Quick Answer: 2023 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2023rd year of the Common Era and Anno Domini designations, the 23rd year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 4th year of the 2020s decade. Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy, the longest-lasting recorded tropical cyclone in history in the Indian Ocean, which led to over 1,400 deaths in Malawi and Mozambique; Storm Daniel, which became the deadliest tropical cyclone worldwide since Typhoon Haiyan after killing at least 5,300 people in Libya; a major 6.8 magnitude earthquake striking western Morocco, killing 2,960 people; and a 6.3 magnitude quadruple earthquake striking western Afghanistan, killing over 1,400 people.