October 15, 1510 Eruption of Hekla

Name: October 15, 1510 Eruption of Hekla
Start: 1510-10-15
Location: Hekla, Iceland

October 15, 1510 · VEI 4 · Deaths: many

Hekla in Iceland erupted on October 15, 1510 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 4.

Where it erupted

Hekla, Iceland, with its other significant eruptions.

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The eruption

Date: October 15, 1510
Volcano: Hekla, stratovolcano
Country: Iceland
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 4, large (eruption column 10 to 25 km)
Killed by: Indirect deaths (disease, starvation, exposure)
Location: 63.983° N, 19.666° W

The toll

Deaths: Many (about 101 to 1,000) with the tsunamis, mudflows and other effects it caused

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.

No confirmed fatalities, but likely cause of famine in northern Iceland. (reference #9675)

Other significant eruptions of Hekla

Every eruption in 1510 The 1500s Hekla Earthquakes near Hekla This day in weather history

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 6644.