On the night of 14 April 1912, shortly before midnight, the Titanic struck an iceberg on her maiden voyage. Within three hours she had gone down, and around 1,500 people with her. On 6 June the biggest eruption of the 20th century began in Alaska, where Novarupta was born and part of Mount Katmai's summit was lost.
Underground, explosions tore through coal mines: 439 miners and a rescuer died at Senghenydd in Wales in 1913, and about 687 at the Hojo mine in Japan the next year. In January 1915 an earthquake destroyed Avezzano in central Italy, and the dead were put at about 30,000.
During the war, famine gripped Mount Lebanon from 1915 and Persia from 1917, where scholars put the deaths at about 2 million. In December 1917 a ship loaded with explosives blew up in Halifax harbour after a collision, killing at least 1,782 people, and in 1919 the hot mudflows of Kelud volcano on Java killed more than five thousand.
The events that carry the story, in date order. Each card links to its full entry on the page for its year.
DisastersWidely known
RMS Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg
· North Atlantic Ocean · At sea
Titanic, bound from Southampton to New York City on her maiden voyage, struck an iceberg at 23:40 on 14 April 1912 and went under at 02:20 on 15 April, ship's time. Around 1,500 of the more than 2,200 people aboard died, though estimates vary.
Why it is interesting. Titanic carried only twenty lifeboats, never meant to hold everyone aboard at once, and the ice warnings she had received drew too little attention.
The eruption that forms Novarupta begins in Alaska
· Novarupta, Alaska, United States · North America
The eruption that formed Novarupta on the Alaska Peninsula began on 6 June 1912, and Mount Katmai lost part of its summit in the same event. No eruption in the 20th century was bigger.
Why it is interesting. It released about thirty times as much magma as Mount St. Helens did in 1980.
Explosion at Senghenydd colliery in Wales kills 439 miners and a rescuer
· Senghenydd, Wales, United Kingdom · Europe
A blast ripped through the Universal Colliery at Senghenydd, near Caerphilly, killing 439 coal miners and a rescuer. The cause is unknown, though the inquiry thought a spark from underground signalling equipment most likely. Fires slowed the rescue.
Why it is interesting. No UK mining accident has killed more people, and the manager and the company were fined only £24 and £10.
Gas explosion at the Hojo coal mine kills about 687 in Japan
· Hojo mine, Kyushu, Japan · Asia
Date uncertainty: Sources give 680-686 or 687 dead; one historian suggests it may have reached 1,000
Methane mixed with coal dust ignited, probably from a spark, at the Mitsubishi Hojo mine in Kyushu. Shafts were sealed to contain the fire, which also killed survivors underground. About one in five of the dead were women who worked alongside their husbands.
A period of mass starvation began on Mount Lebanon during the First World War and lasted until 1918. Estimates of the dead vary widely, from about 80,000 to 240,000, and most victims were Christians.
Why it is interesting. The demographer Youssef Courbage estimates about 155,000 deaths among roughly 415,000 people, a loss of 37%, using the 1913 and 1921 censuses.
A major earthquake struck the Marsica area of Abruzzi in central Italy, with a maximum intensity of XI. Avezzano was destroyed, and the death toll was put at about 30,000.
Why it is interesting. Around 30,000 people died, and the city of Avezzano was destroyed.
A famine of widespread starvation and disease struck Persia during World War I while British, Russian and Ottoman forces occupied it. Mainstream scholarship puts deaths at about 2 million between 1917 and 1919.
Why it is interesting. Successive droughts, food seizures by occupying armies, speculation and hoarding are among the factors blamed for the famine.
Passenger train crashes at Ciurea Station, Romania
· Ciurea, Kingdom of Romania · Europe
Some details uncertain.
A packed passenger train derailed and hit a stationary train at Ciurea, near Iasi. Most sources give 800 to 1,000 deaths. Inquiry blamed a brake failure linked to severe overcrowding.
Why it is interesting. On the usual death-toll estimates it is the deadliest rail disaster in Romania and in Europe, and among the worst in the world.
Magnitude 6.7 earthquake strikes San Salvador, El Salvador
· San Salvador, El Salvador · North America
A shallow magnitude 6.7 earthquake near the Salvadoran capital caused major destruction in the city, with approximately 1,050 people killed. An eruption of the San Salvador volcano followed about an hour later.
After colliding with the Imo, the French cargo ship Mont-Blanc, loaded with high explosives, caught fire and blew up, devastating Halifax's Richmond district. At least 1,782 people died and an estimated 9,000 were injured.
Why it is interesting. At the time it was the largest explosion caused by people, and it set off a tsunami that wiped out a Mi'kmaq community at Tufts Cove.
At about 3 pm during a race meeting at the Happy Valley Racecourse in British Hong Kong, a temporary grandstand collapsed and food stalls and bamboo matting caught fire. Hundreds of spectators died, with counts ranging from 576 to 670.
Why it is interesting. A sporting occasion turned into one of the deadliest fires in Hong Kong history.
· Kelud, Java, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) · Asia
Some details uncertain.
Kelud, a 1730-metre stratovolcano on Java, erupted on 19 May 1919 at a 4 on the volcanic explosivity index. Mostly through hot mudflows, it killed 5110 people and destroyed about 9000 houses.