Disasters
Sites of catastrophe, collapse, and survival — where nature or human ambition went catastrophically wrong.
3 articlesLatest Disasters
Disasters 
Simon Whistler · February 4, 2026
The Mountain That Moved
Six underground nuclear tests shifted Mount Mantap 3.5 metres sideways and dropped its summit half a metre. North Korea's third-tallest mountain is no longer where it was.
Simon Whistler · February 4, 2026 
Disasters Simon Whistler · February 4, 2026
Plymouth: The Capital Buried in Ash
When Soufrière Hills erupted in 1997, it entombed Plymouth under volcanic debris. The city is still Montserrat's official capital — and nobody lives there.
Simon Whistler · February 4, 2026 
Disasters
Nazino Island: Stalin's Cannibal Island
In spring 1933, over 5,000 Soviet citizens were abandoned on a Siberian island with no food and no way home. Fewer than 2,000 survived thirteen weeks.
Elena Marsh · January 30, 2026