It's a Disaster! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mount St. Helens

While volcanic eruptions are not the norm for the contiguous United States, 1980 saw the most devastating eruption in the country's modern history when Mount St. Helens blew its top. In mere days, the eruption, ash cloud, and path of destruction resulted in billions of dollars in damage, killing over fifty people in its wake.

The ash plumes reached high into the atmosphere and could be seen as far away as Seattle. The ash was subsequently deposited as far away as Oklahoma. Long after the mudslides, lava flow, and ash dissipated, the area became known as Mount St.

Helens National Volcanic Monument.

Answer: Pesticide

In 1984 at a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, a toxic gas leak occurred killing thousands and exposing nearly half a million to dangerous fumes. Those in the vicinity were horribly affected by the disaster-- many died, many suffered from respiratory problems. Aside from this, the leak also created irreparable damage in the Bhopal area killing livestock and plant life.

Although efforts were ongoing to put a halt to any further contamination, the area has been considered unsafe since the disaster; people continue to live in Bhopal but parts of the city have no drinkable water and its citizens suffer from uncurable health problems.

Answer: Challenger

The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred over the Atlantic Ocean in January 1986; the shuttle, heading into space for the tenth time, had an issue involving an O-ring seal not being secured. What resulted was a horrifying explosion as the craft exploded during its ascent, killing the seven crew members inside.

It took two and a half years before NASA sent another shuttle into orbit; a similar accident wouldn't occur until 2003 when the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart during its descent over the Atlantic.

Answer: MS Estonia

Already in commission for fourteen years, the MS Estonia took its passengers onto the Baltic Sea (on a trip from Tallinn to Stockholm) in September 1994. Five hours into its cruise, rough waves broke through the bow door, flooding the interior of the ship and bringing it to the bottom of the sea in less than two hours.

Although over one hundred were saved from the water, another eight hundred perished. It was one of the deadliest disasters in maritime history and it forever changed the construction of ferry and cruise ships worldwide.

Answer: North America

One of the worst years on record for tornadoes, 1999, stretched twisters from Canada all the way down to Texas. Oklahoma saw the worst of the outbreak and had the most fatalities (with forty of fifty during the year). In fact, one tornado, an F5, was one of the most devastating ever recorded. All in all, the United States had over a billion dollars in damage to repair. Did I mention it occurred in only one week in May? Over the course of the year, there were over 1,300 tornadoes in the U.S. alone. That record for most tornadoes wouldn't be topped until 2004 (with over 1,800 worldwide).

Answer: Indian Ocean

The earthquake, which struck on Boxing Day in 2004, was one of the most significant geological events in modern times. The quake, registering above 9 on the Richter Scale, stretched across the planet and started west of Indonesia in the Indian Ocean. What resulted was a massive tsunami reaching over ten meters in height by the time it met landfall in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Thailand.

The wave also reached as far as South Africa. Approximately 230,000 people died in the disaster and hundreds of thousands more lost their homes.

Answer: Katrina

The costliest Atlantic hurricane to date, Hurricane Katrina, displaced the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, spilled oil all along the gulf coast, destroyed national monuments, and killed nearly 2,000 people in the Southern United States. After the levees along the coast broke, the area flooded reaching several miles inland during the height of the storm. Also hitting the Bahamas, Florida, Cuba, and other parts of the Gulf of Mexico, Katrina reached category 5 before dwindling up along the east coast and dissipating a week later.

In the wake of the storm, much of the attention turned to both the engineering issues on the Louisiana coast and issues with government funding; unsurprisingly, politics in Washington played a big role in relief efforts and the rebuilding process.

Answer: Port-au-Prince

The earthquake in Haiti, which measured at 7 on the Richter Scale, was by no means the largest earthquake felt on the Earth's surface but since its epicenter was next to Port-au-Prince it caused massive amounts of damage, killing hundreds of thousands and destroying many homes. What followed was a generous outpouring of relief from other countries; rebuilding efforts commenced almost immediately while foreign aid was dispatched. Billions in charity funds were sent to reconstruct Haiti and new initiatives were put in place to improve the construction of a new capital city.

Unfortunately, due to the improvised building of the original structures in Port-au-Prince and the amount of rubble in the city, this proved a difficult task and many remained out of a stable home for years after.

Answer: BP

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, just off the shores of the Southern United States, was the single most harmful disaster to ever affect the ocean-- it discharged over two hundred million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico and perhaps forever changed the ecosystem.

More problems stemmed from BP's horrible media portrayal after the incident and, several years after the event, oil was still leaking from the fissure in the ocean floor. Criminal charges were brought against BP officials while environmental rescue efforts worked to stem the harmful tides and save endemic wildlife.

Answer: Nuclear meltdowns

The Tôhoku earthquake in early 2011 was a series of unfortunate events. After an earthquake rated at 9 on the Richter Scale struck in the Pacific just off the coast of Eastern Japan, the subsequent tsunami caused a great amount of damage to the country's coast. Following the natural disaster, a chain of nuclear plants in Fukushima experienced a major meltdown, generating unhealthy levels of radiation and becoming the most dangerous nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

Although most of the casualties sustained from the event were related to the earthquake and tsunami, the nuclear meltdown would ultimately have longer-lasting effects on the area.