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Biggest disasters of 21st century so far:

January 2011

Massive floods hit Queensland in Australia, affecting an area the size of South Africa. More than 6 billion of damage caused.

July-August 2010

Floods triggered by heavier-than-normal monsoon rains hit north-west Pakistan. By the time the waters began to recede in late August, more than 160,000 square kilometres of land — about one-fifth of the country — was under water. More than 1700 people were killed and 17.2 million people have been affected.

January 12, 2010

More than 230,000 people were killed when a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti. More than 1 million remain homeless.

May 12, 2008

70,000 people were killed and 18,000 people were reported missing after a 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck Sichuan, China.

May 3, 2008

Cyclone Nargis, swept along by winds that exceeded 190 km/h and waves six metres high, struck the Burmese peninsula and may have left as many as 100,000 dead.

October 8, 2005

At least 80,000 people were killed and three million left homeless after a quake struck the mountainous Kashmir district in Pakistan.

December 26, 2004

A magnitude 9.0 quake struck off the coast of Sumatra, triggering tsunamis that swept through the coastal regions of a dozen countries bordering the Indian Ocean. The death toll has been estimated at between 225,000 and 275,000.

December 26, 2003

An earthquake devastated the ancient city of Bam, in central Iran, leaving between 31,000 and 43,000 people dead.