Asia's worst natural disasters since 2004 tsunami
Pastor Dale Morgan
Asia's worst natural disasters since 2004 tsunami*
18 May 2008 11:40:29 GMT
Source: Reuters
May 18 (Reuters) - Hundreds of aftershocks have rattled China's Sichuan
province following last Monday's devastating quake which killed nearly
32,500, state news agency Xinhua said.
Early on Sunday, another 6.1 magnitude tremor caused thousands to flee
as buildings swayed in the provincial capital, Chengdu.
Here are some of the region's worst natural disasters since the Asian
tsunami of 2004.
* Dec. 26, 2004 - ASIA - The number of dead and missing from the
earthquake and tsunami is at least 250,000. It crashed into Sri Lanka
and India, drowning thousands and swamping tourist isles in Thailand and
the Maldives. The quake measured 9.15 in magnitude.
* March 28, 2005 - INDONESIA - Nearly 1,000 people are killed after a
quake of magnitude 8.7 strikes the coast off Indonesian island of Sumatra.
* July/Aug - INDIA - More than 1,000 people are killed -- mostly drowned
and buried by landslides -- after the heaviest rainfall ever recorded
falls on western state of Maharashtra on July 26.
* Oct 8 - PAKISTAN - At least 73,320 people are killed by a 7.6
magnitude quake that strikes about 95 km (60 miles) northeast of
Islamabad. The quake also rocks Indian Kashmir, killing 1,244 people.
* Feb. 17, 2006 - PHILIPPINES - Mudslide triggered by heavy rain buries
nearly 1,000 people in the Philippines. About 140 bodies are recovered;
rescuers give up hope of finding survivors.
* May 27 - INDONESIA - More than 5,700 people are killed when an
earthquake centred just off the Indian Ocean coast hits the island of
Java near Yogyakarta.
* June-July, 2007 - INDIAN SUBCONTINENT - Monsoon storms kill around
1,750 people in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, and Pakistan.
India is hardest hit with at least 750 people killed.
* Nov 15 - BANGLADESH - Cyclone Sidr strikes Bangladesh, killing around
3,500 people.
* May 2/3, 2008 - MYANMAR - The official toll as of May 18 of dead and
missing is above 133,000 after Cyclone Nargis ripped through Myanmar's
Irrawaddy Delta.
* May 12 - CHINA - The most devastating earthquake to hit China in three
decades strikes southwest Sichuan. The quake, which measured 7.9, killed
nearly 32,500 with more than 220,000 injured.
-- China has said it expects the final death toll from the earthquake to
exceed 50,000. About 4.8 million people have lost their homes. (Writing
by Gill Murdoch and David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)