5 most devastating natural disasters to hit India

FILE - The Vishnuprayag hydro power project on the Alaknanda River at Lambagar in Chamoli, Uttarakhand.

Natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, tsunami have caused a lot of damage to lives and property in India. Even after tremendous growth in the field of technology, these natural disasters can't be predicted.

We list down the 5 most dangerous natural disasters that ripped apart the country:

1. 2001 Gujarat Earthquake

The massive earthquake hit Gujarat's Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District at 8.46 am on India’s 52nd Republic Day on January 26, 2001. It had a magnitude of between 7.6 and 7.7. The earthquake lasted for 2 minutes and killed nearly 20,000 people. Around 4,00,000 homes were demolished. It affected Bhuj, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Kutch, Surat, Surendranagar district, Rajkot district, Jamnagar and Jodia.

2. 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

In 2004, an earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean on the west coast of Sumatra, killed more than 2,30,000 people in 14 countries. The tsunami was among the deadliest natural disasters Indian history.

3. 2007 Bihar Flood

The United Nations described 2007 Bihar floods as the worst flood in the living memory of Bihar. Affecting over 4,822 villages, this flood was believed to be the worst to hit the state in the last 30 years.

4. 2013 Uttarakhand Flash Floods

The floods affected areas including Gobindghat, Kedar Dome, Rudraprayag district, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and western Nepal. Heavy rainfall in Uttarakhand in June 2013 caused massive landslides that killed more than thousands people and thousands went missing.

5. 2014 Kashmir Floods

Continuous torrential rainfall led to flashfloods in Kashmir in September 2014. As per reports, nearly 2,600 villages were affected in Jammu and Kashmir. In Kashmir, as many as 390 villages were completely submerged in water. Nearly, 500 people were killed in the floods and areas including Srinagar, Bandipur, Rajouri among others were affected.