1598 Eruption of Banda Api

Name: 1598 Eruption of Banda Api
Start: 1598
Location: Banda Api, Pacific Ocean

1598 · VEI 3 · Deaths: few

Banda Api in the Pacific Ocean erupted in 1598 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 3.

Where it erupted

Banda Api, Pacific Ocean, with its other significant eruptions.

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The eruption

Date: 1598
Volcano: Banda Api, caldera
Country: Pacific Ocean
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 3, moderate to large (eruption column 3 to 15 km)
Location: 4.523° S, 129.881° E

The toll

Deaths: Few (about 1 to 50)

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.

Unknown number of deaths.

Other significant eruptions of Banda Api

Every eruption in 1598 The 1500s Banda Api Earthquakes near Banda Api

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 472.