List of disasters in Taiwan by death toll

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

200 or more deaths

Fatalities	Year	Article	Type	Location	Comments
44,638	1918-1920	Spanish Flu	Pandemic	Nationwide
19,039	2020-2023	COVID-19 in Taiwan	Pandemic	Nationwide
3,276	1935	1935 Shinchiku-Taichū earthquake	Earthquake	Northwest Taiwan
3,000+	1845	Huneigang Storm Tide  [ zh ]	Storm surge	Yunlin County
2,671	1955-1977	1955-77 Polio epidemic	Epidemic	Nationwide	[1]
2,415	1999	1999 Jiji earthquake	Earthquake	Central Taiwan
2,210	1946	1946 Cholera epidemic	Epidemic	Nationwide
1,258-1,266	1906	1906 Meishan earthquake	Earthquake	South central Taiwan
1,030	1848	1848 Changhua Earthquake  [ zh ]	Earthquake	Changhua County
782	1948-1958	1948-58 Rabies outbreak	Disease outbreak	Nationwide	[2]
699	2009	Typhoon Morakot	Typhoon	Southern and eastern Taiwan
667	1959	August 7 Flood  [ zh ]	Flood	Central and southern Taiwan
617	1792	Chiayi Earthquake of 1792  [ zh ]	Earthquake	Chiayi County
580	1867	1867 Keelung earthquake	Earthquake	Keelung
500-1,700	1862	1862 Tainan Earthquake  [ zh ]	Earthquake	Tainan
381	1845	1845 Taichung Earthquake  [ zh ]	Earthquake	Taichung
372	1736	1736 Tainan Earthquake  [ zh ]	Earthquake	Tainan
363	1963	Typhoon Gloria	Typhoon	Northern Taiwan
358	1941	1941 Chungpu earthquake	Earthquake	Chiayi County
293	1961	Typhoon Pamela	Typhoon	Eastern Taiwan
270	1879	Sinking of the S.S. New Taiwan	Maritime disaster	Paracel Islands (disputed)
225	2002	China Airlines Flight 611	Plane crash	Taiwan Strait offshore of Penghu County
220	1957	1957 Diphtheria epidemic	Epidemic	Nationwide
214	2015	2015 dengue outbreak in Taiwan	Disease outbreak	Southern Taiwan
214	2001	Typhoon Toraji	Typhoon	Eastern and central Taiwan
207	1908	Sinking of the Matsushima	Maritime disaster	Magong, Penghu County
202	1998	China Airlines Flight 676	Plane crash	Taoyuan

100 to 199 deaths

Fatalities	Year	Article	Type	Location	Comments
153	1952	Typhoon Bess	Typhoon	Southern Taiwan
145	1904	1904 Douliu earthquake	Earthquake	Yunlin County
143	1970	Typhoon Fran	Typhoon	Northern Taiwan
130	1892	Sinking of the SS Bokhara	Maritime disaster	Penghu County
117	2016	2016 southern Taiwan earthquake	Earthquake	Southern Taiwan
117	1839	1839 Chiayi Earthquake  [ zh ]	Earthquake	Chiayi County
113	1815	1815 Tamsui earthquake  [ zh ]	Earthquake	New Taipei
110	1981	Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103	Plane crash	Sanyi Township, Miaoli County
106	1964	1964 Baihe earthquake	Earthquake	Southern Taiwan
105	1969	Typhoon Elsie	Typhoon	Northern and eastern Taiwan
104	2001	Typhoon Nari	Typhoon	Northern Taiwan
104	1960	Typhoon Shirley	Typhoon	Northern and eastern Taiwan
103	1984	Meishan coal mine fire  [ zh ]	Mine disaster	Ruifang District, New Taipei
100	1956	Sinking of The Second Guangsheng  [ zh ]	Maritime disaster	Offshore of Wangan Township, Penghu County

99 to 10 deaths

Fatalities	Year	Article	Type	Location	Comments
99	1982-1983	1982-83 Polio epidemic	Epidemic
93	1984	Haishan Coal Mine No. 1 Pit Explosion  [ zh ]	Mine disaster	Sanxia District, New Taipei
87	1962	Typhoon Opal	Typhoon	Northern and eastern Taiwan
87	1986	Typhoon Wayne	Typhoon	Central and western Taiwan
85	1951	1951 East Rift Valley earthquakes	Earthquake series	Eastern Taiwan
83	2000	Singapore Airlines Flight 006	Plane crash	Taoyuan
82	1967	Typhoon Clara	Typhoon	Northern and central Taiwan
81	2003	2002-2004 SARS outbreak	Pandemic	Nationwide
81	1951	Typhoon Pat	Typhoon	Southern Taiwan
78	1998	Enterovirus (E7) outbreak	Disease outbreak
74	1946	1946 Hsinhua earthquake	Earthquake	Southwest Taiwan
74	1951	Caolingtan dam collapse  [ zh ]	Dam collapse	Meishan Township, Chiayi County
73	1951	1951 Floods	Floods	Central and southern Taiwan
73	1996	Typhoon Herb	Typhoon	Northern and central Taiwan
72-74	1984	Haishan Coal Mine Explosion  [ zh ]	Mine disaster	Tucheng District, New Taipei
72	1977	Typhoon Thelma	Typhoon	Southern Taiwan
71	1916-1917	1916–1917 Nantou earthquakes	Earthquake series	Central Taiwan
68	1973	Typhoon Nora	Typhoon	Southern Taiwan
64	1948	Xindian Bridge train fire  [ zh ]	Train fire	Banqiao District, New Taipei
64	2000	Typhoon Xangsane	Typhoon	Northern and eastern Taiwan
64	1995	Weierkang Club fire	Building fire	Taichung
62	1957	Typhoon Virginia	Typhoon	Northern and eastern Taiwan
62	1965	Typhoon Dinah	Typhoon	Southern and eastern Taiwan
61	1961	Chenggong-1 accident  [ zh ]	Naval training disaster	Offshore of Kaohsiung
60	1968	Typhoon Elaine	Typhoon	Northern Taiwan
59	1956	Typhoon Dinah	Typhoon	Northern Taiwan
58	1951	Luodi Mountain landing exercise disaster	Naval training disaster	Kaohsiung
57	1964	Civil Air Transport Flight 106	Plane crash	Taichung
57	1990	Sinking of the Xinye  [ zh ]	Ship sinking	Sun Moon Lake, Yuchi Township, Nantou County
56	1897	1897 Yilan Earthquake	Earthquake	Yilan County
54	1974	Typhoon Wendy	Typhoon	Northern and eastern Taiwan
54	1989	China Airlines Flight 204	Plane crash	Xincheng Township, Hualien County
52	1971	Typhoon Nadine	Typhoon	Eastern Taiwan
51	1945	Sancha Mountain Incident  [ zh ]	Plane crash and rescue disaster	Sancha Mountain, Central Taiwan
49	2021	2021 Hualien train derailment	Train derailment	Xiulin Township, Hualien County
49	1942	Qixing Mine Explosion (1942)	Mine disaster	Keelung
48	1953	Typhoon Nina	Typhoon	Northern Taiwan
48	2014	TransAsia Airways Flight 222	Plane crash	Huxi Township, Penghu County
48	1961	1961 Chiayi County level crossing accident	Level crossing accident	Chiayi County
48	1953	Sinking of the Liansheng  [ zh ]	Maritime disaster	Offshore of Dongji Island, Wangan Township, Penghu County
48	1981	Severe Tropical Storm Maury	Typhoon	Northern Taiwan
46	2021	2021 Kaohsiung building fire	Arson	Kaohsiung
45	1961	Banping Mountain landslide  [ zh ]	Landslide	Kaohsiung
45	1997	Typhoon Winnie	Typhoon	Northern Taiwan
45	2004	Typhoon Mindulle	Typhoon	Southern and central Taiwan
44	1935	July 17, 1935 Earthquake	Earthquake (aftershock)	Miaoli County
44	2023	2023 Dengue fever outbreak  [ zh ]	Disease outbreak	Tainan
44	1990	Typhoon Ofelia	Typhoon	Eastern Taiwan
43	2015	TransAsia Airways Flight 235	Plane crash	Nangang District, Taipei
43	1958	Typhoon Winnie	Typhoon	Northern and eastern Taiwan
42	1986	Guguan tour bus accident  [ zh ]	Bus crash	Taichung
42	1987	Typhoon Lynn	Typhoon	Nationwide
41	1976	1976 Changhua County level crossing accident	Level crossing accident	Changhua County
41	1971	Qixing Mine Explosion (1971)	Mine disaster	Keelung
40	1953	Nanshijiao Ammunition Depot Explosion	Explosion	Zhonghe District, New Taipei
40	1963	Jinxing Fireworks Factory Explosion	Explosion	Taoyuan
40	1990	Hongguang Company explosion	Explosion	Taichung
39	1971	Typhoon Bess	Typhoon	Northeastern Taiwan
38	1998	Typhoon Zeb	Typhoon	Northern and eastern Taiwan
38	2010	Typhoon Megi	Typhoon	Eastern and central Taiwan
37	1989	Typhoon Sarah	Typhoon	Eastern Taiwan
36	1969	Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 104	Plane crash	Tainan
35	2009	2009 swine flu pandemic	Pandemic	Nationwide
35	1953	Typhoon Kit	Typhoon
34	1980	Yongan coal mine flood	Mine disaster	New Taipei
33	1983	ROCAF Flight 3197 crash	Plane crash	Jinhu Township, Fuchien Province
33	1979	Fuyuan Street building explosion  [ zh ]	Explosion	Songshan District, Taipei
33	2004	Typhoon Aere	Typhoon
33	2017	Butterfly Lovers Tour Bus accident  [ zh ]	Bus crash	Nangang District, Taipei
33	1993	Lun Qing Western Restaurant fire  [ zh ]	Arson	Zhongshan District, Taipei
32	2014	2014 Kaohsiung gas explosion  [ zh ]	Explosion	Kaoshiung
32	1977	Sinking of the Tugboat TY16	Maritime disaster	Suao Township, Yilan County
31	1949	Typhoon Irma	Typhoon	Eastern Taiwan
31	1965	Typhoon Mary	Typhoon	Eastern Taiwan
31	1975	Xingzhong Street explosion	Explosion	Taichung
31	1966	Xinsheng building fire	Building fire	Taipei
30	1991	1991 Miaoli train collision	Train collision	Zaoqiao Township, Miaoli County
30	1961	Sinking of the Tien Hsiang	Maritime disaster	Kaohsiung
30	1959	Typhoon Billie	Typhoon	Northern Taiwan
30	2001	Typhoon Chebi	Typhoon	Southern and western Taiwan
30	1981	Touqian River Bridge derailment  [ zh ]	Train derailment	Hsinchu City
30	1999	Typhoon Yancy	Typhoon	Northern and eastern Taiwan
30	1994	Typhoon Tim	Typhoon	Central and southern Taiwan
29	1975	Typhoon Nina	Typhoon	Central and Northern Taiwan
29	1965	Taoyuan Yongan Elementary School bus crash	Bus crash	Yangmingshan, Taipei
29	1953	Sinking of the Third Haisheng  [ zh ]	Maritime disaster	Offshore of Dongji Island, Wangang Township, Penghu County
29	1976	Taiwan Railways Express and Tanwen Express collision	Train collision	Miaoli County
29	1969	Ruifang Coal Mine Explosion	Mine disaster	Ruifang District, New Taipei
28	1990	Zhengfa building fire  [ zh ]	Building fire	Taoyuan
28	1986	Taichi Canyon rockfall  [ zh ]	Rockfall	Zhushan Township, Nantou County
27	1961	Longtian level crossing accident  [ zh ]	Level crossing accident	Tainan
27	1959	Typhoon Joan	Typhoon	Central Taiwan
27	1975	Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 134	Plane crash	Songshan District, Taipei
27	1972	Typhoon Betty	Typhoon	Northern Taiwan
27	1964	Chengfu coal mine explosion	Mine disaster	Sanxia District, New Taipei
27	1995	Lion Forest KTV Fire	Building fire	Pingtung City, Pingtung County
26	1985	Emperor Hotel fire  [ zh ]	Arson	Tainan
26	1983	Fengyuan High School auditorium collapse  [ zh ]	Building collapse	Taichung
26	2008	Typhoon Kalmaegi	Typhoon	Northern Taiwan
26	2016	2016 Taoyuan bus fire	Arson	Taoyuan
25	1964	Sanjin Sulfur Mine landslide	Landslide	Beitou District, Taipei
25	1968	Typhoon Wendy	Typhoon	Southern Taiwan
25	1938	Sinking of the Mitori Maru  [ zh ]	Maritime disaster	Offshore of Toucheng Township, Yilan County
25	1961	1961 Kaohsiung level crossing accident	Level crossing accident	Kaohsiung
25	1971	China Airlines Flight 825	Plane crash	Penghu County
25	1973	Sinking of the Gaozhong No. 6  [ zh ]	Maritime disaster	Offshore of Kaohsiung
24	1969	China Airlines Flight 227	Plane crash	Beidawu Mountain, Pingtung County
24	1989	Kowloon Life Building fire	Arson	Kaohsiung
23	1977	Lugu Township tour bus crash	Bus accident	Lugu Township, Nantou County
23	1958	Tianran Firecracker Factory Explosion	Explosion	Chiayi
23	1992	Healthy Kindergarten Bus Fire  [ zh ]	Bus fire	Taoyuan
22	1962	Tainan Canal Dragon Boat Race accident	Capsizing	Tainan
22	1968	Civil Air Transport Flight 10	Plane crash	Linkou District, New Taipei
22	2006	Meiling tour bus accident  [ zh ]	Bus accident	Tainan
22	1980	Lianxing No. 22 drill accident	Oil disaster	Kaohsiung
22	1987	Yangde Avenue tour bus crash	Bus accident	Shilin District, Taipei
22	2005	Xinhuang Chemical Pharmaceutical Company explosion	Explosion	Taichung
22	1967	Typhoon Clara	Typhoon
21	1962	1962 Diphtheria epidemic	Epidemic
21	2024-present	Melioidosis outbreak	Disease outbreak
21	2000	Sinking of the Hualien No. 1	Maritime disaster	Offshore of New Taipei
21	1956	Typhoon Freda	Typhoon
21	1811	Chiayi Earthquake of 1811	Earthquake	Chiayi County
21	1993	Carlton Barber's Shop fire	Arson	Zhongshan District, Taipei
20	1975	Typhoon Betty	Typhoon	Northern Taiwan
20	1972	Dahua Institute of Technology graduation tour bus crash	Bus accident	Yilan County
20	2024	2024 Hualien earthquake	Earthquake	Hualien County
20	1959	Shinkei Palace truck crash  [ zh ]	Truck crash	Lugu Township, Nantou County
20	1990	Ziqiang Bowling Center fire  [ zh ]	Building fire	Zhonghe District, New Taipei
19	1994	Typhoon Doug	Typhoon	Northern Taiwan
19	1960	Touqianxi Estuary ferry disaster	Ferry disaster	Zhubei, Hsinchu County
19	1984	The Times hotel fire  [ zh ]	Building fire	Zhongshan District, Taipei
18	1962	Typhoon Kate	Typhoon	Eastern Taiwan
18	1985	Sinking of the Haiqiang	Maritime disaster	Offshore of Xiyu Township, Penghu County
18	1966	Typhoon Judy	Typhoon	Southern Taiwan
18	1991	Sinking of the Golden Dragon No. 1	Maritime disaster	Offshore of Baisha Township, Penghu County
18	1990	1990 ROCAF B-1900 crash	Plane crash	Yilan County	[3]
18	1989	21st Century Visual Center fire	Building fire	Taoyuan
18	2005	Sinking of the Ruitai No. 8	Maritime disaster	Offshore of Suao Township, Yilan County
18	1958	Qiyi coal mine cable car accident	Mine disaster	New Taipei
18	1957	Yingge train derailment  [ zh ]	Train derailment	Yingge District, New Taipei
18	2018	2018 Yilan train derailment	Train derailment	Suao Township, Yilan County
18	1991	Tianlong Sauna Fire	Building fire	Datong District, Taipei
18	1992	Citi Hotel fire	Building fire	Kaohsiung
17	2003	2003 Alishan train derailment  [ zh ]	Train derailment	Alishan Township, Chiayi County
17	1980	Tri-Mountain National Scenic Area tour bus crash	Bus accident	Taichung
17	1991	Bade Road Sauna Fire	Building fire	Kaohsiung
17	2018	2018 Hualien earthquake	Earthquake	Hualien County
17	1956	Typhoon Wanda	Typhoon	Northern Taiwan
17	1996	1996 Taichung sauna fire	Building fire	Taichung
16-17	1959	1959 Hengchun earthquake	Earthquake	Pingtung County
16	1961	Typhoon Betty	Typhoon	Northern Taiwan
16	1997	Formosa Airlines Flight 7601	Plane crash	Beigan Township, Fuchien Province
16	1986	Daren Gong Shipbreaking Yard Explosion  [ zh ]	Explosion	Kaohsiung
16	1997	1997 Taoyuan bus crash	Bus accident	Taoyuan
16	1990	Money Locker MTV Fire	Building fire	Kaohsiung
16	1992	Mythical World KTV fire  [ zh ]	Arson	Zhongshan District, Taipei
16	2003	Luzhou Daxishi Community fire  [ zh ]	Arson	Luzhou District, New Taipei
15	1990	Wufu Commercial Building fire	Arson	Taoyuan
15	1963	Typhoon Wendy	Typhoon	Northern Taiwan
15	2014	2014 Dengue fever outbreak  [ zh ]	Disease outbreak	Kaohsiung
15	1981	Sage Falls flash flood	Flash flood	Shilin District, Taipei	[4]
15	1906	1906 Yanshui earthquake	Earthquake	Tainan
15	1982	Typhoon Andy	Typhoon	Southern Taiwan
15	2012	Typhoon Saola	Typhoon	Northern and eastern Taiwan
15	2024	Typhoon Gaemi	Typhoon	Northeast and southern Taiwan
15	2015	2015 New Taipei water park fire	Dust fire	Bali District, New Taipei
15	2018	Taipei Hospital fire  [ zh ]	Building fire	Xinzhuang District, New Taipei
14	1961	Typhoon June	Typhoon	Central Taiwan
14	1963	Zhongshan Hall stampede	Crowd crush	Taoyuan
14	1968	Typhoon Nadine	Typhoon	Northern Taiwan
14	1970	China Airlines Flight 206	Plane crash	Songshan District, Taipei
14	1988	Baling Industrial Road tour bus crash	Bus accident	Taoyuan
14	2000	Typhoon Bilis	Typhoon	Central Taiwan
13	1982	CSIC Esso Spain oil tanker fire	Ship fire	Kaohsiung
13	1918	Yingge runaway train accident  [ zh ]	Train accident	Yingge District, New Taipei
13	1986	1986 Hualien earthquake	Earthquake	Hualien County
13	1962	Typhoon Amy	Typhoon	Eastern and central Taiwan
13	1939	Chiayi Girls' High School drowning  [ zh ]	Drowning accident	Sihu Township, Yunlin County
13	1986	Typhoon Abby	Typhoon	Northern and central Taiwan
13	1986	China Airlines Flight 2265	Plane crash	Magong, Penghu County
13	1998	Formosa Airlines Flight 7623	Plane crash	Offshore of Hsinchu County
13	1972	Shulin Junior High School tour bus crash	Bus accident	Pinglin District, New Taipei
13	1983	Kaifeng Street Section 2 fire	Building fire	Taipei
13	1992	Tonight Karaoke Fire	Building fire	Hsinchu County
13	1993	Yangmingshan tour bus accident	Bus accident	Yangmingshan, Taipei
13	1984	Zhongshan Expressway pileup	Vehicle pileup	Miaoli County
13	1936	Erjie Paper Factory explosion  [ zh ]	Explosion	Wujie Township, Yilan County
13	2012	Simakusi tour bus accident  [ zh ]	Bus accident	Jianshi Township, Hsinchu County
13	1994	Juxing Diamond KTV Fire	Building fire	Taipei
13	1982	Futian coal mine explosion	Mine disaster	Neihu District, Taipei
13	1995	Happy Song KTV fire	Arson	Taipei
13	1996	Minsheng Building Fire	Building fire	Taichung
13	2012	Xinying Hospital Beimen Branch Fire  [ zh ]	Building fire	Tainan
12	2005	Typhoon Haitang	Typhoon	Northern and eastern Taiwan
12	1989	Yongxing Airlines C404 plane crash  [ zh ]	Plane crash	Kaohsiung
12	1888	Sinking of the Wei Ding	Maritime disaster	Paracel Islands (disputed)
12	1959	Typhoon Freda	Typhoon	Eastern Taiwan
12	1976	Typhoon Billie	Typhoon	Northern and eastern Taiwan
12	2009	Typhoon Parma	Typhoon	most of Taiwan
12	1990	Bade Township firecracker factory explosion	Explosion	Taoyuan
12	1989	Cross-Island Highway tour bus crash	Bus accident	Taoyuan
12	1971	1971 Taiwan Railways train collision	Train collision	Changhua County
12	2015	Typhoon Soudelor	Typhoon	Northern and eastern Taiwan
12	1991	Wangtian Interchange accident	Vehicle collision	Taichung
12	1979	Wangang Fireworks Company explosion	Explosion	Taichung
12	1998	1998 Taichung City residential fire	Building fire	Taichung
11	1956	Xindong Plastic factory fire	Building fire	Taichung
11	1969	Typhoon Viola	Typhoon	Southern Taiwan
11	1881	1881 Taipei Earthquake	Earthquake	Miaoli County
11	1981	Qingtong Coal Mine Explosion	Mine disaster	Pingxi District, New Taipei
11	1927	1927 Xinying Earthquake	Earthquake	Tainan
11	1957	1957 Hualien Earthquake	Earthquake	Hualien County
11	1987	Typhoon Gerald	Typhoon	Southern Taiwan
11	1984	Magong Ferry fire	Ship fire	Magong
11	1989	1989 Hualien hotel fire	Building fire	Hualien City
11	1993	1993 Pingzhen City fire	Building fire	Taoyuan
11	1995	Carnival Building Fire	Building fire	Chiayi City
11	1997	1997 Kaohsiung gas explosion  [ zh ]	Explosion	Kaohsiung
10	1961	Guanglong Oil Tanker explosion	Ship fire	Kaohsiung
10	1976	Pacific Toy Factory Fire	Building fire	Taoyuan
10	1882	1882 Taiwan Earthquake	Earthquake	Taitung County
10	1993	Black Pearl Karaoke Fire	Building fire	Shulin District, New Taipei
10	1981	1981 Hsinchu County level crossing accident	Level crossing accident	Hsinchu County
10	1966	Typhoon Elsie	Typhoon	Northern and eastern Taiwan
10	1996	Yongxing Resin Chemical Factory Explosion	Explosion	Taoyuan
10	1970	1970 Hsinchu City level crossing accident	Level crossing accident	Hsinchu City
10	2023	Pingtung Science and Technology Industrial Park Fire  [ zh ]	Building fire	Pingtung City

See also

• List of earthquakes in Taiwan

References

1. "小兒麻痺症（Poliomyelitis)". Chiayi City Government Health Bureau (in Chinese). Retrieved 4 April 2025.
2. "台灣歷史". 台灣感染症醫學會 (in Chinese). Retrieved 4 April 2025.
3. "Top Taiwan Military Officers Among 18 Killed in Air Crash". New York Times. 21 August 1990. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
4. "外雙溪無預警放水 15師生枉死" (in Chinese). CTS News. 2011. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2025.