Chernobyl disasterA reactor explosion reshaped nuclear safety, geopolitics, and an entire landscape.11 min / Medium Bhopal disasterA toxic gas leak in India became one of the world's worst industrial disasters.10 min / Medium Halifax ExplosionA munitions ship blast devastated Halifax in 1917.8 min / Easy Great Smog of LondonAir pollution trapped over London caused thousands of deaths in 1952.8 min / Easy Aberfan disasterA coal spoil tip collapsed onto a Welsh school and village.8 min / Medium Lake Nyos disasterA volcanic lake released carbon dioxide and suffocated nearby communities.8 min / Easy Vajont DamA landslide into a reservoir sent a wave over a dam with catastrophic results.9 min / Medium 1975 Banqiao Dam failureTyphoon rains and dam failures caused a vast flood disaster in China.10 min / Medium Seveso disasterA chemical accident in Italy led to major changes in European industrial regulation.8 min / Medium Sampoong Department Store collapseA Seoul department store collapsed after design changes and ignored warnings.9 min / Medium Hyatt Regency walkway collapseA design change led to a deadly structural failure in Kansas City.8 min / Medium Rana Plaza collapseA garment factory collapse in Bangladesh exposed global supply-chain risks.9 min / Medium TitanicThe famous liner disaster became a lasting study in technology, class, and safety.10 min / Easy MV Wilhelm GustloffA wartime sinking caused one of the deadliest maritime disasters in history.9 min / Medium SS EastlandA passenger ship rolled over at a Chicago dock, killing hundreds.8 min / Easy Hindenburg disasterA burning airship ended the public age of passenger zeppelins.7 min / Easy Texas City disasterA shipboard fire and explosion devastated a Texas port in 1947.8 min / Easy Peshtigo fireThe deadliest wildfire in recorded U.S. history happened the same day as Chicago's fire.8 min / Easy Great Fire of LondonA 1666 fire transformed London and its building regulations.8 min / Easy 1883 eruption of KrakatoaA volcanic eruption produced tsunamis, global sunsets, and a sound heard thousands of kilometers away.9 min / Medium 1815 eruption of Mount TamboraA massive eruption helped trigger the Year Without a Summer.9 min / Medium 1906 San Francisco earthquakeEarthquake and fire reshaped a major American city.8 min / Easy 1960 Valdivia earthquakeThe strongest recorded earthquake generated Pacific-wide tsunamis.8 min / Easy 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamiA megathrust earthquake created a devastating tsunami across the Indian Ocean.10 min / Medium 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunamiA huge earthquake and tsunami caused disaster across Japan's northeast coast.10 min / Medium 1980 eruption of Mount St. HelensA lateral blast transformed a mountain and volcanic hazard science.8 min / Easy Armero tragedyA volcanic mudflow buried a Colombian town after warnings went unheeded.8 min / Medium Tangiwai disasterA lahar damaged a rail bridge moments before an express train arrived.7 min / Easy Deepwater Horizon oil spillAn offshore drilling disaster released oil into the Gulf of Mexico for months.9 min / Medium Sinking of the VasaA Swedish warship sank on its maiden voyage and became an archaeological treasure.8 min / Easy Kyshtym disasterA 1957 explosion at a Soviet nuclear site contaminated a wide region while authorities concealed the event.10 min / Medium Windscale fireA reactor fire in 1957 became the United Kingdom's most serious nuclear accident.9 min / Medium Goiania accidentAn abandoned radiotherapy source spread radioactive contamination through a Brazilian city in 1987.10 min / Medium SL-1A small military reactor in Idaho was destroyed by a fatal criticality accident in 1961.9 min / Medium Nedelin catastropheA Soviet missile exploded on its launch pad in 1960 while technicians and senior officials remained nearby.9 min / Medium 1980 Damascus Titan missile explosionA dropped socket punctured a missile fuel tank and led to an explosion inside an Arkansas silo.9 min / Medium PEPCON disasterA fire at a rocket-fuel plant triggered massive explosions across the Las Vegas Valley in 1988.8 min / Easy Oppau explosionThousands of tonnes of fertilizer detonated at a German chemical plant in 1921.8 min / Easy 2020 Beirut explosionImproperly stored ammonium nitrate exploded at Beirut's port, devastating large parts of the city.10 min / Medium Tenerife airport disasterMiscommunication, fog, and procedural failures led two Boeing 747s to collide on a runway.11 min / Medium Japan Air Lines Flight 123A failed repair caused explosive decompression and the deadliest single-aircraft accident in aviation history.11 min / Medium Air New Zealand Flight 901A sightseeing flight struck Mount Erebus after navigation changes and a whiteout concealed the terrain.10 min / Medium Kursk submarine disasterAn explosion sank a Russian nuclear submarine in 2000 and trapped sailors beneath the Barents Sea.11 min / Medium Aral SeaRiver diversion transformed one of the world's largest lakes into an environmental and public-health disaster.10 min / Medium