Haiti earthquake death toll: How does it compare to other disasters?

How does the expected Haiti earthquake death toll compare to other natural disasters in recent history?

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Logan Abassi/AP/United Nations
In this photo released by the United Nations, buildings affected by an earthquake lay in ruins in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday.

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit 10 miles off Haiti's coast Tuesday evening and its aftershocks are expected to have created between 45,000 and 50,000 casualties, according to the Red Cross. How does that compare with estimated numbers of dead and missing from other natural disasters in recent history?

Top 10 deadliest catastrophes since 1970:

1. Nov. 14, 1970 Bangladesh storm and flood; 300,000

2. Jul. 28, 1976 China magnitude 7.5 earthquake; 255,000

3. Dec. 26, 2004 Indonesia, Thailand, et al magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami; 220,000

4. April 29, 1991 Bangladesh tropical cyclone; 138,000

5. May 12, 2008 China 7.9 magnitude earthquake (Sichuan Province); 87,000

6. Oct. 8, 2005 Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan magnitude 7.6 earthquake and landslides; 73,300

7. May 31, 1970 Peru magnitude 7.7 earthquake and landslides; 66,000

8. June 21, 1990 Iran magnitude 7.7 earthquake and landslides; 40,000

9. June 1, 2003 France, Germany, Italy et al heat wave and drought, 35,000

10. Dec. 26, 2003 Iran magnitude 6.5 earthquake; 26,271

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Source: 2009 Insurance Factbook, Staff

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