Disasters in History

How much do you know about the history of disasters - both natural and man-made?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: December 12, 2019
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First submittedDecember 12, 2013
Times taken21,808
Average score65.0%
Rating4.34
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Year
Deaths
Hint
Answer
2013
6,352
This country is devastated by Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest storm in history at landfall
Philippines
2011
185
This New Zealand city is severely damaged by an earthquake
Christchurch
2010
> 100,000
This impoverished country is struck by a 7.0 earthquake
Haiti
2009
173
This country is struck by bush fires on "Black Saturday"
Australia
2006
346
People are crushed to death while "stoning the devil" in this city
Mecca
2005
1,833
This hurricane strikes New Orleans
Katrina
2004
230,000
Communities on the Indian Ocean are devastated by this type of disaster
Tsunami
1992
26
This hurricane strikes Miami
Andrew
1986
31 (direct)
This Soviet nuclear power plant explodes
Chernobyl
1980
57
This volcano erupts in Washington state
St. Helens
1937
36
This zeppelin bursts into flames
Hindenburg
1917
2,000
This city is rocked when a cargo ship full of wartime explosives blows up (Until the atomic bomb, it was the largest man-made explosion ever)
Halifax
1912
1,500
This ship hits an iceberg and sinks
RMS Titanic
1906
3,000
This city is burned to the ground following a major earthquake
San Francisco
1931
> 1 million
The flooding of this river, the longest in Asia, is generally considered to be the deadliest natural disaster of all time
Yangtze
1883
36,000
This Indonesia volcano spectacularly erupts
Krakatoa
1871
300
This city is destroyed by fire after a cow kicks over a lantern
Chicago
1666
6 (official)
Much of this city burns due to a bakery fire on Pudding Lane
London
79
16,000
Pompeii and Herculaneum are buried after the eruption of this volcano
Vesuvius
65 Million B.C.
0
An asteroid strikes this Mexican peninsula, eventually causing the extinction of the dinosaurs
Yucatan
+1
Level 82
Dec 15, 2013
Blanked on Halifax but got the rest. Better than the last disaster quiz.
+1
Level 81
Feb 7, 2014
I didn't know Halifax either. Have to look that up.
+1
Level 70
Feb 7, 2014
The largest non-nuclear explosion ever (until 1947) was at the Battle of the Messines in 1917. Halifax was probably the largest accidental explosion.
+1
Level 82
Feb 10, 2014
+1
Level 4
Feb 10, 2014
I think Hurricane Katrina was a big diaster for New Orleans and the surrounding areas.
+2
Level 56
Apr 9, 2015
Yes.
+6
Level 70
Apr 23, 2014
Pripyat might be worth accepting for Chernobyl if you're feeling lenient. Good quiz.
+3
Level 84
Sep 24, 2014
And maybe a few more spelling options. I can never remember where the "y" goes in that name.
+1
Level 56
Apr 9, 2015
"Get to know the place we're from! We're... from... Halifax. We're from Halifax." Thank you, Picnicface, for helping me on this quiz.
+2
Level 83
Oct 4, 2015
Oh, wait, you don't mean the Halifax in West Yorkshire...
+1
Level 71
Apr 26, 2016
Tried 'Chenobyl' several times.......... for the want of an R the battle was lost.
+4
Level 12
May 29, 2017
Oh finally, someone talks about the disasters long forgotten, St. Helens and the Hindenburg. On that note,where is the disaster that became famous, then forgotten: the Boston Molasses Flood?
+3
Level 73
Apr 16, 2018
Also forgotten, but extremely sad was the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.
+1
Level 82
Mar 7, 2023
now there's a Puppet History episode on it on Youtube, with one of the saddest yet funniest songs ever to accompany it
+2
Level 70
Dec 13, 2019
I propose to add the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.
+3
Level 68
Dec 13, 2019
The hurricane that destroyed Galveston in 1900 is still the largest natural disaster in U.S. history in terms of number of deaths.
+1
Level 59
Mar 5, 2020
But Kanye didn't have any comments on that one...
+2
Level 87
Dec 21, 2019
You have Hurricane Andrew at 26 deaths, but you do not have Tangshan earthquake?
+4
Level 75
Dec 26, 2019
The most devastating disaster on the list, and you say there were no deaths. Half of all species on earth died. Too human-centric!
+6
Level 82
Feb 26, 2020
Dino lives matter!
+1
Level 75
Aug 13, 2020
I was gonna say, even if humans didn't exist, there were many casualties when the meteor struck
+1
Level 74
Apr 7, 2021
I can't believe you didn't mention the Great Fire of 1871 in this quiz. It burnt several cities to the ground and was the biggest fire in American history. You mentioned several other American fires but forgot the biggest one
+2
Level 61
Oct 16, 2021
It is in there. The story of the cow kicking over a lantern is fake. It was most likely started by her drunk smoking brother.
+1
Level 90
Oct 31, 2021
We can thank the asteroid for the rise of the mammals. Hardly a disaster from a human perspective!
+1
Level 80
Mar 11, 2022
I don’t know if there’s anything special with the interesting facts and if they line up with certain quizzes but lately I keep getting facts that go with the quiz I just took. I just got the fact about the Chernobyl TV show.
+3
Level 83
Jun 2, 2022
I just typed in "Bhopal" without looking at any of the clues, surprised it didn't fill in
+2
Level 76
Aug 22, 2022
Your reverse chronology is a little out of order (1931).

Also, on this same site, I've taken quizzes saying the Chicago fire was and wasn't caused by a cow.