This timeline lists New Zealand’s worst post-1840 natural disasters, transport accidents, fires, mining accidents and other tragedies that have caused major loss of life. Follow the links for more information on NZ History, Te Ara and other sites. See also: map showing location of these disasters
This list does not include loss of life due to criminal acts or enemy action in wartime, such as the First World War battle of Passchendaele, where, on 12 October 1917, 843 New Zealanders were killed on a single day, or the sinking of the liner Wimmera, which hit a German mine off Cape Maria van Diemen on 26 June 1918, killing 26. Nor does it include major disease outbreaks, such as the 1918 influenza pandemic, which claimed about 9000 lives over several months.
1846 Taupō landslide
On 7 May a massive landslide on the shores of Lake Taupō overwhelmed the kāinga (village) of Te Rapa, killing around 60 people, including Ngāti Tūwharetoa leader Mananui Te Heuheu Tūkino II.
Devastating landslide at Lake Taupō
1855 Wairarapa earthquakeF
On 23 January a magnitude 8.2 earthquake struck the lower North Island. It killed between five and nine people in Wellington, Manawatū and Wairarapa and radically altered the landscape of the Wellington region.
The 1855 Wairarapa earthquake (Te Ara).
1863 HMS Orpheus shipwreck
On 7 February the Royal Navy steam corvette HMS Orpheus foundered at the entrance to Auckland’s Manukau Harbour. Of the 259 officers, seamen and Royal Marines on board, 189 died in the worst maritime disaster in New Zealand waters.
New Zealand's worst shipwreck
1863 Central Otago floods
About 25 gold miners lost their lives as flash floods raged along the Shotover River, north-east of Queenstown, on 26 July 1863.
19th-century floods (Te Ara).
1865 Fiery Star shipwreck
On 11 May the sailing ship Fiery Star caught fire and sank south of Cuvier Island, off the Coromandel Peninsula, with the loss of 79 lives.
Perils of the sea (Te Ara)
1865 City of Dunedin shipwreck
The paddle steamer City of Dunedin and its 39 passengers and crew disappeared without trace after leaving Wellington on 20 May. The ship is presumed to have foundered in Cook Strait.
Loss of City of Dunedin with all hands
1866 General Grant shipwreck
On 14 May the sailing ship General Grant was wrecked in the Auckland Islands, south of New Zealand, with the loss of (ultimately) 73 lives. Ten survivors were rescued 18 months later.
Perils of the sea (Te Ara)
1868 Great storm
On 3/4 February a violent storm swept across much of the country, wrecking 12 ships – including the Star of Tasmania and Water Nymph at Oamaru – and causing flash floods. More than 40 lives were lost.
Heavy gale and floods in Otago (Papers Past).
1874 Cospatrick shipwreck
On the night of 17/18 November the emigrant ship Cospatrick, sailing from England to Auckland, was destroyed by fire off the Cape of Good Hope. Of the 473 people on board, only three survived. Although this tragedy occurred far from New Zealand and involved migrants who had yet to live in this country, the burning of the Cospatrick could be considered our worst civilian disaster.
Cospatrick fire kills 470
1879 Kaitangata mine accident
On 21 February, 34 miners were killed in an explosion at the Kaitangata coal mine in Otago.
Kaitangata mining disaster.
1881 Tararua shipwreck
On 29 April the steamer Tararua was wrecked off Waipapa Point, Southland. Of the 151 passengers and crew on board, 131 were lost in the worst civilian shipwreck in New Zealand waters.
131 perish in worst civilian shipwreck in New Zealand waters
1882 Timaru harbour tragedy
On 14 May a sudden storm wrecked two large sailing ships, the City of Perth and Ben Venue, in Timaru’s exposed roadstead. Nine lives were lost. Among the dead were the port’s harbourmaster and five local watermen, who had tried to rescue the ships’ crews.
See Timaru shipwreck memorial and The Ben Venue and City of Perth (Te Ara)
1886 Taiaroa shipwreck
On 11 April the steamer Taiaroa struck rocks near the mouth of the Clarence River, north of Kaikōura, and sank with the loss of 34 lives.
The Taiaroa disaster (Papers Past)
1886 Tarawera eruption
On 10 June the volcanic Mt Tarawera, south-east of Rotorua, erupted spectacularly, killing perhaps 150 people and burying the famed Pink and White Terraces on Lake Rotomahana.
Eruption of Mt Tarawera
1894 Wairarapa shipwreck
On 29 October, in a heavy fog, the liner Wairarapa steamed into cliffs on Great Barrier Island, with the loss of 121 of its 251 passengers and crew.
Read
The story of the disaster (Papers Past).
1896 Brunner mine accident
On 26 March an explosion at Brunner, West Coast, killed 65 coal miners in New Zealand’s worst mining disaster.
Mining accidents (Te Ara)
1900 Mōtū River accident
On 5 August, 16 children and two adults were drowned after their canoe capsized as they crossed the Mōtū River in eastern Bay of Plenty. Te Whānau-ā-Apanui placed a rāhui (ban) on fishing in the area.
Motu tragedy (Sooty's)
1902 Loch Long shipwreck
In late May the three-masted sailing ship Loch Long was wrecked off the Chatham Islands, with the loss of 24 lives.
Loch Long memorial
1902 Elingamite shipwreck
On 9 November the steamer Elingamite was wrecked on the Three Kings Islands, north of Cape Rēinga, with the loss of 45 lives.
Shipwrecks (Te Ara)
1909 Penguin shipwreck
On 12 February the Cook Strait ferry Penguin struck rocks off Cape Terawhiti and sank with the loss of 72 lives.
SS Penguin wrecked in Cook Strait
1914 Landslide on Whakaari / White Island
On 10 September 10 sulfur miners were killed on Whakaari / White Island in Bay of Plenty when part of the crater wall collapsed, causing a landslide.
Eruption on White Island kills 10 people
1914 Huntly mine accident
On 12 September 43 coal miners were killed in an explosion at Ralph’s Mine, Waikato.
43 miners killed in explosion at Huntly
1923 Ōngarue railway accident
On 6 July the North Island main trunk express slammed into a huge landslide at Ōngarue, north of Taumarunui. With 17 deaths, this was the first major loss of life on New Zealand’s railways.
Auckland-Wellington express train disaster.
1926 Dobson mine accident
On 3 December an explosion at the Dobson coal mine on the West Coast killed nine miners.
Death of last survivor (Papers Past)
1929 Murchison earthquake
On 17 June an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck the north of the South Island, killing 17 people. The shock was felt throughout New Zealand but centred on the Murchison area, where it caused massive landslides.
Arthur's Pass and Murchison earthquakes (Te Ara)
1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake
On 3 February New Zealand’s deadliest earthquake, magnitude 7.8, devastated much of Napier and Hastings. The death toll was 256.
1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake (Te Ara)
Images of the Hawke's Bay earthquake
1938 Kōpuawhara flood
On 19 February a flash flood swept away a Public Works railway construction camp at Kōpuawhara on the East Coast, killing 21 workers.
Kōpuawhara flood kills 21
1939 Huntly mine accident
On 24 September 11 men were asphyxiated by carbon monoxide at the Glen Afton coal mine, Huntly.
Mining accidents (Te Ara)
1942 Seacliff Mental Hospital fire
On 9 December a fire at Seacliff Mental Hospital, north of Dunedin, killed 37 of the 39 female patients in Ward 5.
Deadly fire at Seacliff Mental Hospital
1943 Hyde railway accident
On 4 June the Cromwell–Dunedin express derailed near Hyde, Central Otago, with the loss of 21 lives.
Rail tragedy at Hyde
1943 Paekākāriki maritime accident
On 19 June a LCVP (landing craft, vehicle and personnel) from the troop transport USS American Legion was swamped during an amphibious landing exercise at Paekākāriki, north of Wellington. Ten US Navy sailors drowned.
United States Navy tragedy at Paekākāriki
1943 Liberator crash
On 2 August a US B-24 Liberator transport aircraft transporting enemy internees to Australia crashed into a mangrove swamp adjacent to Whenuapai airfield, killing 15 of the 30 people on board: nine Japanese (three women, two men and four children), three Thai students, and three members of the crew.
Pearce, Edna Bertha (Te Ara)
1947 Ballantynes fire
On 18 November, 41 people were killed in New Zealand’s deadliest fire, in the Ballantynes department store in Christchurch.
Civic funeral for 41 Ballantynes fire victims
1948 Mt Ruapehu air crash
On 23 October a Lockheed Electra airliner crashed near Mt Ruapehu, with the loss of all 13 passengers and crew.
Mt Ruapehu air crash kills 13
1949 Waikanae air crash
On 18 March a Lockheed Lodestar airliner crashed near Waikanae on the Kāpiti Coast. All 15 passengers and crew were killed.
The “Kaka” and “Kereru” Crashes (1966 encyclopaedia)
1950 Ranui shipwreck
On 28 December the passenger launch Ranui, returning from a holiday trip to Mayor Island, was wrecked on North Rock, Mt Maunganui. Of the 23 people on board, only one survived.
Shipwrecks - Ranui (1966 encyclopaedia)
1951 Wellington to Lyttelton yacht race
On 23 January, 20 yachts left Wellington bound for Lyttelton in an ocean yacht race to celebrate Canterbury’s centenary. Following a severe southerly storm only one yacht officially finished the race. Two yachts and their 10 crew members were lost.
Wellington-Lyttelton yacht race tragedy
1953 Tangiwai railway accident
On 24 December a North Island main trunk express plunged off the Tangiwai bridge into the Whangaehu River. The bridge had been fatally weakened by a lahar from Mt Ruapehu’s crater lake. Of the 285 people on board, 151 were killed. This is New Zealand’s worst rail disaster.
Tangiwai disaster
1959 Holmglen shipwreck
On 24 November the coaster Holmglen foundered north of Oamaru. All 15 crew were lost.
15 die in mysterious shipwreck
1963 Northland bus crash
Fifteen people were killed in New Zealand’s worst bus accident. A party was returning from Waitangi Day commemorations when shortly after lunchtime on 7 February the bus failed to take a bend as it descended Pilbrow Hill, in the Brynderwyn Hills, south of Whangārei.
Brynderwyn bus disaster memorial
1963 Kaimai air crash
On 3 July a DC-3 airliner crashed in the Kaimai Range, Bay of Plenty. All 23 passengers and crew were killed in what remains the worst air crash within New Zealand.
DC3 crashes in Kaimai Range
1966 Kaitawa shipwreck
On 23 May near Cape Rēinga the collier Kaitawa was lost with all 29 hands.
1966 key events
1967 Strongman mine accident
On 19 January an explosion at the Strongman coal mine, near Greymouth, killed 19 miners.
19 killed in Strongman mine explosion at Rūnanga.
1968 Wahine shipwreck
On 10 April the Lyttelton–Wellington ferry Wahine struck Barrett Reef at the entrance to Wellington Harbour in atrocious conditions caused by ex-tropical cyclone Giselle. Of the 734 passengers and crew on board, 51 died (a 52nd victim died several weeks later, and a 53rd of related causes in 1990).
Wahine disaster
1968 Īnangahua earthquake
On 24 May a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the Īnangahua area on the West Coast. Three people were killed.
The 1968 Īnangahua earthquake (Te Ara).
1968 Maranui shipwreck
On 13 June the wheat-carrying coaster Maranui sank east of the Coromandel Peninsula after its cargo shifted in a storm. Nine of the crew drowned.
1979 Mt Erebus air crash
On 28 November an Air New Zealand DC-10 airliner, on a sightseeing flight to Antarctica, crashed into the loer slopes of Mt Erebus. All 257 passengers and crew were killed in New Zealand’s worst air disaster.
Erebus disaster
1985 Tory Channel air crash
Only one passenger survived when an Air Albatross Cessna flew into electrical wires strung across Tory Channel on 4 October. The pilot and seven members of two families were killed.
Aviation Safety Network report.
1988 Whanganui air crash
On 12 May 10 people died when a charter plane crashed in the Ahu Ahu Valley, near Whanganui.
Aviation Safety Network report
1989 Milford Sound air crash
On 8 August, 10 people died when a scenic flight from Wanaka to Milford Sound crashed into the side of a mountain in the upper Dart Valley.
Aviation Safety Network report
1993 Franz Josef Glacier air crash
On 25 October, nine people died when a sightseeing plane crashed into Franz Josef Glacier on the West Coast.
Aviation Safety Network report
1995 Cave Creek disaster
On 28 April, a Department of Conservation viewing platform built out over a cliff at Cave Creek in the West Coast’s Paparoa National Park collapsed, killing 14 people.
Cave Creek (CCL)
2000 Lindis Pass air crash
On 24 April, a Cessna aircraft whose passengers had been attending the Warbirds Over Wanaka airshow crashed into the side of a hill in Central Otago. The pilot and five passengers were killed.
Plane crash in misty pass kills 6 (NZ Herald)
2008 Tongariro tragedy
On 15 April six students and their teacher from Auckland’s Elim Christian College drowned in a canyoning accident while participating in an outdoor education programme near Tongariro National Park.
Mangatepopo canyoning disaster
2010 Fox Glacier air crash
On 4 September, nine people died when a plane carrying skydivers crashed after taking off from Fox Glacier airfield on the West Coast.
Fox Glacier plane crash.
2010 Canterbury (Darfield) earthquake
Although there were no deaths, this 4 September earthquake was – at the time – the largest to affect a major urban area since the 1931 Hawke’s Bay quake.
Canterbury (Darfield) earthquake
2010 Pike River mine accident
Explosions on 19 and 24 November resulted in the deaths of 29 coal miners at the Pike River mine on the West Coast. It was this country's worst mining disaster since 1914.
Pike River mine explosion kills 29
2011 Christchurch earthquake
At 12.51 p.m. on 22 February, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 10 km south-east of central Christchurch at a depth of only 5 km. The death toll was 185,* making it New Zealand’s worst natural disaster in terms of loss of life since 1931.
Christchurch earthquake kills 185
2012 Carterton balloon tragedy
At approximately 7.30 a.m. on 7 January, 11 people - five couples and the pilot - were killed in a balloon accident near Carterton. A fire ignited on board, causing the hot-air balloon to crash in farmland. It is New Zealand's worst ballooning accident.
Balloon crash: 'It's burst into flames and they're dead' (NZ Herald)
2012 Foveaux Strait fishing tragedy
Around midnight on 14 March The Easy Rider, a fishing boat, capsized off the northern tip of Rakiura Stewart Island. Eight of those on board drowned. The single survivor said the boat was swamped by a rogue wave.
Sinking survivor speaks of ordeal (NZ Herald)
2016 Kaikōura earthquake
At 12.02 a.m. on 14 November a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck central New Zealand, causing significant damage to buildings and infrastructure in southern Marlborough and northern Canterbury. Landslides cut off road and rail links to Kaikōura, stranding large numbers of visitors in the popular tourist town. Two people lost their lives: one at a property in Mt Lyford as a result of a heart attack and the other when the Elms Homestead in Kaikōura collapsed.
2016 Kaikōura earthquake (Wikipedia)
2016 Kaipara boating tragedy
On 26 November Francie, a chartered fishing boat, capsized while attempting to cross the Kaipara Harbour bar. Eight of the 11 men on board drowned.
Kaipara tragedy: Victims named (RNZ)
2019 Eruption of Whakaari / White Island
On 9 December, the active volcano erupted while 47 tourists and guides were on the island. Despite heroic rescue efforts, 22 people died at the scene or subsequently of burns or internal injuries.
2019 Whakaari / White Island eruption.
2023 Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods
Four people died on Friday 27 January following record rainfall at the beginning of the holiday weekend. Two drowned in Wairau Valley on Auckland's North Shore, one died in a slip at Remuera, and one drowned at Onewhero in Waikato. Thousands of people across the region had to evacuate their homes.
2023 Cyclone Gabrielle
Just 10 days after the Auckland floods, ex-tropical cyclone Gabrielle struck the north and east of the North Island, resulting in 11 deaths. Two volunteer firefighters were caught in a landslide at Muriwai, west of Auckland. A man died at Te Karaka, inland from Gisborne, and eight people died in Hawke's Bay. Treasury estimated the total damage to properties and transport infrastructure from Gabrielle and the Auckland Anniversary floods at between $9 billion and $14.5 billion.
2026 Mount Maunganui landslide
Six people died when a landslide swept through the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park at the base of Mauao on 22 January, as severe storms hammered the upper North Island; two people died when a slip struck a house in rural Pāpāmoa on the same day. This series of storms also claimed two other lives.
* The official toll was initially given as 181, but four further victims were confirmed by the coroner in February 2012.
