Norway's worst days are the days when many people lost their lives at once: the Black Death in 1349, the German attack on April 9 1940, the Kielland accident in 1980, the fire on Scandinavian Star in 1990, the terror attack on July 22 2011, and the landslide in Gjerdrum in 2020.

Here are six of Norway's worst days: what happened, how many died, and what new laws, inquiries and agencies each disaster led to. Norwegian history is part of the curriculum for the Samfunnskunnskapsprøven, and you can find more overviews in the exams and tests topic on SamfunnPrep.

The Black Death 1349: the plague that emptied the nation

The Black Death is the worst disaster ever to strike Norway. The plague came to the country in 1349 and likely killed between a third and nearly half of the population in under two years.

No census records existed, so all figures are estimates. Large Norwegian Encyclopaedia estimates that the population fell by 30–45 percent. More than 60 percent of the farms in Norway lay abandoned during 1350–1500, and around the year 1500 the population was down to about 200,000. The plague returned in waves until 1654.

For those who survived, conditions actually improved. There was good access to land, land rent fell, and labour became expensive. For a long time schoolbooks said the plague brought Norway into union with Denmark. Today's historians believe the plague alone cannot explain the political decline.

April 9 1940: the day the war came to Norway

At 05.15 on April 9 1940 Germany attacked neutral Norway in eight cities at the same time: Oslo, Arendal, Kristiansand, Egersund, Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim and Narvik. Fighting in Norway lasted until June 10 1940.

853 Norwegian soldiers fell during the campaign in 1940, and civilian casualties came on top of that. There is no single official death toll for "April 9" because the figures vary depending on what is counted.

In the Oslofjorden the German cruiser Blücher was sunk at 06.22. The delay gave the King, the government and Parliament time to escape the capital.

After the war, the 1945 Investigative Commission examined why preparedness failed, and how Parliament, the government and military authorities had acted before and after the attack. The Commission submitted six reports in 1946–1947 and criticised both the government and the leadership of Parliament. No impeachment case was raised when Parliament dealt with the matter in 1947.

27 March 1980: the Alexander L. Kielland accident

The Alexander L. Kielland accident is the worst accident in Norwegian oil history. 123 people died and 89 were rescued of the 212 on board when the accommodation platform at the Ekofisk field capsized in a few minutes on 27 March 1980.

The cause was established in the investigation report NOU 1981:11 (NOU = Norway's Official Reports): a fatigue fracture in a support leg meant that one of the platform's legs fell off. The platform lay upside down for over three years. It was righted in September 1983 and sunk to 700 metres depth in Nedstrandsfjorden on 18 November 1983.

The accident rebuilt the entire oversight of Norwegian oil operations. Responsibility had been spread across several authorities. In 1985 the Oljedirektoratet was given a coordinating role for offshore safety, Petroleumstilsynet was established as a separate agency on 1 January 2004, and the agency changed its name to Havindustritilsynet on 1 January 2024.

The question of responsibility remains contentious. The Riksrevisjonen found in March 2021 that 88 percent of the bereaved had not received the information they needed about the death, and that 74 percent of the survivors believe the health authorities did not follow them up well enough. A new inquiry was presented on 16 December 2025 – 45 years after the accident. The conclusion was that the authorities did not bear main responsibility for the accident, but that there were "serious weaknesses" in the way they handled their responsibility beforehand.

7 April 1990: the fire on Scandinavian Star

159 people lost their lives when fire broke out on board the passenger ferry Scandinavian Star during the night of 7 April 1990. 158 died in the fire, and one died later from injuries. The ship left Oslo the evening before with 383 passengers and 99 crew. This is the largest maritime disaster in recent Norwegian history.

The fire was deliberate, but no one has been convicted of starting it, and the cause has never officially been solved. The police reopened the investigation in 2014 and closed it again in August 2016 without new answers.

The case led to something highly unusual: Parliament passed a law for a single disaster. The Act on the Investigative Commission for the Fire on Scandinavian Star of 29 April 2016 gave the commission court-like powers, so it could demand statements under oath. The Commission presented its report on 1 June 2017 – 27 years after the fire.

22 July 2011: the terror attack on Norway

22 July 2011, 77 people were killed in two attacks carried out by one man: 8 in a bomb explosion at the Government Quarter in Oslo at 15.25, and 69 on and around Utøya, where AUF (Arbeidernes Ungdomsfylking) had a summer camp. 33 of those killed were under 18 years old.

The 22 July Commission (NOU 2012:14) presented its report on 13 August 2012. It concluded that the bomb attack "could have been prevented through effective implementation of already adopted security measures", and that the perpetrator could have been stopped earlier on Utøya. The criticism concerned leadership, coordination and culture, not lack of money or equipment. The Police's national emergency centre outside Oslo was put into use on 15 December 2020.

30 December 2020: the quick-clay landslide in Gjerdrum

11 people died, including an unborn child, when a large quick-clay landslide occurred at Ask in Gjerdrum early in the morning on 30 December 2020. The landslide was 240 by 700 metres, 1.35 million cubic metres of material slid out, 31 residential units disappeared and around 1,500 people were evacuated.

The cause was erosion in Tistilbekken over several years, combined with a very wet autumn and winter in 2020. The Government established a public expert panel on 5 February 2021, and the panel presented NOU 2022:3 "On Safe Ground" on better management of quick-clay risk.

What the worst days have in common

A pattern emerges: a disaster, then a public inquiry, then new rules or a new agency.

  • The Black Death 1349 – unknown death toll, estimated 30–45 percent of the population.
  • April 9 1940 – 853 soldiers fallen during the campaign; 1945 Investigative Commission.
  • Alexander L. Kielland 1980 – 123 dead; NOU 1981:11 and unified oil oversight.
  • Scandinavian Star 1990 – 159 dead; separate investigation law in 2016.
  • 22 July 2011 – 77 killed; NOU 2012:14 and new emergency centre.
  • Gjerdrum 2020 – 11 dead; NOU 2022:3 on quick-clay risk.

Two features are worth noting. First, the reckoning often takes decades. Scandinavian Star got its own investigation law 26 years after the fire, and the Kielland case was inquired into again as recently as 2025. Second, the review happens in full public view: the reports are freely available, and the criticism targets the authorities themselves.

Why this is useful to know

Preparedness is not just history. Authorities today ask all households to be able to manage for at least three days during a crisis. See the practical guide on preparedness in Norway.

The years above also pop up when you read Norwegian history. On SamfunnPrep you can find a complete overview of important dates in Norwegian history and a review of Norwegian history for the Samfunnskunnskapsprøven.

Ready to practise? Try SamfunnPrep free.