HeyJaredNatural Disasters
Explore the world’s most powerful natural disasters—from earthquakes to hurricanes—and the real stories of survival, science, and aftermath behind them.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 4
- Latest publication
- Sep 4, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 16, 2026
Latest episodes
The Town Buried Standing: Armero and the Nevado del Ruiz Eruption (opens the original)
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On November 13, 1985, the Colombian town of Armero was wiped off the map in less than two hours when a volcanic eruption 30 miles away sent a wall of mud, ash, and debris cascading down the mountain. This is the story of the warnings that went unheeded, the survivors who clung to rooftops in the darkness, and the little girl whose photograph became the haunting face of one of the deadliest volcanic disasters in recorded history.
When Earth Shakes vs. When Earth Opens: Earthquakes and Sinkholes (opens the original)
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Both make the ground beneath our feet betray us, but in dramatically different ways. We explore how earthquakes unleash energy built up over centuries in seconds, while sinkholes can form silently over years or swallow entire buildings in moments. From the 1906 San Francisco quake to Guatemala's catastrophic urban sinkholes, discover why solid ground isn't always so solid.
Seven Survivors: The Deadliest Disasters with the Lowest Death Tolls (opens the original)
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Sometimes the most devastating disasters don't claim the most lives. We're counting down seven catastrophic events—from volcanic eruptions to megaquakes—where the forces of nature unleashed their full fury, yet through extraordinary circumstances, the human toll remained shockingly low. These are the disasters where everything went wrong, except the body count.
The Wave That Crossed an Ocean: Japan's 2011 Tsunami (opens the original)
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On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake sent walls of water up to 130 feet high crashing into Japan's northeast coast, wiping entire towns off the map in minutes. We trace the tsunami from its undersea birth to its catastrophic landfall, following the stories of survivors who faced impossible choices and the nuclear plant workers who prevented an even greater catastrophe. This is the anatomy of the most expensive natural disaster in human history.
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