2018 natural disasters statistics: volcanic activity resulted in more deaths than previous 18 years combined
Image credit: CRED
There were 281 climate-related and geophysical events recorded in the EM-DAT (International Disaster Database) in 2018. These caused deaths of 10 733 people and affected 61 million people across the world. There were a number of major disasters in certain regions, however, there were no mega-disasters which inflate yearly averages, such as the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) who manages EM-DAT said. Earthquakes and tsunamis accounted for the majority of the 10 373 lives lost.
Notable features of the year were intense seismic activity in Indonesia, a string of disasters in Japan, floods in India, and a very eventful year in volcanic activity (which resulted in more deaths than have occurred in the previous 18 years combined) and wildfires. These events continued to occupy headlines, CRED said.
An ongoing trend of lower death tolls from previous years continued into 2018, potentially demonstrating the efficacy of improved standards of living and disaster management. However, it is critical to avoid complacency towards major gaps in data collection and reporting and resilience, particularly for climate-related disasters, which are forecasted to increase in both frequency and intensity.
Globally, Indonesia recorded nearly half the total deaths from disasters in 2018, while India recorded nearly half the total number of individuals affected. The following data are events recorded in EM-DAT. As estimations become more accurate over time, figures will be adjusted, particularly for economic losses.
The original file posted by CRED can be found at the following link.
Earthquakes and tsunamis (20 events)
Earthquakes and tsunamis have been the deadliest disaster in the 21st century and this trend continued in 2018. The concentration of the damage was in South-East Asia and Melanesia, specifically in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea respectively.
In the early months of the year, a string of earthquakes in Papua New Guinea left 181 dead, and affected over half a million people, many of whom lived in remote highlands which were difficult to reach by aid and rescue operations.
In Indonesia, the island of Lombok suffered multiple earthquakes, the deadliest being on August 5th, which killed 564 people. On September 28th, an earthquake triggered mudflows and a tsunami on the island of Sulawesi killing 3 400 people, making it the deadliest disaster of 2018.
Storms (84 events)
Every year, storms impact millions of people, and create billions of dollars (USD) in damage; 2018 was the same.
Two major storms struck the United States, while in Asia, China, India, Japan, and the Philippines faced extensive damage from multiple storms.
It is anticipated that storms, particularly due to hurricanes Florence (14 billion USD) and Michael (16 billion USD) and typhoon Jebi (12.5 billion USD), will be the costliest type of disaster of 2018.
EM-DAT is awaiting final data on the economic damage from these events.
Floods (108 events)
Overall, floods have affected more people than any other type of natural hazard in the 21st century, including 2018. Overall, there was a respite from floods in 2018, with Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Vietnam, which often face relentless floods reporting fewer events this year. However, major floods were reported in other countries.
In Somalia, which is already suffering from an ongoing conflict, over 700 000 people were affected by flooding, while in Nigeria, flooding cost 300 lives and impacted nearly four million people.
In Japan, heavy rains triggered the deadliest floods since 1982, killing 230 people.
The August flooding of India’s Kerala state was by far the largest flood event of the year, with 504 dead, and two-thirds of the state’s residents affected (over 23 million people).
Currently, CRED is undertaking an epidemiological study in this region to investigate the impacts of the flooding on gender and disease.
Volcanic activity (7 events)
Volcanic activity rarely makes headlines, and has had minimal impacts since the turn of the century; however, in 2018 this natural hazard resulted in more deaths than have occurred in the previous 18 years combined.
In June, the Volcán de Fuego Eruption in Guatemala killed over 400 people and affected over 1.7 million, while late in December, the eruption of Anak Krakatau in Indonesia triggered a tsunami that killed over 400 people on the islands of Sumatra and Java.
Droughts and extreme temperatures (39 events)
The direct impact of climate change on human populations will increasingly be felt through catastrophic phenomena, such as drought and extreme temperatures. The human repercussions of these events, as experienced by the EM-DAT team, are typically poorly reported, especially from low-income countries.
This is partly due to methodological difficulties in registering deaths and the severe consequences caused by droughts and extreme temperatures.
In 2018, three million people were affected by an ongoing drought in Kenya, while Afghanistan suffered a major drought that impacted 2.2 million people, causing the internal displacement of thousands.
In Central America droughts affected over 2.5 million people in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, which coincided with international migration patterns. Across Europe, a hot and dry summer caused heatwaves and drought conditions that affected farmers and health systems in numerous countries.
Due to the privileged economic situation of many European countries, there are reduced impacts from persistent heat exposure and water shortages on the population.
With the growing impact of climate change, particularly in lower and lower-middle income countries, it is critical to improve the reporting on the human impact of droughts and extreme temperatures.
Wildfires (9 events)
Across the world, the trend of devastating wildfires continued from 2017 into 2018. In 2018, the Attica Fires in Greece, killed an estimated 126 people, making it the deadliest wildfire recorded in Europe within EM-DAT records, both this current and previous century.
In the United States, the California wildfire season was the deadliest and costliest on record, with Camp Fire killing 88 people, the highest wildfire death toll in the country since the 1920s, and causing an estimated 16.5 billion USD in damage, the costliest wildfire event on record.
Death toll by disaster type (2018 vs. average 21st century)
Event |
2018 |
Average (2000-2017) |
Drought |
0 |
1 361 |
Earthquake |
4 321 |
46 173 |
Extreme temperature |
536 |
10 414 |
Flood |
2 859 |
5 424 |
Landslide |
282 |
929 |
Mass movement (dry) |
17 |
20 |
Storm |
1 593 |
12 722 |
Volcanic activity |
878 |
31 |
Wildfire |
247 |
71 |
Total |
10 733 |
77 144 |
Source: EM-DAT (International Disaster Database)
Top 10 countries by number of people affected (2018)
|
Country |
Total number of people affected |
1. |
India |
23 900 348 |
2. |
Philippines |
6 490 216 |
3. |
China |
6 415 024 |
4. |
Nigeria |
3 938 204 |
5. |
Guatemala |
3 291 359 |
6. |
Kenya |
3 211 188 |
7. |
Afghanistan |
2 206 750 |
8. |
USA |
1 762 103 |
9. |
Japan |
1 599 497 |
10. |
Madagascar |
1 472 190 |
Source: EM-DAT (International Disaster Database)
Top 10 countries by total death toll (2018)
|
Country |
Total death toll |
1. |
Indonesia |
4 535 |
2. |
India |
1 388 |
3. |
Guatemala |
427 |
4. |
Japan |
419 |
5. |
China |
341 |
6. |
Nigeria |
300 |
7. |
United States of America |
298 |
8. |
Pakistan |
240 |
9. |
Korea DPR |
237 |
10. |
Philippines |
221 |
Source: EM-DAT (International Disaster Database)
Total number of people affected by disaster type (2018 vs. average 21st century)
Event |
2018 |
Average (2000-2017) |
|
Drought |
9 368 345 |
58 734 128 |
|
Earthquake |
1 517 138 |
6 783 729 |
|
Extreme temperature |
396 798 |
6 368 470 |
|
Flood |
35 385 178 |
86 696 923 |
|
Landslide |
54 908 |
263 831 |
|
Mass movement (dry) |
0 |
286 |
|
Storm |
12 884 845 |
34 083 106 |
|
Volcanic activity |
1 908 770 |
169 308 |
|
Wildfire |
256 635 |
19 243 |
|
Total |
61 772 617 |
193 312 310 |
|
Source: EM-DAT (International Disaster Database)
Total deaths tolls by year (21st century)
Year |
Death toll |
Major events (5000+ deaths) |
2000 |
9 609 |
|
2001 |
30 844 |
Gujarat Earthquake |
2002 |
12 124 |
|
2003 |
109 827 |
Bam Earthquake, |
2004 |
242 765 |
Indian Ocean Earthquake |
2005 |
88 673 |
Kashmir Earthquake |
2006 |
24 239 |
Java Earthquake |
2007 |
16 960 |
|
2008 |
235 256 |
Cyclone Nargis, |
2009 |
10 672 |
|
2010 |
297 140 |
Haiti Earthquake, |
2011 |
51 434 |
Japan Earthquake |
2012 |
10 319 |
|
2013 |
21 859 |
North India Floods, |
2014 |
7 993 |
|
2015 |
22 774 |
Nepal Earthquake |
2016 |
8 512 |
|
2017 |
9 734 |
|
2018 |
10 733 |
|
Total |
1 221 465 |
Source: EM-DAT (International Disaster Database)
Featured image and analysis credit: CRED
A separation in the “extreme temperature” disaster type would be useful to illustrate the difference between impacts due to high temperatures and impacts due to low temperatures…
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Cataclysme de la planète X: le soleil mourant et la terre dérivant à travers l’espace
Le cataclysme de la planète X engloutissant la terre: à quel point peut-il devenir grave
Maintenant le système d’étoiles mortes de la planète X qui venaient vers le soleil et la terre
comme des comètes depuis des milliers d’années et très destructif
affectant notre planète ce système peut sembler être bénigne au début
parce qu’il est bas en énergie gravitationnelle et a une très faible influence
de sorte que ces objets aussi grands que le soleil ont une attraction
comme l’effet d’une petite lune mais c’est aussi l’état d’énergie faible
qui les amènent à être destructif parce que cela les transforme en absorbeurs voraces
de l’énergie des planètes vivantes célestes en d’autres termes
une planète tel que la terre ou le soleil qui ont un noyau vivant en leurs sein
seront peu à peu appauvri en énergie les effets de ces objets prochent de la terre
peuvent désormais générer des systèmes de tempêtes à basse pression
avec une circulation cyclonique des vents destructeurs ainsi que des marées
mais ce n’est pas le vent qui fait monter le niveau de la mer
c’est la force de gravitation exercée par ces objets sur l’océan la force de marée
produit une vague gravitationnelle un pic régional et la région de gravitation inversée
entraîne un renflement de marée affectant la surface de l’océan
provoquant dӎnormes vagues au-dessus de cela
le nombre d’objets stellaires semble être en forte hausse les effets s’intensifient sur terre
ont peut s’attendre à des hauteur de marée gigantesques cela va continuer d’augmenter
ce qui signifie que nous pourrions avoir des vagues si énormes qu’elles pourraient
annéantir l’intérieur des terres sur des centaines de miles d’un état bas comme la floride
serait complètement immergé en quelques minutes noyant toute vie
si plusieurs noyaux stellaires ou planètes du système planète X venaient
à se rapprocher de la terre cela causeraient tous les volcans à éclater
et toutes les lignes de faille pour aller à un événement de tremblement de terre
à l’échelle mondial la lave coulerait à travers de grandes quantités
de la masse terrestre d’autres zones seraient couvertes de fumée et de cendres
la terre serait gravement endommagé en raison des tremblements de terre
et des conséquences .Les tsunamis emporteraient les masses continentales
détruiraient toutes les villes côtières les volcans sur le fond de l’océan
seraient également réveiller endommageant grandement l’océan
cet événement pourrait détruire toute la vie sur la planète de niveau d’extinction.
tous ces événements se passe maintenant les autres effets sont les apparitions
de fissures et dolines le relâchement du terrain les pluies intenses
due aux objets et leurs débris qui entrent dans l’atmosphère terrestre
Beaucoup de volcans vont déjà fort des tonnes de fumée et de soufre
qui affecteront grandement notre chaleur estivale prochaine
les événements causés par les noyaux stellaires augmentent de façon exponentielle
ce qui provoque de grandes inondations ce système destructeur finira par détruire la terre
à court d’énergie comme le soleil semble être maintenant mourant
les effets sur la terre semble augmenter et ces effets peuvent conduire
à la fin de toute vie sur terre dans un avenir proche.