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Ten deadliest natural disasters
This is a list of the top 10 natural disasters (ranked by number of fatalities): 10. Aleppo Earthquake – 1138, Syria [Deaths: 230,000]
Aleppo is located along the northern part of the Dead Sea Transform system of geologic faults. The earthquake was the beginning of the first of two intense sequences of earthquakes in the region. The worst hit area was Harim, where Crusaders had built a large citadel. Sources indicate that the castle was destroyed and the church fell in on itself. 9. Indian Ocean Earthquake – 2004, Indian Ocean [Deaths: 230,000] The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, was an undersea earthquake that occurred December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The magnitude of the earthquake was originally recorded as 9.0, but has been increased to between 9.1 and 9.3. 8. Banqiao Dam Failure – 1975, China [Deaths: 231,000] Banqiao Dam was designed to survive floods. In August of 1975, however, a great flood occurred, pouring more than a year’s rainfall in 24 hours, which weather forecasts failed to predict. It almost wiped out an area 55 kilometers long, 15 kilometers wide. Evacuation orders had not been fully delivered because of weather conditions and poor communications. 7. Tangshan Earthquake – 1976, China [Deaths: 242,000] The epicentre of the earthquake was near Tangshan in Hebei, China, an industrial city with approximately one million inhabitants. Chinese Government’s official sources state 7.8 on the Richter magnitude scale. It was the first earthquake in recent history to score a direct hit on a major city. The People’s Republic of China government refused to accept international aid, and its own efforts were criticized as inadequate. 6. Kaifeng Flood – 1642, China [Deaths: 300,000] Roughly half of the 600,000 residents of Kaifeng were killed by the flood and the ensuing peripheral disasters such as famine and plague, making it one of the deadliest single acts of war in history and the second greatest single loss of human life of its time. 5. India Cyclone – 1839, India [Deaths: 300,000+] In 1839, a 40-foot tidal wave caused by an enormous cyclone wiped out the harbor city of Coringa that was never entirely rebuilt; 20,000 ships in the bay were destroyed and 300,000 people died. Most ships were sunk and estimated 20,000 people drowned. 4. Shaanxi Earthquake – 1556, China [Deaths: 830,000] The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake or Hua County earthquake is the deadliest earthquake on record, killing approximately 830,000 people. A 520 mile-wide area was destroyed and in some counties, sixty percent of the population was killed. 3. Bhola Cyclone – 1970, Bangladesh [Deaths: 500,000–1,000,000] The 1970 Bhola cyclone was a devastating tropical cyclone that struck East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) on November 12, 1970. Up to 500,000 people lost their lives in the storm, primarily as a result of the storm surge that flooded much of the low-lying islands of the Ganges Delta. The Pakistani government was severely criticized for its handling of the relief operations following the storm. 2. Yellow River Flood – 1887, China [Deaths: 900,000–2,000,000] The 1887 Yellow River floods devastated the area, killing between 900,000–2,000,000 people. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded. In 1887, this rising seabed, coupled with days of heavy rain, caused a massive flood. After the flood, two million were left homeless. The resulting pandemic and lack of basic essentials claimed as many lives as those lost directly by the flood itself. 1. Yellow River Flood – 1931, China [Deaths: 1,000,000–4,000,000] Estimates of the number of people killed in the 1931 flooding range from 1 to 4 million. Deaths caused by the flooding are not limited to drowning, disease, ensuing famines, and droughts. The river is often called «China’s sorrow» because millions of people have been killed by flooding. Notes: fault n – повреждение (зд.) crusader n – участник крестового похода fail v – потерпеть неудачу refuse v – отказываться effort n – усилие ensue v – следовать plague n – чума enormous a – огромный bay n – гавань estimate v – подсчитать essential a – основной sorrow n – печаль
12. Find in the text: 1. the deadliest earthquake; 2. the strongest tsunami; 3. the most devastating flood; 4. all the disasters which happened in China; Pakistan; India. 5. Which country ranks the first by number of disasters? Can you explain this fact?
13. Classify the information from the text:
14. Watch a short film about a tsunami. Answer the following questions: 1. How is the tsunami wave formed? 2. What are the visible signs of a tsunami? 3. Can we always notice a tsunami wave? 4. How fast can a tsunami wave be? 5. How high is an average tsunami wave? 6. What changes does a tsunami wave undergo near the shore? Дата добавления: 2015-09-18 | Просмотры: 834 | Нарушение авторских прав |
