catastrophe means the sacrifice of numerous victims, a carnage, a big kill. Grammatically, the word hecatomb is a feminine noun, which refers to a human killing.
Etymologically the word “hekatombe”, of Greek origin, is formed from “hekatom”, which means “hundred”, and “be” which means ox. It was used in ancient Greece to designate the killing of a hundred oxen, to commemorate the victories of great battles.
By extension, the term hecatomb is used today to refer to great catastrophes and also to major world crises. E.g.: “The American real estate hecatomb of 2012;” "The global financial hecatomb;" “The social hecatomb,” among others.
nuclear disaster
At the height of the Cold War, in 1962, the world found itself close to a nuclear hecatomb, when the year before, the United States installed a missile launch base in Turkey, and in retaliation, the Soviet Union installed a missile launch base in Turkey. Cuba. Such measures put the world on alert, as they could trigger a nuclear disaster. After negotiations the United States withdrew its base from Turkey and the Soviet Union withdrew its base from Cuba.
Find out more about the meaning of the cold war.