List of disasters in New Zealand by death toll

This is a list of New Zealand disasters by death toll, listing major disasters (excluding acts of war) which occurred in New Zealand and its territories or involved a significant number of New Zealand citizens, in a specific incident, where the loss of life was 10 or more.

100 or more deaths
DeathsNameTypeDateLocationNotes
257 Air New Zealand Flight 901 airliner accident 28 Nov 1979 Mount Erebus, Ross Island, Antarctica Controlled flight into terrain
256[1][2] 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake earthquake 3 Feb 1931 20 km north of Napier
200+ 1820s Southland tsunami tsunami 1820s Orepuki beach Possibly more than 200 killed
189 HMS Orpheus shipwreck 7 Feb 1863 off Manukau Heads, near Auckland
185[3] 2011 Christchurch earthquake earthquake 22 February 2011 Christchurch
151 Tangiwai disaster train wreck/lahar 24 Dec 1953 Whangaehu River
135+[4] 1st Little Waihi landslide landslide 1780 Waihi Village
131 SS Tararua shipwreck 29 Apr 1881 off Waipapa Point
121 SS Wairarapa shipwreck 29 Oct 1894 off Great Barrier Island
108–153[5][6] 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera volcanic eruption 10 Jun 1886 Mount Tarawera

50 to 99 deaths
Deaths Name or description Type Date Location Notes
87 Fiery Star shipwreck 11 May 1865 240 km off the Chatham Islands
75 SS Penguin shipwreck 12 Feb 1909 off Cape Terawhiti
68[7] General Grant shipwreck May 1866 Auckland Island 10 castaways survived the wreck and were successfully rescued.
65[8] Brunner Mine disaster mine explosion 26 Mar 1896 Brunner
65[9] 2nd Little Waihi Landslide landslide 7 May 1846 Waihi Village Tribal leader Mananui Te Heuheu Tukino II and most of his family were killed in the landslide[10]
53[11] TEV Wahine shipwreck 10 Apr 1968 Barrett Reef, Wellington Harbour
52 City of Dunedin shipwreck 20 May 1865 off Cape Terawhiti There are estimates of between 250 and 600 passengers perishing, but these reports were 20 or more years later
51+ Blizzard and Flood of 1863 floods and blizzards Jul 1863 – Aug 1863 Central Otago goldfields The actual death toll was probably higher because of the transient nature of the miners and the ruggedness of the country
51 Christchurch mosque shootings terrorist attack 15 March 2019 Christchurch, New Zealand

10 to 49 deaths
Deaths Name or description Type Date Location Notes
49 Featherston Prisoner of war camp riot riot 25 Feb 1943 Featherston, New Zealand
45 SS Elingamite shipwreck 9 Nov 1902 off West Island in the Three Kings Islands
43 Ralph's Mine mine explosion 12 Sep 1914 Huntly methane and coal dust explosion[12]
41 Ballantyne's store disaster fire 18 Nov 1947 Christchurch
40+[13][14] Great storm of 1868, flash floods and 12 shipwrecks storm 3 Feb 1868 Predominantly eastern areas of New Zealand Death toll likely understated as impact on many Maori unknown
37 Seacliff Lunatic Asylum fire 8 Dec 1942 Seacliff
34[13][15] SS Taiaroa shipwreck 11 Apr 1886 Clarence River mouth
34 Kaitangata Mine disaster mine explosion 21 Feb 1879 Kaitangata explosion of fire-damp (methane)
34[16] Dunedin shipwreck (presumed) 1890 between Oamaru and London
30 Marlborough shipwreck (presumed) 1890 between Lyttelton and London
29 Pike River Mine disaster mine explosion 19 November 2010 northwest of Greymouth large methane explosion[17]
29[18] MV Kaitawa shipwreck 23 May 1966 near Pandora Bank, Cape Reinga
26 Barque Maria shipwreck[15] 1851 Cape Terawhiti
25+[19][20] Storm of 1897 floods and shipwreck 16 Apr 1897 North Island flooding at Clive, boating accidents, and the wreck of the Zuleika near Cape Palliser. 25 confirmed deaths and 6 unconfirmed
25[21][22] MV Joyita ghost ship Oct 1955 En route from Apia, Samoa to Tokelau
24[23] Assaye shipwreck (presumed) 1890 between London and Wellington; wreckage washed up at the Chatham Islands 7 months after the ship left London
23 New Zealand National Airways Corporation Flight 441 air accident 3 Jul 1963 Kaimai Ranges
22[24] launch Ranui shipwreck 30 Dec 1950 off Mount Maunganui, Bay of Plenty
22 2019 Whakaari/White Island eruption volcanic eruption 9 Dec 2019 Whakaari/White Island
21 Hyde railway disaster rail accident 4 Jun 1943 near Hyde
21[25] Kopuawhara flash flood of 1938 flood 19 Feb 1938 Destroyed the Kopuawhara railway workers camp
21[26][27] brigantine Sophia Pate shipwreck Aug 1841 Kaipara Harbour
20[28] RNZAF Douglas C-47 disappearance air accident 24 Sep 1945 en route from Vanuatu
20[15] schooner St. Vincent shipwreck 14 Feb 1869 Palliser Bay
19[29] Strongman Mine mine explosion 19 Jan 1967 near Greymouth
18[30] Canoe on Lake Rotorua boating accident 16 Apr 1870 near Mokoia Island on Lake Rotorua
18[31] Canoe on Motu River boating accident 4 Aug 1900 Motu River – 25 miles from Opotiki[32] There were 16 children and 2 adults in the six person canoe
18[33] Clyde shipwreck 6 Nov 1884 Horseshoe Bay, near Akaroa, Banks Peninsula
18[34] Lastingham shipwreck 1 Sep 1884 Cape Jackson, Cook Strait
18[35] ketch Enterprise and steamer Tauranga shipwreck 23 Jul 1870 between Cape Rodney and Sail Rock, Hauraki Gulf Those lost — fourteen crew and four passengers — all came from the Tauranga. The crew of the Enterprise survived in the ship's longboat.[36]
17[37] 1929 Murchison earthquake earthquake 17 Jun 1929 Murchison
17 Ongarue railway disaster rail accident[13] 6 Jul 1923 Ongarue
16[38] Capitaine Bougainville shipwreck 3 Sep 1975 Whananaki
16[39] 1943 Liberator crash at Whenuapai air accident 2 Aug 1943 Whenuapai Those killed were mainly Japanese civilians who were being repatriated in a prisoner exchange.
15[40] Brynderwyns bus accident road accident 7 Feb 1963 Brynderwyn Hills
15[41] MV Holmglen shipwreck 24 Nov 1959 near Timaru
15[13] Lockheed Lodestar airliner crash air accident 18 Mar 1949 near Waikanae
15[42] Derry Castle shipwreck 20 Mar 1887 Enderby Island, Auckland Islands
14 Cave Creek disaster structural failure 28 Apr 1995 Paparoa National Park
14[43] Aramoana massacre spree killing 13 Nov 1990 Aramoana, near Dunedin
14[44] Two Hudson bombers lost off the New Zealand coast air accident 21 Aug 1944 en route from Fiji No. 4 Squadron RNZAF
14[45][46] Hutt River flood floods 17 Jan 1858 Hutt Valley
13 NAC Electra air crash air accident 23 Oct 1948 on Mount Ruapehu
13[47] SS Ventnor shipwreck 28 Oct 1902 off Omapere, Hokianga
13[15] Tasmania shipwreck 1897 Mahia Peninsula
12[48] barque Dundonald shipwreck 7 Mar 1907 Disappointment Island, Auckland Islands
12[49] Barque Lizzie Bell shipwreck 24 Jul 1901 Waimate, Taranaki
12[50] Cafe Chantant fire, The Octagon, Dunedin fire 8 Sep 1879 Dunedin
12[51] ferry Pride of the Yarra and paddle steamer Favourite collision 6 Jul 1863 Otago Harbour
12[52] L'Alcmène shipwreck 3 Jun 1851 Baylys Beach, Kaipara A French navy corvette
12[53][54] Brigantine Rio Loge shipwreck (presumed) Jan 1909 Last seen in Cook Strait on 14 January, en route from Kaipara to Dunedin May have caused the wreck of the Penguin a month later.[55]
12[56] Cyclone of 1936 storm 1 Feb 1936 North Island and upper South Island A tropical cyclone that originated near the Solomon Islands
11[57] 2012 Carterton hot air balloon crash air accident 7 Jan 2012 near Carterton
11[58] Glen Afton No. 1 mine Coal mine fire 24 Sep 1939 Huntly 11 miners, including the mine manager, died from carbon monoxide asphyxia
11[59] B17 bomber crash air accident 12 Jun 1942 RNZAF Base Auckland at Whenuapai
10[60] Aspiring Air Britten-Norman Islander, collided with terrain air crash 8 Aug 1989 Upper Dart Valley
10[61] Brig Australia shipwreck 23 May 1873 off Cape Campbell
10[62] Husky and Argo lost to storm in yacht race shipwrecks 21 Jan 1951 between Wellington and Christchurch
10 White Island sulphur mine lahar following volcano crater wall collapse 10 Sep 1914 Whakaari/White Island No bodies found.[63][64]
10[65] Shamrock sailing boat shipwreck 1834 Queen Charlotte Sound Capsized and sank. Exact location unknown.

NOTE: The exact number of deaths in some early New Zealand shipwrecks is not fully recorded. There may be several shipwrecks not listed here which claimed ten or more lives.

Pandemics and health crises
Deaths Description Date Location Notes
8,600 1918 flu pandemic 1918 October–December nationwide [66]
713 HIV/AIDS pandemic 1983–ongoing nationwide As of December 2014.[67]
25 COVID-19 pandemic 2020 February–ongoing nationwide [68][69]
19 2009 swine flu pandemic 2009 April–September nationwide [70]
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Significant incidents of New Zealanders being killed overseas
Confirmed Deaths Name Type Date Location Notes
470[71] Cospatrick ship lost to fire 17 Nov 1874 640 km south-west of the Cape of Good Hope, en route to Auckland Only 3 people survived
100[72] The Trevelyan (immigrant ship en route from Glasgow) storm 3 Jun 1888 Presumed foundered off the South African coast, en route to Port Chalmers, New Zealand
89[73] Knowsley Hall shipwreck (presumed) 1879 between London and Lyttelton
79[74] Matoaka shipwreck (presumed) 1869 between Lyttelton and London
15[75] 1943 RNZAF Catalina crash air accident 5 Jun 1943 south of Fiji
14[76][77] Pan Am Flight 806 air accident 30 Jan 1974 Pago Pago, American Samoa Only New Zealand deaths listed
12[78] 1945 RNZAF Catalina crash air accident 27 Jan 1945 off Beqa, Fiji
10[79] Bere Ferrers rail accident, train hit NZ troops on tracks by platform train accident 24 Sep 1917 Bere Ferrers, Devon, UK

See also

References
  1. Bateman New Zealand Encyclopedia, edition 4 (1995). Article: |earthquake 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, Hawke's Bay region, Napier
  2. Welch, Denis (4 February 2006). "Shake, Rattle & Roll". New Zealand Listener (3430): 29–30. A larger death toll of 258 includes two missing, presumed dead.
  3. "List of deceased – Christchurch earthquake". New Zealand Police. 9 February 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  4. Waihi Landslide Archived 15 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine, GeoNet News, Vol. 2, February 2003, p. 7. Death toll calculated by subtracting death tolls for two later landslides (64 and 1 in 1846 and 1910 respectively) from the total of "more than 200" given for all three.
  5. The eruption's death toll is uncertain. While 153 is a commonly quoted figure, only 108 named victims have been identified. Death list Archived 4 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Anheizen.com.
  6. In 2007, the General Manager of the Earthquake Commission said that "... Ngati Hinemihi oral accounts put the death toll in the thousands." David Middleton (2007). A Roof Over Their Heads? The challenge of accommodation following disasters Archived 28 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Five more died before the survivors were rescued 18 months later.
  8. "Brunner Mine explosion". Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  9. Lamorna Cooper, Hipaua Steaming Cliffs and Little Waihi Landslide, Tephra, Vol. 19, June 2002, 42–47.
  10. Hura, Elizabeth. "Mananui Te Heuheu Tukino II". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  11. The original Wahine death toll was 51; two names were added 22 and 40 years later. Three more people were killed by Cyclone Giselle elsewhere in New Zealand.
  12. New Zealand Disasters – Mining: Ralph's Mine, Christchurch City Libraries
  13. New Zealand disasters timeline, Ministry for Culture and Heritage.
  14. Great storm of 1868, flash floods and 12 shipwrecks
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  16. Dunedin, which cites W.H. Brett's White Wings: Fifty years of sail in the New Zealand Trade, Vol. I. 1925.
  17. Beswick, Angela. "Pike River: Second explosion, no survivors". 3 News. Archived from the original on 11 February 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
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  19. "NEW ZEALAND DISASTERS – CLIVE FLOODS – 1897". Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  20. The Wreck of The "Zuleika", Palliser Bay. Quotes from NZ Truth, 16 March 1976.
  21. Field, Michael (6 March 2012). "1955 Pacific mystery to be finally marked". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  22. All 25 on board were missing when the boat was found, and are presumed dead.
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  30. Rotorua. Terrible boat disaster — Eighteen natives drowned, Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVI, Issue 3953, 23 April 1870, Page 4
  31. Casualties, Evening Star , Issue 11329, 25 August 1900, Page 8
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  33. Clyde, Dive New Zealand Magazine.
  34. The Lastingham Wreck, Paul's Dive Planet.
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  36. Ingram, C. W. N., and Wheatley, P. O., (1936) Shipwrecks: New Zealand disasters 1795–1936. Dunedin, NZ: Dunedin Book Publishing Association. pp. 170–171.
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  43. [13 murder victims plus perpetrator]
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  46. Disasterous flood at the Hutt - 14 lives lost, Daily Southern Cross, 16 February 1858, Page 3
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  48. Three more died before being rescued.
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  77. "Crash Investigation Underway". News Bulletin. Pago Pago, American Samoa. 1 February 1974. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
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