The 1922 Shantou Typhoon was a devastating tropical cyclone that caused thousands of deaths in the Chinese city of Shantou in August 1922. This total makes it one of the deadliest known typhoons in history.
Meteorological history
1922 Shantou Typhoon track
A tropical depression located near the Caroline Islands was first spotted July 27. It moved slowly to the northwest, gradually intensifying along the Philippine Sea. On July 31, it crossed northern Luzon,[1] and entered the northernmost part of the South China Sea.[2] It then intensified more and made landfall on the Chinese coast near the city of Shantou (formerly romanized as Swatow) late on August 2 or early on August 3.[1] It quickly dissipated inland later.
The minimum known central pressure of this typhoon is 27.53 inches of mercury (932 mb).[3] At one point, the winds were estimated to have a speed exceeding 100 mph.[4]
Due to the typhoon passing through a then-lightly inhabited part of the Philippines, no reports of significant impact were received.[3]
In Shantou, the typhoon caused a storm surge of at least 12 ft above normal.[4] The rain was heavy, and left enough water to leave the land saturated for a few days.[13] Shantou was an unfortunate city, as around 5,000 people (out of a population of about 65,000) perished in the storm.[1] Some nearby villages were totally destroyed.[14] Several ships near the coast were totally wrecked.[4] Other ones were blown as far as two miles inland.[14] The area around the city had around another 50,000 casualties.[4] The total death toll was above 60,000,[15] and may have been higher than 100,000.[4]
^Pedro Ribera, Ricardo Garcia-Herrera and Luis Gimeno (July 2008). "Historical Deadly Typhoons in the Philippines". Weather. 63 (7). Royal Meteorological Society: 196. doi:10.1002/wea.275.
