Great natural disasters

When the final count of the victims will be made of the Leyte landslide which some call avalanche or mudslides, it will go much beyond the one thousand mark. This will be the worst landslide in the Philippines but, on record, it will be the third in terms of the number of deaths all over the world.

The worst landslide or avalanche occurred in Peru on Jan. 18, 1962 when the landslide from the extinct volcano Huascaran killed more than 3,000 people. Second worst happened in Italy on Oct. 3, 1963 which killed more than 2,000.

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Let's correct it. The Philippines is not a disaster-prone country. Last December I bought a 1,040-page "Time Almanac 2005." The worst natural disaster in history that killed 3.7 million people happened in China when the heavy rains of July and August 1931 overflooded the Yangtze River.

On record the Philippines' worst natural disaster was on Sept. 2 and 3, 1984 when a typhoon hit seven of our major islands leaving 1,300 dead, according to that book.

The book has no record of our other natural disasters.

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I am taking up only natural disasters. And these are disasters caused by floods, typhoons, landslides, and tidal waves.

In Karamadon Gorge in North Ossetia, Russia an avalanche also killed 150 people on Sept. 2002.

In the year 79 on August 24 Mt. Vesuvius in Italy erupted that buried the two cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Thousands were killed and buried.

In high school I saw that movie "The Last Days of Pompeii." It portrayed the panic and how people react in the face of death. I can just imagine, based on that movie, the reaction of the victims of that barangay in St. Bernard town in the face of death.

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In terms of natural disasters, floods kill the most, together with tidal waves or tsunami.

In China in 1642 more than 300,000 died when the rebels destroyed the Kaifeng sea wall.

But earlier in 1225 in Holland 100,000 were drowned by a flood in Friesland.

In East Pakistan on Nov. 13, 1970 more than 200,000 were killed and more than 100,000 missing when a cyclone driven tidal wave lashed the shore areas from the Bay of Bengal.

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On August 5, 1885 China's Yangtze River killed some 200,000 people. But this being the height of the Cold War with the U.S. this was kept from media. The U.S. government had the facts but China refused to acknowledge it.

On June 15, 1896, more than 27,000 died in Jauriku, Japan from a tidal wave caused by an earthquake.

The U.S. is not spared of natural disasters. Landslide killed 96 in Wellington, Washington on March 1, 1910. The flood in Johnstown in Pennsylvania on March 31, 1889 killed more than 2,300. And on August 18, 1906 an earthquake killed 524 in San Francisco, California. On March 18, 1925 a tornado killed 689 in Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana.

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In Asia, typhoons have been the consistent killer.

On Sept. 18, 1908 a typhoon with tsunami killed 10,000 in Hong Kong. On Sept. 21, 1934 a typhoon killed more than 4,000 in Honshu, Japan.

On Dec. 5. 1949 a typhoon off Korea killed "several thousands of people, including fishermen," said Time.

On Sept. 27, 1958, again in Honshu, Japan, a typhoon left 5,000 dead and millions homeless.

On June 9, 1960, in Fukien province in China a typhoon killed more than 10,000.

As we said, these are disasters caused by the fury of Nature.

It looks like in some countries Nature is not as harsh. There are countries which have no report of natural disasters.

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We reiterate our call for donations to the family of the victims of the Leyte landslide. Greed is the greatest disaster. I'd like to quote Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu who lived 600 years before Christ.

Wrote Lao-tzu "There is no calamity greater than lavish desires. There is no greater guilt than discontentment. And there is no greater disaster than greed."

Give your donation but be sure only to those who you trust will deliver it to the right recipients.*

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