How could a disk crash change its partitions?

Question

Hard disks

The disk fell about a meter in height, it was initialized in the BIOS, but when Windows loaded, it went into a reboot. The system started to read it and all the stored data, but for 5-10 seconds and reinitialized the disk again.

I tried to watch it via MHDD in another computer, in IDE mode, but I got errors even when loading SMART. When I returned the disk to the main computer, the problems magically disappeared, only an unallocated zone appeared near the main partition. I'm not sure if it was there, I would definitely merge it with the section to the left of it called "2021" - this is my main repository.

Could physical damage have split the disk like that?
Maybe this is a consequence of the automatic processing of bad sectors, for example, from Windows?
If there is one, of course.

Answer 1

Purely theoretically, it is possible that during the fall, for example, the partition table was damaged due to unreadable sectors that appeared in it.
But this is not so important anymore. If everything that you did with the disk was aimed at saving data from it, then immediately stop and disconnect the disk from the computer.
Judging by the symptoms, even if he starts to read, he will not last long, and when he falls off completely, the situation will be even worse than it is now.
There is a high probability that the disk has surface damage, plus the heads are most likely not in perfect condition anymore. It's not something you can work with at home.
Look for a specialist nearby, an intelligent one will be able toread clearly more than you without changing heads (i.e. at a lower cost). If the result is insufficient - order a replacement head unit.
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Answer 2

Yes, anything could happen, the disk is not a tenant, you need to copy the data and throw it away