What is the most deadly day in human history? Many people might think of wars, plagues, or natural disasters that claimed millions of lives over a span of time. But what if we narrow down the scope to a single day? Which event caused the most deaths in a 24-hour period? The answer might surprise you.
The deadliest day in history
The most destructive earthquake in Chinese history struck on January 23, 1556, killing around 830,000 people. This disaster is considered the deadliest of all time in human history. Although it lasted a few seconds, The massive death toll is thought to reduce the population of the provinces by about 60%. The world population in 1600 was around 500 million people; 830,000 died on January 23, 1556.
The Shaanxi earthquake
The earthquake demolished the 3 cities closest to the epicenter in China’s Huazhou District. The earthquake caused ground fissures, mudslides, landslides, and fires that killed people within 520 miles in radius and shocked for about six months after the first quack.
Because the earthquake occurred during Emperor Jiajing’s reign, it was called the Jianjing great Earthquake or the Huaxian earthquake.
It was common to face earthquakes in the Wei River Valley because it was falling within 3 gigantic fault lines. The Valley faced at least 26 earthquakes in Jianjing’s reign, but this one was the deadliest.
To build homes in the caves was pretty standard in central China in 1500s. Loess is a type of soil that is fine-grained eroded from the Gobi street in northern China. It is easy to build with Loess soil, but its structure is strong enough to stand up against powerful earthquake waves.
The cities in the earthquake area were built with stones; stone buildings are susceptible to collapse under waves. When the 8 magnitude earthquake hit Shaanxi province, the building collapsed over people, and the people got killed under the weight of stones.
Deadliest day
At the time of the Great Earthquake, the Shaanxi province was one of the most populace in China and a national trade center, especially in agriculture. About 60% population got killed in the earthquake within seconds. There were millions of people who got injured.
One of the top reasons the death toll was so high was that many people lived in human-made caves called Yaodongs. These homes were designed to stay warm in winter and cool in summer, but the manmade cave structure collapsed when the earthquake hit 8 magnitudes. After the earthquake, people started building homes with bamboo and wood instead of soil.
The deadliest but not the biggest
The Great Earthquake of 1556 was history’s deadliest earthquake but not the biggest. It’s not even in the top 20 largest earthquakes in the world. The maximum earthquake goes to the Valdivia Earthquake that smashed Chile in 1960, with a magnitude of 9.5. The only reason why the more powerful earthquakes did not kill as many people as the Great Earthquake is that they hit fewer populace areas.
The Shaanxi Earthquake was not the most deadly natural catastrophe in Chinese history. Yangtze River in China on August 18, 1931, killed 3.7 million people due to floods. Yellow River in 1887 flooded the 50,000 square mile area of Henan province and killed more than 900 thousand people, wiping large cities and small villages.
Why China was ill-prepared
For more than 250 years, China had not seen an earthquake at such a massive deadliest scale. Hongdong Earthquake. The Mongol dynasty, commonly known as the Yuan dynasty, governed China long before the Ming dynasty. When the Hongdong Earthquake struck, Temur was China’s emperor on September 25, 1303,
According to Science Museums of China, the 1303 Hongdong Earthquake was estimated to be 8.0 magnitude. It is characterized in the same way as the disaster of 1556. The cities of Taiyuan and Pingyang were demolished, and about 200 thousand people were slaughtered.
