Galveston Hurricane – Texas – September 8, 1900
The worst natural disaster before Hurricane Katrina struck Galveston in 1900. This hurricane flooded the island where Galveston was located,…
Nanking Massacre – December 13, 1937
In violation of international agreements that Japan had signed Japanese soldiers assaulted China. Nanking, the capital of China at that…
New England Hurricane – September 21, 1938
Wrong assumptions about the course this hurricane would take led to inadequate preparations for its arrival in New England. Consequently,…
Imperial Valley Earthquake – California – May 19, 1940
The Imperial Valley experienced an earthquake of magnitude 7.1. The population of the Valley was only 40,000 at the time,…
Paricutin Volcanic Eruption – Mexico – February 19, 1943
The eruption continued in the village of Paricutin, about two hundred miles west of Mexico City, and its cone reached…
San Juan Earthquake – Argentina – January 15, 1944
This magnitude 7.8 quake was the largest natural disaster in the history of Argentina, which caused the death of 10…
Shinnston Tornado – West Virginia – June 23, 1944
This tornado had a width of a thousand feet as it touched down. It killed 153, seriously injured eight hundred…
Northeast United States Hurricane – September 15, 1944
This Northeast hurricane received the name the Great Atlantic because of its devastating work on coast and sea all the…
Cleveland Gas Explosion – Ohio – October 21, 1944
In the dying days of World War II inferior materials, because of war shortages, were used to repair a gas…
Hiroshima Nuclear Bomb – Japan – August 6, 1945
Hiroshima, a city in the south of the main Island of Honshu, was the target in this first use. Most…