The Spectator

Are tsunamis becoming more deadly?

iStock 
issue 22 January 2022

Stumped again

Were England always so hopeless playing Australia at cricket? Since the first match in 1877 there have been 72 series between England and Australia. Australia have a narrow advantage of 34 series wins against 32 to England, with six draws. But measured on individual matches, Australia have a far bigger lead, with 150 victories against England’s 110, with 96 draws.

Licence to bill

How many households have TV licences?

2011/12 25,226,070

2012/13 25,338,330

2013/14 25,419,300

2014/15 25,507,730

2015/16 25,558,190

2016/17 25,826,120

2017/18 25,836,500

2018/19 25,752,560

2019/20 25,527,840

2020/21 24,837,260

Source: TV Licensing

Lethal wave

Are tsunamis becoming more deadly? Since 1900, 23 tsunamis have been estimated to have had death tolls of more than 100, with the Indian Ocean tsunami of Boxing Day 2004 by far the most deadly, killing some 230,000. That was followed by a tsunami in Messina, Italy, in 1908 which killed 123,000 and the 2011 tsunami in Japan, which killed 18,500. The fatal tsunamis are distributed by decade as follows:

1900s 1

1910s 0

1920s 0

1930s 1

1940s 4

1950s 1

1960s 2

1970s 2

1980s 1

1990s 5

2000s 3

2010s 3

Source: worldatlas.

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