1280 Eruption of Quilotoa

Name: 1280 Eruption of Quilotoa
Start: 1280
Location: Quilotoa, Ecuador

1280 · VEI 6

Quilotoa in Ecuador erupted in 1280 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 6.

Where it erupted

Quilotoa, Ecuador.

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The eruption

Date: 1280
Volcano: Quilotoa, caldera
Country: Ecuador
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 6, paroxysmal (eruption column over 25 km)
Location: 0.859° S, 78.904° W

The toll

Damage: Limited (under about $1 million)

Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

Exact year of eruption unknown. Eruption generated 2.1 x 1010 m3 of material causing damage to land and property. Caldera collapse of the central vent.

Every eruption in 1280 The 1200s Quilotoa Earthquakes near Quilotoa

Sources

Volcanoes and significant eruptions from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. Volcano numbers are the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program’s. NCEI event 5206.