Merapi

August 4, 1672 Eruption of Merapi

August 4, 1672 · VEI 3 · 3,000 deaths

Merapi in Indonesia erupted on August 4, 1672 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 3. The eruption killed 3,000 people.

Where it erupted

Merapi, Indonesia, with its other significant eruptions.

Open the live map with volcanic ash advisories

The eruption

Date
August 4, 1672
Volcano
Merapi, stratovolcano
Country
Indonesia
Volcanic Explosivity Index
3, moderate to large (eruption column 3 to 15 km)
Killed by
Pyroclastic flows, surges and direct blasts
Location
7.540° S, 110.446° E

The toll

Deaths
3,000

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.

Hadikisumo gives total of 3,000 fatalities, Kisimadinata 300. Only evidence of agent is that this was a major eruption producing pyroclastic flows. (reference #9675)

Other significant eruptions of Merapi

More

Every eruption in 1672The 1600sMerapiEarthquakes near MerapiThis 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 64.