List of disasters in Estonia by death toll

The following list of disasters in Estonia is a list of major disasters (excluding conventional acts of war but including acts of terrorism) which relate to Estonia or involved its citizens, in a definable incident or accident such as a shipwreck, where the loss of life was five or more, while some traffic accidents with under ten victims may be excluded.

Disasters by death toll

Deaths Italics indicate an estimated figure	Event	Year	Notes
200,000	Great Northern War plague outbreak	1708–1713	Plague during the Great Northern War, a mere decade after The Great Starvation and just after the Great Frost famine killed ca. 57% of people in Estonia.
70,000–75,000	The Great Starvation	1695–1697	A cold and rainy summer and early autumn frost resulted in crop failure, killing ca. 20% of people in Estonia.
40,000	Great Frost famine	1709	An extraordinarily cold winter resulted in crop failure, killing ca. 11% of people in Estonia.
Significant	Plague of 1211–1212	1211–1212	Plague outbreak during the Livonian Crusade devastated the Estonian forces.
Significant	Plague of 1532	1532	Plague outbreak.
Significant	Plague of 1549–1553	1549–1553	Plague outbreak.
Significant	Plagues during the Livonian War	1561–1580	Several plague outbreaks during the Livonian War devastated different forces and the civilian population.
Significant	Plague of 1601–1606	1601–1606	Plague outbreak during the Polish–Swedish War devastated different forces and the civilian population.
Significant	Plague of 1657	1657	Plague outbreak.
2,940	COVID-19 pandemic	2020–2021	The ongoing pandemic has killed 0.89% of all infected in Estonia.
2,236	1848–1849 cholera outbreak	1848–1849	Cholera outbreak killed 38% of all infected.
852	MS Estonia	1994	Cruise ferry sank in the Baltic Sea en route from Tallinn to Stockholm, Sweden after its visor broke off, killing all but 137 on board.
755	1831–1833 cholera outbreak	1831–1833	Cholera outbreak killed 40%–55% of all infected.
674	1853 cholera outbreak	1853	A short pandemic killed ca. 41% of all infected.
200	1892–1894 cholera outbreak	1892–1894	Cholera outbreak killed 35% of all infected.
177	Russian monitor Rusalka	1893	Monitor mysteriously sank en route from Tallinn to Helsinki, killing all on board.
100	1871–1872 cholera outbreak	1871–1872	Cholera outbreak mostly devastated the area in and around Tallinn.
68	Pärnu methanol poisoning incident	2001	People in Pärnu county drank counterfeit vodka which had mistakenly been made with toxic methanol instead of ordinary ethanol.
63	Männiku explosion	1936	Ammunition depots exploded in Männiku, killing mostly army personnel.
61	Puka train accident	1897	Military train derailed at Puka, killing mostly personnel of the 95th "Krasnoyarski" Infantry Regiment.
21	Moe airplane accident	1977	An-24 carrying personnel of the Soviet 655th Fighter Aviation Regiment crashed after hitting the chimney of a distillery in Moe, killing all on board.
18	Kilingi-Nõmme II Primary School fire	1937	School burned down after film stock caught fire, killing 1 child on sight, 16 in the coming days, and 1 of their wounds several years later.
14	Kurkse tragedy	1997	Soldiers of the Baltic Peacekeeping Battalion froze in the Kurkse strait en route from Suur-Pakri Island to Kurkse on the mainland by foot on a dangerous training maneuver, killing all but 8 soldiers.
14	Copterline Flight 103	2005	Commercial transport helicopter en route from Tallinn to Helsinki, Finland crashed into the Tallinn Bay after liftoff, killing all on board.
10	Jõgeva mail train accident	1924	Mail train was derailed possibly by Soviet diversionists at Pedja River near Jõgeva, killing both passengers and crew.
10	Haapsalu orphanage fire	2011	Disabled patients died of carbon monoxide poisoning, while 36 patients were evacuated.
10	Valdeku shooting-range accident	1934	Officer candidates were killed by an accidental bombshell explosion during an Estonian Military Academy exercise.
9	Petseri fire	1939	A fire destroyed a third of the mostly wooden town of Petseri.
9	Ju 52 Kaleva shootdown	1940	Commercial transport airplane en route from Tallinn to Helsinki, Finland was shot down by Soviet bombers above the Gulf of Finland, killing all on board.
9	Tallinn railway accident	1980	Two oncoming trains collided in Baltic Railway Station in Tallinn, killing passengers and crew in both trains.
8	Pala bus accident	1996	A lorry crashed into a school bus at Pala, with 29 survivors in the bus and 1 in the lorry.
6	Marja store collapse	1994	A convenience store collapsed in Mustamäe district, Tallinn, killing 5 customers on site and 1 in hospital.

Other significant disasters

Deaths Italics indicate an estimated figure	Event	Year	Notes
1	2005 January storm	2005	Cyclone Gudrun caused considerable flooding in Western and Northern Estonian coastal areas.
None	Kaali meteorite impact	Ca. 1530–1450 BC	Impact energy of about 80 TJ, incinerating the forests within a 6 km radius.
None	Toompea fire	1684	A fire destroyed much of Tallinn's upper town Toompea.
None	Great fire of Tartu	1775	A fire destroyed up to 2/3 of the mostly wooden town of Tartu. [1]
None	Sviby fire	1932	A fire destroyed almost the entire village of Sviby on Vormsi island.
None	Võõpsu fire	1939	A fire destroyed almost the entire village of Võõpsu.

See also

• List of accidents and disasters by death toll (worldwide)
• List of wars involving Estonia

References

1. "Town Hall | Tartu linn". tartu.ee. 2025-07-31. Retrieved 2025-08-22.