December 16, 1707 Eruption of Fujisan
Fujisan in Japan erupted on December 16, 1707 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 4.
Where it erupted
Fujisan, Japan, with its other significant eruptions.
The eruption
- Date
- December 16, 1707
- Volcano
- Fujisan, stratovolcano
- Country
- Japan
- Volcanic Explosivity Index
- 4, large (eruption column 10 to 25 km)
- Earthquake
- Yes: the earthquake with it
- Location
- 35.361° N, 138.728° E
The toll
- Deaths
- Few (about 1 to 50)
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 75
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.
The 1707 eruption of Mt. Fuji (called the Hoei eruption) was one of the most violent eruptions from this volcano. The tephra covered most of the south Kanto plain, including Tokyo, and is found in deep sea cores in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. Many lost their lives due to starvation after the eruption, however no victims were recorded as a direct result of the tephra fall-out. In Subashiri, 72 houses and 3 Buddhist temples were burned or crushed on the first day of the eruption. Following this eruption, many could not obtain food from their farms and thus died of starvation.
The eruption started forty-nine days after the devastating 1707 Hoei Earthquake (M8.4).
Hoei eruption. Houses and agricultural land at the foot of the volcano were damaged. Many people died due to starvation. The eruption was followed by landslide damage. (reference #12936)
More
Every eruption in 1707The 1700sFujisanEarthquakes near FujisanThis 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 1065.