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.
- Coincidentally, the Boxing Day Tsunami struck almost exactly one year (to the hour) after earthquake killed an estimated 30,000 people in the city of Bam in Iran on December 26, 2003.
- In 1973 in Iceland over 9,000 people were killed directly or indirectly (through famine and fluorine poisoning) in volcano eruption. The number of the victims may not seem to be very high but it is worth considering that at the time those 9,000 were 25% of the population of this rather secluded island and that 33% were killed 70 years earlier by smallpox.
- The 1883 eruption of Krakatau in Indonesia took between 37,000 and 120,000 lives and affected global climate and had various optical effects. The skyline of Edvard Munch’s 1893 painting The Scream is in fact believed to be based on the global optical effects caused by the eruption and seen over Oslo, Norway.
I think that the whole world must help Haiti people. We have to keep in mind that it could happens to us at anytime… Anyway, this disaster is horrible, we must make some donations before feeling guilty.
Do we really have to wait until an earthquake destroyed a city to realize about their needs? As Haiti, in the world there are many very poor countries, and they always have needed the help of the world for its people to attain an acceptable level of welfare.
But business are business and right know is a very convenient time for celebrities and governments; their donations represent to appear on headlines on newspapers around the world.
Today at the world thousands of people are dying of hunger, the fact is that the dying people in Africa or South America do not call the attention of the media, much less the real solidarity of the planet
Very true. There are enough people around the world that could use are attention at any time. But I think it’s just human nature to help whenever it gets under our attention, for example with natual disasters. Because than it’s when we do realise we have to share our wealth with the rest of the world.
It’s a shame that governments or celebrities mis-use times like these to get media attention. But the good thing is that I think a lot of people realize that and understand the real nature of those donations. And othet than that, the Haitin people can really use them.
What happened to Haiti is really sad, and it breaks my heart to see the coverage of this disaster on TV. But it’s also nice to know that people around the world are doing their best to help Haiti. Don’t misunderstand me but Haiti is a small island-country that has experienced nothing but poverty and wretchedness in its history, and out of crisis often comes real change. So maybe this quake may provide a real chance for a new, fresh start.