime Stampede and Human Crush

1,426 Fatalities

In religion and spirituality, a pilgrimage is a long journey or search of great moral
significance.  Buddhism offers four sites of pilgrimage: the Buddha's birthplace at
Lumbini, the site where he attained Enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, where he first
preached at Sarnath, and where he achieved Parinirvana at Kusinagara.  The Holy Land
acts as a focal point for the pilgrimages of the Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism,
Christianity, Islam and the Bahá'í Faith.  Throughout history there have been many
serious incidents during the Hajj, which is the Muslim pilgrimage to the city of Mecca.
There are an estimated 1.3 billion Muslims living today, each of whom is expected to
visit Mecca during the Hajj at least once. 

During the month of the Hajj, Mecca must cope with as many as four million pilgrims.
City officials have to provide food, shelter, and sanitation for millions.  Sometimes the
surging crowds, trekking from one station of the pilgrimage to the next can cause a
stampede.  If an individual falls or gets pushed over a domino effect can lead to mass and
unpreventable chaos.  Panic spreads, pilgrims jostle to avoid being trampled, and
hundreds of deaths can result.  On July 2, 1990, a stampede inside a pedestrian tunnel
(Al-Ma'aisim tunnel) leading out from Mecca towards Mina and the Plains of Arafat led
to the deaths of 1,426 pilgrims.  Making it the most deadly human crush in modern
history.  In 1998, 118 individuals were trambled to death, 35 in 2001, 14 in 2003, 251
in 2004, and 346 in 2006.
The most deadly human crush in world history occurred during 1941 and was part of the
Imperial Japanese Army terror bombing operations on the Chinese provisional capital of
Chongqing, which occurred from 1938-1943.  A conservative estimate places the
number of bombing runs at more than 5,000, with more than 11,500 bombs dropped,
mainly incendiary bombs.  The targets were usually residential areas, business areas,
schools, and hospitals.  Two months after the first attack, the United States embargoed
the export of airplane parts to Japan, thus imposing its first economic sanction against
Japan.  On June 5, 1941 the Japanese flew more than 20 sorties, bombing the city for 3
hours.  Thousands of residents attepted to avoid the fires and chemicals by hiding in a
tunnel.  The numbers continued to rise with no room left in the tunnel, approximetaly
4,000 people were asphyxiated in a human crush. 

4. Halifax Explosion (1917)

Most Deadly Accidental Explosion

1,950 Fatalities

In 1917 the SS Mont-Blanc was chartered by the French government to carry munitions
to Europe, around the same time the Norwegian ship Imo was chartered by the
Commission for Relief in Belgium to carry relief supplies. On the morning of December
6, 1917 the two ships met in Halifax Harbour, which is a large natural harbour on the
Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada.  It should have been a casual pass by, but as
accidents go the two ships had a mass collision causing major damage to the SS Mont
Blanc.  Immediate attention was paid to the threat of fire, but ten minutes after the crash
the vessel was engulfed in flames. 

After burning for 25 minutes the SS Mont-Blanc exploded with incredible force,
equivalent to roughly 3 kilotons of TNT.  The ship was instantly destroyed in the giant
fireball that rose over 1.9 kilometres (1.2 mi) into the air, forming a large mushroom
cloud.  All of the buildings and structures covering nearly 2 square kilometres (500
acres) along the adjacent shore were obliterated, including those in the neighboring
communities of Richmond and Dartmouth.  The explosion caused a 18 metres (60 ft)
tall tsunami in the harbour and a pressure wave of air that snapped trees, bent iron rails,
demolished buildings, grounded vessels, and carried fragments of the Mont-Blanc for
kilometres.
  Approximately 1,950 people were killed by the debris, fires, and collapsed buildings.  It
is estimated that over 9,000 individuals were injured.  Most of the members of the Imo
were killed in the tsunami.  A black rain of unconsumed carbon from the Mont-Blancfell over the city for about 10 minutes after the blast, coating survivors and structural
debris with soot.  It is the world's largest man-made accidental explosion in history.  

3. MV Doña Paz (1987)

Most Deadly Peacetime Ship Disaster  

4,375 Fatalities

The MV Doña Paz was a Philippine-registered passenger ferry.  On December 20, 1987,
the Doña Paz disembarked from Tacloban City, Leyte for the Philippine capital of
Manila with a stopover at Catbalogan City, Samar.  The ferry was traveling along the
Tablas Strait, near Marinduque when it collided with the MT Vector, an oil tanker en
route from Bataan to Masbate.  The Vector was carrying 8,800 barrels of gasoline and
other petroleum products.  The weather that night was clear but the sea was choppy.
During the accident most of the passengers were asleep.  Upon the collision, the
Vector's cargo ignited and caused a fire that spread onto the Doña Paz.  Flames quickly
engulfed the ferry.  There were no life vests on the Doña Paz.  It was later said that the
life jacket lockers had been locked.

The Doña Paz sank within two hours of the collision, while the Vector sank within four
hours.  Both ships sank in about 545 meters of water in the shark-infested Tablas Strait.
It reportedly took eight hours before Philippine maritime authorities learned of the
accident, and another eight hours to organize search and rescue operations.  Originally
the official death toll was released at 1,565 people, although reports would claim that
the ferry was grossly overcrowded and that the true loss of life was over 4,000
individuals.  The ships would later put the death toll from this accident at 4,375 people,
only 26 survivors were retrieved from the seas.  The collision resulted in the deadliest
ferry accident in history and is widely cited as the worst peacetime maritime disaster. 

2. Bhopal disaster (1984)

Most Deadly Industrial Accident in History

25,000+ Fatalities

Bhopal is the capital of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.  It houses the Union Carbide
pesticide plant.  During the evening of December 3, 1984, a large amount of water
entered a tank containing 42 tonnes of methyl isocyanate, which is an intermediate
chemical in the production of carbamate pesticides.  The chemical reaction increased the
tanks temperature to over 200°C, subsequently releasing a large amount of toxic gases
on the city.  Many citizens awoke with an intense burning sensation in their lungs and
they began to choke to death.  Panic ensued on the streets of Bhopal with many people
being trampled.  More then half a million people were exposed to the toxic gases. 

It is estimated that 10,000 people died within 72 hours of the accident.  25,000 have
since died from different gas-related diseases.  The means by which the water entered the
chemical tank has yet to be fully understood.  The Bhopal disaster is often referred to as
the world’s worst industrial tragedy.  It is truly one of the most devastating accidents in
modern history.  The Indian government has learned much from the incident and has
implemented strict rule changes and formed numerous training programs.

1. Chernobyl Disaster (1986)

Most Deadly Nuclear Reactor Accident

Millions Affected

The incredible expansion of nuclear weapons and power in the last 70 years has
created dangers. Of course the possibility of a rogue country starting a nuclear war
exists, but some of the most direct danger exists in the hudreds of nuclear
processing and storage facilites in the world.  Nuclear energy is a productive form
of energy and and nuclear accidents are limited, but the threat of human error
always exists.  There is no single event that would be more devastating to a nation
then having a nuclear explosion or accident expose its own people to a nuclear
fallout.  This was made abundantly clear in 1986 with the Chernobyl disaster.  The
Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear reactor accident that occurred on April 26, 1986,
at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, which was then part of the
Soviet Union.  After a massive power excursion, reactor number four at the
Chernobyl plant, near Pripyat, exploded. 

The nuclear chain reaction grew out of control, similar to the initial stage in the
detonation of a nuclear weapon.  Further explosions and the resulting fire sent a plume
of highly radioactive fallout into the atmosphere and over an extensive geographical
area.  Four hundred times more fallout was released than had been by the atomic
bombing of Hiroshima.  It was equivelant to a barrage of nuclear bombs being dropped
on the area.  The plume drifted over large parts of the western Soviet Union, Eastern
Europe, Western Europe, and Northern Europe, with some nuclear rain falling as far
away as Ireland.  Large areas in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia were badly contaminated,
resulting in the evacuation and resettlement of over 336,000 people.  According to
official post-Soviet data, about 60% of the radioactive fallout landed in Belarus.   

The accident raised concerns about the safety of the Soviet nuclear power industry as
well as nuclear power in general.  It is difficult to accurately quantify the number of
deaths caused by the events at Chernobyl.  The World Health Organization attributed 56
direct deaths, which is a joke.  Millions of people’s health was affected by this incident.
The Chernobyl disaster is considered to be the worst nuclear accident in history and the
only level 7 event on the International Nuclear Event Scale.  The Soviet Union's
collapse into independent nations began early in 1985.  The Chernobyl incident greatly
impacted the Soviet government. 

More Horrible Accidents

Hillsborough Disaster (1989)

96 Casualties

The Hillsborough Disaster was a human crush that occurred on April 15, 1989, at
Hillsborough, a football stadium and home of Sheffield Wednesday F.C. in Sheffield,
England.  The match was an FA Cup semi-final clash between Liverpool and
Nottingham Forest.  At the time, most United Kingdom football stadiums had high steel
fencing between the spectators and the pitch or playing surface, in response to
hooliganism, which had plagued the sport for several years.  Because of these security
standards, English stadiums had a history of crushes since the 1960s.  Hillsborough was
segregated between opposing fans.  The police chose to put the Nottingham Forest fans
in the end of the stadium that had a capacity of 21,000.  The Liverpool supporters were
assigned to a section that could hold only 14,600 fans. 

On their way to the stadium many Liverpool fans had been delayed by unannounced road
work on the M62 motorway, thus creating a massive collection of thousands of people
trying to enter the stadium as the match was beginning.  To avoid a crush outside the
turnstiles officials opened extra gates for entry.  This created an influx of many
thousands of fans in a narrow tunnel at the rear of the terrace flowing into the two
already overcrowded central pens.  It caused a huge crush at the front of the terrace.
People were being pressed up against the fencing by the weight of the crowd behind
them.  After fans started climbing the fence to avoid the crush the match was stopped.Fans were packed so tightly in the pens that many died standing up of compressive
asphyxia.  In all 96 people lost their lives, with 766 other fans being injured and around
300 being taken to hospital.  All of the victims were fans of Liverpool F.C.  The
incident remains the deadliest stadium-related disaster in British history and the second
worse in international sporting history.
The most deadly sports related event was the Upper tier collapse of the Circus Maximus
in ancient Rome, which killed 1,112 individuals.  Corralejas stadium collapse was
another deadly event.  Corralejas stadium is located in Sincelejo, Columbia and is a bull
fighting arena, which collapsed in 1980 killing at least 200 people, but more like 700 to
a 1000 individuals.     

Sampoong Department Store Collapse (1995)

Most Deadly Structural Collapse

502 Casualties

The Sampoong Group began construction of the Sampoong Department Store in 1987
over a tract of land previously used as a landfill.  Originally designed as an office
building with four floors, Lee Joon, the future chairman of the building, redesigned the
building as a large department store during its construction.  This involved cutting away
a number of support columns in order to permit the installation of escalators.  The
group was advised that the structure would not support another floor.  In addition, the
building's air conditioning unit was installed on the roof, creating a load of four times
the design limit.  Sampoong Department Store opened to the public on July 7, 1990, attracting an
estimated 40,000 people per day during the building's five years in service.  In April
1995, cracks began to appear in the ceiling of the south wing's fifth floor.  During this
period, the only response carried out by Lee and his management involved moving
merchandise from the top floor to the basement.  The store management failed to shut
the building down or issue formal evacuation orders.  On the morning of June 29, the
number of cracks in the area increased dramatically, prompting managers to close the top
floor and shut the air conditioning off. 

Five hours before the collapse, the first of several loud bangs was emitted from the top
floors.  Soon the fourth floor ceiling began to sink, resulting in store workers blocking
customer access to the fourth floor.  When the building started to produce serious
cracking sounds at about 5:50 p.m., workers began to sound alarm bells and evacuate all
customers.  Two minutes later the roof gave way, and the air conditioning unit crashed
into the already-overloaded fifth floor.  The building's south wing pancaked into the
basement.  Within 20 seconds, all of the building's columns in the south wing gave way,
trapping more than 1,500 people and killing 502.  Rescue crews were on the scene
within minutes of the disaster, but the following day the search was called off for many
days due to the danger that the unstable remains of the store would come down on the
rescuers. 

Two days after the collapse, city officials released a statement claiming that anybody
remaining in the building must have already died, which outraged family members of the
deceased.  The human body is extremely resiliant, which was demonstrated when the last
survivor, 19-year-old Park Seung Hyun was pulled from the wreckage 17 days after the
collapse with a few scratches.  She said that she heard the sounds of survivors drowning
in the fire department's deflation water.  The collapse is the largest peacetime disaster in
South Korean history. 

Looking back in history, In 27 AD, a wooden amphitheatre collapsed in Fidenae
resulting in by far the worst stadium disaster and structural collapse in history with as
many as 20,000 dead and wounded out of the total audience of 50,000.