Hurricane Betsy – September 9, 1965
Hurricane Betsy was, for its time, the costliest and deadliest hurricane in U.S. history. Hurricane
devastating
Netherlands Flood – January 31, 1953
A combination of high tide and severe wind storm raised the level of the North
London Suffocating Smog – England – December 5, 1952
London’s nine million residents were almost totally immobilized for four days as a thick smog
Kamchatka Earthquake – Russia – November 4, 1952
Kamchatka, Russia, frequently experiences subduction earthquakes of the most powerful kind. This one had a
Kern County Earthquake – California – July 21, 1952
The largest Californian earthquake since 1906 struck Kern County in 1952. The epicenter was located
Assam Earthquake – India – August 15, 1950
The quake’s epicenter was in China but almost all the damage and death toll occurred
Queen Charlotte Islands Earthquake – Canada – August 22, 1949
This earthquake occurred on the boundary between the Pacific and North American tectonic plates at
Galveston Hurricane – Texas – September 8, 1900
The worst natural disaster before Hurricane Katrina struck Galveston in 1900. This hurricane flooded the
Nanking Massacre – December 13, 1937
In violation of international agreements that Japan had signed Japanese soldiers assaulted China. Nanking, the
New England Hurricane – September 21, 1938
Wrong assumptions about the course this hurricane would take led to inadequate preparations for its
Imperial Valley Earthquake – California – May 19, 1940
The Imperial Valley experienced an earthquake of magnitude 7.1. The population of the Valley was
Paricutin Volcanic Eruption – Mexico – February 19, 1943
The eruption continued in the village of Paricutin, about two hundred miles west of Mexico
San Juan Earthquake – Argentina – January 15, 1944
This magnitude 7.8 quake was the largest natural disaster in the history of Argentina, which
Shinnston Tornado – West Virginia – June 23, 1944
This tornado had a width of a thousand feet as it touched down. It killed
Northeast United States Hurricane – September 15, 1944
This Northeast hurricane received the name the Great Atlantic because of its devastating work on
Cleveland Gas Explosion – Ohio – October 21, 1944
In the dying days of World War II inferior materials, because of war shortages, were
Hiroshima Nuclear Bomb – Japan – August 6, 1945
Hiroshima, a city in the south of the main Island of Honshu, was the target
Bikini Atoll Nuclear Tests – Marshall Islands – February 1, 1946
Shortly after the end of World War II, the U.S. Navy decided to carry out
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