About this chart race
Five of the ten deadliest natural disasters since 1901 struck China. The 1931 China floods have topped this list for 95 years. On these figures the deadliest event of the 21st century so far is the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, with 227,898 deaths.
This animated ranking shows how deaths changed across 28 series between 1901 and 2026. The bars re-order themselves as the years advance, so overtakes are visible as they happen rather than hidden inside a table. Use the list on the left to choose exactly who competes, drag the slider to jump to any year, or open the table view to read the underlying numbers.
As of 2026, 1931 China floods leads with 422,499.
Included in this race
1931 China floods, 1970 Bhola cyclone, 1920 Haiyuan earthquake, 1976 Tangshan earthquake, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, 1935 Yangtze flood, 1991 Bangladesh cyclone, Cyclone Nargis, 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, 1971 Red River Delta flood, 1911 Yangtze River flood, 1908 Messina earthquake, 1942 West Bengal cyclone, Tropical Storm Harriet, 1922 Shantou typhoon, 1912 China typhoon, 1911 France heat wave, 1927 Gulang earthquake, 1915 Avezzano earthquake, 1902 Mount Pelée eruption, 1905 Kangra earthquake, 1906 Hong Kong typhoon, 1907 Qaratog earthquake, 1901 eastern US heat wave, 1909 Borujerd earthquake, 1903 Manzikert earthquake, 1910 Costa Rica earthquakes, 1904 Sichuan earthquake.
Source
Data from Wikipedia. Every figure shown comes from this source — nothing is estimated or generated.
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