Natural Disaster

The scorched Lisbon church that survived two earthquakes and a massive fire.

A free museum that memorializes the deadliest river flood in American history, and the civil engineering efforts to tame the Mississippi River.

A boulder so big and tough, they had to turn it into a landmark.

Buried nine feet under, these houses are preserved as a stark reminder of the disastrous 1991 Unzen eruption.

This massive section of quay destroyed by an earthquake is preserved to remember the past.

The now-serene site of the largest earthquake ever recorded in North America.

An entire subdivision was accidentally built on a flood plain, resulting in its eventual demolition—but the streets are still there.

This museum explores how a 1973 volcanic eruption forever changed this small Icelandic island.

In 1912, this idyllic Alaska landscape was blown apart in the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century.

A museum run by retired highway engineers who helped rebuild after the Great Hanshin Earthquake.

This cabin survived a landslide that killed its owners.

The longest eruption in the history of La Palma originated with this volcano in September 2021.

An architectural experiment in the Lower Ninth Ward, this row house is capable of floating as high as the Katrina floodwaters.

A serene but haunting memorial to protective wetland lost, the absence of which directly damaged the Lower 9th Ward following Hurricane Katrina.