February 2001 Disasters

Updated September 9, 2022 | Infoplease Staff

• Feb. 9, nr. Pearl Harbor, Hawaii: U.S. submarine Greeneville collided with the Ehime Maru, a Japanese fishing boat, which quickly sank. Twenty-six of the people aboard were rescued; nine others, including four students, were presumed dead.
• Feb. 13, San Salvador, El Salvador: Magnitude 6.1 earthquake left 276 dead. As a result of the 2 earthquakes (the other occurred Jan. 13), 1.2 million people were left homeless in El Salvador.
• Feb. 21, Mozambique: Floods left 41 people dead and 77,400 homeless.
• Feb. 24, Pontotoc, Miss.: Tornado struck the northern part of the state, carving a 23-mile path of destruction through Pontotoc County and leaving five people dead. The twister was part of a larger storm system that caused blizzard conditions in the northern Plains and Midwest and heavy rains and flooding in the nation's mid-section.
• Feb. 28, nr. Great Heck, North Yorkshire, England: Ten people were killed and 70 injured when a high-speed London-bound passenger train hit a car stalled on the track and then collided with a freight train moving in the opposite direction.
• Feb. 28, Olympia, Wash.: Magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck northwest Washington State, injuring some 325 people and damaging bridges and buildings. Overall damage was estimated at $2 billion.

See also Major Earthquakes Around the World 2001

See also Recent Volcanic Activity