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 films.
10. Omen
Znameniya opens the rating of the best disaster films. The beginning of the plot takes the viewer back to the distant 1959. On 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 numbers 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 disaster 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 Came 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 was sent 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 coast guard leadership of this. 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 Andrey and their joint daughter Ksyusha, and her lover Vlad Konstantinov. By chance, Andrey, 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 is immersed in 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 Alexei finds work in civil aviation... Leonid Zinchenko takes him to his team, who is also wayward, like Alexey. 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 was invited as a consultant - a participant in the incident and main character film. 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 fortunate enough to survive found themselves 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 exactly 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 \u200b\u200bat which humanity will die out, 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 is over, the astronauts notice new threat... A giant asteroid is approaching the planet, the 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 space 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.
For centuries, natural disasters have not let go of humanity. Some happened so long ago that scientists cannot estimate the extent of the destruction. For example, the Mediterranean island of Stroggly is believed to have been razed to the ground by a volcanic eruption around 1500 BC. The tsunami wiped out the entire Minoan civilization, but no one knows even the approximate death toll. However, the 10 most devastating disasters known, mostly earthquakes and floods, have killed an estimated 10 million people.
10. Earthquake in Aleppo - 1138, Syria (casualties: 230,000)
One of the most powerful earthquakesknown to mankind, and the fourth in the number of victims (according to an approximate estimate, over 230 thousand dead). The city of Aleppo, a large and populous urban center since antiquity, is geologically located along the northern part of a system of large geological faults, which also include the Dead Sea Basin, and which separate the Arabian and African tectonic plates, which are in constant interaction. The Damascus chronicler Ibn-al-Kalanisi recorded the date of the earthquake - Wednesday, October 11, 1138, and also indicated the number of victims - over 230 thousand people. A similar number of victims and destruction shocked contemporaries, especially the Western knights-crusaders, because then in northwestern Europe, where most of them were from, a rare city had a population of 10 thousand inhabitants. After the earthquake, the population of Aleppo recovered only by the beginning of the 19th century, when a population of 200 thousand inhabitants was again recorded in the city.
9. Indian Ocean earthquake - 2004, Indian Ocean (victims: 230,000+)
The third, and according to some estimates the second strongest, is the undersea earthquake in the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004. It caused the tsunami, which caused most of the damage. Scientists estimate the magnitude of the earthquake from 9.1 to 9.3 points. The epicenter was underwater, north of the island of Shimolue, which is northwest of Indonesian Sumatra. Huge waves reached the shores of Thailand, southern India and Indonesia. Then the wave height reached 15 meters. Many territories were subjected to huge destruction and casualties, including in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, which is 6900 km from the epicenter. The exact number of victims is unknown, but it is estimated from 225 to 300 thousand people. It will not be possible to calculate the true figure, since many bodies were simply carried away by water into the sea. It is curious, but a few hours before the arrival of the tsunami, many animals reacted sensitively to the impending catastrophe - they left the coastal zones, moving to the hills.
8. The destruction of the Banqiao Dam - 1975, China (victims: 231,000)
There are different estimates of the number of victims of the disaster. The official figure, about 26,000, takes into account only those who drowned directly during the flood itself; Taking into account the deaths from epidemics and famine that spread as a result of the disaster, the total number of victims is, according to various estimates, 171,000 or even 230,000. The dam was designed in such a way as to survive the largest floods that occur once every thousand years (306 mm of precipitation per day). However, in August 1975, the largest flood in 2,000 years occurred, as a consequence of the powerful typhoon Nina and several days of record storms. The flood caused a huge wave of water 10 kilometers wide, 3-7 meters high. The tide went 50 kilometers from the coast in an hour and reached the plains, creating there artificial lakes with a total area of \u200b\u200b12,000 square kilometers. Seven provinces were flooded, including thousands of square kilometers of countryside and countless communications.
7. Tangshan earthquake - 1976, China (victims: 242,000)
The second strongest earthquake also hit China. On July 28, 1976, the Tangshan earthquake took place in Hebei province. Its magnitude was 8.2 points, which makes the event the largest natural disaster of the century. The official death toll was 242,419. However, most likely the figure was underestimated by the PRC authorities by 3-4 times. This suspicion is based on the fact that according to Chinese documents, the earthquake strength is indicated only at 7.8 points. Tangshan was almost immediately destroyed by powerful aftershocks, the epicenter of which was at a depth of 22 km under the city. Even Tianjin and Beijing, which are 140 kilometers from the epicenter, were destroyed. The consequences of the disaster were dire - 5.3 million homes were destroyed and damaged to such an extent that it was impossible to live in them. The number of casualties increased due to the subsequent series of aftershocks to 7.1 points. Today in the center of Tangshan there is a stele that reminds of a terrible catastrophe, there is also an information center dedicated to those events. It is a kind of museum on this subject, the only one in China.
6. Kaifeng Flood - 1642, China (casualties: 300,000)
Long-suffering China again. Formally, this disaster can be considered natural, but it was arranged by human hands. In 1642, a peasant uprising took place in China, led by Li Zicheng. The rebels approached the city of Kaifeng. In order to prevent the capture of the city by the rebels, the command of the Ming Dynasty troops gave the order to flood the city and the surrounding area with the waters of the Yellow River. When the water receded and the famine caused by the artificial flood ended, it turned out that of the 600,000 people in the city and the surrounding area, only half survived. At that time, it was one of the bloodiest punitive actions in history.
5. Cyclone in India - 1839, India (Victims: 300,000+)
Although the photograph of the cyclone does not belong to 1839, it can be used to appreciate the full power of this natural phenomenon. The Indian cyclone of 1839 was not destructive in itself, but it caused powerful tidal waves that killed 300,000 people. The tidal waves completely destroyed the city of Koringa and sank 20,000 ships that were in the bay of the city.
4. The Great China Earthquake - 1556 (Victims: 830,000)
In 1556, the most destructive earthquake in human history took place, called the Great China Earthquake. It happened on January 23, 1556 in Shaanxi province. Historians believe that the natural disaster claimed the lives of about 830,000 people, more than any other similar event. Some areas of Shaanxi were completely depopulated, while in the rest more than half of the people died. Such a huge number of victims was explained by the fact that most of the inhabitants lived in loess caves, which, at the first shocks, immediately collapsed or were subsequently flooded by mudflows. According to modern estimates, this earthquake was assigned a category of 11 points. One of the eyewitnesses warned his descendants that when a disaster begins, one should not rush headlong into the street: "When a bird's nest falls from a tree, eggs often remain unharmed." Such words are evidence that many people died while trying to leave their homes. The destructiveness of the earthquake is evidenced by the ancient steles of Xi'an, collected in the local Beilin Museum. Many of them are crumbling or cracked. During the cataclysm, the Wild Goose Pagoda located here survived, but its foundation sank 1.6 meters.
3. Cyclone Bhola - 1970 (Victims: 500,000 - 1,000,000)
A devastating tropical cyclone that struck East Pakistan and Indian West Bengal on November 12, 1970. The deadliest tropical cyclone and one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history... About half a million people lost their lives due to the impact of a storm tide that flooded many of the low-lying islands of the Ganges delta. It was the sixth storm cyclone in the 1970 North Indian Ocean hurricane season and the most severe this year.
The cyclone formed over the central part of the Bay of Bengal on November 8, after which it began to shift northward, gaining strength. It reached its peak on the evening of November 12, and the same night made contact with the coastline of East Pakistan. The storm tide devastated numerous coastal islands, sweeping away entire villages and devastating agricultural land in the region. In the most affected region of the country - Upazil Tazumuddin - more than 45% of the 167,000 population died.
Political implications
The sluggish pace of the rescue efforts only heightened anger and resentment in East Pakistan and fueled local resistance movements. Subsidies came in slowly, with transport slowly delivering urgently needed funds to storm-ravaged areas. In March 1971, tensions grew steadily, and foreign specialists began to leave the province, fearing outbursts of violence. In the future, the situation continued to deteriorate and escalated into the war of independence, which began on March 26. Later, in December of that year, this conflict expanded into the third Indo-Pakistani War, which culminated in the creation of the state of Bangladesh. The events that took place can be considered one of the first cases when a natural phenomenon provoked a civil war, the subsequent external intervention of a third force and the disintegration of one country into two independent states.
2. Flood in the Yellow River Valley - 1887, China (Victims: 900,000 - 2,000,000)
One of the worst floods in modern human history, which, according to various sources, claimed from 1.5 to 7 million human lives, happened in the late spring of 1887 in the northern provinces of China, in the valley of the Yellow River. Heavy rains across nearly all of Hunan that spring caused the river to flood. The first flood occurred at a steep bend in the vicinity of Zhangzhou city.
Day after day, bubbling waters invaded the cities, destroying and devastating them. A total of 600 riverside cities were affected by the flood, including the walled city of Hunan. The rushing stream continued to wash away fields, animals, cities and people, flooding an area 70 km wide with water reaching a depth of 15 meters.
Water often against wind and tide slowly flooded terrace after terrace, each of which gathered from 12 to 100 families. Of the 10 houses, only one or two survived. Half of the buildings were hidden under water. People were lying on the roofs of houses, and old people who did not starve to death were dying of cold.
The tops of the poplars that once stood along the roads stuck out of the water like seaweed. Here and there strong men were holding onto old trees with thick branches and calling for help. In one place a box with a dead child was nailed to a tree, which was placed there for safety by his parents. The drawer contained food and a name note. In another place, a family was found, all of whose members had died, the child was placed on the highest place ... well covered with clothes. "
The devastation and devastation left after the water subsided was terrible. The statistics could not cope with the task - to calculate. By 1889, when the Yellow River finally returned to its course, disease was added to all the misfortunes of the floods. It is estimated that half a million people have died from cholera.
1. Great Flood - 1931, China (Victims: 1,000,000 - 4,000,000)
The summer period of monsoon rains in 1931 turned out to be extremely stormy. Heavy rains and tropical cyclones raged in river basins. The dams withstood heavy rainfalls and storms for weeks, but in the end they could not withstand the load and collapsed in hundreds of places. About 333,000 hectares of land were flooded, at least 40,000,000 people lost their homes, and the loss of crops was enormous. On large areas, the water did not drain from three to six months. Disease, lack of food, lack of shelter have led to the death of a total of 3.7 million people.
One of the epicenters of the tragedy was the city of Gaoyu in the northern province of Jiangsu. A powerful typhoon struck the fifth largest lake in China, Gaoyu, on August 26, 1931. The water level in it has already risen to a record height as a result of heavy rains in the previous weeks. A squally wind raised high waves that beat against dams. After midnight, the battle was lost. The dams were broken in six places, and the largest breach reached almost 700 m. A stormy stream swept through the city and the province. In one morning alone, about 10,000 people died in Gaoyu.
October 13 is International Day for Hazard Reduction natural Disasters - what is not a reason to remember the most terrible and deadly 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 on vast territorylocated 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 devastating earthquakes in the history of mankind - in China - happened on January 23, 1556. Its epicenter was in the area of \u200b\u200bthe 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 at 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. Architectural gems such as the Opera House and the Royal Palace and the picturesque masterpieces of Caravaggio, Titian and Rubens have been lost.
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. With regard to human casualties, a total of 27 thousand 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 killed 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, which followed one after another, claimed a total of 4 (!) Million lives. Historians believe that this is the largest and most tragic natural disaster in human history. In August 1931, overflowing the coast as a result lingering rains the Yangtze and Yellow He rivers destroyed the dams that held them back 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 worst of all were the human sacrifices: those who did not die from the water died from devastation, hunger and epidemics.
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May 31, 1970 due to an earthquake, the epicenter of which was in Pacific, from Mount Huascarana in Peru, a stone-ice avalanche broke away and, moving at a speed of a thousand kilometers per hour, covered the towns of Ranragirk and Yungay located in the valley of the Rio Santa River - only the cemetery with the figure of Christ hovering above it remained 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 claimed by the avalanche were honored in Peru with eight days of mourning.
Cyclone Bhola. 1970 year
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George Harrison attends a benefit concert in Bangladesh.
Tropical cyclone Bhola is one of the worst natural disasters of the 20th century. On November 13, 1970, a wave 15 (!) Meters high 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 began, the participants of which accused the Pakistani government of inaction and slow elimination of the consequences. Started civil War between East Pakistan and the central government, which resulted in the declaration of independence of Bangladesh.
The whole world helped to restore 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 tens, 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 remember the tsunami in the Indian Ocean, which happened a year and a half later - among the dead were citizens of Ukraine. The deadly wave was the consequence of the largest earthquake in the history of the Indian Ocean 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.
No matter how far scientific and technological progress has gone, catastrophes have happened, do happen, and probably will happen for a long time. Some of them could be avoided, but most of the worst events in the world were inevitable because they happened at the behest of Mother Nature.
The worst plane crash ever
Collision of two Boeing 747
Mankind knows no more terrible plane crash than the one that occurred on March 27, 1977 on the island of Tenerife, which belongs to the Canary group. On this day, at Los Rodeo airport, there was a collision of two Boeing-747s, one of which belonged to the KLM company, the other to Pan American. This terrible tragedy claimed 583 lives. The reasons that led to this misfortune are a fatal and paradoxical coincidence of circumstances.
Los Rodeos airport was seriously congested this ill-fated Sunday. The dispatcher spoke with a strong Spanish accent, and radio communications suffered from severe interference. Because of this, the commander of the Boeing KLM misinterpreted the command to interrupt the flight, which became the fatal cause of the collision of two maneuvering aircraft.
Only a few passengers managed to escape through the holes in the Pan American plane. Another Boeing lost its wings and tail, which led to a fall one hundred and fifty meters from the crash site, after which it was pulled for another three hundred meters. Both flying cars caught fire.
There were 248 passengers on board the Boeing KLM, none of whom survived. The Pan American plane killed 335 people, including the entire crew, as well as the famous model and actress Yves Meyer.
The worst man-made disaster
On July 6, 1988, the worst of all disasters happened in the North Sea, famous stories oil production. It happened on the oil platform "Per Alpha", which was built in 1976. The number of victims was 167 people, the company suffered a loss of about three and a half billion dollars.
The most offensive thing is that the number of victims could have been much less, if not for the usual human stupidity. There was a large gas leak, followed by an explosion. But instead of stopping the oil supply immediately after the start of the accident, the maintenance personnel waited for a command from the management.
The countdown went on for minutes, and soon the entire platform of the Occidental Petroleum Corporation was engulfed in fire, even the living quarters were on fire. Those who could have survived the blast were burned to death. Only those who managed to jump into the water survived.
The worst water accident
When the topic of tragedies on the water is touched upon, the film "Titanic" involuntarily comes to mind. Moreover, there really was such a disaster. But this shipwreck is not the worst in human history.
Wilhelm Gustloff
The sinking of the German ship "Wilhelm Gustloff" is rightfully considered to be the biggest disaster that happened on the water. The tragedy occurred on January 30, 1945. The submarine was the culprit Soviet Union, which knocked out a motor ship that could accommodate almost 9,000 passengers.
This, at that time, the perfect product of shipbuilding, was made in 1938. It seemed unsinkable and contained 9 decks, restaurants, a winter garden, climate control, gyms, theaters, dance floors, swimming pools, a church and even Hitler's rooms.
Its length was more than two hundred meters, it could swim half the planet without refueling. The ingenious creation could not sink without outside interference. And it happened in the person of the crew of the S-13 submarine, which was commanded by A.I. Marinesko. Three torpedoes were fired into the legendary ship. In a matter of minutes he found himself in the abyss of the Baltic Sea. All crew members were killed, including about 8,000 members of the German military elite who had been evacuated from Danzig.
Wreck of "Wilhelm Gustloff" (video)
Greatest environmental tragedy
The dried up Aral Sea
Among all environmental disasters, the leading place is occupied by the drying up of the Aral Sea. In their better times it was the fourth largest lake in the world.
The disaster occurred due to the unreasonable use of water that was used to watered gardens and fields. The shrinkage was due to the rash political ambitions and actions of the leaders of those times.
Gradually, the coastline moved away deep into the sea, which led to the extinction of most species of flora and fauna. In addition, droughts began to increase, the climate changed significantly, shipping became impossible, and more than sixty people were left without work.
Where the Aral Sea disappeared: strange symbols on the dried bottom (VIDEO)
Nuclear disaster
What could be worse than a nuclear catastrophe? The lifeless kilometers of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl region are the embodiment of these fears. The accident occurred in 1986, when one of the power units of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded in the early April morning.
Chernobyl 1986
This tragedy claimed several hundred lives of evacuators, thousands died over the next ten years. And how many people were forced to leave their homes, only God knows ...
The children of these people are still born with developmental abnormalities. The atmosphere, land and water around the nuclear power plant are contaminated with radioactive substances.
The radiation level in this region is still thousands of times higher than the norm. How much time must pass for people to settle in these places, no one knows. The scale of this disaster is still not fully known.
The Chernobyl accident 1986: Chernobyl, Pripyat - liquidation (VIDEO)
Catastrophe over the Black Sea: Tu-154 of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation crashed
Crash of Tu-154 of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Not so long ago there was a crash of the Tu-154 aircraft of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, heading for Syria. She claimed the lives of 64 talented artists of the Alexandrov ensemble, nine well-known leading TV channels, the head of a charitable organization - the famous Doctor Lisa, eight military men, two civil servants, and all crew members. In total, 92 people died in this terrible plane crash.
On this tragic morning in December 2016, the plane refueled in Adler, but unexpectedly crashed immediately after takeoff. The investigation took a long time, because it was necessary to know what was the cause of the Tu-154 disaster.
The commission investigating the causes of the accident, among the circumstances leading to the crash, named the aircraft overload, crew fatigue and the low professional level of training and organization of the flight.
Results of the investigation of the Tu-154 disaster of the Russian Ministry of Defense (VIDEO)
Submarine "Kursk"
Submarine "Kursk"
The crash of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk, which killed 118 people on board, occurred in 2000 in the Barents Sea. This is the second largest accident in the history of the Russian submarine fleet after the disaster on the B-37.
On August 12, as planned, preparations began for the training attacks. The last confirmed actions on the boat were recorded at 11.15.
A few hours before the tragedy, the crew commander was reported about the cotton, which he did not pay attention to. Then the boat was violently shaken, which was associated with the turning on of the antenna of the radar station. After that, the boat captain no longer contacted. At 23.00 the situation on the submarine was declared as emergency, which was reported to the leadership of the fleet and the country. The next morning as a result prospecting works The Kursk was found at the bottom of the sea at a depth of 108 m.
The official version of the cause of the tragedy is the explosion of a training torpedo, which occurred as a result of a fuel leak.
Submarine Kursk: what really happened? (VIDEO)
Wreck of the ship "Admiral Nakhimov"
The crash of the passenger steamer "Admiral Nakhimov" took place in August 1981 near Novorossiysk. On board the ship were 1234 people, 423 of whom lost their lives on that unfortunate day. It is known that Vladimir Vinokur and Lev Leshchenko were late for this flight.
At 11:12 pm, the steamer collided with the dry cargo ship "Petr Vasev", as a result of which the electric generator was flooded and the light on the "Nakhimov" was lost. The ship became uncontrollable and continued to move forward by inertia. As a result of the collision in the starboard side, a hole was formed up to eighty square meters... Panic broke out among the passengers, many climbed to the port side and thus went down to the water.
There were almost a thousand people in the water, who, moreover, got dirty with fuel oil and paint. Eight minutes after the collision, the steamer sank.
Steamer Admiral Nakhimov: ship wreck - Russian Titanic (VIDEO)
Oil platform that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico
The worst environmental disasters in the world in 2010 were supplemented by another one that happened in the Gulf of Mexico, eighty kilometers from Louisiana. This is one of the most dangerous man-made accidents for the environment. It happened on April 20 on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform.
As a result of the rupture of pipes, about five million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico.
A patch of 75,000 square meters was formed in the bay. km, which accounted for five percent of its entire area. The disaster killed 11 people, 17 were injured.
Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico (VIDEO)
Wreck of "Concordia"
On January 14, 2012, the list of the worst incidents in the world was supplemented by one more. Near Italian Tuscany, the Costa Concordia cruise ship crashed into a rock ledge, leaving a seventy-meter hole in it. At this time, most of the passengers were in the restaurant.
The right side of the liner began to plunge into the water, then it was thrown onto a sandbank 1 km from the crash site. There were more than 4,000 people on the ship, who were evacuated all night, but not all were saved: 32 people still died and a hundred were injured.
Costa Concordia - a wreck through the eyes of eyewitnesses (VIDEO)
The eruption of Krakatoa in 1883
Natural disasters show how insignificant and helpless we are in the face of natural phenomena. But all the most terrible disasters in the world - nothing in comparison with the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano, which occurred in 1883.
On May 20th, a large pillar of smoke could be seen over the Krakatoa volcano. At that moment, even at a distance of 160 kilometers from him, the windows of houses trembled. All nearby islands were covered with a thick layer of dust and pumice.
The eruptions continued until August 27. The last explosion was the culmination, as a result of which sound waves passed, circling the entire planet several times. The ships sailing in the Sunda Strait at that moment stopped showing the compasses correctly.
These explosions led to the submersion of the entire northern part of the island. The seabed has risen as a result of the eruptions. A lot of ash from the volcano remained in the atmosphere for another two to three years.
The tsunami, whose height was thirty meters, washed away about three hundred settlements, killed 36,000 people.
The most powerful eruption of the Krakatoa Volcano (VIDEO)
1988 earthquake in Spitak
On December 7, 1988, the list of "The best disasters in the world" was supplemented by another one that took place in the Armenian Spitak. On this tragic day, tremors literally in half a minute "wiped out" this city from the face of the earth, destroyed Leninakan, Stepanavan and Kirovakan beyond recognition. In total, twenty-one cities and three hundred and fifty villages were affected.
In Spitak itself, the earthquake had a force of ten points, a nine-point element hit Leninakan, and an eight-point element on Kirovakan, and practically the rest of Armenia was a six-point element. Seismologists have calculated that this earthquake released energy corresponding to the force of ten exploding atomic bombs... The wave caused by this tragedy was recorded by scientific laboratories almost all over the world.
This natural disaster 25,000 people lost their lives, 140,000 - health, and 514,000 - a roof over their heads. Forty percent of the republic's industry was out of order, schools, hospitals, theaters, museums, houses of culture, roads and railways were destroyed.
Military, doctors, public figures from all over the country and abroad, both near and far, were called to help. Humanitarian aid was actively collected around the world. Tents, field kitchens and first-aid posts were deployed throughout the area affected by the tragedy.
The saddest and most instructive thing in this situation is that the scale and victims of this terrible disaster could be many times less if the seismic activity of this region were taken into account and all buildings were erected taking these features into account. Unpreparedness rescue services also contributed.
Tragic days: earthquake in Spitak (VIDEO)
2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami - Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka
In December 2004, a devastating tsunami of terrible power, caused by an underwater earthquake, hit the coasts of Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and other countries. Huge waves devastated the area and killed 200,000 people. The most offensive thing is that most of the dead are children, since in this region there is a high proportion of children per population, moreover, children are physically weaker and less able to resist water than an adult.
The largest losses were suffered by the province of Aceh in Indonesia. Almost all buildings were destroyed there, 168,000 people died.
Geographically, this earthquake was huge. Moved up to 1200 kilometers of rock. The shift occurred in two phases with an interval of two to three minutes.
The number of casualties was so high because there were no common system alerts.
There is nothing more terrible than disasters and tragedies that deprive people of life, shelter, health, destroy industry and everything that a person has worked for for many years. But it often turns out that the number of victims and destruction in such situations could have been much lower if everyone conscientiously treated their professional duties, in some cases it was necessary to foresee an evacuation plan and a warning system in advance. local residents... Let's hope that in the future, humanity will find a way to avoid such terrible tragedies or reduce the damage from them.
Tsunami in Indonesia 2004 (VIDEO)
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