World catastrophe. The most terrible man-made disasters

Major disasters of the 20th century. "Titanic" and "Wilhelm Gustlow"
Perhaps the most famous maritime disaster of the last century was the shipwreck of the cruise ship Titanic in 1912. As a result, 1,523 people died.

However, this disaster is far from the worst if you look at the number of deaths. The greatest maritime disaster ever to occur was the sinking of the liner Wilhelm Gustlow by a Soviet submarine during World War II (in January 1945).
According to the most conservative estimates, losses amounted to about 9,500 people.

"Atomic Bomb" of Golifax
December 6, 1917. That morning, the French military transport Mont Blanc entered the harbor of the Canadian port city of Halifax, heading from New York to Bordeaux. While entering the port, the Mont Blanc collided with the Norwegian cargo ship Imo, which was just leaving Halifax.
In the holds of the French transport there were... 3000 tons of explosives intended for the war with Germany! As a result of the collision, a large fire broke out on the Mont Blanc.
After unsuccessful attempts to put out the fire, the crew began to hastily evacuate the ship.
And crowds of people who came to look at the fire were already gathering on the city embankment.
At 9 o'clock in the morning there was an explosion, which the world had not known before the advent of the atomic bomb. The explosion exposed the bay to the bottom - the water under the ship seemed to part.
Dozens of ships docked in the port sank. Almost all port and coastal structures within a radius of five hundred meters were literally blown away by the shock wave. More than 3,000 people died that day, 2,000 were missing, and about 9,000 were injured.
All that was left of the bomb ship was a 100-kilogram piece of the hull, which flew as far as 22 kilometers away!

The only photograph of the Halifax Harbor explosion on December 6, 1917. The photo was taken from a distance of 20 km.

Major disasters of the 20th century. G The bitter hour of “Maxim Gorky”

On May 18, 1935, the largest aircraft of that time, Maxim Gorky, took off from the Moscow airfield on Khodynskoe Field. This celestial giant was built as the flagship of a special propaganda air squadron.
The plane was amazing. Length – more than 30 meters, wingspan – 63 meters, 8 motors. The plane could carry 72 passengers and crew members, which was a record figure for aviation in those years.

On that day, there were 11 crew members and 36 passengers on board the plane - employees of a Moscow aviation institute with their families. A few minutes after takeoff, an escort fighter crashed into the Maxim Gorky.
The fighter pilot made a mistake in performing a complex maneuver. He was specially ordered for the press to perform a “dead loop” around a giant plane... The show cost the lives of 47 people.

Major disasters of the 20th century. Super fire on a super airship
On May 6, 1937, the German super-airship Hindenburg crashed in New Jersey (USA). The airship had unimaginable dimensions: length - 245 meters, diameter - about 40 meters, volume - 200 thousand cubic meters of hydrogen!
It was the biggest aircraft throughout the history of aeronautics.

It carried about a hundred passengers and crew members, reached speeds of up to 140 kilometers per hour and could stay in the air for several days. The Hindenburg was on its 18th transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to New York. The landing site was Leyhurst, a suburb of New York. However, during landing, a fire broke out on the airship. The flames completely destroyed “the pride and greatness of Germany” in 34 seconds. The tragedy claimed the lives of 35 people. This disaster began the rapid decline of the era of passenger airships.

The airship caught fire while docking with a mooring mast.

Major disasters of the 20th century. Death of an Admiral
And yet, the largest disaster in the history of aeronautics occurred on April 4, 1933. During a storm in the Atlantic Ocean, the Akron airship, which belonged to the US Navy, crashed. Of the 76 people on board, 73 died.
Akron was one of the world's largest airships.

So he could transport five aircraft. As Akron passed the Barnegat Lighthouse in New Jersey, a strong wind arose. The airship descended and collapsed when it hit the water. 73 people died. Only three managed to escape. This catastrophe became end point airship service in the navy. After all, the main proponent of this, Admiral Moffett, died on Akron.

Major disasters of the 20th century. Mercedes victims
The worst accident in the history of auto racing occurred in 1955 at Le Mans (France). A Mercedes-Benz driven by famous racer Pierre Levegh crashed into the stands at high speed and exploded. 83 people died, including Pierre Levegh.

Major disasters of the 20th century. Boeing to Boeing
On March 27, 1977, two Boeing 747s collided at Tenerife airport (Canary Islands), killing 583 people. This plane crash was the largest in terms of casualties in the history of civil aviation.

And the largest plane crash in the history of Soviet aviation occurred on July 10, 1985. As a result of a crew error, an Aeroflot Tu-154 went into a tailspin and crashed near the city of Uchkuduk (Uzbekistan). All 200 people on board died...

Major disasters of the 20th century. 73 seconds of Challenger

On January 28, 1986, the largest disaster in the history of astronautics occurred. On that day, the spaceship Challenger with seven astronauts on board. Special attention was drawn to this event. TV crews broadcast this launch directly from the cosmodrome.

The crew included two women. One of them, teacher Christa McAuliffe, was supposed to teach a geography lesson for the first time in human history while in low-Earth orbit. In addition to thousands of spectators, President Ronald Reagan and his wife were also present at Cape Canaveral.
At the 73rd second of flight, at an altitude of 17,000 meters, the Challenger exploded due to problems with its engines. Several hundred tons of rocket fuel incinerated the ship in the blink of an eye, leaving the astronauts not the slightest chance of salvation.

15 years later, on February 1, 2003, another American space shuttle, Shuttle-Columbia, disintegrated during its return from orbit. All seven crew members on board were killed.

Major disasters of the 20th century. Disappeared area
On June 4, 1988, a powerful deafening explosion rang out on the northwestern outskirts of the city of Arzamas.
Three cars of freight train No. 3115, traveling to Arzamas-16 from Dzerzhinsk, exploded. The cars contained about 118 tons of explosives intended for mining enterprises. As a result of an explosion of monstrous force, 1,530 residential buildings were swept away from the face of the earth, creating a huge crater with a diameter of 52 meters and a depth of 26 meters (the height of a nine-story building).

The blast wave lifted into the air everything in the area of ​​half a kilometer from the epicenter. In a matter of seconds, the entire Zheleznodorozhnikov microdistrict was wiped off the face of the earth.
According to the most rough estimates, 1,500–2,000 people were injured that day.

Major disasters of the 20th century. Death Cloud
On June 4, 1989, the largest train accident in the history of Russia and the USSR occurred near Ufa. As two passenger trains passed, a gas explosion occurred, oozing from a nearby pipeline.

According to official data, 573 people died (according to other sources - 645), 623 became disabled, receiving severe burns and injuries. There were 181 children among the dead. The power of the explosion was estimated at 300 tons of trinitrotoluene. The fire caused by the explosion engulfed an area of ​​about 250 hectares.

PS.
It is impossible not to mention another disaster that occurred on September 11, 2001. On the morning of this day, a group of 19 terrorists captured 4 planes at once. Two of them were aimed at the World War II towers. Shopping Center, which led to the complete destruction of skyscrapers. A third plane crashed into the Pentagon near Washington, and another crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Then 246 people died on the planes. In total, 2,977 people became victims as a result of the global terrorist attack. Footage of those events spread all over the world.

Every year, dozens of terrible man-made disasters occur in the world that cause significant harm to the global environment. Today I invite you to read about several of them in the continuation of the post.

Petrobrice is a Brazilian state-owned oil company. The company's headquarters are located in Rio de Janeiro. In July 2000, in Brazil, as a result of a disaster at an oil refinery, more than a million gallons of oil (about 3,180 tons). For comparison, 50 tons of crude oil recently spilled near a resort island in Thailand.
The resulting stain moved downstream, threatening to poison the drinking water of several cities at once. The liquidators of the accident built several barriers, but they managed to stop the oil only at the fifth one. One part of the oil was collected from the surface of the water, the other went through specially built diversion channels.
The Petrobrice company paid a fine of $56 million to the state budget and $30 million to the state budget.

On September 21, 2001, an explosion occurred at the AZF chemical plant in Toulouse, France, the consequences of which are considered one of the largest man-made disasters. 300 tons of ammonium nitrate (a salt of nitric acid) that were in a warehouse exploded finished products. By official version, the plant management is to blame for not ensuring the safe storage of an explosive substance.
The consequences of the disaster were gigantic: 30 people were killed, the total number of injured was more than 3,000, thousands of residential buildings and buildings were destroyed or damaged, including almost 80 schools, 2 universities, 185 kindergartens, 40,000 people were left homeless, more than 130 enterprises have actually ceased their activities. The total amount of damage is 3 billion euros.

On November 13, 2002, off the coast of Spain, the oil tanker Prestige was caught in a strong storm, with more than 77,000 tons of fuel oil in its holds. As a result of the storm, a crack about 50 meters long appeared in the ship's hull. On November 19, the tanker broke in half and sank. As a result of the disaster, 63,000 tons of fuel oil ended up in the sea.

Cleaning the sea and shores of fuel oil cost $12 billion; the full damage caused to the ecosystem is impossible to estimate.

On August 26, 2004, a fuel tanker carrying 32,000 liters of fuel fell from the 100-meter-high Wiehltal bridge near Cologne in western Germany. After the fall, the fuel tanker exploded. The culprit of the accident was a sports car that skidded on a slippery road, which caused the fuel tanker to skid.
This accident is considered one of the most expensive man-made disasters in history - temporary repairs to the bridge cost $40 million, and complete reconstruction cost $318 million.

On March 19, 2007, due to a methane explosion at the Ulyanovskaya mine in Kemerovo region 110 people died. The first explosion was followed by four more explosions within 5-7 seconds, which caused extensive collapses in the workings in several places at once. The chief engineer and almost the entire management of the mine were killed. This accident is the largest in Russian coal mining over the past 75 years.

On August 17, 2009, a man-made disaster occurred at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station, located on the Yenisei River. This happened during the repair of one of the hydraulic units of the hydroelectric power station. As a result of the accident, the 3rd and 4th water pipelines were destroyed, the wall was destroyed and the turbine room was flooded. 9 out of 10 hydraulic turbines were completely out of order, the hydroelectric power station was stopped.
Due to the accident, the power supply to the Siberian regions was disrupted, including the limited supply of electricity in Tomsk, and outages affected several Siberian aluminum smelters. As a result of the disaster, 75 people were killed and another 13 were injured.

The damage from the accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station exceeded 7.3 billion rubles, including environmental damage. Recently, a trial began in Khakassia in the case of a man-made disaster at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station in 2009.

On October 4, 2010, a major environmental disaster occurred in western Hungary. At a large aluminum production plant, an explosion destroyed the dam of a reservoir containing toxic waste - the so-called red mud. About 1.1 million cubic meters of the corrosive substance were flooded by a 3-meter flow in the cities of Kolontar and Dečever, 160 kilometers west of Budapest.

Red mud is a sediment that is formed during the production of aluminum oxide. When it comes into contact with the skin, it acts like an alkali. As a result of the disaster, 10 people died, about 150 received various injuries and burns.

On April 22, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon manned drilling platform sank in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of the US state of Louisiana after an explosion that killed 11 people and a 36-hour fire.

The oil leak was stopped only on August 4, 2010. About 5 million barrels of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. The platform on which the accident occurred belonged to a Swiss company, and at the time of the man-made disaster the platform was managed by British Petroleum.

On March 11, 2011, in the northeast of Japan at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, after a strong earthquake, the largest accident in the last 25 years after the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occurred. Following tremors with a magnitude of 9.0, a huge tsunami wave came to the coast, which damaged 4 of the 6 reactors of the nuclear power plant and disabled the cooling system, which led to a series of hydrogen explosions and melting of the core.

The total volume of emissions of iodine-131 and cesium-137 after the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant amounted to 900,000 terabecrels, which does not exceed 20% of emissions after Chernobyl accident in 1986, which then amounted to 5.2 million terabecquerels.
Experts estimated the total damage from the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant at $74 billion. Complete elimination of the accident, including dismantling the reactors, will take about 40 years.

NPP "Fukushima-1"

On July 11, 2011, an explosion occurred at a naval base near Limassol in Cyprus, which claimed 13 lives and brought the island nation to the brink of economic crisis, destroying the island's largest power plant.
Investigators accused the President of the Republic, Dimitris Christofias, of neglecting the problem of storing ammunition confiscated in 2009 from the Monchegorsk ship on suspicion of arms smuggling to Iran. In fact, the ammunition was stored directly on the ground on the territory of the naval base and detonated due to the high temperature.

Destroyed Mari power plant in Cyprus

The volcano that destroyed ancient Pompeii cannot be responsible for the worst natural disaster in history, despite the fact that many films have been made and many songs have been sung on the subject. Modern natural disasters claim countless lives. Take a look at our grim list. It contains only the most terrible disasters of all times.

Earthquake in the Syrian city of Aleppo (1138)

Fortunately, these days the news reports do not shock us with giant faults in the area Dead Sea. Now there is a relatively stable tectonic relief. Syria experienced unprecedented cataclysms in the 12th century. Seismic activity in the north of the country continued for almost a year and ultimately resulted in a devastating cataclysm. In 1138, the city of Aleppo was completely destroyed, and other settlements and military installations were damaged. In total, the disaster took the lives of 230,000 people.

Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami (2004)

This is the only event on the list that many of us caught. This tragedy is considered the deadliest ever modern history. It all started with an underwater earthquake of magnitude 9.3 off the coast of Indonesia. Then the disaster transformed into a violent tsunami, rushing to the shores of 11 countries. In total, 225,000 people died, and about a million more people along the Indian Ocean coast were left homeless. It's sad that this happened during the heyday of earthquake-resistant architectural technology, and not in the days of dugouts with thatched roofs.

Antioch earthquake (526)

People like to compare the potential end of the world to disasters of biblical proportions. The earthquake in Antioch is the only natural disaster that is more or less close to the biblical era. This natural disaster occurred in the first millennium after the birth of Christ. The Byzantine city experienced an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 between May 20 and May 29, 526. Due to the high population density (which was rare for the region at the time), 250,000 people died. The fires that arose as a result of the cataclysm also contributed to the increase in the number of victims.

Earthquake in Gansu Province of China (1920)

The next natural disaster on our list created a giant rift over 160 kilometers long. According to experts, the greatest damage was caused not by an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, but by landslides that carried entire cities underground and were main reason slowing down the provision of assistance. According to various estimates, the cataclysm claimed the lives of 230,000 to 273,000 inhabitants.

Tangshan Earthquake (1976)

Another terrible earthquake of the 20th century shows that the natural disaster itself is not as terrible as the imperfect infrastructure of the area in which it occurs. Tremors with a magnitude of 7.8 hit China's Tangshan on the night of July 28 and instantly leveled 92 percent of residential buildings in this million-strong city. Lack of food, water and other resources have become the main obstacles in rescue work. In addition, they were destroyed railways and bridges, so there was nowhere to wait for help. Many victims died under the rubble.

Cyclone at Coringa, India (1839)

By the early 19th century, Coringa had become the main Indian port city at the mouth of the Godavari River. On the night of November 25, 1839, this title had to be relinquished. The cyclone that struck destroyed 20,000 ships and 300,000 people. Many victims were thrown into the open sea. Now there is a small village on the site of Coringa.

Cyclone Bhola, Bangladesh (1970)

The Bay of Bengal regularly experiences natural disasters, but none was more devastating than Cyclone Bhola. Hurricane wind gusts on November 11, 1970 reached 225 kilometers per hour. Due to extreme poverty in the region, no one was able to warn the population of the impending danger. As a result, the cyclone destroyed more than half a million lives.

Chinese earthquake (1556)

Despite the fact that in the 16th century a system for assessing the magnitude of tremors had not yet been introduced, historians have calculated that the earthquake that occurred in China in 1556 could have had a magnitude of 8.0 - 8.5. It so happened that the densely populated area took the brunt of the attack. The disaster created deep canyons that forever trapped more than 800,000 people.

Flood on the Yellow River (1887)

One of the largest rivers in the world is responsible for more deaths than all other rivers combined. In 1887, the deadliest flood was recorded, which was exacerbated by heavy rains and the destruction of dams in the Changshu area. The flooded low-lying plains claimed the lives of about two million Chinese.

Flood on the Yangtze River (1931)

A record natural disaster occurred with the onset of heavy rains and flooding on the Yangtze River in April 1931. This natural disaster, coupled with dysentery and other diseases, claimed about three million lives. In addition, the destruction of rice fields caused widespread famine.

Every year there are many disasters in the world of different nature because of natural phenomena, technical problems, specialist errors and many other unfavorable factors. All of them often lead to tragic consequences.
They remain forever in the memory of those people who have lost relatives and friends. In memory of those who provided any assistance at the center of events, and all those who could not help, but were worried about the fate of people in trouble. This article lists the worst disasters that have ever happened in history: on water, in air, and on land.

In 1931, China experienced the largest flood in history. The Yangtze River ranks third among major rivers, with about 700 different rivers flowing into it. Every year during the rains it overflowed and caused damage.

In August 1931, the Yangtze River and the neighboring Yellow River overflowed their banks, merging into one powerful stream, and destroyed the dams. This led to a global flood. They, destroying everything in their path, flooded 16 Chinese provinces, this is about 300,000 thousand hectares of land.


More than 40 million people were affected, left without shelter, clothing or food. The water did not go away for about 4 months. As a result of prolonged famine and disease, the death toll exceeded 3.5 million people. To prevent such a tragedy, two protective dams were later built and two reservoirs were created.

Fertilizer plant

In 1984, the largest environmental disaster in history occurred in the Indian city of Bhopal. On the night of December 3, at a chemical plant producing fertilizers, one of the tanks containing the poisonous gas methyl isocyanate exploded. The volume of the tank was 40 tons.

Presumably, the cause of this accident was a violation of safety regulations. Heating occurred in the tank containing methyl isocyanate and reached a critical temperature. As a result, the emergency valve burst and gas escaped from the tank.


Because of strong wind the gas cloud quickly spread over 40 square kilometers. Unsuspecting, sleeping people had their eyes and lungs eaten away. In the first week, more than 3000 thousand people. In subsequent years, 15,000 thousand people died from disease. And about 100,000 thousand people needed treatment.
The uncleaned area of ​​the chemical plant is still infecting people. Thousands of people suffer from toxic contaminations, many children are born with disabilities.

Chernobyl tragedy

One of the worst nuclear accidents occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986. The accident was level 7 on the nuclear event scale.

The nuclear power plant was located near the city of Pripyat, which was built specifically for station workers. At that moment, more than 47,000 thousand people lived in it. Early in the morning of April 26, there was a powerful explosion of a nuclear reactor in the building of the fourth power unit.


This was led to by the ill-conceived and erroneous actions of the station engineers during testing of the turbogenerator. As a result of the accident nuclear reactor was completely destroyed, and a fire started in the power unit building, which was extinguished for more than a week. 600 firefighters died while extinguishing it, receiving the largest dose of radiation.

The consequences of the accident were terrifying; thousands of people lived their calm, measured lives just a few kilometers from the accident and did not know what had happened. Information about the accident was not disseminated for the first 24 hours, but when the release of radioactive substances reached a critical level, the evacuation of Pripyat and nearby settlements began.

About 800,000 thousand people participated in the liquidation of the accident. According to unofficial data, half of the liquidators received a lethal dose of radiation.

Boat trip

In 1987, the largest water disaster occurred. On December 20, the Philippine ferry Dona Paz, carrying passengers, collided with the tanker Vector, which was carrying more than 8,000 thousand barrels of oil.

As a result of the impact, the ferry was broken in half, and oil poured out of the holes in the tanker. Almost instantly a fire started, both ships and the surface of the water were burning. To escape, people jumped into the water, where fire and sharks awaited them.

Rescuers arrived only after 8 hours, only 26 people remained alive. The death toll has exceeded 4200 people. The exact cause of the accident has not been established.

Deadly tsunami

On December 26, 2004, the most powerful tsunami in history occurred in the Indian Ocean. Due to a strong underwater earthquake of magnitude 9, a rock shift occurred at a depth of 30 kilometers, which gave rise to this destructive tsunami. At that time, there was no system in the Indian Ocean that would detect a tsunami, so they could not prevent this tragedy.

Within a few hours, waves up to 20 meters high reached the coast, crushing everything in their path. Within hours, the waves caused incredible destruction in Thailand, India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

In total, the tsunami reached the shores of 18 countries. It claimed the lives of more than 300,000 thousand people, 15,000 thousand people were missing and about 1.5 million people were left homeless. Restoration work lasted about five years, houses, schools and resort areas were rebuilt. After the tragedy, a system of evacuation of people was organized and a tsunami warning system was created.

Cyclone named after a flower

The devastating cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar on May 3, 2008. The wind speed reached 240 km/h. The tropical cyclone destroyed many small settlements. And almost completely destroyed Big City Yangon. The population was left without shelter and electricity.


As a result of the most terrible natural disaster, the death toll was 90,000 thousand people. More than 55,000 thousand people were never found. In total, more than 1.5 million people were affected. Many countries came to the rescue of Myanmar, providing material and humanitarian assistance.

Nature's cruelty

A powerful earthquake destroyed part of the island of Haiti in 2010, the magnitude of which was 7.0. The first tremors were registered on January 12, 20 kilometers from the capital of Haiti. A number of the strongest tremors continued with tremors of magnitude 5.9.
After the terrible shaking, more than 3 million people were left homeless. 60% of residential buildings and many public buildings such as schools, hospitals, cathedrals were destroyed.


The number of deaths during the natural disaster and under the rubble was 222,570 thousand people, 311,000 thousand people were wounded, and about 1,000 people were never found.

Not a cheap flight

The crash of a Japanese Boeing 747 in 1985 is considered the worst air disaster. And it ranks second in terms of death toll. On August 12, due to a Japanese holiday, there were 524 people on board along with the crew.

The cause of the disaster was poor-quality repairs to the aircraft. 12 minutes into the flight, the plane’s keel comes off, the control system fails, and at an altitude of 1,500 meters the plane crashes into a mountain.


Due to a strong fire at the crash site, the rescue operation began only 14 hours later. Many of the wounded never received help. Rescuers found notes from passengers with appeals to their families. Dead 520 people, only 4 people survived.

This article describes only a small part of the disasters that have been recorded in world history. The most widespread and tragic of them are collected here. All of them claimed millions of lives of children, adults, and elderly people different nationalities and religions. After all, trouble is indifferent to gender, age and race.

Disasters in the world leave no one indifferent. Tragic events once again confirm that there is nothing more valuable than human life.

Tenerife plane crash

The monstrous plane crash that occurred in Tenerife will be remembered by many for a long time. On March 27, 1977, two Boeings collided on the runway. One airliner belonged to the Dutch airline KLM, and the second - Pan American World Airways. The fatal collision claimed the lives of 580 people. What caused this accident? Finding out the details of what happened indicates that the collision was inevitable and that unknown forces intervened in the course of events.

A chain of fatal coincidences led to such a devastating catastrophe. Los Rodeos International Airport was overloaded on this ill-fated weekend. Both planes made maneuvers on a small runway, including difficult turns of 140-170 degrees. On this Sunday, everything went wrong from the very beginning: in the cockpit, due to interference, they could not clearly hear the dispatcher’s commands, the weather deteriorated sharply, and visibility became almost zero.

The crew could not understand the instructions of the air traffic controller, who spoke with a strong accent. Due to problems with radio communications, the Boeing 747-206B did not abort takeoff, which led to a collision with the Boeing 747, which was still on the runway.

The Boeing, owned by a Dutch airline, suffered damage to its wings and rear fuselage. The huge airliner crashed one hundred and fifty meters from the accident site and rolled along the runway for another three hundred meters. Due to severe damage to the hull of the American aircraft, few passengers were able to escape from the aircraft engulfed in flames. A fire also occurred on a KLM plane. About 250 people died on the first liner, and 335 on the second. Among the passengers was American actress and Playboy model Evelyn Eugene Turner.

North Sea explosion

The first place in the ranking of the most destructive man-made disasters is occupied by the burned-out oil production platform Piper Alpha, which was built in the 70s of the last century. The disaster occurred on July 6, 1988. The damage is estimated at more than three billion dollars. The accident claimed the lives of 176 people.

This incident went down in history: Piper Alpha is the only burned-out oil production platform on the planet. It belonged to the Occidental Petroleum Company. Powerful explosion occurred due to a gas leak. The human factor was to blame: after the explosion, oil and gas production was suspended, but pipelines shared network Hydrocarbons continued to flow to the platform. The fire intensified and did not stop. Ill-considered and indecisive actions led to a major man-made accident. People jumped into the sea in panic. 59 people survived.

Unsinkable "Wilhelm Gustloff"

Vessel Wilhelm Gustloff

When we talk about the worst disasters on the water, we remember the legendary Titanic, which now rests at the bottom Atlantic Ocean. The unsinkable Titanic collided with an iceberg in 1912, but this disaster is not the largest in human history. In terms of the number of victims, the crash of the German liner Wilhelm Gustloff eclipsed the famous British transatlantic steamer.

On April 30, 1945, the Soviet submarine S-13 sank a luxury ship carrying ten thousand people: cadets from a submarine training division, refugees, mostly women and children, and seriously wounded military personnel. The cruise ship was put into operation in 1938. The vessel was designed and built according to last word technology. It seemed that only God himself could send him to the bottom.

"Wilhelm Gustloff" is real city on the water: dance floors, Gym, restaurants, swimming pools, chapel, theater. Passengers enjoyed the comfort of luxurious cabins. Adolf Hitler himself traveled on a cruise ship.

The length of the ship was more than two hundred meters. Despite its gigantic size, the ship did not need refueling for a long time. A real miracle of engineering!
The commander of the Soviet submarine Marinesko developed an attack plan and ordered 3 torpedoes to be fired into the hull of the enemy ship. One of them bore the inscription “For the Motherland.” Today this giant rests at the bottom Baltic Sea, and the world is still mourning, because the disaster resulted in the death of innocent people.

Environmental disasters of the world

The worst environmental disaster is the disappearance of the Aral Sea from the face of the Earth. It was the 4th largest lake on the planet. The reservoir was located on the border of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. A local environmental disaster affected the whole world and once again proved that humanity does not protect Natural resources and treats them with disregard.

The degradation of the salt lake began in the 1960s. There was an uncontrolled intake of water from the feeding rivers Amu Darya and Syr Darya. Water was taken for irrigation and other economic needs, which led to a decrease in its level.

The damage was colossal: plants and animals died, the climate in the area changed and became arid, shipping was suspended and 60 thousand people lost their jobs. Environmental disasters in the world never pass without leaving a trace.

Disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

The use of atomic energy to generate electricity has changed our world once and for all. The devastating consequences of nuclear disasters do not go away for decades. The planet shook when more than thirty years ago there was an explosion at one of the power units of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Radiation spread to nearby settlements. Thousands of people were exposed to radiation during the cleanup of the accident. Today, the 30-kilometer zone near Chernobyl and Pripyat is closed to free access, as this territory has been subjected to intense contamination with radionuclides. Accidents at nuclear power plants and the use of nuclear weapons are the most terrible disasters that change the face of the planet.

We hear about these tragedies from news reports and read horrific details on the front pages of print publications. Unfortunately, thousands of people die every year in disasters around the world. We have compiled a list of disasters that left an indelible mark on human history. There are many videos on the Internet about the disasters covered in this material.

Disaster over the Black Sea

On December 25, a Tu-154 plane en route to the Syrian city of Latakia crashed in the waters of the Black Sea. The liner belonged to the Russian Ministry of Defense. There was a Song and Dance Ensemble on board the aircraft Russian army named after A.V. Alexandrov. The list of dead included famous Doctor Lisa. The disaster claimed the lives of 92 people. The plane took off from the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow at two o'clock in the morning and landed at Adler airport to refuel.

Aircraft RA-85572 disappeared from radar screens 2 minutes after takeoff. The artists were heading to Syria to perform for the Russian military. The main reason for the Tu-154 crash was a malfunction of the aircraft, which was put into operation thirty years ago. The crew consisted of experienced pilots. The Tu-154 was overhauled three years ago. However, the Ministry of Defense claims that the plane was working properly and the crash could not have occurred due to a breakdown. Leads are being pursued and the investigation continues. Airplane crashes always cause a wide public outcry, since this type of transport is considered the safest. There is already a 3D reconstruction of the crash on the Internet. The video was taken from the words of an eyewitness.

Disaster on the Kursk submarine

The list of disasters long remembered by the residents of our country would be incomplete without mentioning the nuclear submarine missile-carrying cruiser Kursk, which sank in the Barents Sea. 08/12/2000, the submarine, which was undergoing exercises at the combat training range, did not contact. Two days later, the command made a statement that the submarine had sunk to the bottom. When examining the scene of the incident, it turned out that the front part of the nuclear submarine was destroyed, and it entered the bottom at an angle of forty degrees, and the rescue capsule was out of order. Even then it became obvious that the chances of salvation were minimal.

The rescue operation began on August 15. A Norwegian ship and deep-sea vehicles took part in it. Despite the joint efforts of Russian, British and Norwegian specialists, it was not possible to save the submarine’s crew. On August 21, divers were able to get inside the ship, which was completely flooded. No one was left alive; the list of dead includes 118 people. During the investigation, it was possible to find out that an explosion of ammunition led to the crash. The boat was on fire and filled with water in less than 10 hours. The ship's log does not record data on emergency situations.

Disaster of the ship "Admiral Nakhimov"

Admiral Nakhimov

On August 31, 1986, “Admiral Nakhimov” was in the port of Novorossiysk. Passengers, tired of the hot weather, returned to their cabins after excursions. The ship became very hot on this hot day, and people rushed to open the portholes. At 10 pm the ship departed for Sochi. The weather on this summer evening was magnificent: a calm sea like a millpond, a light wind was blowing, and visibility was good. At the same time, the bulk carrier “Pyotr Vasev” was traveling to Novorossiysk, transporting thirty thousand tons of grain. The bulk carrier received a command to let the cruise ship pass.

An hour after departure, the Admiral Nakhimov collided with the dry cargo ship Pyotr Vasev. The impact hit the starboard side of the passenger ship. Severe damage to the hull led to the ship being completely submerged under water within eight minutes. Such a rapid dive was influenced by uncovered portholes and watertight bulkheads, which were also left open. The incorrect actions of the crew led to the death of 423 people.

Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico

On March 20, 2010, a strong fire occurred on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Firefighters tried unsuccessfully to control the fire for more than 30 hours. Two days later, the Deepwater Horizon platform sank to the bottom of the bay. Eleven people were missing, seventeen people were hospitalized with injuries and two people died.

Elimination of consequences continued for 150 days. Experts claimed that about 5 thousand barrels of oil fell into the sea every day. The Secretary of the Interior of the United States of America said that the leak amounted to 100 thousand barrels. This amount of oil products got into the water every day. The area of ​​the oil slick reached 75 thousand square meters. km. Over 5 months, more than five million barrels of black gold spilled into the World Ocean. An explosion on an oil platform tops the list of disasters that caused irreparable damage to the environment.

Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster

The best disasters sometimes begin with signs of fate. Already during the ship's christening ceremony, those present suspected something was wrong: a bottle of champagne had not broken, which is considered a bad omen. This three-hundred-meter ship amazed with its size, equipment and comfort: one and a half thousand cabins, a two-story fitness center, a museum, a gallery, a cinema, a casino, a library, concert hall, shops, swimming pools and restaurants. Passengers had plenty of room to roam. 01/13/12 the liner hit an underwater reef. Due to a large hole, the ship began to rapidly sink into the water.

There were more than 4 thousand people on the ship. Almost all passengers and crew members were evacuated to shore, but 32 people could not be saved. The ship's captain said he veered off course and approached the shore to greet his friend , who lived on this island. Such a dangerous approach to coastline This was not the first time at Costa Concordia. Experts are still perplexed why the liner landed on a reef, because the crew knew this route like the back of their hand. The damage from the shipwreck is estimated by experts at $1.5 billion. The causes of the disaster are not fully known, but experts call the notorious human factor and technical malfunction.

Eruption of Krakatoa volcano in 1883

Volcano Krakatoa

Natural disasters always lead to great destruction. The loudest explosion in the history of the planet was caused by the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano. It was heard at a distance of about 5 thousand km. Vulcan woke up on May 20 after a two-century sleep. Then an eruptive column 11 thousand meters high, consisting of steam, gases and dust, rose into the air. The critical phase of the eruption occurred on August 26. The column of volcanic emissions was more than 30 thousand meters.

The strongest explosion occurred due to the collision of magma with sea ​​water. The latter got inside due to cracks formed on the slopes of the volcano. 5 thousand inhabitants died. The resulting tsunami claimed the lives of 30 thousand people. The height of the destructive waves was equal to a ten-story building. During the eruption of Krakatoa, gases entered the stratosphere, which prevented the penetration sunlight. Temperatures in these areas dropped by 3 degrees. There are not many disasters in the world that have had such a dramatic impact on the planet's climate.

Spitak earthquake

On December 7, 1988, at about twelve o’clock in the afternoon, an earthquake occurred in Armenia, which wiped out the city of Spitak from the face of the earth in half a minute. IN locality About 20 thousand people lived there. The disaster not only claimed the lives of thousands of people, but also changed the history of the Armenian Republic. Thousands local residents were left without a roof over their heads. Many received injuries that led to disability. An earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale caused enormous damage to the country's economy. Experts say its power can be compared to an explosion produced by ten atomic bombs. The seismic wave from the earthquake reached Australia.

In December 2004, an underwater earthquake occurred in the Indian Ocean, generating a devastating tsunami. Huge waves hit the shores of Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Disaster took the lives of about 300 thousand people. On the Internet you can find videos where huge masses of water destroy everything in its path, leaving a person no chance of salvation. Local residents and tourists had only a couple of minutes to escape.

The tsunami developed according to the classic scenario: the water began to recede from the shore into the sea, exposing the seabed, and then the crests of giant waves appeared on the horizon. The speed of the water shaft during a tsunami reaches 800 km/h. A modern airliner flies at the same speed. At the depth of the ocean, the waves reached up to 60 m, and closer to the shore - up to 20 m. The disaster is considered one of the most destructive in the history of our planet.