megadisaster

An unexpected natural or man-made catastrophe of exceptional magnitude, causing unusually severe or unprecedented damage.

This chapter uses case studies along with a new data set focused on Kobe's nine wards after the city's 1995 megadisaster, the earthquake known in Japanese as the Hanshin Awaji Daishinsai (the Great Hanshin—Awaji Earthquake), […]

An unforeseen event of any kind with exceptionally unpleasant, distressing, or unfortunate results.

After the initial shock of discovering my scheduling megadisaster, I forced myself to take a deep breath.