2020: The Year from Hell

Warning! This is a lengthy document that might be more easily browsed rather than read from the first line to the last. It was composed using Wikipedia's Portal: Current Events, sometimes lifting the event almost word-for-word. No plagiarism is intended. Wikipedia's listings include links to support all this information.

2020: The year from hell (Mind you, it’s only about 60% over)

In addition to the ongoing wars, minor accidents and disasters, and mass shootings (or mass assaults with hammers, knives, etc.), these are some events that have helped make 2020 one for the books.

Merely for economy of space, I have not listed company closings, bankruptcies, or other financial disasters. Companies included in this category include J.C. Penney, Pier 1, Lord & Taylor/Mens Wearhouse, Hertz, Neiman Marcus, Chuck E. Cheese, and several energy companies. Look for the airline and perhaps hospitality industries to follow.

January

1. Australian bush fires

2. Jakarta floods

3. A fire at Krefeld Zoo, NRW, Germany, kills over 30 animals

4. North Korea threatens “new strategic weapon”

5. Iranian Major general Qasem Soleimani and Popular Mobilization Forces leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis assassinated by U.S.

6. Thousands of protesters march in the Sheung Shui neighborhood, Hong Kong; dozens are arrested.

7. Despite trying to enter and vote, Venezuelan self-declared interim president Juan Guaidó is denied entry to the Assembly.

8. A 5.8 magnitude earthquake strikes Puerto Rico, causing small landslides, power outages, and severely cracking some homes.

9. Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 shot down killing 176.

10. Winter Storm Isaiah brings widespread heavy snowfall and freezing rain to the midwestern and southern United States, killing at least 12 people.

11. The government of the Canadian province of Ontario apologizes for issuing a false alert about an incident at a nuclear plant near Toronto and blames a training exercise mistake.

12. Covid-19 in China and South Korea – WHO calls it a “concern.”

13. All Boeing 737 aircraft grounded.

14. Wuhan, China quarantined.

15. Donald Trump impeachment.

16. Kobe Bryant killed in helicopter crash.

17. A magnitude 7.7 earthquake is recorded off the coast of Jamaica.

18. The World Health Organization declares a "global emergency", a rare designation that helps the international agency mobilize financial and political support to contain the pandemic (Jan. 30).

19. The United Kingdom formally withdraws from the European Union at 23:00 GMT (BREXIT).

February

1. The Palestinian National Authority cuts all ties with the United States and Israel, including those relating to security, after rejecting a peace plan presented by U.S. President Donald Trump.

2. New Zealand closes its borders to all foreign visitors from China and bolsters screenings at its airports in response to the pandemic. The travel ban will be in place for at least fourteen day (Feb 2).

3. Donald Trump impeachment continues.

4. A magnitude 5.0 earthquake hits 20 kilometers south of Guánica, Puerto Rico.

5. Donald Trump announces that the United States military has killed al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leader Qasim al-Raymi in a drone strike in Yemen.

6. U.S. President Donald Trump fires National Security Council advisor Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and E.U. ambassador Gordon Sondland, who both testified as witnesses at the impeachment inquiry against him. Vindman's twin brother, Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, an Army JAG officer also part of the National Security Council staff, is also fired.

7. The head of the World Health Organization warns that overseas cases of the virus could be the "tip of the iceberg" (Feb 10).

8. The President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte terminates the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States. Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. confirms that the Embassy of the United States, Manila, has been formally notified. The termination will take effect after 180 days.

9. The United States reports 34 confirmed cases of the illness and expects more (Feb 22).

10. Markets are on pace for their worst week since the 2008 fiscal crisis (Feb 27).

11. A meteor explodes over Croatia. The Croatian Astronomical Union say the meteor disintegrated at an altitude of at least 30 kilometers above sea level. The meteor was likely roughly 2 meters across.

12. The first death from coronavirus in the United States is confirmed after a man dies in a hospital in the Seattle area (Feb 29).

March

1. United States tornado outbreak of March 2–3, 2020 (13 tornadoes).

2. Oil prices plummet after Saudi Arabia cut its official selling prices over the weekend. (Mar 8)

3. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures posted a 1,300-point drop due to the coronavirus and a fall in the price of oil, the most points the Dow has dropped in a single day. (Mar 8)

4. WHO declares Covid-19 a pandemic (March 11).

5. American film producer Harvey Weinstein is sentenced to 23 years in prison for two felony sex crimes

6. Actor Tom Hanks reports that he and his wife Rita Wilson have been diagnosed with COVID-19 after visiting Australia where he was filming Elvis (March 12).

7. Broadway theaters close.

8. Most U.S. sports organizations suspend or cancel current seasons due to coronavirus.

9. Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African American emergency medical technician, was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) officers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove on March 13, 2020. 

10. U.S. President Donald Trump declares a national emergency in response to the pandemic. This will allow up to $50 billion of federal money for relief efforts (March 13).

11. The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issues a recommendation to suspend gatherings of 50 or more people for the next two months. (March 15)

12. The governors of five states: California, Ohio, Illinois, Washington and Massachusetts, order bars and restaurants to close in response to the pandemic. (March 15)

13. The U.S. has 4,459 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of today, resulting in 86 deaths. West Virginia remains the only state with no confirmed cases. (March 16)

14. An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.7 hits Salt Lake City, Utah, with several aftershocks reported and tens of thousands of residents left without power. The earthquake is the largest in the state since the 1992 St. George earthquake. (March 18)

15. The Washington Post reports that U.S. intelligence agencies repeatedly warned President Trump about the threats posed by COVID-19 in January and February, but administration officials say they "just couldn't get him to do anything about it." (March 20)

16. A 5.3-magnitude earthquake hits Zagreb, Croatia. Seventeen people are injured; one dies. The earthquake is Zagreb's largest since 1880. (March 22)

17. Summer Olympics postponed to 2021.

18. A magnitude 7.5 earthquake hits the Kuril Islands town Severo-Kurilsk in Russia's Far East. (March 25)

19. The death toll from COVID-19 in the U.S. reaches 1,200. The total number of cases in the country is 83,097. The U.S. has surpassed China in number of active cases, making it the country with the most cases in the world. (March 26)

20. One person is killed, and 16 people are injured, four with life-threatening injuries, after a New York City Subway caught fire near the Central Park North–110th Street station in Harlem. The fire has been treated as suspicious. (March 27)

21. Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, reopens its stores and shopping centers. (March 30)

22. A 6.5 magnitude earthquake happens 72 km (45 mi) west of Challis, Idaho, United States. It is the strongest earthquake in the state since 1983. (March 31)

23. United States Navy Captain Brett Crozier requests urgent help from The Pentagon following an outbreak of COVID-19 aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, which is currently docked in Guam. Crozier has recommended quarantining almost the entire crew of 4,000.

April

1. The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 reaches more than one million worldwide. (April 2)

2. Donald Trump signs an executive order encouraging Americans to resist international restrictions on mining celestial objects, should the situation arise. (???)

3. Cyclone Harold hits Fiji – first Cat 5 cyclone of 2020. (April 8)

4. In a major setback for efforts to declare the end of the outbreak on Sunday, the Democratic Republic of the Congo reports the first case of Ebola since February. The outbreak has killed more than 2,200 people since August 2018. (April 10)

5. Anak Krakatoa, part of the Krakatoa complex in Indonesia's Sunda Strait, erupts.

6. A village near the mostly abandoned town of Poliske is evacuated, as forest fires continue to spread inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.

7. With 20,071 deaths, the United States's death toll from COVID-19 passes that of Italy and becomes the country with the highest number of known COVID-19 deaths in the world. (April 11)

8. OPEC and allies strike a deal to cut oil production by 9.7 million barrels per day, the largest such cut agreed upon, starting May 1.

9. 2020 Easter tornado outbreak (April 12-13).

10. The death toll from COVID-19 in the United States rises by 2,228 in a single day, the highest number of COVID-19 linked deaths reported in any country in a single day, as total cases rise to over 600,000. (April 14)

11. U.S. officials say China may have conducted low-yield nuclear weapon tests in its Lop Nur test site in violation of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

12. According to United States Space Command, Russia conducts a direct-ascent anti-satellite missile test.

13. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases passes two million worldwide. (April 16)

14. Police discover the bodies of 17 people inside a morgue built for four at a nursing home in New Jersey, United States, following an anonymous tip-off.

15. U.S. oil prices for May contract settle at an all-time low, finishing down over 300% to −$37.63 per barrel. (April 20)

16. Citing jobs and the ongoing pandemic, U.S. President Donald Trump announces he will sign an executive order temporarily suspending immigration to the United States.

17. Tornadoes touch down in the South Central United States, killing seven people and injuring dozens more. (April 22-23)

18. Over the last week, 4.4 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits. Since mid-March, 26.4 million have filed, which is more than 15 percent of the workforce. (April 23)

19. The number of worldwide cases of COVID-19 surpasses three million. The United States accounts for more than a third of the total cases, the number of nationwide cases having surpassed one million the same day. (April 27)

20. The Pentagon formally releases three videos of "unidentified aerial phenomena" encountered by United States Navy pilots after determining the videos "do not reveal any sensitive capabilities or systems". The footage was previously leaked by Luis Elizondo in 2017.

21. The 2020 tornado season in the United States is named the deadliest tornado season since 2011, particularly due to the outbreaks on March 2–3 and Easter Sunday.

May

1. New Zealand reports no new cases of COVID-19 for the first day in almost two months. (May 4)

2. Shooting of Ahmaud Arbery – May 6

3. The United States Navy's Naval Safety Center discloses "hazard reports" of Navy pilot encounters with unidentified aerial phenomena, including an incident in March 2014, in which a fighter jet pilot encountered an "unknown aircraft", which was "approximately the size of a suitcase, and silver in color."

4. An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 strikes near Tonopah, Nevada, with several aftershocks reported, though no injuries are reported. The earthquake is the largest in the state since 1954. (May 15)

5. The first tropical storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is presently off the United States eastern coast. Arthur has sustained winds of 40 mph (65 km/h), is moving north-northeast at 13 mph (20 km/h) and will move near or east of the North Carolina coast on Monday. The official start of the Atlantic hurricane season is June 1. (May 16)

6. Jordanian King Abdullah II warns Israel of a "massive conflict" if it annexes parts of the West Bank.

7. At least 11 firefighters, who had gone inside a hash oil manufacturing building in downtown Los Angeles after an initial report of a fire, are injured following an explosion.

8. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announces that nearly 1 million people are affected and at least 24 people have died in the flash floods that hit Beledweyne and Jowhar, Somalia. (May 18)

9. Amid heavy flooding in the Tittabawassee River caused by three straight days of heavy rainfall, the Edenville Dam in central Michigan partially collapses, prompting evacuations downstream. Governor Gretchen Whitmer declares a state of emergency for Midland County and the Michigan Army National Guard has been called in to assist. (May 19)

10. The number of worldwide cases of COVID-19 surpasses five million. The United States remains the global epicenter, accounting for approximately 31% of all reported and confirmed cases in the world. (May 21)

11. A four-alarm fire destroys a warehouse at Pier 45 at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, California. More than 150 firefighters are able to contain the blaze and save both the SS Jeremiah O'Brien, a World War II Liberty ship that saw action on D-Day at Normandy Beach in northwest France; and the USS Pampanito submarine, which had six war patrols from March 1944 through early 1945 in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. (May 23)

12. 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) of the coast of Western Australia is battered by a "once in a decade" storm. (May 24)

13. Thousands of protesters take to the streets of Hong Kong to oppose a controversial national security law expected to be passed by China's National People's Congress. (May 24)

14. A 5.9 magnitude earthquake strikes 60 miles (97 km) west of Wellington, New Zealand. No injuries are reported. (May 25)

15. Killing of George Floyd – May 25

16. Huge swarms of desert locusts destroy crops in central and western India prompting authorities to step up their response to the country's worst plague in nearly three decades.

17. Rioting and looting take place in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, following the death of African American man George Floyd during his arrest by Minneapolis Police Department officers. Several buildings are looted and burned down, and riot police have been deployed. (May 27)

18. The death toll from COVID-19 in the United States exceeds 100,000. (May 28)

19. The 2020 Boston Marathon is officially canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the first time in the event's 123-year history.

20. U.S. President Donald Trump says he is terminating the country's relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO) over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, claiming the WHO has become a "puppet of China" and that American funding will be redirected to "other global public health needs".

21. Asian giant hornets, or “murder” hornets resurface in the Pacific Northwest.

22. The number of worldwide confirmed cases of COVID-19 surpasses six million. The United States remains the global epicenter, accounting for approximately 29% of all reported and confirmed cases in the world. (May 31)

June

1. The World Health Organization reports six new cases of ebola, and UNICEF reports five deaths, in a renewed outbreak of the disease in Mbandaka, Équateur Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

2. George Floyd protests in Washington, D.C. (June 2)

3. Severe Cyclonic Storm Nisarga makes landfall south of Mumbai. This is the first time a tropical cyclone has targeted the megacity since 1891. About 100,000 people have been evacuated from low-lying areas in the western Indian states of Maharashtra and Gujarat, areas already hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. (June 3)

4. A Mw 5.5 aftershock to the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes of July 2019 takes place. It is the third-largest earthquake of the sequence, taking place only 11 kilometers (6.8 mi) from the Garlock Fault – Los Angeles.

5. George Floyd protests in California and Texas

6. The criminal charge for former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd is upgraded to second-degree murder, while the three officers who helped restrain Floyd are charged with aiding and abetting murder.

7. Two Buffalo police officers are suspended without pay after shoving a 75-year-old protestor to the ground. He has been hospitalized from the resulting head injury. (June 4)

8. George Floyd protests in the U.K.

9. The number of worldwide cases of COVID-19 surpasses seven million. The United States remains the global epicenter, accounting for approximately 26% of all reported and confirmed cases in the world. (June 7)

10. George Floyd protests in Virginia

11. A Harvard University study suggests that COVID-19 may have been spreading in China as early as August 2019. (June 9)

12. The United States surpasses two million cases of COVID-19, the first country in the world to do so. (June 10)

13. George Floyd protests in Australia (June 11)

14. Twitter says it has removed a network of more than 170,000 accounts it says were spreading pro-Communist Party of China propaganda on the social media platform, saying the Chinese-based network had links to earlier state-backed operations on Facebook and YouTube. More than a thousand Russia-based misinformation accounts are also removed. (June 12)

15. Protestors set fire to a Wendy's restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., in response to Rayshard Brooks' death the evening before. Outside the restaurant the previous day, two police officers shot Brooks after he attempted to escape from them after a tussle in which he took one of the officer's taser and discharged it at one of them following a DUI investigation. (June 13)

16. The Fulton County medical examiner declares Rayshard Brooks' death a homicide. Brooks was shot in the back by an Atlanta Police officer while fleeing from an attempted arrest for driving under the influence in which he stole an officer's taser and fired it at him on June 12. 

17. A major earthquake strikes southern Mexico, with its epicenter 15 miles (24.1km) northeast of Santa María Xadani, Oaxaca, resulting in the death of five people. It was measured at 7.4 magnitude and a tsunami warning was issued. (June 23)

18. At least 100 people are killed by lightning strikes as a monsoon storm batters India's northeastern states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. (June 25)

19. The U.S. reports 37,077 cases, the largest number of new cases in a single day. (June 25)

20. The United States Intelligence Community claims that Russia offered Taliban-affiliated groups bounties to kill American soldiers. (June 26)

21. Employees at Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, working in multiple U.S. locations are being sent home for refusing to take off Black Lives Matter face masks. Workers are protesting these actions. (June 26)

22. One person is killed and another injured when a gunman opened fire at people protesting the shooting of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. (June 27)

23. The worldwide COVID-19 case total surpasses 10 million while the worldwide death total surpasses 500,000. The United States remains the leading nation in cases, accounting for over 25 percent of both cases and deaths worldwide. (June 28)

24. Iran issues an arrest warrant against U.S. President Donald Trump and asks Interpol for help. Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr accuses Trump and 30 others of "murder and terrorism charges" for the killing of Qasem Soleimani in January. Interpol refuses the request. (June 29)

July

1. The deaths of 275 elephants are confirmed in the Okavango Delta due to an unknown cause. Both poaching and anthrax have been ruled out by authorities. (July 2)

2. Heavy rains and mudslides occur in Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan. At least 14 residents of a nursing home in Kuma are feared dead after they are found "in cardio-respiratory arrest", according to prefecture Governor Ikuo Kabashima. Another 10 people are missing and dozens stranded on rooftops. (July 4)

3. The World Health Organization suspends its trials of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and combination of HIV drug lopinavir/ritonavir after they fail to reduce mortality in infected patients.

4. Authorities in the Bayannur (Inner Mongolia) district raised the plague warning on Sunday, ordered residents not to hunt wild animals such as marmots and to send for treatment anyone with fever or showing other possible signs of infection. (July 6)

5. United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Agnès Callamard concludes, in a report to be presented at the United Nations Human Rights Council, that the killing of Qasem Soleimani in January by the United States was "unlawful". Callamard says that based on U.S. evidence, the killing was "arbitrary" and "violated the UN charter". (July 7)

6. The United States surpasses three million cases of COVID-19 and sets a daily record of 62,021 new cases. (July 8)

7. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issues a presidential decree converting Istanbul's Hagia Sophia back to a mosque, after a court annulled the 1934 decree that transformed it into a museum. (July 10)

8. Tropical Storm Fay makes landfall in New Jersey, US, causing tropical storm force winds over Delaware, New Jersey, and Coastal New York. Flooding closed several roads. (July 10)

9. A fire, followed by an explosion, breaks out on the USS Bonhomme Richard at the U.S. Naval base in San Diego, California. At least 18 sailors are currently hospitalized. It is unclear where the fire started or what the source of the explosion was. (July 12)

10. The fire on USS Bonhomme Richard continues for a third consecutive day. (July 14)

11. George Floyd protests continue (Kentucky)

12. A record-setting rainstorm causes flash flooding in Palermo, Italy. The meter of water turns streets into rivers and traps motorists in their cars. Palermo mayor Leoluca Orlando says this "water bomb" dropped as much rain in two hours as the Sicilian capital gets in a full year. Two people are reported drowned; that has not been confirmed. (July 15)

13. The Twitter accounts of notable people and businesses, including Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Bill Gates and Apple Inc., are hijacked to promote a Bitcoin scam.

14. Federal “troops” sent to Portland by administration to quell so-called violent riots.

15. Around 85 infants in Nueces County, Texas, test positive for coronavirus. (July 18)

16. George Floyd protests continue in Kentucky, Chicago, U.K. Toronto

17. A shooting at the home of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas leaves her son dead and her husband injured. Salas herself is not injured. Law enforcement officials say the gunman was dressed in a FedEx uniform. (July 19)

18. Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder is arrested for bribery. (July 21)

19. Twitter bans 7,000 accounts and places restrictions on a further 150,000 that promote QAnon-related content. The social media site also announces that terms connected to the conspiracy theory will be barred from appearing on its trending topics and search feature.

20. Two tropical storms, one in the Atlantic Ocean (Gonzalo) and the other in the Pacific (Douglas), are expected to become hurricanes Thursday. Gonzalo, with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph, is east of Barbados in the Windward Islands, moving toward the west near 12 mph (19 km/h), leading Barbados to issue a Hurricane watch. Douglas's maximum sustained winds have increased to near 100 mph (155 km/h), and landfall on Hawaii is expected Sunday. (Wednesday, July 22)

21. The United States surpasses four million cases of COVID-19. (July 23)

22. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler is tear-gassed in the city's downtown by Federal troops.

23. The United Kingdom and United States accuse Russia of conducting an anti-satellite weapon test in space. Russia's Ministry of Defence says it was testing new technology on Russian space equipment.

24. The World Health Organization reports a record increase in global COVID-19 cases with 284,196 new cases in last 24 hours. United States and Brazil account for almost half the total. (July 24)

25. Florida surpasses New York, once the epicenter of the pandemic, to hold the second highest number of COVID-19 cases in the United States, with a total 414,511 confirmed cases. (July 25)

26. George Floyd protests continue – Austin, Texas & Seattle

27. A record high temperature of 21.7°C (71.1°F) is recorded on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, according to the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. (July 25)

28. Hurricane Hanna weakens to a tropical depression after making landfall in southern Texas and northern Mexico. (July 26)

29. The price of gold hits a record high of US$1,944 per ounce as uncertainty over the global economy grows due to a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. The previous record was set in 2011 when prices hit US$1,921 per ounce. (July 27)

30. A 63-year-old woman is killed in a great white shark attack near Bailey Island, off the coast of Maine, United States. It is the first ever fatal shark attack on record in Maine, and only the second attack ever recorded in the state. (July 28)

31. A train derails following a bridge collapse on Tempe Town Lake in Tempe, Arizona, sparking a fire.

32. The United States economy suffers its worst quarter since World War II, with the GDP shrinking by an annualized rate of 32.9% in the April–June period.

33. Hurricane Isaias is expected to head towards Florida, prompting the state to close their COVID-19 test sites. The hurricane has made landfall in Puerto Rico, causing landslides, flooding, and power outages. (July 30)

34. U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested November's presidential election could be postponed, saying increased postal voting could lead to fraud and inaccurate results. Under the U.S. Constitution, Trump does not have the authority to postpone the election himself; a delay would have to be approved by both houses of Congress. (July 30)

35. Hurricane Isaias heads toward the Bahamas and the U.S. as a category 1 hurricane, after causing floods and landslides in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. A hurricane warning is issued for Florida's Atlantic Coast. (July 31)

August

1. Category One Hurricane Isaias makes landfall on northern Andros Island heading toward Grand Bahama. The storm, strength slightly reduced to 75 mph (120 KM.H) with heavy rains and coastal flooding, will move over the Straits of Florida tonight and approach the southeast coast of Florida early Sunday. North Carolina orders the evacuation of Ocracoke Island. (August 1)

2. Isaias regains hurricane strength with maximum winds of 75 mph (120 km/h) after leaving 2-4 inches of precipitation and causing minor power outages along the Florida coast. The storm is moving north-northeast at 16 mph (26 km/h) and is expected to make landfall in eastern North Carolina early Tuesday and then continue along the Mid-Atlantic coast heading toward the northeastern states. The storm surge will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded with rising waters before moving inland. (August 3)

3. A leaked UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea report says several states believe North Korea has "probably developed miniaturized nuclear devices to fit into the warheads of its ballistic missiles.”

4. Several explosions in the port of Beirut, Lebanon, kill more than 70 people, injure more than 4,000 others and send shock waves that damage homes as far as 10 kilometres (6 miles) away. (August 4)

5. Heavy rains cause floods and landslides in Gapyeong, South Korea, killing at least 14 people and forcing the evacuation of more than 1,000. The rains have also battered China, Thailand, India and Myanmar. Neighboring North Korea warns of possible floods, while the New Zealand government reports the deaths of three of its citizens in the South Korean floods. (August 4)

6. At least 22 people are dead, and dozens of others injured due to flood and landslides in Kerala, India.

7. Two people die of bubonic plague in the region of Inner Mongolia, China. Authorities have sealed off a village. (August 7)

8. The total number of COVID-19 cases in the United States surpasses five million. (August 8)

9. At least 11 people are dead, and 22 others injured in a fire at a COVID-19 facility center in India's Andhra Pradesh.

10. An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 hits near the small town of Sparta, North Carolina. Shaking was felt throughout the U.S. East Coast, though no damage and injuries are reported. The earthquake is the largest in the state since 1916. (August 9)

11. A landslide during floods at a tea plantation in Kerala, India, leaves at least 49 people dead. It is feared that many more people are buried under debris. (August 10)