Let me preface the data below by saying, any loss of life is horrible. My friend and I were discussing some of the natural disaster data below at dinner last night.
1) Earthquake that struck the Chinese City of Shaanazi in 1556 = 830,000 people.
2) Earthquake that struck the Chinese City of Tangashan in 1976 = 255,000-600,000 people. This is amazing as this occured in my lifetime and I do not remember it.
3) Typhoon in Calcutta India in 1737 that killed 300,000 people.
I am glad that the company I work for has made a donation and is matching employee's donations dollar for dollar if they chose to donate to help the countries that were in the path of the Tsunami.
DBK