episode description
2009 Victorian Bushfires Australia - Extreme heat created the perfect conditions for bushfires, this along with high windspeed, lightening, fallen power lines and arson caused the worst bushfires Australia had ever seen and resulted in Australia's highest-ever loss of human life from a bushfire, with 173 fatalities. 2008 Sichuan Earthquake - This disastrous natural event absolutely devastated this province of China. The magnitude 7.9 quake destroyed whole towns in this mountain province killing 87,587 people, and it also has the unwanted title of being one of the costliest natural disasters of all time at $150 billion. 2009 Sumatra Earthquake - This Indonesian island was rocked by an earthquake, luckily on a smaller scale than the Sichuan earthquake but still devastating. Sumatra is situated within a zone of high seismic activity known as the Ring of Fire and this 7.6 magnitude earthquake killed 1,115 and caused $2.3 billion worth of damage. 2008 Hurricane Ike - This tropical cyclone ripped through the Caribbean and North America. Ike lasted for 14 days and caused $38 billion of damage.
