What is the largest percentage of humanity killed by Man, natural disaster?

Factual Questions
1

The topic is badly phrased so let me clarify with a few hypothetical examples:

A long time ago : Human population is 50 thousands. A war erupts and 500 die. The percentage is 1%.

Not so long time ago: Human population is 5 million. A volcano erupts and kills 3,000. The percentage is 0.06%.
So basically, I’m asking for the closest we ever came to extinction, either at our own hands or because of natural disasters that we know of. It can be war, plagues, purges, earthquakes, etc. Anything at all as long as large numbers of people died.

2

Explains it better than myself.

3

Between 1347 and 1352, bubonic plague was responsible for about 25 million deaths in Europe. Estimates of the total human population at that time seem to be about 350 to 450 million, which means that this plague killed about 6% of all humans.

4

Professor Stephen Oppenheimer Books Funny you should ask. Check this.

5

Cain was rumored to have slaughtered 25% of the human population in one day. :smiley:

6

I was about to link to that gonzomax!
But I don’t think it gives the total population at any time, so the percentage killed (or left) can’t be worked out…

7

Wikipedia’s article on supervolcanoes gives a figure of 60% of humanity wiped out by this event…

I think we have a winner!