Earthquakes and floods devastated regions.
By Sreekanth A Nair
South Asia bore the brunt of some of the worst natural disasters to strike the world, in 2015.
Here are the five worst natural disasters to hit the region this year:
- Nepal Earthquake
The Nepal earthquake was one of the most disastrous calamities in the world in 2015. The earthquake on April 25 with a magnitude of 7.8 killed more than 9000 people and injured more than 23000.
It was the worst natural calamity to happen in Nepal after the 1934 quake. Lakhs of people became homeless as many villages were devastated in the country.
Many world heritage sites in the Kathmandu valley were also destroyed. The total damage caused by the earthquake is estimated around $5 billion, which is almost equal to 25 percent of Nepal’s GDP.
The quake had also affected some parts of India, Bangladesh and China.
- Floods in Chennai and Puducherry
The floods in the southern parts of India, especially in Chennai and Puducherry was one of the deadliest natural calamities in 2015. Chennai witnessed the worst rainfall in 100 years with heavy rain of the north-east monsoon between November 8 and December 14, which caused the death of more than 400 people.
More than 11 lakh people were rescued and rehabilitated in various places. The damage caused by the flood is estimated around $7.5 billion in the state of Tamil Nadu and $50 million in the Union Territory of Puducherry.
- Earthquakes in Pakistan and Afghanistan
A massive 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit Hindukush Mountain Range, especially Pakistan, Afghanistan and some parts of India on October 26 that killed almost 400 people, mostly in Pakistan.
The epicenter of the quake was 45 km. north of `Alaqahdari-ye Kiran wa Munjan, Afghanistan, at a depth of 212.5 km. The quake was also felt in some parts of India such as New Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Lucknow and in Nepal and China.
More than 2000 people were injured and 2500 houses were damaged in Pakistan.
- Heat wave in Andhra Pradesh
Though the heat wave has taken more than 2500 lives in India the phenomenon hasn’t got much attention. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were the most affected states of the heat wave with a death toll of 1735 and 585, respectively.
The heat wave started across north India in May, and had the highest temperature since 1995. More than 90 deaths were reported in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana alone on May 25 due to a sun stroke.
More than 5 million chickens were killed in Telangana due to the heat wave within a period of two weeks.
- Afghanistan avalanches
From February 24 to 28 more than 300 people were killed and 130 were injured in 40 avalanches in Panjshir province of Afghanistan. These were the worst avalanches to happen in the country in three decades.
Dispay, a village of 200 people was completely devastated due to heavy snowfall that lasted for days which was followed by a temperature rise, leading to the avalanches.
More than 1250 houses were also destroyed in the disaster.