Natural hazards killed more people during the first half of 2008 than the 2004 Tsunami in Asia, mainly due to the Sichuan earthquake in China and the cyclone in Myanmar.
"2008 is a terrible year. There have already been more victims than in the tsunami" said Salvano Briceño, head of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction based in Geneva, Switzerland.
More than 230,000 people died in disasters resulting from natural hazards and 130 million were affected, he said on the occasion of the International Day for Disaster Reduction.