Volcanic eruptions of VEI 4 from 1960 to 1989

Map of 10 locations · Worldwide

Thirty years of mid-sized explosive volcanism, from the Philippines and Indonesia through Central America to the Kurils, Kamchatka, Alaska and the Marianas. Each entry is a historical eruption recorded at index 4 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index, documented by observatory bulletins, field surveys and contemporary reporting. Some reshaped a crater or a coastline, others buried farmland, closed airspace or forced an island to be evacuated.

Places in this collection

  • Chikurachki, 1986 — Chikurachki produces two principal styles of eruption: frequent mildly explosive strombolian activity, recorded in years such as 1958, 1961…
  • Augustine, 1986 — An explosive eruption with a plume reaching 3 km was observed on 17 February, and from 27 to 31 March large explosions sent clouds into the…
  • Pagan, 1981-1985 — A major explosive eruption began on 15 May 1981 at Mount Pagan, the larger of the two historically active centres on Pagan Island in the Ma…
  • Alaid, 1981 — The summit eruption on the northernmost Kuril Islands ran from April into June and is among Alaid's better-documented episodes. Ash fell as…
  • Augustine, 1976-1977 — On the morning of 22 January the Alaskan volcano entered a period of major activity from a new vent at the contact between the 1935 and 196…
  • Tolbachik, 1975-1976 — The Large Tolbachik fissure eruption ran in Kamchatka from 6 July 1975 to 10 December 1976, and its onset was correctly predicted beforehan…
  • Fuego, 1974 — Activity began at 4:00 a.m. on 10 October with small ash eruptions from the summit crater of the Guatemalan volcano. Published measurements…
  • Chachadake (Tiatia), 1973 — Chachadake, also known as Tiatia, stands on the southeast side of the northern part of Kunashir Island in the southern Kurils, and its firs…
  • Kelud, 1966 — Kelud is a stratovolcano whose summit crater lake has fed some of Indonesia's most lethal eruptions, the water driving lahars down the flan…
  • Taal, 1965 — A moderately violent phreatomagmatic explosive eruption took place on Volcano Island in Lake Taal, Philippines, over three days at the end…

Related collections