Disasters in 2007

Updated September 9, 2022 | Infoplease Staff

January

• Jan. 1, Indonesia: Adam Air Flight KI-574, flying from Java to Manado, crashed in stormy weather and strong winds, killing all of the 102 people on board.
• Jan. 12, Athens, Greece: the U.S. embassy was fired on by an anti-tank missile causing damage but no injuries.
• Jan. 12-16, Tex., Okla, Mo., Mich., Ind., Iowa, N.Y., N.H., Maine: a winter storm with heavy sleet, ice, and snow moved across 9 states, from Texas to Maine, resulting in extensive power outages and causing 65 storm-related deaths of which 23 were in Oklahoma. Washington state, Oregon, and California also experienced freezing weather.
• Jan. 16, Louisville, Ky.: a CSX freight train carrying chemical cargo derailed and 14 cars ignited, forcing the evacuation of homes and closing roads including 20 miles of Interstate 65. There were no injuries.

February

• Feb. 2, Florida: At least 20 people died when tornadoes and thunderstorms ripped through central Florida.
• Feb. 18, India: Two homemade bombs exploded on a train headed for Pakistan from India, killing at least 70.
• Feb. 18, Thailand: Some 30 coordinated bombs exploded at bars, hotels, and electricity transmitters in Pattani Province, killing or wounding 60 people.

March

• March 1, Ala., Minn., Miss., and Ga.: Storms hit Alabama, Minnesota, Missouri, and Georgia, killing about 20 people, including eight high school students.
• March 6, Sumatra, Indonesia: Two earthquakes, magnitudes 6.4 and 6.3, struck the island of Sumatra two hours apart, killing at least 70 people.
• March 7, Yogyakarta, Indonesia: A Garuda Indonesia Airlines plane overshot the runway and crashed, killing 22 of the 140 people on board.
• March 19, Ulyanovskaya, Russia: A methane explosion killed 110 people in a coal mine. It was the worst mine disaster in recent Russian history.

April

• April 1, Honiara, Solomon Islands: Magnitude 8.1 earthquake and ensuing tsunami left at least 34 dead and thousands homeless.
• April 16, Blacksburg, Va.: A Virginia Tech student killed 32 fellow students and then himself in the most deadly shooting rampage in U.S. history.

May

• May 5, Doula, Cameroon: A Kenya-bound Kenya Airways plane took off in stormy weather and crashed moments later, killing all 114 people on board.
• May 7, Greensburg, Kansas: A tornado destroyed a small farming town, killing 10.
• May 24, Novokuznetsk, Russia: A methane explosion killed 38 coal miners in Yubileinaya, two months after a similiar explosion in a nearby town killed 110.

June

• June 10, Chittagong, Bangladesh and Beijing, China: Mudslides set off by heavy monsoon rains killed at least 62 people in Bangladesh. Torrential rains in southern China caused flooding in small cities and farming villages, killing at least 66.
• June 18, Charleston, S.C.: Nine firefighters died when a roof collapsed during a fire in a furniture warehouse.
• June 24, Karachi, Pakistan: More than 200 people died during severe storms in Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city.

July

• July 8, West Bengal, India: Monsoon rains and flooding left 660 dead and more than a million stranded.
• July 17, Niigata, Japan: 6.8 magnitude earthquake left at least 11 dead and injured more than 900. A nuclear power plant in nearby Kashiwazaki sustained significant damage, including minor radiation leaks, ruptured pipes, flooding, and a fire.
• July 17, Sao Paulo, Brazil: More than 176 people were killed when an Airbus skidded off the runway at Congonhas Airport in rainy weather. It was the worst aviation accident in Brazil's history.

August

• August 1, Minneapolis, Minn.: An eight-lane interstate bridge packed with cars broke into sections and collapsed into the Mississippi River, killing at least nine, and injuring at least 60. The bridge was in the midst of repairs when it buckled and broke apart.
• August 1, Benaleka, Congo: A passenger train running between Ilebo and Kananga derailed after the brakes failed, killing about 100 people.
• August 14, North Korea: Hundreds are reported dead or missing after a week of heavy rain in central and southern North Korea. Huge areas of farmland were washed away, provoking fears that North Korea's food crisis could worsen.
• August 14, Hunan province, China: A bridge undergoing construction collapsed in southern China, killing at least 28 people.
• August 15, coast of central Peru: A 8.0-magnitude earthquake 95 miles southeast of Lima, Peru, leaves at least 337 people dead, and injures hundreds more.
• August 25-27, Greece: Over 220 separate fires ravage the Greek countryside and endanger ancient Olympic sites around Athens. At least 59 people die in the blazes.

September

• September 12 and 13, Sumatra, Indonesia: More than a dozen people die on the island of Sumatra when three earthquakes, one with a magnitude of 8.4, strike.
• September 16, Phuket, Bangkok: A McDonnell Douglas MD-82 plane, which took off from Bangkok, skids off the runway and bursts into flames during heavy rain in Phuket. At least 88 people are killed.
• September 24, Sudan: Over 20 people die, at least 13,000 livestock are lost, and 65 people are injured by flooding in central Sudan during August and September. Over half a million people countrywide are affected by the floods. Clean water is provided to 2.2 million people to prevent deadly epidemics.

October

• October 13, southern Colombia: 21 people die and another 26 are injured in a landslide that was triggered by local residents digging for rumored gold deposits in an abandoned mine.

• October 21-28, southern Calif.: 24 wildfires from Simi Valley to the Mexican border are fanned by 50 to 60 mph winds burning more than 516,000 acres. Seven people die, close to 90 people are injured, more than 2,000 homes are destroyed, and over 500,000 people evacuate their homes. A 10-year-old boy admits to accidentally starting one of the fires while playing with matches.

• October 31, Carribean: 107 people die during Tropical Storm Noel. 66 people die, 27 are missing, 6,300 homes are destroyed, and more than 62,000 people are homeless when two rivers burst 26 miles outside Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. At least 40 people die and 400 homes are destroyed in Haiti. In Cuba, 24,000 people are evacuated from low-lying areas and 2,000 homes are damaged by floods.

November

• November 3, Mexico: Villahermosa, the capital of the southeastern state of Tabasco, remains paralyzed with no clean drinking water and electricity after severe flooding caused by five days of torrential rain. At least 300,000 people evacuate their homes, and one person dies. Most of the state's crops are destroyed and 4,000 schools are damaged.

• November 12, southern Russia: During a severe storm in the Black Sea 11 ships sink, 3 people die, and 20 sailors go missing. The tanker, Volganeft-139, splits apart and dumps 1,300 tons (about 360,000 gallons) of oil into the sea killing marine habitat, and fish, and covering 30,000 seabirds in oil.

• November 15, Bangladesh: Cyclone Sidr, with winds over 100 miles per hour, kills nearly 3,500 people in southern Bangladesh. The United Nations reports that a million people are without homes.

• November 18, Donetsk, Ukraine: 90 people die and 10 are missing in the deadliest mining explosion since 1991.
• November 23, Antarctica: The Explorer strikes ice during an adventure cruise in the Antarctic causing the ship to sink. The National Geographic Endeavour and the Norwegian cruise liner, Nordnorge, resue all 100 passengers and 50 staff members.
• November 30, western Turkey: A passenger jet, the McDonnell Douglas MD-83, crashes seven miles from its destination airport in Isparta, killing all 56 passengers.

December

• December 5, Omaha, Nebraska: Robert Hawkins, 19, of Bellevue, Nebraska, kills eight people before turning the gun on himself at the Von Maur department store in the Westroads Mall in Omaha. Five people are also wounded.
• December 7, South Korea: Oil spill causes environmental disaster, destroying beaches, coating birds and oysters with oil, and driving away tourists with its stench. The Hebei Spirit collides with a steel wire connecting a tug boat and barge five miles off South Korea's west coast, spilling 2.8 million gallons of crude oil. Seven thousand people are trying to clean up 12 miles of oil-coated coast.