The definition of a natural disaster is a catastrophe caused by forces of nature, rather than by man-made forces.
China: Natural Disasters
China is the country that has had the most natural disasters:
- 540 through 590 - Plague of Justinian. 40 million to 100 million died on multiple continents
- 1290 - Chihli Inner Mongolia earthquake. 100,000 deaths
- 1300s through 1720s - Black Death. 100 million died on multiple continents
- 1556 - Shaanxi earthquake. 830,000 deaths
- 1850s through 1950s - Third phrase of the bubonic plague. Unverifiable amount died worldwide
- 1876 through 1879 - Northern Chinese famine. 13 million deaths
- 1887 - Yellow River flood. 900,000 to two million deaths
- 1907 - Chinese famine. 24 million deaths
- 1911 - Yangtze River flood. 100,000 deaths
- 1918 through 1920 - Spanish flu. 50 million to 100 million died worldwide
- 1920 - Haiyuan earthquake. 234,117 deaths
- 1922 - Swatow typhoon. 60,000 deaths
- 1927 - Gulang earthquake. 40,000 deaths
- 1928 through 1930 - Chinese drought. 3 million deaths
- 1931 - Floods. 1 million to 4 million deaths
- 1933 - Diexi earthquake. 9,000 deaths
- 1935 - Yangtze River flood. 145,000 deaths
- 1936 - Chinese famine. 5 million deaths
- 1941 - Chinese drought. 3 million deaths
- 1958 through 1958 - Asian flu. 4 million died worldwide
- 1958 through 1961 - Great Chinese famine. Unverifiable number of deaths
- 1966 - Xingtai earthquake. 8,064 deaths
- 1970 - Tonghai earthquake. 15,621 deaths
- 1975 - Banqiao Dam failure. 231,000 deaths
- 1975 - Super Typhoon Nina. 210,000 deaths
- 1976 - Tangshan earthquake. 242,419 deaths
- 2008 - Sichuan earthquake. 68,712 deaths
- 2008 - Winter storms. 133 deaths
A hurricane or a tornado is an example of a natural disaster.
