Saturday, December 31, 2016

Top 10 Most Significant Disasters of 2016

This is my own biased list of top disasters of the year ending tonight and listed in descending order of fatalities. I deliberately left out terrorism and war as I categorize those differently.
  • Hurricane Matthew (Caribbean Sea/Atlantic Coast USA) - 1,000+ killed, inc. 49 killed in U.S.
  • M7.8 Ecuador Earthquake - 673 killed, 16,600  injured
  • Central Italy August M6.2 EQ and October M6.1 & M6.5 EQs - 299 killed and 3 killed
  • Ghost Ship Club Fire (Oakland, CA) - 36 killed
  •  Chimney Tops 2 Fire (Gatlinburg, TN, Firestorm) - 14 killed, 2,013 homes and 53 commercial structures destroyed, more than $500 million in damage, and 17,136 acres charred
  • M7.8 Kaikoura Earthquake (New Zealand) Earthquake - 2 killed, major infrastructure damage, 15-foot tsunami at one location, and extreme tectonic deformation of ground surface along fault trace.
  • Erskine Fire (Lake Isabella/Kern Co.) - 2 killed, 257 homes & 52 other structures destroyed, and 47,864 acres charred   
  • Soberanes Fire (Los Padres NF/Monterey Co.) - 1 killed, 57 homes & 11 outbuildings destroyed, 132,127 acres charred, and most expensive firefighting effort in U.S. history.
  • Fort McMurray Firestorm (Alberta, Canada) -  2,400 homes & other structures destroyed and 1.5 million acres charred
  • Blue Cut Fire (Cajon Pass, California) -  37,000 acres charred, 105 homes and 213 other structures destroyed
To view the 2015 list go HERE and to see the 2011 list go HERE.

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