Photos Taken During Disasters from History

Some of history’s most powerful photographs were taken during unfolding disasters, capturing moments of tragedy, survival, and courage. These images have become lasting symbols of events that changed the world.

Beyond documenting history, many of these photos raised public awareness, exposed the true scale of disasters, and helped drive improvements in safety and emergency response.

Earliest known photo of Chernobyl disaster, taken by powerplant’s photographer, dawn of April 26th, 1986

With smoke still billowing from the World Trade Center disaster site, President Bush en route from New York City to Washington.(2001)

Tasmanian bridge disaster. Tasmania, Australia. 1975

Parking lot 1/4 of a mile away from the explosion, Texas City disaster, 1947

Emmett Kelly, the original “sad clown” rushes to help put out one of the worst fire disasters in US history – The Hartford circus fire.[1944]

The Hindenburg disaster, May 6, 1937

A chilling photo captures the explosion of the Tsar Bomba, the most powerful bomb ever produced, detonated by the Soviet Union at the Novaya Zemlya test site on October 30, 1961.

Onlookers witnessing the Challenger explosion shortly after the space shuttle took off, January 28th, 1986

Students praying over the rubble of Pantglas Junior School after the Aberfan disaster, a coal waste landslide that killed 144 people, including 116 children. Wales, 1966

Survivors of the 1972 Andes disaster being found 72 days after their plane had crashed and all passengers were presumed killed by the impact or the harsh conditions of the mountains

The capsizing of the SS Eastland in the Chicago River killed 844 passengers and crew. Chicago, Illinois. July, 1915.

Titanic’s wooden lifeboats in New York Harbor following the disaster. This particular image has been doctored to add the words “R.M.S. Titanic”, c. April 1912

Damaged buildings in Messina, Italy, after an earthquake and tsunami, 1908

Aerial view of Lituya Bay Alaska a few weeks after the tsunami of 1958 July 9th

People in Hilo, Hawaii look at the destruction caused by a 10.5 meter tall tsunami after a magnitude 9.5 earthquake in Valdivia, Chile. (May 23, 1960)

Clouds of smoke over Tokyo, seen from hundreds of miles, September 1th 1923, the day Tokyo was destroyed by a earthquake, tsunami, hurricane and a fire tornado, all in the same day

Ruins from The Great Kantō earthquake that struck Japan and completely destroyed Tokyo and Yokohama. A 40-foot-high tsunami would also aid in the destruction. Different sources estimate between 105,385–142,800 people were killed. September 1, 1923.

Eruption of Sakurajima volcano, the most powerful in twentieth-century Japan, with Kagoshima, Japan in foreground, 1914

B-25 Mitchell bombers flying past Mount Vesuvius, Italy as lava and ash spew from the top of the volcano. The eruption killed 57 and destroyed the village of San Sebastiano and San Giorg in March, 1944.

The largest non-nuclear explosion in history as the British try to make Heligoland permanently unusable as a military base. Germany 1947

Allied Crew member sweeping ash from a B-25 following the 1944 Vesuvius eruption. The airfield was located only a few kilometers away from the volcano and between 78 to 88 aircraft had to be scrapped due to it.

Wreckage and Recovery of “Hot Stuff”. A B-24 Liberator that in 1943 crashed into a Icelandic Volcano killing 14 out of the 15 people onboard. Among them was Lt. Gen. Frank M. Andrews. The man shortlisted to lead the command of the allied invasion of Europe.

A rescue dog takes a needed break as FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue teams search for survivors amongst the wreckage of the World Trade Center. September 21, 2001

Chairs and wreckage outside the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, scene of the deadliest nightclub fire in US history. November 29, 1942

Firefighters at ground zero continue to battle smouldering fires amongst the wreckage of the World Trade Center. September 18, 2001

The sun streams through the dust and smoke over the wreckage of the World Trade Center as search and rescue efforts continue at ground zero. 13 September 2001

The wreckage of the car that carried Diana, Princess of Wales, and her companion, Dodi al-Fayed, into a Paris tunnel on August 31, 1997

Burial at sea of Setsuo Ishino, the kamikaze pilot who struck the port side of the USS Missouri on April 11, 1945. After his body was retrieved from the wreckage of the plane, on orders from Captain William Callaghan, sailors buried him with full military honors. April 1945

Dec. 16, 1960, The wreckage of an airliner fell onto a street in Park Slope, Brooklyn

September 13, 2001 – Rescue workers sift through the wreckage on ground zero two days after the terrorist attack on the twin towers in New York.

The first known photograph of a tornado was taken on April 26, 1884 in Anderson County, Kansas. Tornadoes have threatened lives on the Great Plains for centuries, but until the late 19th century most Americans had never actually seen one.

The June 13, 1968 tornado that struck Tracy Minnesota is photographed leaving town. Award-winning photo by Eric J. Lantz of Walnut Grove.

The aftermath of hurricane Katrina. 1392 people died and damages reached about $125B. End of August 2005

A woman enjoying a bath amidst catastrophic damage from Hurricane Andrew. South Florida. 1992.

Last known of photo of Pamir, one of the last commercial cargo sailing ships, before sinking off the Azores in 1957 in Hurricane Carrie

Following the Northridge earthquake in California, 144 fires in total were reported. 3 of those were explosive ruptures of natural gas valves.

Two men and a child trying to survive Hurricane Hortense, Puerto Rico. September 9, 1996.

Aftermath of the Galveston, Texas, hurricane of 1900

African American flood victims line up to get food and clothing from a Red Cross relief station in front of billboard ironically extolling WORLD’S HIGHEST STANDARD OF LIVING THERE’S NO WAY LIKE THE AMERICAN WAY, taken in 1940

People walking on the chairs at the Maisons-Laffitte racecourse to escape the river Seine flood. Paris. 1924.

A house ripped from its foundation by the Johnstown flood, with a tree trunk sticking out of a window. 1889

Making the best of a bad situation – Festus, Missouri during the Great Flood of 1993 – 9 July 1993

The aftermath of the Great Molasses Flood in Boston’s North End neighborhood, which happened on this day in 1919.

Queen Street in Brisbane, Australia during the 1893 Brisbane floods

An elderly woman prays on the flat desert where a few hours earlier stood the parish church, swept away by the flood. On 9 Oct 1963, a landslide caused a giant wave to overtop the Vajont Dam, leading to the destruction of several villages and towns, killing over 2,000 (Longarone, Italy)

Floating wreckage, Galveston hurricane, 1900.

Aftermath of a tornado in Oklahoma. 4 May 1999

Boy and his puppy amid the wreckage of Murphysboro, Illinois after the passage of the infamous Tri State tornado. It was the single deadliest tornado of all time, killing 695 people and leaving 15,000 homeless. March 1925

The first photo of a tornado, Kansas 1884

Overhead view of the destruction in an Oklahoma City neighborhood after the 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado. 4 May 1999

Oklahoma City Tornado, 1898

Aftermath of a tornado after it ripped through downtown Fort Worth, Texas on March 28, 2000

Twin tornadoes near Dunlap, Indiana during the Palm Sunday tornado outbreak, April 11, 1965

Peggy Lipscomb salvages belongings from what is left of her home following a series of deadly tornados that ravaged Oklahoma and parts of Kansas on 3 May 1999. During this week-long event, 154 tornadoes touched down, killing 50 people (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 1999)

The result of the deadliest tornado in history, estimated 1,300 people were killed. Picture taken April 30, 1989, in Saturia, Bangladesh

Coffins stacked outside Snow & Co. in the aftermath of the Halifax Explosion. December, 1917.

Soldiers take cover in a trench during an Atomic explosion. Upshot Knothole-Simon 1954

Parking lot 1/4 of a mile away from the explosion, Texas City disaster, 1947

Two Vietnamese children, huddling against a canal bank for protection from Viet Cong sniper fire, gaze at an American paratrooper’s M79 grenade launcher on New Year’s Day, 1966, near Bao Trai.

Chairs and wreckage outside the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, scene of the deadliest nightclub fire in US history. November 29, 1942

Accidental rocket launch aboard the USS Forrestal hit a fighter on the deck piloted by John McCain. The resulting fire killed 134. McCain narrowly escaped the plane – Vietnam. July 29, 1967.

British soldiers fire their rifles at German aircraft flying overhead during the evacuation of Dunkirk, May-June 1940

People seeking shelter behind lamp-posts at Dam square Amsterdam after German troops opened fire at the celebrating masses (22 killed, 120 injured), 7 May 1945

A Bosnian special forces soldier returns fire in downtown Sarajevo as he and civilians come under fire from Serbian snipers, on April 6, 1992.

The game goes on while firefighters battle a smoky blaze at a building on 101st Street at First Avenue in East Harlem on Feb. 3, 1975

Firefighters put out a blaze caused by a round of German bombings in London, 1941.

LAPD officers stood guard, as firefighters battled a blaze near 19th Street and Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles during the Rodney King riots. The officers were there to protect the firefighters from being recently shot at by snipers and drive-by-shooters.

View of Manhattan from the bombed out deck of the USS Franklin, April 28, 1945. A little over a month prior, she had been attacked by Japanese aircraft, starting a blaze the killed over 700 men and nearly sank the ship, yet made it to NYC for repair under her own power.

Firefighters tackling the blaze onboard HMS Formidable after being hit by a Kamikaze near Okinawa, 4th May 1945, 5 days later a second Kamikaze would crash into her flight deck killing 1 sailor and wounding 4 others

Soldier stands besides his M60 machine gun, which is mounted on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to deter rioters from entering the building during the Martin Luther King Jr. assassination riots in Washington D.C. (April 1968)

President George H. W. Bush makes a hospital visit to injured Los Angeles Fire Captain Scott Miller, who was shot in the face by a sniper while responding to one of many fires set during the first night of the Los Angeles riots (May 8, 1992)