List of disasters in Norway by death toll

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

This list of Norwegian disasters by death toll includes major disasters (excluding acts of war) that occurred on Norwegian soil or involved Norwegian citizens, in a definable incident, where the loss of life was 10 or more.

200 or more deaths

Fatalities	Year	Article	Type	Location	Comments
300,000+	1349-1351	Black Death in Norway	Pandemic	Nationwide
7,308-15,000+	1917-1920	Spanish flu	Pandemic	Nationwide
3,908	2020-present	COVID-19 pandemic	Pandemic	Nationwide
2,000+	1654	The plague in Eastern Norway	Epidemic	Eastern Norway
1,421	1853-1854	1853 Oslo Cholera outbreak	Epidemic	Oslo and surrounding regions
1,350	1848-1850	1848 Bergen Cholera outbreak	Epidemic	Bergen and surrounding regions of Western Norway
817	1833-1834	1833 Eastern Norway Cholera outbreak	Epidemic	Oslo and Eastern Norway
500	1345	Gauldal landslides  [ no ]	Landslide	Gauldal, Trøndelag
400	1853-1857	1853 Eastern Norway Cholera outbreak	Epidemic	Eastern Norway
400-600	1594	1594 Stadlandet storm  [ no ]	Storm	Stadhavet (off Stad), Western Norway
300	1822	Galnemåndagen  [ no ]	Hurricane	Western Norway
225	1904	Sinking of the SS Norge	Shipwreck	near Rockall
210	1625	First Gjæsling disaster  [ no ]	Storm	Folda, Trøndelag

100 to 199 deaths

Fatalities	Year	Article	Type	Location	Comments
159	1990	MS Scandinavian Star fire	Ship fire (arson)	Skagerrak, North Sea	136 of the victims were Norwegian
158	1944	1944 Bergen explosion	Explosion	Bergen, Vestland
141	1996	Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801	Plane crash	Operafjellet, Svalbard
140	1679	February 16 avalanches	Avalanches	Møre og Romsdal
140	1899	Titran disaster  [ no ]	Shipwreck	Frøya, Trøndelag
130	1893	Storm in Lofoten and Vesterålen	Storm	Vesterålen and Lofoten, Nordland
129	1869	1869 Avalanches	Avalanches	Møre og Romsdal
123	1980	Alexander L. Kielland disaster	Oil disaster	Ekofisk field, North Sea
120	1943	1943 Filipstad explosion	Explosion	Oslo
116	1822	Grue Church fire	Building fire	Grue, Innlandet
116	1893	Verdal landslide  [ no ]	Landslide	Verdal, Trøndelag

10 to 99 deaths

Fatalities	Year	Article	Type	Location	Comments
96-100	1868	1868 Lofoten storm  [ no ]	Storm	Lofoten, Nordland
90	1726	1726 Senja storm  [ no ]	Storm	Senja, Troms
84 (Norwegians)	2004	2004 Indian Ocean tsunami	Tsunami	Southeast Asia
78	1952	West Ice accidents	Shipwrecks	Arctic Ocean east of Greenland
74	1936	1936 Loenvatnet landslide and megatsunami  [ no ]	Landslide and megatsunami	Loen, Nordfjord
63	1789	Storofsen flood	Flood	Hedmark
61	1905	Loenvatnet landslide tsunami  [ no ]	Landslide and megatsunami	Loen, Nordfjord
55	1989	Partnair Flight 394	Plane crash	Offshore of Hirtshals, Denmark	52 of the victims were Norwegian
45	1811	1811 Arnafjorden landslide	Landslide	Arnafjorden, Vestland
43	1913	Sinking of the DS Malmberget	Shipwreck	Norwegian Sea north of Myken, Nordland
41	1962	Sinking of the MS Sanct Svithun	Shipwreck	Folda, Trøndelag
41	1972	Braathens SAFE Flight 239	Plane crash	Asker, Akershus
40	1934	Tafjord disaster  [ no ]	Landslide and megatsunami	Tafjorden, Møre og Romsdal
40	1979	Sinking of the MS Berge Vanga	Shipwreck	Atlantic Ocean
39	1961	1961 Holtaheia Vickers Viking crash	Plane crash	Holta, Rogaland
36	1974	Sinking of the FV Gaul	Shipwreck	Barents Sea, Finnmark
36	1988	Widerøe Flight 710	Plane crash	Torghatten, Nordland
35	1947	Kvitbjørn disaster	Plane crash	Lødingen, Nordland
34	1901	Sandsundvær disaster  [ no ]	Tide surge	Sandsundvær, Nordland
34	1949	Hurum air disaster	Plane crash	Hurum, Buskerud
32	1756	Tjelle landslide  [ no ]	Landslide and megatsunami	Tjelle, Nesset, Møre og Romsdal
32	1868	Oppdal avalanche	Avalanche	Trøndelag
32	1956	Sinking of the SS Pelagia  [ no ]	Shipwreck	Offshore of the Skomvær Lighthouse, Nordland
32	1972	Sinking of the MS Anita  [ no ]	Shipwreck	Atlantic Ocean off of New Jersey
30	1733	1733 Oldedalen landslide	Landslide	Olden, Vestland
30	1821	1821 Andenes storm	Storm	Andenes, Nordland
30	1899	Røværulykken  [ no ]	Shipwreck	Røvær, Rogaland
30	1951	Sinking of the MS Bess  [ no ]	Shipwreck	North Sea west of Denmark
30	1968	Sinking of the MS Etnefjell  [ no ]	Shipwreck	North Atlantic
30	1975	Sinking of the MS Berge Istra	Shipwreck	Pacific Ocean near the Philippines	Victims include 13 Norwegians
29	1938	Hegdehaugsveien 32 fire  [ no ]	Building fire	Oslo
29	2009	2009 swine flu pandemic in Norway	Pandemic	Nationwide
29	1973	Sinking of the MV Norse Variant	Shipwreck	Atlantic Ocean offshore of New Jersey
27	1770	Hjørundfjord avalanche	Avalanche	Hjørundfjorden, Møre og Romsdal
27	1975	Tretten train disaster	Train accident	near Tretten, Innlandet
26	1806	1806 Vesterålen storm	Storm	Troms and Nordland
25	1906	Second Gjæsling disaster  [ no ]	Storm	Foldafjord, Trøndelag
25	1944	Breifoss disaster  [ no ]	Train collision	Breifoss, Buskerud
25	1959	Stalheim Hotel fire  [ no ]	Building fire	Voss, Vestland
24+	1849	1849 Lofoten storm  [ no ]	Storm	Lofoten, Nordland
24	1947	Explosion and sinking of the SS Skoghaug	Ship explosion	North Sea off of the Netherlands
23	1997	Barentsburg mine disaster	Mine disaster	Barentsburg, Svalbard
22	1791	Trondheim dam breaks	Dam breaks	Trondheim, Trøndelag
22	1940	Hommelvik train collision	Train collision	Hommelvik, Trøndelag
21	1873	1873 Sogn avalanches	Avalanches	Sogn og Fjordane
21	1954	Sinking of the FV Laforey	Shipwreck	Sendingane Reef, Sogn og Fjordane	[1]
21	1956	1956 Lofoten and Vesterålen avalanches  [ no ]	Avalanches	Lofoten and Vesterålen, Nordland
21	1962	King's Bay explosion  [ no ]	Explosion	Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard
21 (Norwegians)	1921	Sinking of the Titanic	Shipwreck	Atlantic Ocean off of Newfoundland
20	1625	Bakklandet mudslide	Mudslide	Bakklandet, Trøndelag
20	1858	1858 Møre og Romsdal avalanches	Avalanche	Møre og Romsdal
20	1969	Sinking of the MT ''Silja''  [ no ]	Ship collision	Mediterranean Sea off of Toulon, France
20	1997	Sinking of the Leros Strength	Shipwreck	North Sea off of Stavanger, Rogaland	[2]
19	1906	1906 Steine avalanche  [ no ]	Avalanche	Steine, Nordland
19	1948	Bukken Bruse disaster	Plane crash	Hommelvik, Trøndelag
19	1953	King's Bay disaster (1953)  [ no ]	Explosion	Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard
19	1956	Sinking of the MFV Brenning	Shipwreck	Ervik, Vestland	[3]
19	1963	Sinking of the ''Høegh Aronde''  [ no ]	Shipwreck	Atlantic Ocean off of Morocco
19	2000	Åsta accident	Train collision	Åsta, Innlandet
18	1737	1737 Storlidalen avalanche	Avalanche	Oppdal, Trøndelag
18	1846	1846 Sunnylven avalanche	Avalanche	Møre og Romsdal
18	1860	Luster avalanche	Avalanche	Luster, Sogn og Fjordane
18	1929	Sinking of the DS ''Haakon VII''  [ no ]	Shipwreck	Askvoll, Sogn og Fjordane
18	1978	Helikopter Service Flight 165	Helicopter crash	Statfjord oil field , North Sea
18	2004	Sinking of the MV Rocknes	Shipwreck	South of Bergen, Vestland
17	1731	Skafjellet disaster  [ no ]	Landslide and megatsunami	Stranda, Møre og Romsdal
17	1755	Ørsta avalanche	Avalanche	Ørsta, Møre og Romsdal
17	1760	Rissa mudslide	Mudslide	Rissa, Trøndelag
17	1872	Svenskhuset Tragedy	Lead poisoning	Svenskehuset, Spitsbergen, Svalbard
17	1924	Collision between the DS Haakon Jarl and DS ''Kong Haral''  [ no ]	Ship collision	Landegode, Nordland
17	1945	Voksenkoll disaster  [ no ]	Plane crash	Voksenkollen, Oslo
17	1928	Crash of the Italia	Airship crash	Nordaustlandet, Svalbard
17	1972	Grytøya disaster  [ no ]	Plane crash	Grytøya, Troms
16	1768	Skjea mudslide	Mudslide	Sørum, Akershus
16	1948	Dunderland Valley bus crash	Bus crash	Dunderland Valley, Nordland
16	1986	Vassdal accident  [ no ]	Avalanche	Narvik, Nordland
16	1988	Måbødalen bus accident	Bus crash	Måbødalen, Vestland
16	1999	Sinking of the MS Sleipner	Shipwreck	Off of Ryvarden Lighthouse, Hordaland
15-20	1763	Stadhavet storm	Storm	Sogn og Fjordane
15	1702	Borregaard mudslide	Mudslide	Sarpsborg, Østfold
15	1816	Tiller landslide  [ no ]	Landslide	Trondheim, Trøndelag
15	1948	King's Bay disaster (1948)  [ no ]	Explosion	Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard
15	1982	Widerøe Flight 933	Plane crash	Barents Sea off Gamvik
14	1946	Sinking of the Brattegga	Shipwreck	Vågan, Nordland	[4]
14	1986	Hotel Caledonien fire	Building fire	Kristiansand, Agder
14	1950	Hjuksebø train collision	Train collision	Hjuksebø, Telemark
13	2016	CHC Helikopter Service Flight 241	Helicopter crash	Gullfaks oil field, North Sea
12	1997	Helikopter Service Flight 451	Helicopter crash	Offshore of Brønnøysund, Nordland
10	2020	2020 Gjerdrum landslide	Landslide	Gjerdrum, Akershus

Gallery

• 
  2020 Gjerdrum ladnslide
• 
  Alexnader L. Kielland disaster
• 
  Widerøe Flight 933
• 
  MS Scandinavian Star fire
• 
  Sinking of the MV Rocknes
• 
  Partnair Flight 394
• 
  1936 Loenvatnet landslide and tsunami
• 
  Hurum air disaster
• 
  1944 Bergen explosion
• 
  Braathens SAFE Flight 239
• 
  Verdal landslide
• 
  Grue Church fire
• 
  Filipstad explosion

See also

• List of aviation accidents and incidents in Norway
• List of disasters in Sweden by death toll
• List of disasters in Finland by death toll

References

1. "FV Laforey (GY.85) (+1954)". wrecksite.eu. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
2. "Norway – Leros Strength – Foundering – February 1997" (PDF). Maritime Safety Innovation Lab. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
3. "MFV Brenning (N-4-SF) [+1956]". wrecksite.eu. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
4. Holdo, Gunn-Mari. "Disaster Nursing or Nursing in Disaster: A Case Study Approach to Investigate the Future Requirements of Disaster Nursing in Norway" (PDF). Bournemouth University. Retrieved 15 April 2025.