Natural disasters of 2010

Nation & World News

Natural disasters of 2010

Natural disasters from across the globe in 2010.

Jan. 3, 2010, Rio de Janeiro - More than 200 people were killed and about 4,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes following massive floods and mudslides that crippled the southern region of Brazil for several months to follow.

Jan. 12, Leogane, Haiti - About 230,000 people were killed when a catastrophic 7.0-magnitude earthquake shocked Caribbean nation of Haiti on a Tuesday mid-afternoon. The tremor's epicenter was 16 miles west of capital Port-au-Prince, devastating the country's infrastructure. More than 50 aftershocks - measuring 4.5 or greater - followed over a two-week period.

Feb. 27 Chile - An 8.8-magnitude earthquake rattled the South American nation of Chile for 90 seconds. The quake set off tsunami warnings across the Pacific Rim - affecting 53 countries. More than 400 people were killed by the catastrophe, which caused an estimated more than $4 billion in damages.

March 20, Eyjafjallaj kull, Iceland - On one of the small glaciers in Iceland, a volcanic eruption begins from Eyjafjallaj kull Volcano. Nearly a month later, a dark plume begins to rise from the crater following a second massive eruption. The volcanic ash becomes a major disruption for air travel across Europe, reaching as far south as Great Britain. For six days, airspace restrictions are in place grounding tens of thousands of flights and stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers.

April 4, Qinghai, China - More than 2,200 people are killed after a powerful 6.9 magnitude quake struck Yushu county, northwest China's Qinghai Province.

April 20, Gulf of Mexico - An explosion on the Deepwater Horizon offshore rig left 17 workers injured and 11 missing and presumed dead. Oil began spilling from a well 5,000 feet below sea level, discharging millions of gallons of crude into the Gulf and threatening fragile marshes on the Louisiana coast and wildlife across the sea.

April 22-24, Southeastern U.S. - Tornadoes cut through the Southern United States over a few days, causing massive destruction in parts of Mississippi and Alabama. The outbreak was responsible for at least 10 deaths, all in Mississippi.

May 10, U.S. southern Plains - Several tornadoes tore through the southern Plains, killing five people and injuring dozens. Storms moved through parts of Oklahoma and Kansas, dumping hail as big as softballs, leveling houses, flipping cars, and downing hundreds of power lines.

May 2010, Central Europe - Half a dozen countries - The Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Serbia - have been devasted by the worst flooding in decades, after heavy rains have swollen rivers leading northward toward the Baltic Sea.

May 28, Cotalo, Ecuador - Ecuadorean villagers fled their homes after the Andean nation's Throat of Fire volcano erupted, spewing ash that forced officials to reroute some flights and close an airport, authorities said. The Tungurahua volcano is about 80 miles southeast of the capital, Quito.

May 29, Guatemala - The first tropical storm of the 2010 season - Agatha - hit the Pacific coastline of Guatemala and Mexico, killing at least 12 people under landslides and rockfall triggered by torrential rains.

June 12, Langley, Ark. - At least 18 people were killed and dozens more missing after the Little Missouri River engorged more than 20 feet in a matter of hours and caught many unaware before dawn in a secluded campground about 75 west of Little Rock.

June 14, Oklahoma City - Fire officials in Oklahoma City and the nearby suburb of Edmond launched more than 60 swift-water rescues after thunderstorms dumped as much as 10 inches of rain in some areas in a matter of hours, killing at least one.

June 16, Albert Lea, Minn. - Three people killed and dozens more injured by a turbulent storm system that fueled twisters across Minnesota. The storms damaged several hundred homes and buildings and toppled trees and power lines. The most serious damage was in the northwestern Minnesota city of Wadena, where officials reported 232 homes were hit, and in a rural area just west of Albert Lea, where about 60 rural properties saw damage.

June 22 , northern Brazil - Torrential floods ripped through cities in northeastern Brazil, killing at least 50 people. Rescuers searched for 600 people declared missing after the heavy rains. Thousands were forced to leave their homes.

June 29, southwestern China - More than 3 million people have fled their homes after weeks of massive rains struck China's Yunnan province. More than 370 have been killed and 140 more feared missing following weeks of flooding. A landslide in Dazhai Village, Guanling County, trapped more than 100 people.

July 13, southern Japan - Houses and farmland were inundated by flood waters in Nogata after storms lashed southern and western Japan, leaving one dead and three missing. A woman drowned in a swollen river, and three people, including two women in their 70s, were missing, according to officials. Nearly 10,000 homes were evacuated.

July 14, Mainla, Philippines - Typhoon Conson lashed through several provinces in the Philippines toppling trees and power lines, causing widespread blackouts, canceling flights, classes and suspending work in some government offices.

July 28 - August, Peshawar, Pakistan - Three days of heavy monsoonal rains in July across the northwest caused scores of rivers to burst their banks. Hundreds of villages and towns were under several feet of water and at least 1,500 were killed. By August the continued flooding had affected 20 million people and about one-fifth of Pakistan's territory, straining its civilian government as it also struggled against al-Qaida and Taliban violence.

July 27, Palmdale, Calif. - A wildfire smoldered over several days in the high desert north of Los Angeles, spewing plumes of thick smoke that promted air quality warnings as more than 1,300 firefighters worked to contain the blaze. The fire charred more than 20 square miles of brush in the Antelope Valley, threatening hundreds of homes in the 139,000 community.

July 31, Voronezh, Russia - After weeks of searing heat and practically no rain. A severe drought destroyed one-fifth of the wheat crop in Russia, the world's third-largest exporter, and now wildfires are sweeping in to finish off some of the fields that remained. More than 50 people have died as result of the fires. Hundreds of forest and peat bog fires have ignited amid the country's most intense heat wave in 130 years of record-keeping.

Aug. 25, East Coast - Hurricane Earl, the third hurricane and second major hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, made landfall as a Category 1. It caused an estimated $150 million in damage along the coast of the Eastern United States from North Carolina to Massachusetts.

Sept. 4, Christchurch, New Zealand - A powerful 7.1-magnitude tremor struck much of New Zealand's South Island early Saturday, causing an estimated $2.9 billion in damage. About 300 aftershocks were recorded a few days following the main quake.

Sept. 5, Nahuala, Guatemala - Torrential rains from a tropical depression saturated the ground in parts of Guatemala and unleashed more than a dozen landslides, killing at least 38 people and leaving many more unaccounted for. Firefighters confirmed at least 20 dead in the village of Nahuala, where twin slides hit a section of the Inter-American highway. About 50 more were believed buried under tons of rubble.

Sept. 6, Boulder, Colo. - More than 1,000 firefighters battled a more than 7,135-acres wildfire that sparked off the Colorado foothills midmorning. The fire caused the evacuation of approximately 3,000 Boulder County residents. Nearly 200 homes were destroyed, making it the worst wildfire in Colorado history.

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Jan. 3, 2010, Rio de Janeiro - More than 200 people were killed and about 4,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes following massive floods and mudslides that crippled the southern region of Brazil for several months to follow.

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