Encyclopedia of Disasters: Environmental Catastrophes and Human Tragedies

--Volume 1-- Title Page......Page 3
Contents......Page 5
Credits for Illustrations......Page 11
Guide to Thematic Entries......Page 17
Preface......Page 23
Acknowledgments......Page 27
Introduction......Page 29
1. Supervolcano Toba, Indonesia, 74000 BC......Page 65
2. Rome, Italy, fire, 64......Page 69
3. Pompeii, Italy, volcanic eruption, 79......Page 75
4. Alexandria, Egypt, tsunami, 365......Page 81
5. Antioch, Syria (now Antakya, Turkey), earthquake, 526......Page 85
6. Constantinople, Byzantine Empire, Black Death plague, 542......Page 90
7. Corinth, Greece, earthquake, 856......Page 96
8. Damghan, Persia, earthquake, 856......Page 98
9. Aleppo, Syria, earthquake, 1138......Page 102
10. Shaanxi, China, earthquake, 1556......Page 105
11. Arequipa, Peru, volcanic eruption, 1600......Page 110
12. London, England, Black Death plague, 1665......Page 116
13. London, England, fire, 1666......Page 122
14. Port Royal, Jamaica, earthquake, 1692......Page 127
15. Cascadia earthquake, 1700......Page 132
16. Lisbon, Portugal, earthquake and tsunami, 1755......Page 139
17. Massachusetts offshore earthquake, 1755......Page 145
18. Bengal, India, famine, 1770......Page 147
19. Connecticut earthquake, 1791......Page 152
20. New Madrid, Missouri, earthquakes, 1811 and 1812......Page 154
21. West Ventura, California, earthquake, 1812......Page 159
22. Tambora, Indonesia, volcanic eruption, 1815......Page 162
23. Natchez, Mississippi, tornado, 1840......Page 167
24. Fort Tejon, California, earthquake, 1857......Page 170
25. Calcutta, India, cyclone, 1864......Page 175
26. Kau, Hawaii, earthquake, 1868......Page 178
27. Chicago, Illinois, fire, 1871......Page 183
28. Owens Valley, California, earthquake, 1872......Page 186
29. Bangladesh cyclone, 1876......Page 188
30. Marshfield, Missouri, tornado, 1880......Page 190
31. Georgia/South Carolina hurricane, 1881......Page 192
32. Haiphong, Vietnam, typhoon, 1881......Page 194
33. Krakatau, Indonesia, volcanic eruption, 1883......Page 196
34. Charleston, South Carolina, earthquake, 1886......Page 201
35. Yellow River, China, flood, 1887......Page 205
36. Johnstown, Pennsylvania, flood, 1889......Page 209
37. Louisville, Kentucky, tornado, 1890......Page 215
38. Japan earthquake, 1891......Page 217
39. Imperial Valley, California, earthquake, 1892......Page 219
40. Georgia/South Carolina hurricane, 1893......Page 220
41. Louisiana hurricane, 1893......Page 222
42. St. Louis, Missouri, tornado, 1896......Page 224
43. Sanriku, Japan, earthquake and tsunami, 1896......Page 227
44. Assam, India, earthquake, 1897......Page 229
45. Eureka, California, earthquake, 1899......Page 232
46. New Richmond, Wisconsin, tornado, 1899......Page 233
47. Yakutat, Alaska, earthquake, 1899......Page 235
48. Galveston, Texas, hurricane, 1900......Page 240
49. Cook Inlet, Alaska, earthquake, 1901......Page 245
50. Mount Pelee volcanic eruption, 1902......Page 250
51. Goliad, Texas, tornado, 1902......Page 256
52. Santa Maria, Guatemala, volcanic eruption, 1902......Page 259
53. Turtle Mountain, Alberta, Canada, landslide, 1903......Page 261
54. Chicago, Illinois, fire, 1903......Page 266
55. St. Petersburg, Russia, revolution, 1905......Page 273
56. Mongolia earthquake, 1905......Page 279
57. San Francisco, California, earthquake, 1906......Page 281
58. Socorro 1, New Mexico, earthquake, 1906......Page 288
59. Socorro 2, New Mexico, earthquake, 1906......Page 290
60. Ecuador offshore earthquake, 1906......Page 292
61. Monongah, Pennsylvania, explosion 1907......Page 295
62. Amite, Louisiana, tornado, 1908......Page 300
63. Louisiana hurricane, 1909......Page 302
64. Oregon earthquake, 1910......Page 305
65. Titanic iceburg tragedy, 1912......Page 307
66. Katmai, Alaska, volcanic eruption, 1912......Page 314
67. Omaha, Nebraska, tornado, 1913......Page 320
68. Texas hurricane, 1915......Page 322
69. Pleasant Valley, Nevada, earthquake, 1915......Page 324
70. Mattoon, Illinois, tornado, 1917......Page 327
71. Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, explosion, 1917......Page 329
72. World-wide flu pandemic, 1918–1919......Page 334
73. Mona Passage, Puerto Rico, earthquake, 1918......Page 340
74. Vancouver Island, Canada, earthquake, 1918......Page 343
75. Kelud, Indonesia, volcanic eruption, 1919......Page 345
76. Florida/Gulf of Mexico hurricane, 1919......Page 347
77. Humboldt, California, earthquake, 1923......Page 350
78. Kamchatka, Russia, earthquake, 1923......Page 352
79. Tokyo, Japan, earthquake, 1923......Page 355
80. Charlevoix, Quebec, earthquake, 1925......Page 360
81. Illinois/Indiana/Missouri tornado, 1925......Page 363
82. Clarkston Valley, Montana, earthquake, 1925......Page 366
83. Santa Barbara, California, earthquake, 1925......Page 369
84. Florida hurricane, 1926......Page 371
85. Lompoc, California, earthquake, 1927......Page 374
86. St. Francis Dam failure, 1928......Page 376
87. Lake Okeechobee hurricane, 1928......Page 380
88. Stock Market Collapse, 1929......Page 383
89. Grand Banks, Nova Scotia, earthquake, 1929......Page 388
90. Ukraine catastrophe, 1932......Page 390
91. Nevada earthquake, 1932......Page 395
92. Sanriku, Japan, earthquake, 1933......Page 397
93. Baffin Bay, Canada, earthquake, 1933......Page 399
94. Bihar, India, earthquake, 1934......Page 401
95. Quetta earthquake, 1935......Page 404
96. Labor Day hurricane 1935......Page 407
97. Gainesville tornado, 1936......Page 409
98. Hindenburg crash, 1937......Page 411
99. Nanking massacre, 1937......Page 417
--Volume 2-- Title Page......Page 425
Contents......Page 427
Credits for Illustrations......Page 433
100. New England hurricane, 1938......Page 439
101. Imperial Valley, California, earthquake, 1940......Page 444
102. Paricutin, Mexico, volcanic eruption, 1943......Page 446
103. San Juan, Argentina, earthquake, 1944......Page 451
104. Shinnston, West Virginia, tornado, 1944......Page 453
105. Northeast United States hurricane, 1944......Page 455
106. Cleveland, Ohio, gas explosion, 1944......Page 457
107. Hiroshima, Japan, nuclear bomb, 1945......Page 463
108. Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, nuclear tests, 1946......Page 469
109. Unimak, Alaska, tsunami, 1946......Page 476
110. Vancouver Island, Canada, earthquake, 1946......Page 479
111. Nankaido, Japan, earthquake, 1946......Page 482
112. Woodward, Oklahoma, tornado, 1947......Page 484
113. Texas City, Texas, explosion, 1947......Page 486
114. Puget Sound, Washington, earthquake, 1949......Page 492
115. Queen Charlotte Islands, Canada, earthquake, 1949......Page 494
116. Assam, India, earthquake, 1950......Page 497
117. Kern County, California, earthquake, 1952......Page 499
118. Kamchatka, Russia, earthquake, 1952......Page 502
119. London, England, suffocating smog, 1952......Page 505
120. Netherlands (Holland) flood, 1953......Page 511
121. Waco, Texas, tornado, 1953......Page 516
122. Flint, Michigan, tornado, 1953......Page 518
123. Fallon-Stillwater, Nevada, earthquake, 1954......Page 521
124. Thalidomide drug tragedy, 1957......Page 524
125. Lituya Bay, Alaska, earthquake, 1958......Page 529
126. West Yellowstone, Montana, earthquake, 1959......Page 531
127. Japan typhoon, 1959......Page 536
128. Chile earthquake, 1960......Page 539
129. New York City, New York, mid-air collision, 1960......Page 544
130. Tristan da Cunha volcanic eruption, 1961......Page 550
131. Vaiont Dam, Italy, collapse, 1963......Page 555
132. Prince William Sound, Alaska, earthquake, 1964......Page 559
133. Hurricane Betsy, 1965......Page 564
134. Aberfan, South Wales, Britain, landslide, 1966......Page 567
135. Hurricane Camille, 1969......Page 573
136. Peru earthquake, 1970......Page 577
137. Bangladesh cyclone, 1970......Page 581
138. Iraq mercury poisoning, 1971......Page 583
139. Hurricane Agnes, 1972......Page 588
140. Munich, Germany, terrorism, 1972......Page 590
141. Managua, Nicaragua, earthquake, 1972......Page 595
142. Iceland volcanic eruption, 1973......Page 598
143. Brisbane, Australia, flood, 1974......Page 601
144. Kalapana, Hawaii, earthquake, 1975......Page 605
145. Guatemala earthquake, 1976......Page 608
146. Teton Dam, Idaho, collapse, 1976......Page 611
147. Seveso, Italy, dioxin spill, 1976......Page 616
148. Tangshan, China, earthquake, 1976......Page 621
149. France oil spill, 1978......Page 625
150. Love Canal, New York, contamination, 1978......Page 629
151. Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, nuclear accident, 1979......Page 634
152. Mount St. Helens, Washington, volcanic eruption, 1980......Page 639
153. Canada, sinking of oil platform, 1982......Page 645
154. Coalinga, California, earthquake, 1983......Page 649
155. Bhopal, India, gas poisoning, 1984......Page 652
156. Air terrorism, 1985......Page 657
157. Mexico earthquake, 1985......Page 662
158. Nevado del Ruiz, Colombia, volcanic eruption, 1985......Page 664
159. Challenger (space shuttle), Florida, fire/explosion, 1986......Page 667
160. Chernobyl, Ukraine, nuclear accident, 1986......Page 671
161. Armenia earthquake, 1988......Page 676
162. Alaska oil spill, 1989......Page 678
163. Tiananmen Square, China, massacre, 1989......Page 684
164. Loma Prieta, California, earthquake, 1989......Page 688
165. Persian Gulf oil inferno, 1991......Page 691
166. Mount Pinatubo, Philippines, volcanic eruption, 1991......Page 695
167. Hurricane Andrew, 1992......Page 699
168. New York City, New York, terrorism, 1993......Page 703
169. Northridge, California, earthquake, 1994......Page 708
170. Rwanda genocide, 1994......Page 711
171. Kobe, Japan, earthquake, 1995......Page 719
172. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, terrorism, 1995......Page 722
173. Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina, genocide, 1995......Page 732
174. Red River flood, 1997......Page 738
175. Hurricane Floyd, 1999......Page 741
176. Peru offshore earthquake, 2001......Page 744
177. Nine Eleven, New York City, New York, terrorism, 2001......Page 746
178. United States anthrax terrorism, 2001......Page 752
179. Sumatra, Indonesia, earthquake and tsunami, 2004......Page 756
180. Northern California offshore earthquake, 2005......Page 762
181. Hurricane Katrina, 2005......Page 766
182. Pakistan earthquake, 2005......Page 776
183. Taiwan earthquake, 2006......Page 778
184. Greensburg, Kansas, tornado, 2007......Page 781
Appendix 1: USGS List of Worldwide Earthquakes (1500–2007)......Page 785
Appendix 2: U.S. Natural Environments......Page 796
Appendix 3: World’s Deadliest Disasters......Page 800
Appendix 4: Measuring Natural Disasters......Page 803
Bibliography......Page 807
Index......Page 809