Top 10 natural disasters that rocked India

New Delhi: Natural disasters also termed as ‘acts of God' have caused immense damage to life and property. It takes years to rehabilitate people.Droughts, floods, famines, earthquakes—India has been a victim to every form of destruction by nature.To some extent, the exploitation of natural resources by man is also a cause for such calamities.Here, we present the top 10 natural disasters that shook the nation: 1.Deccan famine of 1632-33One of the most severe famines to be affected in 1632-33.Almost 20 lakh people died in the natural disaster. According to historians, the famine was caused as a result of three successive staple crop failures which led to starvation and diseases that were incurable then. 2. Bengal famine of 1770It was a major catastrophic famine that hit Bengal, parts of Odisha and Bihar. The state of Bengal was badly hit by a famine that caused about 1 crore deaths.3. 1737 Calcutta cycloneIt was a catastrophe in terms of property and lives lost. It was a devastating cyclone that killed nearly 3.2 lakh people and also destroyed about 25,000 ships and vessels in the harbour city.4. 1839 Coringa cycloneThe ancient city of Coringa in the present day Andhra Pradesh was famous for ship building and repairing.A disastrous cyclone, on November 25, 1839, destroyed the entire city, killing at least 3.2 lakh people.According to statistics, at least 25,000 ships and vessels in the harbour city were ruined by the monstrous storm.5. Bengal famine of 1943The Bengal famine of 1943 struck the Bengal province of pre-partition British India during World War II.Between 1.5 million and 4 million people died of starvation, malnutrition and disease, out of Bengal's 60.3 million population, half of them dying from disease after food became available in December 1943.6. 1993 Latur earthquakeThe deadliest earthquake rocked Maharashtra on September 30, 1993. It was measured 6.4 on the Richter scale.The death toll was more than 20,000 while almost 30,000 were injured. 52 villages were devastated in the intraplate earthquake.7. Odisha super cyclone 1999The deadliest storm, also known as Cyclone 05B, and Paradip cyclone, caused about 10,000 deaths. Approximately 275,000 homes were destroyed, leaving 1.67 million people homeless.8. Gujarat earthquake 2001The disaster hit Gujarat on 26th January, 2001 at 8.46 am and lasted for 2 minutes.The 7.6 Richter scale quake, caused 20,000 deaths while 167,000 were injured.Nearly, 400,000 homes were demolished. 9. Tsunami 2004With the magnitude of 9.1–9.3, it was the third largest earthquake of the world recorded ever. Almost 227,898 people died.The earthquake had the longest duration of faulting ever observed, between 8.3 and 10 minutes.Experts say the earthquake that caused tsunami was so powerful that its impact can be equated to the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs.The huge waves of tsunami killed lakhs of people in South India, Sri Lanka, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.10. Uttarakhand floods 2013The huge cloudburst caused flash floods and landslides that struck Uttarakhand from 14 June to 17 June, 2013. More than 5,700 people were assumed dead.More than 1,00,000 pilgrims were trapped in the valleys leading to Kedarnath shrine.