September 28
2018
2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami
On the evening of September 28, 2018, a magnitude-7.5 earthquake struck off Central Sulawesi near the Palu–Koro fault. Within minutes, tsunami waves swept into Palu Bay and neighboring coastlines while large-scale liquefaction and ground flows swallowed entire neighborhoods. More than 4,300 people died, thousands were injured or displaced, and the disaster reshaped scientific understanding and local policy about near‑field tsunamis and ground‑failure risk. Read more
2009
2009 Guinean protests (Conakry stadium massacre)
On 28 September 2009 a peaceful opposition rally at the Stade du 28 Septembre in Conakry turned into one of the bloodiest episodes in Guinea’s recent history. Security forces opened fire on the crowd, and survivors reported summary killings, mass detentions and widespread sexual violence. International investigators later concluded that at least 157 people were killed and more than a hundred women and girls were raped; the events prompted regional isolation of the junta and long, unfinished demands for justice. Read more
1994
Sinking of the MS Estonia
On the night of September 28, 1994, the ro‑ro ferry MS Estonia foundered in international waters southeast of Utö, Finland, after a failure of its bow visor allowed seawater to flood the vehicle deck. Of the 989 people aboard, 137 survived and 852 died. The disaster exposed fatal vulnerabilities in roll‑on/roll‑off ferry design, prompted a multinational investigation and sweeping safety changes, and left questions and grief that persist decades later. Read more
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1992
Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268
On September 28, 1992, Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268, an Airbus A300-200 (registration AP-ADT), struck the Mullagori Hills west of Kathmandu while on approach to Tribhuvan International Airport. All 167 people on board were killed. The accident was attributed to controlled flight into terrain after the aircraft descended below published safe approach altitudes; investigation findings led to renewed emphasis on crew resource management, approach discipline, and terrain‑awareness systems.
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1918
Fifth Battle of Ypres (1918)
Beginning on 28 September 1918, Allied forces — prominently including re‑engaged Belgian units alongside British and French formations — launched a coordinated offensive in the Ypres salient and across West Flanders. Part of the larger Hundred Days Offensive that had broken German initiative in August, the action pushed German lines back toward the River Lys, freed towns and villages long under occupation, and helped fracture the German defensive position in northern Belgium.
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1901
Balangiga encounter (Balangiga Massacre)
On September 28, 1901, Filipino guerrillas and townspeople in the coastal village of Balangiga, Samar, launched a surprise attack on Company C of the U.S. 9th Infantry. Nearly half the garrison was killed in a violent, close-quarters action that shocked the American public and provoked a brutal reprisal campaign across Samar led by Brig. Gen. Jacob H. Smith. The episode became a study in guerrilla warfare, occupation policy, and the long shadow of memory — including the removal and eventual return of church bells taken as trophies.
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