Haiti’s cataclysmic earthquake, the biggest in that part of the world in over 200 years, is estimated to claim between 45,000 to 50,000 lives. The world has united in order to send all possible help and aid to devastated Caribbean island — but the rescue attempts are still stalled by wrecked airports, docks and roads. As the world holds its breath waiting for any news from Haiti, all of us here at Amuso would like to pay our tribute to the victims.
The earthquake that occurred in Haiti, although terrifying, is not the only natural disaster in modern history that has killed thousands of people. Have a look at some interesting facts regarding catastrophes: earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and sickness outbreaks that still make us shiver!
- Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ‘Catastrophe’ as event ranging from extreme misfortune to utter overthrow or ruin; a violent and sudden change in a feature of the earth; a momentous tragic violent usually destructive natural event.
Haiti Survivors
- Black Death, one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, peaked in Europe around 1335-1340 and claimed 30% to 60% of Europe’s population, reducing the world’s population from estimated 450 million to between 350 and 370 million in 1400.
- Another one, considered one of the worst, took its tool in between March 1918 and June 1919. Influenza, commonly known as Spanish flu, was spread to nearly every part of the world, even to the Arctic and remote Pacific islands claiming from 3 to 7 times the casualties of First World War (15 million).
- Floods that occurred in China in 1931 killed around 4 million people. It is generally considered the deadliest natural disaster ever recorded (when pandemics are discounted).
- The Boxing Day Tsunami that occurred on December 26, 2004 in Indonesia as a result of underwater earthquake was the deadliest tsunami in history-it killed nearly 230,000 people in 14 countries, from the coast of Indonesia as far as to the eastern coast of Africa.
Continue reading ‘Dateline Haiti: 8 World-Shattering Natural Disasters’
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) sets non-negotiable minimum standards and obligations in respect to the freedoms and rights of children across the globe.
