10 Comic Book Catastrophes That Killed Millions
10. The Gotham Earthquake - No Man's Land
Death toll: Hundreds
Starting off with a rather tame (comparatively, anyway) catastrophe is the great Gotham earthquake which pretty much ruined the city and kicked off the year-long No Man's Land storyline, which saw Batman's home being evacuate following a 7.6 magnitude tremor which tears the streets apart and kills a bunch of people.
The whole thing kicked off after a spate of bad luck for the city that saw the outbreak of a lethal disease in Contagion and then Ra's al Ghul, Bane and The League of Assassins trying to disseminate it across the globe. Then there was this big earthquake and a bunch of people died, the bridges into Gotham were destroyed and nobody was allowed in or out. A fair few perished in the immediate natural disaster but scores more expired in the aftermath thanks to famine, illness, or supervillains doing what supervillains do best when martial law is declared.
Many died during No Mans Land, but the focus was on the main characters who got bumped off - namely Commissioner Gordons second wife Sarah Essen, who ran afoul of The Joker.