<P> This is a list of disasters and tragic events in modern Australia sorted by death toll . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Disaster </Th> <Th> Location </Th> <Th> Deaths </Th> <Th> Date </Th> <Th> Notes </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Pandemic </Td> <Td> Australia - wide </Td> <Td> 12,000 + </Td> <Td> 1918--1920 </Td> <Td> 1918 flu pandemic </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Epidemic </Td> <Td> Australia - wide </Td> <Td> 8,000 + </Td> <Td> 1875 - 1876 </Td> <Td> Scarlet Fever epidemic . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Epidemic </Td> <Td> Australia - wide </Td> <Td> 1013 </Td> <Td> 1946--1955 </Td> <Td> Polio epidemic . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Sea battle </Td> <Td> Indian Ocean, near Shark Bay </Td> <Td> 727 </Td> <Td> 1941 Nov 19 </Td> <Td> Battle between HMAS Sydney and German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran . Both ships sank; all 645 aboard Sydney were killed, along with 82 personnel from Kormoran . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Epidemic </Td> <Td> Australia - wide </Td> <Td> 550 </Td> <Td> 1900--1910 </Td> <Td> Bubonic plague . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Heat wave </Td> <Td> Victoria </Td> <Td> 438 </Td> <Td> 1938 Dec--Feb 1939 </Td> <Td> Heatwave killed 438 and sparked the Black Friday bushfires (see below). </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Heat wave </Td> <Td> South - eastern Australia </Td> <Td> 437 </Td> <Td> 1895--1896 </Td> <Td> Widespread heatwave killed 437, including 47 in Bourke, New South Wales . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Cyclone </Td> <Td> Bathurst Bay, Queensland </Td> <Td> 410 </Td> <Td> 1899 Mar 4 </Td> <Td> Cyclone Mahina; estimated toll . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Shipwreck </Td> <Td> King Island, Tasmania </Td> <Td> 406 </Td> <Td> 1845 </Td> <Td> Wreck of the Cataraqui--Australia's worst civil maritime disaster . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Heat wave </Td> <Td> South - eastern Australia </Td> <Td> 374 </Td> <Td> 2009 Jan 25--9 Feb </Td> <Td> A nine - day heatwave in early 2009 in which Adelaide recorded six consecutive days over 40 ° C (104 ° F), a high of 45.7 ° C (114.3 ° F) and a record overnight minimum of 33.9 ° C (93.0 ° F) on 28 January . Sparked the Black Saturday bushfires (see below). Health authorities attribute 374 deaths to the heat wave </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Shipwreck </Td> <Td> coast near Murchison River, Western Australia </Td> <Td> 286 </Td> <Td> 1712 Apr </Td> <Td> Sinking of Dutch ship Zuytdorp . There has been speculation that there were survivors, who may have been assisted by local Aborigines . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Sinking </Td> <Td> Off North Stradbroke Island, Queensland </Td> <Td> 268 </Td> <Td> 1943 May 14 </Td> <Td> Sinking of AHS Centaur . Hospital ship torpedoed by a Japanese submarine . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Heat wave </Td> <Td> Southern states </Td> <Td> 246 </Td> <Td> 1907 Dec--Jan 1908 </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Air raids </Td> <Td> Darwin, Northern Territory </Td> <Td> 243 </Td> <Td> 1942 Feb 19 </Td> <Td> First bombings of Darwin . The first Japanese air raids against Australia . The toll may have been higher because itinerants and Aborigines may be under - represented in the official count . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Prison break </Td> <Td> Cowra, New South Wales </Td> <Td> 235--238 </Td> <Td> 1944 Aug 5 </Td> <Td> Cowra breakout . Escape by Japanese POWs . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Pandemic </Td> <Td> Australia - wide </Td> <Td> 234 </Td> <Td> 1890 </Td> <Td> 1889 - 90 flu pandemic </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Shipwreck </Td> <Td> King Island, Tasmania </Td> <Td> 224 </Td> <Td> 1835 May 13 </Td> <Td> Neva </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Shipwreck </Td> <Td> Western Australia </Td> <Td> 212 </Td> <Td> 1726 </Td> <Td> Aagtekerke . Possibly WA, but there is some doubt on this . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Pandemic </Td> <Td> Australia - wide </Td> <Td> 191 </Td> <Td> 2009 </Td> <Td> 2009 flu pandemic in Australia . 191 confirmed deaths . Death toll possibly as high as 1600 . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Shipwreck </Td> <Td> Ledge Point, Western Australia </Td> <Td> 186 </Td> <Td> 1656 Apr </Td> <Td> Vergulde Draeck </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Bushfires </Td> <Td> Victoria </Td> <Td> 173 </Td> <Td> 2009 Feb </Td> <Td> Black Saturday bushfires </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Cyclone / sinking </Td> <Td> Western Australia </Td> <Td> 149 </Td> <Td> 1912 Mar 1 </Td> <Td> SS Koombana </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Heatwaves </Td> <Td> Australia - wide </Td> <Td> 147 </Td> <Td> 1920--1921 </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Heatwaves </Td> <Td> Australia - wide </Td> <Td> 143 + </Td> <Td> 1911--1912 </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Cyclone </Td> <Td> Broome, Western Australia </Td> <Td> 141 </Td> <Td> 1935 Mar </Td> <Td> Pearling fleet devastated </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Cyclone </Td> <Td> Eighty Mile Beach, Western Australia </Td> <Td> 140 </Td> <Td> 1884 </Td> <Td> Pearling fleet sunk </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Shipwreck </Td> <Td> D'Entrecasteaux Channel, Tasmania </Td> <Td> 133 </Td> <Td> 1835 Apr 12 </Td> <Td> George III </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Shipwreck </Td> <Td> Cape York, Queensland </Td> <Td> 133 </Td> <Td> 1890 Feb 28 </Td> <Td> RMS Quetta </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Heatwave </Td> <Td> Southern states </Td> <Td> 130 </Td> <Td> 1926--1927 </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Shipwreck / mutiny / massacre </Td> <Td> Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia </Td> <Td> 125 + </Td> <Td> 1629 Jun--Jul </Td> <Td> Wreck of the Dutch ship Batavia, after which mutineers murdered 125 passengers . This toll does not include the mutineers, seven of whom were hanged and two cast away after the remaining passengers had been rescued . Most of the remaining mutineers were later executed . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Heatwave </Td> <Td> Australia - wide </Td> <Td> 122 + </Td> <Td> 1913--1914 </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Cyclone / sinking </Td> <Td> North - eastern Queensland </Td> <Td> 122 </Td> <Td> 1911 Mar 16 </Td> <Td> SS Yongala </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Shipwreck </Td> <Td> Sydney, New South Wales </Td> <Td> 121 </Td> <Td> 1857 Aug 20 </Td> <Td> Dunbar. 1 survivor . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Heatwave </Td> <Td> Australia - wide </Td> <Td> 112 </Td> <Td> 1939--1940 </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Heatwave </Td> <Td> Australia - wide </Td> <Td> 109 </Td> <Td> 1909--1910 </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Heatwave </Td> <Td> Southern regions, Australia </Td> <Td> 105 + </Td> <Td> 1959 </Td> <Td> One source puts death toll at 145 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Cyclone / sinking </Td> <Td> Ayr, Queensland </Td> <Td> 102--112 </Td> <Td> 1875 Feb 24 </Td> <Td> SS Gothenburg . Records of passengers vary </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Th> Disaster </Th> <Th> Location </Th> <Th> Deaths </Th> <Th> Date </Th> <Th> Notes </Th> </Tr>

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