Disasters of 2011

Sikkim earthquake
The Himalayan earthquake in north Sikkim on September 18 killed 116 people and left many injured in Nepal. The quake which came just 11 days after a mild temblor stirred Delhi, may have been the beginning of a cataclysmic upheaval set off by India's shaky Himalayan foundations. Seismologists warn that extraordinary strains are accumulating along the Himalayas from Himachal Pradesh in the west, through Garhwal, Kumaon, Nepal to Sikkim and further east. New insights from global positioning technology, capable of measuring even a millimetre of movement on the planet, suggest that great tension is building up in the subterranean rock formations because the Indian subcontinent, which was known to be moving northwards, has become locked along this section.

Turkey earthquake
Around 604 people died and 4,152 were injured in the Turkey quake on October 23, 2011. At least 11,232 buildings were destroyed. Another quake jolted Turkey's Van province on November 9 in which 40 people died.

Howrah-Kalka mail mishap
At least 70 people died and more than 300 were injured after the Delhi-bound Kalka Mail derailed near Malwa station in Fatehpur district of Uttar Pradesh on July 10, 2011. The accident was the worst this year and the second in three days to have taken place in Uttar Pradesh after the Mathura-Chhapra Express rammed a bus in Kanshiram Nagar, killing 38 bus passengers, exposing yet again the railways' poor standards of safety and maintenance.

Eruption of Nabro
The 2011 Nabro eruption was an eruption of the Nabro stratovolcano in the Southern Red Sea Region of Eritrea, which began on June 12 , 2011, after a series of earthquakes. The eruption  killed seven and possibly a further 31 people and emitted the highest levels of sulfur dioxide (SO2) ever observed from Earth's orbit. The ash cloud from the eruption reached altitudes which disrupted air traffic in the region. Until the eruption began, the volcano was thought to be extinct.

Japan Quake
On March 11, 2011, Japan was jolted by an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the richter scale making it one of the most powerful earthquakes in recorded history. The earthquake triggered off powerful tsunami waves that reached heights of up to 40.5 metres (133 ft) in Miyako in Tohoku's Iwate Prefecture and which, in the Sendai area, travelled up to 10 km inland. Apart from the destruction of infrastructure and loss of life (nearly 16,000 people died), the earthquake also caused a number of nuclear accidents. The earthquake was followed by 1,235 aftershocks that continued to put life in peril in Japan.
Japan which was still battling after the devastation from a strong earthquake followed by a tsunami earlier this year, was battered by typhoon Roke.
The earthquake and accompanying tsunami had unleashed a nuclear crisis that Japan is still grappling with.

Eruption of Grimsvotn

Iceland's most active volcano, Grimsvotn, erupted and spewed ash continuously from May 22-25, 2011, disrupting air travel in North-Western Europe. A total of 900 flights (out of 90,000 in Europe) were cancelled as a result of the eruption. The eruption ceased around 7am on May 28, 2011.

The last eruption of Grimsvotn was in 2004, with the previous most powerful eruptions in 1783, 1873 and 1902.

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster is a series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns, and releases of radioactive materials at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011.

Fukushima is now the world's third major nuclear accident after Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986 and Three Mile Island in 1979.

It has prompted a global rethink on nuclear energy. Germany plans to close down seven of its pre-1980 nuclear energy plants and China has suspended approval for new nuclear projects pending the introduction of new safety rules. Russia is silent while France and America keep the nuclear lobby alive. Fukushima has also brought into question India's response to a nuclear accident if it does spill beyond the 5 km 'sterilised zone' around all nuclear plants.

Zanzibar ferry sinking
At least 240 people died when a ferry sank off the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar, a police official said. An additional 607 people who were on the vessel were rescued. The boat sank around midnight while en route to Pemba Island from Zanzibar. According to reports, the vessel may have sunk because it was overloaded.

Zanzibar, an archipelago that includes the main islands of Unguja and Pemba and at least 51 other islets, is situated about 30 kilometers (19 miles) off the coast of Tanzania.