After seeing these images, you might agree that we use the term "disaster" a little too loosely. So much of disaster photography is abstracted from the reality of everyday life, emphasizing the sublime, unbounded power of nature — a crashing waterfall, a bright bolt of lightning, or a thunderous wave crashing on a pristine beach.
In the 20th and 21st centuries, however, disasters are never simply pure, majestic moments of disturbing beauty or colossal majesty. With seven billion people on Earth, every tremor and breeze has a distinctive human impact. The growing world population is a key factor in the following list of unthinkable, bizarre, and tragic disaster photographs.
Keep in mind that we tried our best to credit each respective photographer and the number of casualties when that information was made available. Additionally, the "fame" of each photograph is highly relative, so consider the list for the most part unranked.
From the Titanic in 1912 to the rapture in 2012, here is the Complex list of The 50 Most Famous Disaster Photographs.