In October 1780 the Atlantic Ocean suffered its deadliest hurricane on record. This was before the era of modern data and tracking techniques so it is difficult to ascertain the precise course of the hurricane, but it probably originated at the start of the month somewhere near the Cape Verde Islands in the eastern Atlantic. …
Japan’s spectacular economic success story over the second half of the 20th century is the more remarkable when you consider the shaky foundations on which it has been constructed – quite literally, since the country is one of the most geologically unstable parts of the entire planet. Japan comprises more than 4,000 islands, though the …
Huaynaputina is a strato-volcano situated in the Andes range in the south of Peru and is part of the infamous Pacific Ring of Fire. Its name translates as ‘new volcano’ and this huge, irregular crater, 2.5 km (1.5 mi) in diameter, has been formed over time from stratified layers of lava and other deposits. Its …
The province of Shaanxi in northwestern China has the unenviable record of being the site of the world’s most deadly recorded earthquake. It happened in the winter of 1555-1556 during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and is therefore often referred to as the Jiajing earthquake. Measuring an estimated 8.0 on …
One of Europe’s most elegant capital cities was laid waste at a stroke when a ferocious earthquake – thought to have measured as high as 9.0 on the Richter scale – hit Lisbon in 1755. It was the morning of November 1, All Saints’ Day, and thousands of citizens were attending Mass in the city’s …
The ancient Romans were a superstitious people, forever looking for portents in natural events. They failed utterly, however, to predict the cataclysm which engulfed the fertile and heavily populated Campanian countryside south of Naples in AD 79. Had they possessed a modern scientist’s understanding of the earth’s behaviour they might have seen the link with …