2010 - The most deadly year due to natural disasters

A United Nations report said that the Haiti earthquake and hot weather in Russia made 2010 the deadliest year in at least two decades.

According to a report by the Center for Disaster Epidemiology Research in Belgium (CRED), nearly 300,000 people were killed in more than 370 natural disasters last year. The report said most of the deaths were due to earthquakes in Haiti, the seismic seizure of more than 220,000 people. The second serious catastrophe occurred in Russia when a heat wave in the summer of 2010 killed thousands of people in Moscow.

Earthquakes in Haitirobbed more than 220,000 lives

The report said the 2010 calamity affected the lives of more than 200 million people and caused economic losses of nearly $ 110 billion. Much of the damage occurred in rich countries, where expensive buildings and infrastructure were devastated.

CRED Director, Debarati Guha-Sapir, said that for the first time in the last year, the Americas topped the list of continents affected by disasters in the world.

" Mostly from the Americas, north and south America. Mostly in Haiti but also in Chile, " quoted Guha-Sapir. " Usually the Americas don't top the list of people who die because of natural disasters, but this year they were in that position . Europe still ranked second, mainly because of the hot sun ."

The report said that in 2010, Asia had fewer deaths due to natural disasters than the Americas and Europe. However, this is still the most severely affected continent, with nearly 90% of people suffering from natural disasters living here.

In the list of 10 most catastrophic deaths in 2010, there were 5 disasters in Asia. The report lists an earthquake, landslides and floods in China, floods in Pakistan; Indonesia also experienced a strong earthquake.

Guha-Sapir said that the biggest economic damage is often not corresponding to the loss of life. She stated the case of Haiti, where an earthquake occurred in January last year that killed 220,000 people, causing losses of about $ 8 billion.

Meanwhile, the earthquake in Chile killed 562 people but caused $ 30 billion in damage.

UN officials urged countries to take precautionary measures, warning that more natural disasters will occur in the future due to unplanned urbanization and recession. environment.