20 Striking Natural Disasters (20 images)

Nature is a force to be reckoned with, beautiful yet simultaneously deadly. The following photos are of natural disasters throughout the past century, spanning from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake to the recent devastating tornadoes in Alabama. The photos of earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, mudslides, etc. are breathtaking reminders of the strength of nature and the fragility of manmade structures.

Disaster survivors return to their home sites to search for belongings in Pleasant Grove, Alabama, on May 1, 2011. Meteorologists in Alabama say 35 tornadoes blew across the state last week, killing 236 people. President Obama signed Alabama's Major Disaster Declaration and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms. UPI/Adam DuBrowa/FEMA

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A Japanese home is seen adrift in the Pacific Ocean near Sendai, Japan on March 13, 2011. Ships and aircraft from the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group are searching for survivors in the coastal waters after a massive earthquake and tsunami. UPI/Dylan McCord/U.S. Navy

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A view of the remains of a market in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on January 19, 2010, after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake caused severe damage on January 12. UPI/Anatoli Zhdanov

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The Chaiten volcano erupts during storms in the middle of the night on May 3, 2008 in Chaiten, Chile. The Chaiten volcano, located some 800 miles south of the capital Santiago, was considered dormant since it had not erupted for hundreds of years. (UPI Photo/Carlos Gutierrez)

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