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The Ancash Earthquake Buries Yungay Under Huascaran
Offshore Chimbote, Ancash, Peru
CONFIRMED93% CONFIDENCE56.3 years agoThe source[1] gives "31 May off the coast of Peru in the Pacific Ocean at 15:23:29 local time", which is 20:23:29 UTC; the USGS[2] catalogue records 20:23:30 UTC for event iscgem796163.A magnitude 7.9 earthquake off the Peruvian coast shook loose part of Mount Huascaran, and the debris avalanche buried the town of Yungay. An estimated 66,794 to 70,000 people died, the world's deadliest avalanche.0.60Lake Nyos Suffocates 1,746 People With Carbon Dioxide
Lake Nyos, Northwest Region, Cameroon
CONFIRMED89% CONFIDENCE40.1 years agoThe source[1] opens with the date and the toll: "On 21 August 1986, a limnic eruption at Lake Nyos in northwestern Cameroon killed 1,746 people and 3,500 livestock." No hour is given, so the pin is all-day.A limnic eruption released 100,000-300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from a crater lake in northwestern Cameroon. Heavier than air, the cloud rolled downhill and suffocated everyone and everything within 25 km.0.58Biden Starts the Largest Drawdown in the Reserve's History
CONFIRMED88% CONFIDENCE4.6 years agoDOE's press release is dated 1 March 2022, the day the President authorised the release; the notice of sale followed on 2 March.[1]Four days after Russia invaded Ukraine, Biden ordered crude out of the SPR as the US share of an IEA release of 60 million barrels. It did not stop there: by that summer 180 million barrels had gone, the biggest emergency sale the reserve had ever made, and it left the stockpile at levels not seen since the 1980s.0.58Lesotho Delivers Its First Water to South Africa
CONFIRMED80% CONFIDENCE28.7 years agoWikipedia[2] gives an exact date: "Water delivery officially began on 22 January 1998," after the Katse Dam was completed in 1996 and its reservoir filled by 1997.Water begins flowing from the newly completed Katse Dam through the Lesotho Highlands Water Project to Johannesburg, the first payment on a 1986 treaty that turns Lesotho’s rainfall into its biggest export.ZAR 9.3B0.58Storm Daniel Bursts the Derna Dams
CONFIRMED92% CONFIDENCE3.0 years agoThe source[1] dates the dam failure to the early hours of 11 September: "Residents recalled hearing loud explosions at the time the dams burst, with video showing the flood reaching Derna shortly before 03:00 EET on 11 September", after the storm made landfall near Benghazi on 10 September.Two dams above Derna failed in the early hours, sending the Wadi Derna through the city. Over 5,900 died and at least 8,000 more were missing in the deadliest Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone on record.0.57New Spitallamm Dam Replaces Century-Old Cracked Wall
ESTIMATED65% CONFIDENCE266 days agoSources place the new dam's completion in 2025 - some reporting it already in operation by autumn 2025 - with the powerplant's full restart following in 2026; no single confirmed completion date was found.[1]Swiss utility KWO finished building a new 113-metre arch dam directly in front of its cracked 1932 predecessor high in the Grimsel Pass.0.57The Bhola Cyclone Kills at Least 300,000 in the Ganges Delta
Bhola Island, Ganges Delta, Bangladesh
CONFIRMED90% CONFIDENCE55.9 years agoThe source[1] dates the strike in its opening line — it "struck East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) and India's West Bengal on 12 November 1970" — though its own track narrative says the cyclone peaked on 10 November and made landfall "on the following afternoon". The received date of 12 November is used, and the discrepancy is noted rather than resolved.The deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded drove a storm surge over the low-lying islands of the Ganges Delta. At least 300,000 died, and the Pakistani government's response helped set off the Bangladesh Liberation War.0.57Glacier Collapse Destroys the Rasuwagadhi Border Crossing
CONFIRMED78% CONFIDENCE28 days agoWikipedia[3] and contemporary reporting (CNN, Stimson Center) date the Rasuwagadhi flash flood to the morning of 26 August 2026.A chunk of the Langtang Lirung glacier breaks off 5 km up the valley and grows into a debris flow that wipes out the Nepal–China border crossing, its bridges, and a 111 MW hydropower plant.0.57Mount Tambora Erupts and Steals the Following Summer
Mount Tambora, Sumbawa, Indonesia
CONFIRMED90% CONFIDENCE211.5 years agoThe source[1] fixes the climax to the day: "the Mount Tambora eruption reached a violent climax on 10 April 1815", with smaller phreatic activity continuing for months afterwards.The most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history threw 37-45 cubic kilometres of rock into the atmosphere from Sumbawa. Its veil of ash cooled the planet enough to give 1816 the name the Year Without a Summer.0.56Typhoon Haiyan Makes Landfall at Guiuan
CONFIRMED87% CONFIDENCE12.9 years agoThe landfall is timed in UTC by the source[1]: "At 20:40 UTC on November 7, 2013, the eye of the typhoon made its first landfall in the Philippines at Guiuan, Eastern Samar at maximum strength." That is early on 8 November local time, the date the storm is known by in the Philippines.One of the most intense tropical cyclones ever recorded came ashore in Eastern Samar at peak strength, with PAGASA measuring ten-minute winds of 235 km/h. At least 6,300 died in the Visayas alone.0.56Dresden's Carola Bridge Collapses Into the Elbe
Dresden, Germany
CONFIRMED87% CONFIDENCE2.0 years agoHappened as dated, per the source[1]: "Deck C collapsed between 02:58 and 02:59 (UTC+2) on 11 September 2024."A section of the 1971-built Carola Bridge in Dresden, Germany collapsed into the Elbe overnight with no warning, minutes after the last tram had crossed it.0.55Gorona del Viento Hydro-Wind Plant Opens on El Hierro
CONFIRMED80% CONFIDENCE12.2 years agoRenewable-energy trade coverage and the plant operator's own materials date the Gorona del Viento[2] inauguration to 27 June 2014.El Hierro's Gorona del Viento plant, combining five wind turbines with a pumped-hydro reservoir, was inaugurated to make the smallest Canary Island the first in the world able to run entirely on renewable energy. Excess wind power pumps water uphill for use when the wind drops.0.55
Lesotho Highlands Development Authority
