10 biggest disasters in the world. The worst catastrophes in the world

17.04.2013

Natural disasters unpredictable, destructive, they cannot be stopped. Perhaps that is why humanity is most afraid of them. We offer you the top rating in history, they took a huge number of lives.

10. The collapse of the Banqiao Dam, 1975

The dam was built to contain the effects of about 12 inches of rainfall daily. However, in August 1975, it became clear that this was not enough. As a result of the collision of the cyclones, Typhoon Nina brought heavy rainfall of –7.46 inches per hour, which means 41.7 inches daily. In addition, due to clogging, the dam could no longer fulfill its role. In a few days, 15.738 billion tons of water burst through it, which rolled in a deadly wave over the surrounding area. More than 231,000 people died.

9. Earthquake in Haiyan, China, 1920

As a result of the earthquake, which is on the 9th line in the top ranking deadliest natural disasters in history, 7 provinces in China were affected. In the Hainyan region alone, 73,000 people have died, with more than 200,000 deaths nationwide. The tremors continued for the next three years. It caused landslides and large ground cracks. The earthquake turned out to be so strong that some rivers changed course, some of them had natural dams.

8. Tangshan Earthquake, 1976

It happened on July 28, 1976 and is called the strongest earthquake of the 20th century. The epicenter was the city of Tangshan, located in the Hebei province, China. Almost nothing was left of a densely populated, large industrial city in 10 seconds. The number of victims is about 220,000.

7. Earthquake Antakya (Antioch), 565

Despite the small number of details that have survived to this day, the earthquake has become one of the most destructive and claimed more than 250,000 lives and caused enormous damage to the economy.

6. Indian Ocean earthquake / tsunami, 2004

It happened on December 24, 2004, just in time for Christmas. The epicenter was near the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand have suffered the most. The second earthquake in the history of magnitude 9.1 -9.3. it has caused a number of other earthquakes around the globe, for example in Alaska. It also caused a deadly tsunami. More than 225,000 people died.

5. Indian cyclone, 1839

In 1839, an extremely large cyclone came to India. On November 25, a storm practically destroyed the city of Koringa. He literally destroyed everything he came into contact with. 2,000 ships docked in the port were demolished. The city has not been rebuilt. The storm surges it attracted killed over 300,000 people.

4. Cyclone Bol, 1970

After the Cyclone Bola walked through the lands of Pakistan, more than half of the arable land was polluted and damaged, a small part of the rice and grain was saved, but hunger was no longer avoided. In addition, about 500,000 people died from the heavy rains and floods that it caused. Wind force –115 meters per hour, hurricane - category 3.

3. Shaanxi earthquake, 1556

The most destructive earthquake in history happened on February 14, 1556 in China. Its epicenter was in the Wei River Valley and as a result, about 97 provinces were affected. Buildings were destroyed, half of the people living in them were killed. According to some reports, 60% of the population of Huascian province died. A total of 830,000 people died. The tremors continued for another six months.

2. Flood of the Yellow River, 1887

The Yellow River in China is extremely prone to flooding and overflow. In 1887, this resulted in the flooding of 50,000 square miles around. According to some reports, the flood claimed the lives of 900,000 - 2,000,000 people. Farmers, knowing the characteristics of the river, built dams that saved them from the annual floods, but that year, the water blew away both the farmers and their homes.

1. Flood of Central China, 1931

According to statistics, the flood that occurred in 1931 became the most terrible in history... After a long drought, 7 cyclones came to China at once, which brought hundreds of liters of rain with them. As a result, three rivers overflowed their banks. The flood killed 4 million people.

October 13 is the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction, which is not a reason to remember the worst and deadliest natural disasters in the history of mankind.

Earthquake in Syria. 1202 year

The earthquake of 1202, the epicenter of which was in the Dead Sea, was not so much powerful as it was prolonged and large-scale - it was felt over the vast territory located between Syria and Armenia. The exact number of deaths is unknown - in the 13th century, no one counted the population, but even by the most conservative estimates, the earthquake claimed the lives of more than a million people.

Earthquake in China. 1556 year

One of the most destructive earthquakes in human history - in China - occurred on January 23, 1556. Its epicenter was in the area of ​​the right tributary of the Yellow River - Weihe, and it affected 97 counties in several Chinese provinces. The earthquake was accompanied by landslides, landslides and changes in river channels, which, in turn, led to floods, and the destruction of houses and temples - to severe fires. As a result of the disaster, the soil liquefied and pulled buildings and people underground, its impact was felt even at a distance of 500 kilometers from the epicenter. 830 thousand people became victims of the earthquake.

Earthquake and tsunami in Portugal. 1755 year

The infamous Lisbon earthquake began on November 1, 1755 at nine o'clock in the morning - from the first aftershocks in the sea to the moment when the 15-meter tsunami covered the city's central embankment, it took only twenty minutes. Most of its inhabitants were at the service in churches - they celebrated All Saints Day, so they had no chance of salvation. Fire broke out in Lisbon and continued for ten days. In addition to the capital, sixteen more Portuguese cities were affected, and neighboring Setubal was almost completely washed away by the tsunami. The victims of the earthquake were from 40 to 60 thousand people. Lost architectural gems such as the Opera House and the Royal Palace, and the picturesque masterpieces of Caravaggio, Titian and Rubens.

Great hurricane. 1780 year

The Great Hurricane - or Hurricane San Calixto II - is the most powerful and deadliest tropical cyclone in human history. It originated in early October 1780 in the Cape Verde Islands region and raged for a week. On October 10, at a speed of 320 kilometers per hour, San Calixto II hit Barbados, Martinique, Saint Lucia and Sint Eustatius, leaving behind thousands of dead everywhere. The islands of Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua and Saint Kitts were also affected. The great hurricane destroyed houses to their foundations and tore them from anchors and smashed ships on the rocks, and heavy cannons flew in the air like matches. In terms of human casualties, a total of 27,000 people died during the rampage of San Calixto II.

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History knows several eruptions of the Krakatoa volcano, but the most destructive one was the one that happened on August 27, 1883. Then, as a result of the most powerful explosion in the history of mankind, 20 cubic kilometers of stones and ash and a jet of steam 11 meters high literally smashed to pieces a volcanic island in the Sunda Strait - between the islands of Java and Sumatra. The shock waves circled the globe seven times and formed a 36-meter-high tsunami that struck the coast - it claimed the lives of 36 thousand people. All in all, as a result of the eruption of Krakatoa, 200 thousand people died.

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Several floods in China, one after the other, took away a total of 4 (!) Million lives. Historians believe that this is the largest and most tragic natural disaster in the history of mankind. In August 1931, the Yangtze and Yellow He rivers that overflowed their banks as a result of prolonged rains destroyed the dams that contained them and flowed, sweeping away everything in their path. Water completely destroyed agriculture in several dozen provinces, and the city of Gaoyu, located on the shore of the lake, was completely washed away. But the most terrible thing was the human sacrifice: those who did not die from the water died from devastation, hunger and epidemics.

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On May 31, 1970, due to an earthquake, the epicenter of which was in the Pacific Ocean, a rock-ice avalanche broke off Mount Huascarana in Peru and, moving at a speed of a thousand kilometers per hour, covered the towns of Ranragirk and Yungai located in the valley of the Rio Santa River - only the cemetery with the figure of Christ hovering above it was left of them. In just a few minutes, an avalanche wiped them and several other small villages, including the ports of Kasma and Chimbote, off the face of the earth. The result of the cataclysm: 70 thousand dead, including Czech climbers who were going to conquer the Andes, and 150 thousand wounded. The memory of those whose lives were taken away by the avalanche were honored in Peru with eight days of mourning.

Cyclone Bhola. 1970 year

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George Harrison at a benefit concert in Bangladesh.

Tropical cyclone Bhola is one of the worst natural disasters of the 20th century. On November 13, 1970, a 15 (!) Meter high wave hit the islands and coast of East Pakistan, washing away entire settlements and agricultural lands on its way. In a short time, 500 thousand people died - mostly elderly people and children. The disaster had political consequences: riots broke out, the participants of which accused the Pakistani government of inaction and slow elimination of the consequences. Civil war broke out between East Pakistan and the central government, which resulted in the proclamation of independence for Bangladesh.

The whole world helped to rebuild the affected areas. One of the most famous charity events was a concert organized by George Harrison: having invited many famous performers, he raised a quarter of a million dollars in one day.

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Heat in Europe. 2003 year

The heat that covered the continent in 2003 - that summer was the hottest since the end of World War II - caught the health care system of European countries by surprise, which turned out to be unprepared for the stress when not dozens, but hundreds and thousands of people needed medical care. Countries such as France, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Croatia and Bulgaria were particularly affected. The temperature in some areas did not drop below + 40 ° С. The first to be hit were the elderly, as well as allergy sufferers and those who suffered from cardiovascular diseases. In total, about 70 thousand people died on the European continent that summer.

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Tsunami in the Indian Ocean. 2004 year

Along with the European heat of 2003, many people remember the tsunami in the Indian Ocean, which happened a year and a half later - there were also citizens of Ukraine among the dead. The deadly wave was the result of the largest earthquake in the history of the Indian Ocean, which occurred on December 26, 2004. Its magnitude on the Richter scale was 9 points, as a result of which a tsunami was formed, the height of which in the coastal zone was 15 meters, and in the splash zone - 30 meters. An hour and a half after the earthquake, it reached the shores of Thailand, two hours later - Sri Lanka and India, and claimed the lives of 250 thousand people.

That disaster films are bad today. But I want to look at the crumbling wonders of technology and surviving heroes! We remembered 10 disaster films, which are based on real events, and not the weak imagination of the scriptwriters. Go!

10. "And the storm struck" (2016)

Director: Craig Gillespie.

Cast: Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster.

1952, USA. The Pendleton oil tanker wrecks off the coast. Only the local coast guard has time to help the crew members. The problem is that she has only light boats at her disposal, which may not withstand the ensuing storm.

The film is not bad, but the authors went too far with pathos and seriousness. Sometimes you don't even believe that everything is filmed according to a real story - the characters shown in the tape seem so far-fetched. However, the fact that the writers decided to "tweak" the characteristics of the characters, putting the "heroism" perk to the maximum, is not surprising.

9. "The Perfect Storm" (2000)

Director: Wolfgang Petersen.

Cast: George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, John C. Riley.

In 1991, the Atlantic coast of the United States was hit by the so-called "perfect" or Halloween storm. The element destroyed the fishing boat Andrea Gail. The sailors set out to fish in an effort to compensate for the previous unsuccessful catch. No one returned from the voyage.

According to captain Andrea Gail, shortly before the ship stopped communicating, the wave height exceeded nine meters. There are claims that the sailors were killed by a 30-meter wave, although this is considered unlikely. But for the film - what you need.

There is only one complaint about the painting. "Perfect Storm" thinks out too much, successfully exploiting the fact that there is no reliable information about what happened to Andrea Gail.

8. "Deepwater Horizon" (2016)

Director: Peter Berg.

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, Douglas M. Griffin.

It seems that the explosion on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico happened very recently. But no - it's been seven years now. The echoes of the event are still loud, and environmentalists keep sounding the alarm. The gigantic oil spill has done a lot of trouble.

The film, which gets its name from an oil platform, tells the story of station workers who find themselves face to face with fire. Cut off from the world by expanses of water, gallant men solve problems as they can - in their own way, in a simple way, but efficiently.

The accident killed 13 people. The filmmakers see British oil and gas giant BP as the only culprit behind the fire nightmare. This company still cannot recover from the consequences of the scandal.

7. "Earthquake" (2010)

Director: Feng Xiaogang.

Cast: Xu Fan, Zhang Jingchu, Yang Lixin.

The main thing is not to confuse this film with the work of the same name by Sarik Andreasyan. It is best to focus on the year of release: the Chinese tape was released in 2010, and the Russian one in 2016.

The film is based on the 1976 Tangshan earthquake. It lasted less than a second, but in terms of the number of victims and the scale of destruction it became the second in the written history of mankind. As a result of the disaster, from 240 to 655 thousand people died, about 5 million houses were destroyed.

Feng Xiaogang's film does not try to embrace the immensity and show all the horrors that the earthquake brought. Instead, he focuses on the story of one family who physically experienced a terrible tragedy, but psychologically cannot cope with it even after decades.

6. "Impossible" (2012)

Director: Juan Antonio Bayona.

Cast: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland.

Another film about the life of a family through the prism of a natural disaster. The tsunami that struck Thailand takes by surprise the hero Ewan McGregor, who has come to rest, with his household. The element will scatter everyone, but in the end the family will be reunited.

The tragedy happened at the very end of 2004. Due to an underwater earthquake in the Indian Ocean, a giant tsunami with a height of more than 15 meters rose. As a result, about 300 thousand people died.

This time, it is not only the tsunami background that is real, but the family story as well. As a prototype for the film, they took the story of a Spanish family who was lucky enough to survive the tsunami.

5. "K-19" (2002)

Director: Catherine Bigelow.

Cast: Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson, Peter Sarsgaard.

They say that the Soviet nuclear submarine K-19 was called Hiroshima by sailors because of frequent accidents. Katherine Bigelow's film tells about one of such accidents, which can be easily included in the ranks of man-made disasters.

During one of the submarine's voyages in 1961, the reactor cooling system was damaged, as a result of which gamma radiation began to rise sharply. Despite the efforts of the crew, for several hours the ship and the crew were completely contaminated with radiation. Soon eight crew members died due to radiation sickness.

On the whole, the participants in the event reacted negatively to the exit of "K-19". According to survivors, too much in the film is invented, from technical issues to the relationship between the submariners. There was no rebellion, no desire to surrender to the Americans. Well, cinema is for that and cinema, even if it is based on reality - the main thing is that it is interesting to watch.

4. "Survive" (1992)

Director: Frank Marshall.

Cast: Ethan Hawke, Vincent Spano, Josh Hamilton.

On October 13, 1972, a Uruguayan Air Force airliner operated FAU 571 on the Montevideo - Mendoza - Santiago route. There were 40 people on board - the Old Cristians rugby team, relatives of the athletes and support personnel. Not far from the destination, the ship was caught in a cyclone, crashed into a mountain and crashed. 12 people died immediately, and the rest had to fight for life with cold and hunger. The guys have been waiting for help for more than two months. They managed to survive thanks to eating the corpses of comrades.

Thanks to the strong story, the film is also strong. But “Survive” is exactly the case when not visual effects, but psychology are in the first place. What would you do in the place of these unfortunates? Condemn, forgive, or understand? The action is also enough. The tape was even nominated for an MTV Award for the episode of the plane crash.

Some scenes of the film today look too naive - the decent age of the tape affects. Nevertheless, we advise you to watch this movie, because it will surely encourage you to learn more about what happened to the victims of the crash in the Andes in the fall of 1972.

3. "Miracle on the Hudson" (2016)

Director: Clint Eastwood.

Cast: Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart.

A screen version of the real story that happened on January 15, 2009 with an Airbus A320 flying from New York. One of two films in our rating, in which there is a disaster, but no deaths. Yes, the movie came out bland, but it looks great as a thorough reconstruction of events.

The plane had just managed to break away from the runway of the New York airport, when a minute and a half later it collided with a flock of birds. The crew had to make several fateful decisions for dozens of passengers. As a result, a huge colossus flopped onto the Hudson River. After that, the pilot Chesley Sullenberger was dragged around the courts, but in the end everything worked out.

Clint Eastwood distantly captures everything that happened, not particularly trying to evoke an emotional response from the viewer. But as always, the leading actor Tom Hanks tried his best.

Sometimes it is quite difficult to assess the scale of a particular world catastrophe, because the consequences of some of them can manifest themselves many years after the incident itself.

In this article, we will present 10 of the most terrible disasters in the world that were not caused by purposeful actions. Among them are accidents that took place on the water, in the air, and on the ground.

Fukushima accident

The catastrophe that occurred on March 11, 2011, simultaneously combines the features of man-made and natural disasters. A violent magnitude nine earthquake followed by a tsunami caused a power failure at the Daiichi nuclear plant, shutting down the cooling of the nuclear-fueled reactors.

In addition to the monstrous destruction that was caused by the earthquake and tsunami, this incident led to serious radioactive contamination of the territory and water area. In addition, the Japanese authorities had to evacuate more than two hundred thousand people due to the high likelihood of serious illnesses due to exposure to severe radiation. The combination of all these consequences gives the Fukushima accident the right to be called one of the worst disasters in the world in the twenty-first century.

The total damage from the accident is estimated at $ 100 billion. This amount includes the costs of liquidation of consequences and payment of compensation. But at the same time, we must not forget that the work to eliminate the consequences of the disaster continues to this day, which accordingly increases this amount.

In 2013, the Fukushima nuclear power plant was officially closed, and on its territory only work is being carried out to eliminate the consequences of the accident. Experts believe that it will take at least forty years to put the building and the contaminated area in order.

The consequences of the Fukushima accident are a reassessment of safety measures in the nuclear power industry, a fall in the cost of natural uranium, and, accordingly, a decrease in the prices of shares of uranium mining companies.

Collision at Los Rodeos Airport

Perhaps the biggest plane crash in the world occurred in the Canary Islands (Tenerife) in 1977. At Los Rodeos airport, on the runway, two Boeing 747 airliners owned by KLM and Pan American collided. As a result, 583 of 644 people died, including both passengers and crews of airliners.

One of the main reasons for this situation was the terrorist attack at Las Palmas airport, which was staged by terrorists from the MPAIAC organization (Movimiento por la Autodeterminación e Independencia del Archipiélago Canario). The terrorist attack itself did not entail human casualties, but the airport administration closed the airport and stopped accepting planes, fearing repeated incidents.

Because of this, Los Rodeos was overloaded, as planes were sent to Las Palmas, in particular, two Boeing 747 flights PA1736 and KL4805. At the same time, it should be noted that the aircraft belonging to Pan

American, had enough fuel to land at another airport, but the pilots obeyed the controller's orders.

The cause of the collision itself was fog, which severely limited visibility, as well as difficulties in the negotiations between controllers and pilots, which were caused by the strong accent of the controllers, and the fact that the pilots were constantly interrupting each other.

Collision of Dona Paz with tanker Vector

On December 20, 1987, the Philippines-registered passenger ferry Doña Paz collided with the oil tanker Vector, causing the largest peacetime water disaster in the world.

At the time of the collision, the ferry was following its standard Manila-Katbalogan route, which it passed twice a week. On 20 December 1987, at about 06:30, the Doña Paz sailed from Tacloban and headed for Manila. At about 22:30 the ferry passed the Tablas Strait near Marinduke, according to surviving eyewitnesses, the weather was clear, but with rough seas.

The collision took place after the passengers fell asleep, the ferry collided with the tanker "Vector", which was carrying gasoline and oil products. Immediately after the collision, a severe fire broke out due to the fact that oil products spilled over the sea. A strong blow and a fire almost instantly caused panic among the passengers, in addition, according to the survivors, the ferry did not have the required number of life jackets.

Only 26 people survived, of which 24 were passengers from Donja Paz and two from the tanker "Vector".

Mass poisoning in Iraq 1971

At the end of 1971, a batch of grain treated with methylmercury was imported to Iraq from Mexico. Of course, the grain was not intended to be processed into food and was only to be used for planting. Unfortunately, the local population did not know Spanish, and accordingly all the warning signs that read "Do not eat."

Also, it should be noted that the grain was delivered to Iraq with a delay, since the planting season has already passed. All this led to the fact that in some villages, grain treated with methylmercury began to be eaten.

After eating this grain, symptoms such as numbness of the limbs, loss of vision, and impaired coordination were observed. As a result of criminal negligence, about one hundred thousand people were poisoned with mercury, of which about six thousand died.

This case led to the fact that the World Health Organization began to monitor the circulation of grain more closely, and began to take the labeling of potentially hazardous products more seriously.

Mass extermination of sparrows in China

Despite the fact that we do not include in our list the disasters caused by the purposeful actions of people, this case is an exception, since it is caused by banal stupidity and insufficient knowledge of the environment. Nevertheless, this case fully deserves the title of one of the most terrible catastrophes in the world.

As part of the economic policy of the "Great Leap Forward", a large-scale fight against agricultural pests was carried out, among which the Chinese authorities identified the four most terrible - mosquitoes, rats, flies and sparrows.

Employees of the Chinese Research Institute of Zoology calculated that due to sparrows, the volume of grain was lost during the year, with the help of which about thirty-five million people could be fed. Based on this, a plan for the destruction of these birds was developed, which was approved by Mao Zedong on March 18, 1958.

All the peasants began to actively hunt birds. The most effective method was to keep them from sinking to the ground. For this, adults and children shouted, beat in basins, brandished poles, rags, etc. This made it possible to scare the sparrows and prevent them from landing on the ground for fifteen minutes. As a result, the birds simply fell dead.

After a year of hunting sparrows, the harvest has really increased. However, later, caterpillars, locusts, and other pests began to actively breed, which ate the shoots. This led to the fact that a year later, the harvest fell dramatically, and a famine ensued, which led to the death of 10 to 30 million people.

Piper Alpha oil platform disaster

The Piper Alpha platform was built in 1975, and oil production started on it in 1976. Over time, it was converted for gas production. However, on July 6, 1988, a gas leak occurred, which led to an explosion.

Due to the indecisive and ill-considered actions of the personnel, 167 people out of 226 who were on the platform died.

Of course, after this event, oil and gas production on this platform was completely stopped. Insured losses amounted to approximately US $ 3.4 billion. This is one of the most famous disasters in the world associated with the oil industry.

The death of the Aral Sea

This incident is the largest environmental disaster in the former Soviet Union. The Aral Sea was once the fourth largest lake after the Caspian Sea, Lake Superior in North America, Lake Victoria in Africa. Now in its place is the Aralkum desert.

The reason for the disappearance of the Aral Sea is the creation of new irrigation canals for agricultural enterprises on the territory of Turkmenistan, which took water from the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers. Because of this, the lake receded greatly from the coast, which led to the exposure of the bottom covered with sea salt, pesticides and chemicals.

Due to natural evaporation of the Aral Sea during the period from 1960 to 2007, the sea lost about a thousand cubic kilometers of water. In 1989, the reservoir split into two parts, and in 2003 the volume of water was about 10% of the original.

This incident resulted in severe climate and landscape changes. In addition, of the 178 species of vertebrates that lived in the Aral Sea, only 38 remain .;

Explosion of the oil platform Deepwater Horizon

The explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform that occurred on April 20, 2010 is considered one of the largest man-made disasters in terms of negative impact on the environmental situation. 11 people died directly from the explosion, and 17 were injured. Two more people died during the liquidation of the consequences of the disaster.

Due to the fact that the explosion damaged pipes at a depth of 1,500 meters, about five million barrels of oil spilled into the sea in 152 days, which created a slick with an area of ​​75 thousand kilometers, in addition, 1770 kilometers of the coast were polluted.

The oil spill threatened 400 species of animals, and also led to the imposition of a fishing ban

The eruption of the Mont Pele volcano

On May 8, 1902, one of the most destructive volcanic eruptions in human history took place. This incident led to the emergence of a new classification of volcanic eruptions, and changed the attitude of many scientists to volcanology.

The volcano awakened in April 1902, and within a month, hot vapors and gases, as well as lava, accumulated inside. A month later, a huge grayish cloud erupted at the foot of the volcano. A feature of this eruption is that the lava did not come out of the summit, but from side craters that were located on the slopes. As a result of a powerful explosion, one of the main ports of the island of Martinique, the city of Saint Pierre, was completely destroyed. The catastrophe claimed the lives of thirty thousand people.

Tropical cyclone Nargis

This disaster developed as follows:

• Cyclone Nargis was formed on April 27, 2008, in the Bay of Bengal, and initially moved to the coast of India, in a northwest direction;
• On April 28, it stops moving, but the wind speed in the spiral eddies began to increase significantly. Because of this, the cyclone began to be classified as a hurricane;
• On April 29, the wind speed reached 160 kilometers per hour, and the cyclone resumed its movement, but this time in a northeasterly direction;
• On May 1, the direction of wind movement changed to the east, and at the same time the wind was constantly increasing;
• On May 2, the wind speed reached 215 kilometers per hour, and at noon it reaches the coast of Myanmar province of Ayeyarwaddy.

According to the UN, as a result of the riot of the elements, 1.5 million people suffered, of which 90 thousand died, and 56 thousand were missing. In addition, the major city of Yangon was seriously damaged, and many settlements were completely destroyed. Part of the country was left without telephone communications, internet and electricity. The streets were littered with debris, debris from buildings and trees.

To eliminate the consequences of this catastrophe, the combined forces of many countries of the world and such international organizations as the UN, EU, UNESCO were needed.

Disaster movies are always fun to watch. The plot keeps the viewer in suspense until the very end. It is difficult to predict what will become of the main characters, whether someone will survive. This is a selection of the best disaster movies.

10. Omen

"Znameniye" opens the rating of the best disaster films. The beginning of the plot takes the viewer back to the distant 1959. At a school holiday, students are tasked with drawing the world in the future, their illustrations must be sealed in a time capsule for 50 years. A girl named Lucinda draws numbers from 0 to 9 in a chaotic order, after which she is found locked in one of the rooms in a state of mental agitation. 2009 - the time comes to open the time capsule. Lucinda's drawing accidentally falls into the hands of astrophysicist John Koestler. Studying the numbers, he realizes with horror that the girl predicted all significant catastrophes 50 years ahead. There are still three tragedies left, will John have time to prevent them?

9. 2012

2012 is a film about the end of the world, released in 2009. This is one of the interpretations of the Mayan calendar prediction. In 2009, a group of scientists discovered strange activity on the Sun. The star emits large quantities of neutrinos that heat up the Earth's core. The US government is immediately informed of this. The President gathers a council of rulers of different countries, on which it was decided to build several arks, selling tickets for them for 1 billion euros. Thus, only the rich can be saved. year 2012. Jackson Curtis is a writer who accidentally becomes aware of the impending catastrophe and the location of the arks. Will he be able to save his family by becoming a stowaway passenger on the ship of life?

8. And the storm burst

And The Storm Burst is a historical disaster film that premiered in 2016. The plot is based on real events in 1952, which are also described in the novel by Michael Tojays "Selfless Hours". During a storm off the coast of Massachusetts, the Pendleton oil tanker crashes. A Coast Guard team led by Bernard Webber is dispatched to help. Bernard's bride, Miriam, considers this mission too dangerous and useless, she is sure that the rescuers will die, failing to save anyone. However, she fails to convince the leadership of the coast guard. Miriam is left to wait for her lover on the shore, are they destined to meet?

7. Metro

Metro is one of the best Russian films about the disaster, based on the novel of the same name by Dmitry Safonov. The piles of the old Moscow metro cannot withstand the new load, which continues to increase as the city is being built up. An underground worker notices water in the tunnel, but the management does not attach any importance to this. In parallel with this, the plot of Irina Garina's personal life is developing. The heroine cannot make a choice between her husband Andrei and their joint daughter Ksyusha, and her lover Vlad Konstantinov. By chance, Andrei, Ksyusha and Vlad find themselves in the same carriage of the train, which crashes due to the water entering the tunnel. Passengers will have to get out of the Moscow underground on their own.

6. Tornado

The thriller Tornado, released in 1996, continues the rating of disaster films. Tornado is one of the most dangerous natural phenomena. In the United States, tornadoes occur regularly and are a real problem for coastal residents and scientists alike. In the center of the plot, Joe is a scientist who studies tornadoes. As a child, Joe experienced a major hurricane that claimed her father's life. Now she is looking for ways to study natural phenomena and predict the occurrence of tornadoes. In order to investigate the tornado using special equipment, you need to get inside the funnel. Joe lives on the edge, but even she has competitors. Will her love for science and her desire to save innocent lives defeat the greed of her ill-wishers?

5. Hell

In the middle of the list of the top 10 best films in the genre of disaster is the sci-fi motion picture "Inferno". The premiere took place in 2007. In the near future, the Sun begins to gradually lose its activity. Due to the extinction of the heavenly body, the Earth plunges into permafrost, which threatens the imminent extinction of mankind. To revive solar activity, it was decided to send an expedition "Icarus II" to the star, protected by a special shield, and to throw a bomb on the surface of the Sun. The team of the last expedition went missing seven years ago. Flying over Mercury, Icarus II receives a distress signal from Icarus I. In order to save their colleagues and increase the reserves of explosives for a more likely success of the operation, the crew heads to the Icarus I. How will this deviation from course end?

4. Crew

The popular Russian disaster film "The Crew" was released in 2016. The main character is Alexey Gushchin, a young and very ambitious pilot. Alexey is one of those people who always do as they see fit, regardless of orders and commands. For this reason, his career as a military pilot fails, and Alexey finds work in civil aviation. Leonid Zinchenko, who is also wayward like Alexei, takes him to his team. They often conflict. But everything changes when the crew of the plane lands on the island, where an ongoing earthquake and volcanic eruption claim the lives of many residents. Now the pilots have to save those who survived.

3. Survive

The three best disaster films are opened by the deeply psychological thriller "Survive". The story is based on real events; Nando Parrado, a participant in the incident and the main character of the film, was invited as a consultant. On October 13, 1973, the school rugby team from Uruguay flew to the competition, the students, their relatives, the coach and the crew were on board. The airliner lost control, flying over the Andes and crashed onto a high plateau. The few who were lucky enough to stay alive were cut off from the world by the impenetrable slopes of the mountains. For several months the guys tried to survive in difficult conditions. They had to sleep on the plane and eat the corpses of their comrades and relatives.

2. The day after tomorrow

Global warming, which scientists used to frighten people for many years, has come. However, this did not happen quite as expected. Due to the fact that the glaciers, having broken away, went into free swimming in the world ocean, the temperature over the planet dropped. Jack Hall, a paleoclimatologist, believes that soon the air temperature will reach such values ​​at which humanity will die out by freezing. However, UN members and the US government are in no rush to believe him. When the temperature drops below -100 ° C, the fuel freezes, planes and helicopters fall, people on the street die. Jack calculates that the peak of the cold snap will be in New York, where his son is at that moment.

1. Armageddon

Tops the rating of the best disaster films "Armageddon", which premiered in 1998. Several meteorites fall to Earth one after another. As soon as the meteor shower ends, the astronauts notice a new threat. A giant asteroid is approaching the planet, a collision with which humanity will not survive. NASA employees are considering possible rescue options. One of them - driller Harry Stamper - offers to drill an asteroid and plant a bomb inside. After the explosion, the cosmic body will disintegrate into many small pieces that will burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. NASA sends a rescue team led by Stamper to carry out his plan.