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About This Quiz
Let's face it, many of us are curious about disasters, since we want to know how the heck they happen. And maybe we want to know if disasters in our neighborhood can be avoided. Take this quiz to find out more about famous man-made disasters.
In 1952, London suffered for five days when what man-made disaster killed about 12,000 people?
A polluted smog or fog
A heavy downpour
The Thames overflowed
A sudden snowstorm
Al-Mishraq, in Iraq, had a horrible fire in one of their mines because of what material?
Plutonium
Sulfur
Asbestos
Petroleum
Ukraine in Russia was where one of the big man-made disasters of the Cold War happened. What infamous event was a global wake-up call for safety guidelines?
Dyatlov Pass incident
Tunguska blast
Kursk disaster
Chernobyl nuclear accident
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If you were a fisherman in the Aral Sea in Central Asia, what would be your problem?
Dusty winds would be disrupting shore life.
The waters would be polluted.
Water is disappearing.
There is almost no oxygen in the water.
We've heard of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, but what is the Exxon Valdez?
An underwater pipeline
An oil rig
A supertanker
A shoreline storage plant
What was the Love Canal near Niagara Falls originally for, before disaster struck?
Water supply
Shipping lane
Waste disposal
Flood prevention
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Where did a Union Carbide plant have a dangerous chemical leak that killed about 25,000 people?
Bound Brook, New Jersey
Homebush Bay, Australia
Bhopal, India
Greensburg, Los Angeles
We've all heard of the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster, but do you know in which U.S. state Three Mile Island is located?
Iowa
Pennsylvania
New York
Ottawa
In 1919, a freak disaster struck when a flood of what liquid was unleashed in Boston, Massachusetts?
Molasses
Waste water
Boiling water
Oil
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The 1966 Palomares incident was about plutonium contamination, but what vehicle was the main cause of it?
Cruise Missile
Stealth Bomber
B-52 Bomber
Destroyer
What triggered the Sidoarjo Mudflow in Surabaya, Indonesia?
Mining
Drilling
Urban development
Earthquake
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Some disasters aren't an instant thing. What happened in Libby, Montana, is an example of what?
Asbestos contamination
Lead contamination
Sulphur leak
Methane leak
In April of 2010, the Macondo oil and gas prospect area suffered a horrible oil spill. What was the name of the oil rig involved?
Ocean Ranger
Deepwater Horizon
Piper Alpha
Alexander L. Kielland
In Japan's Minamata Bay, mercury dumped by a factory found its way into people's lives through what?
Direct contact
Water dispersal
Fish and shellfish
Vapor
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Which aircraft had numerous disasters in the '70s, topped by the American Airlines Flight 191 crash?
Boeing 737
Lockheed L-1011
DC-10
Concorde
What sort of garbage ends up in Guiyu, China, making the place a continuing man-made disaster?
Mine Tailings
Discarded electronics
Sewage
Refinery byproducts
What place in Pennsylvania has been literally smoking since 1962?
Ashland
Briar Creek
Centralia
Berwick
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What man-made disaster followed an earthquake and a tsunami in 2011?
Three Mile Island meltdown
Chernobyl meltdown
Fukushima Nuclear Reactor meltdown
Chalk River incident
Which environmental disaster, not usually thought of as man-made, affected the central U.S. in the 1930s?
The Dust Bowl
Car pollution
Industrial smog
Overfishing
The Picher man-made disaster, which many people don't know about, resulted from waste products created while mining what?
oil and asbestos
lead and zinc
gold and silver
water and air
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The Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City suffered what engineering disaster in 1978?
Balcony railings fell from the upper floors.
An elevated walkway collapsed.
Glass windows shattered and fell to the lobby.
The ceiling collapsed.
The Peshtigo Fire of 1871 was supposedly started by what activity in Wisconsin?
Open campfire
Lantern falling to the ground
Clearing land for development
House fire
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What accident closed the door on what could have been a lifestyle and cultural milestone?
Northwest Airlines Flight 2 crash
Hindenburg disaster
TWA Flight 1 crash
Lovettsville air disaster
What was the parent company that owned the Titanic?
Royal Caribbean International
Princess Cruises
White Star Line
Princess Cruises
The Halifax accident of 1917 was caused by what kind of cargo on the ship Mont Blanc?
Overloaded passengers
Garbage
Explosives
Oil
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This man-made disaster in Mexico is one reason why industrial complexes should have many safeties in place. Where did it happen?
Tijuana
San Juanico
Juarez
Mexicali
Which fire was so big that a major city had to be rebuilt?
The New York Blaze
The Great Chicago Fire
The San Francisco Fire
Los Angeles Fire
Which man-made New York City disaster marks a turning-point in American history and foreign relations?
9-11 Twin Towers attack
Nuevo Laredo shootout
Benghazi incident
Embassy bombings in Nairobi
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The Philippines had their own Titanic-like disaster, with the sinking of what ship?
MV Doña Paz
MV Kalil Kaido
MV Prince of the Stars
MV Don Mario
This air crash in 2000 was the only fatal accident in the history of which type of plane?
L-1011
DC-10
Airbus
Concorde
In 1928, Southern California became the scene of a man-made disaster, thanks to what?
Smog
St. Francis Dam
Dust storms
Mulholland Drive
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