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NEWFOUNDLAND NATURAL DISASTERS>
Avalanches, Landslides and Tsunami

The following is a list of deaths through geologically related disasters in Newfoundland and Labrador compiled
by researchers at the provincial Geological Survey. Much of the information is fragmentary,
and we would appreciate learing more about these incidents, or any other disasters,
whether fatal or not. Information on these and other non-fatal disasters can be found at:-

http://www.gov.nl.ca/mines&en/geosurvey/disasters/

Note that this list excludes drowning, the most common cause of accidental death in the Province,
apart from in the case of the Burin Peninsula tsunami.

Date	Victim's name	Age	Place	Cause of death	Notes
1781	22 unknown Inuit	unknown	12 miles from Nain	avalanche	known from postscript of letter from Moravian missionaries, location, victims ages and names uncertain. Earliest known avalanche in Canadian history, worst avalanche disaster in eastern Canada
1823	42 unknown fishermen	unknown	Dead Man's Gulch, Ferryland	rockfall	Described by John White in Newfoundland Quarterly, 1902; roof of sea cliff collapsed onto 15 boats sheltering from storm/td>
24 May 1833	Richard Penney	20	Carbonear	avalanche
around 1861	7 unknown fishermen	unknown	Cape Cove south of St Brides	landslide	buried 7 men whilst camping, reported in account of later Cape Cove landslide; date, age, names of victims unknown
12 Mar 1863	William Doyle		Distress Cove	avalanche
12 Mar 1863	William Foley		Distress Cove	avalanche	brothers wre duck hunting; ages, exact location unknown
9-Feb-1877	6 unknown	5 children	Betts Cove	avalanche	names and ages of victims unknown
27-Jan-1884	J Fennesey		Betts Cove	avalanche	age of victim unknown
around 1890	3 unknown people		Woody Point	avalanche	known through oral accounts only, thought to involve house swept out onto ice - "In the spring of 1887 or 1888 a single house with three adults and a baby was pushed onto the ice by an avalanche. The adults were killed but the baby boy survived sheltered in his mother's arms"
late 19th century	3 people?		Ireland's Eye	avalanche	known though single oral account- date unknown, no details of victims/ age etc.
late 19th century	Tom Davis	?	Cartwright	avalanche	no details of victims age, exact date
late 19th century	Solomon Morgan	?	Cartwright	avalanche	no details of victims age, exact date
late 19th century	Andrew Reeves	?	Cartwright	avalanche	no details of victims age, exact date
23-Jan-1895	Thomas Holden		Bluff Head Brook, Chromite Mine	avalanche	ages full names of victims unknown- were working in chromite mines
23-Jan-1895	Patric Byrne			avalanche
23-Jan-1895	Laughlin			avalanche
23-Jan-1895	McKinnon			avalanche
13 Nov 1901	Sheehan	?	Broad Cove/ Capahayden	rockfall
around 1910	Joeseph Strickland	?	Bugeo - Baie de lieu	avalanche	known only from Small's diary of Burgeo -
5-Jun-11	Richard Taylor	45	Cape Cove	landslide	Taylor from Placentia, camping under Lord's Rock, exact location unknown
11-Mar-12	Francis Williams	51	Tilt Cove, Baie Verte Peninsula	avalanche	mine manager
11-Mar-12	James Shamock Williams	13		avalanche	son of mine manager
11-Mar-12	Peter Sage			avalanche	servants in William's household- ages unknown
11-Mar-12	Francis Sage			avalanche
11-Mar-12	Emily ?			avalanche	servant in Cunningham house- next door to Williams, last name/ age unknown
31-Dec-17	Joshua Peddle	53	Seal Island, Humber River (likely Shellbird Island)	avalanche
17-Feb-21	Albert Delahunty		Signal Hill, St. John's	avalanche
18-Nov-29	28 people		Burin Peninsula	tsunami
1-Mar-35	Ida Kohlmeister		Okak	avalanche
1-Mar-35	Karoline Uvloiak			avalanche
4-Mar-35	Mrs L Diamond		Corner Brook, Curling Road	avalanche	ages and names of all victims not known
4-Mar-35	Blanche Diamond	2		avalanche
4-Mar-35	? Diamond	5		avalanche
25-Aug-35	Dorothy Summerton	6	Portugal Cove	rockfall	crushed by rock whilst picking flowers for grandmother's grave. Exact location unknown.
23-Feb-36	Theresa Byrne	4	St John's	landslide	on Southside Road
20-Apr-40	Stanley Penney	?	Humbermouth	landslide	age uknown
15-Sep-48	Maureen Windsor	3	St John's	landslide	on Southside Road
31-Oct-49	Aloysius Gatheral		Bay Bulls	landslide	ages unknown - Gatherall? - brothers
31-Oct-49	Clarence Gatheral		Bay Bulls	landslide
12-Jul-52	Edward Maxwell Davis	5	Meadows	rockfall	exact location unknown
27-Mar-53	Arthur Perrier		Buchans	rockfall	working in Rothermere mine
23-Oct-53	Carl Goulding	14	Gambo	landslide	collapse of wall of gravel pit
16-Feb-59	Isiah Dawe	100	The Battery, St. John's	avalanche	5 killed
16-Feb-59	Mrs A Vincent	76		avalanche
16-Feb-59	James Piercey	42		avalanche
16-Feb-59	Mrs Piercey	38		avalanche
16-Feb-59	Theodore (Ted) Wells	19		avalanche
6-Feb-62	Ruby Hillier	10	Griquet, Northern Peninsula	avalanche
1-Aug-73	Pauline Hickey	8	Harbour Breton	landslide	4 killed in single landslide
1-Aug-73	Edward Hickey	7	Harbour Breton	landslide
1-Aug-73	Timonthy Hickey	5	Harbour Breton	landslide
1-Aug-73	Julia Hickey	4	Harbour Breton	landslide
28-Apr-84	Jeffrey James Cull	16	Springdale	rockfall	climbing on rocky slope when boulder toppled
7-Feb-86	David E Pike	15	Curling	avalanche

Contributed by Dave Liverman and Martin Batterson (November 2001)

Please consult the Contributors' List for email addresses
if you wish to contact these individuals.

Page Revised by Craig Peterman (August 2003)

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