1698 Eruption of Cotopaxi

Name: 1698 Eruption of Cotopaxi
Start: 1698
Location: Cotopaxi, Ecuador

1698 · VEI 3 · Deaths: some

Cotopaxi in Ecuador erupted in 1698 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 3.

Where it erupted

Cotopaxi, Ecuador, with its other significant eruptions.

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The eruption

Date: 1698
Volcano: Cotopaxi, stratovolcano
Country: Ecuador
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 3, moderate to large (eruption column 3 to 15 km)
Killed by: Mudflows and lahars
Location: 0.677° S, 78.436° W

The toll

Deaths: Some (about 51 to 100)

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.

Latacunga and 3/4 of its inhabitants destroyed by lahars. Coleman also mentions other settlements destroyed.

Other significant eruptions of Cotopaxi

Every eruption in 1698 The 1600s Cotopaxi Earthquakes near Cotopaxi

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 4503.