1775 Eruption of Gamalama

Name: 1775 Eruption of Gamalama
Start: 1775
Location: Gamalama, Indonesia

1775 · VEI 3 · 1,300 deaths

Gamalama in Indonesia erupted in 1775 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 3. The eruption killed 1,300 people.

Where it erupted

Gamalama, Indonesia, with its other significant eruptions.

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The eruption

Date: 1775
Volcano: Gamalama, stratovolcano
Country: Indonesia
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 3, moderate to large (eruption column 3 to 15 km)
Killed by: Pyroclastic flows, surges and direct blasts; Indirect deaths (disease, starvation, exposure)
Location: 0.810° N, 127.332° E

The toll

Deaths: 1,300

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.

Maar-forming eruption on N coast, with wide-spread base surge deposition killing 141. Some drowned while escaping by boat. Bronto et al. give 1,300 fatalities.

Other significant eruptions of Gamalama

Every eruption in 1775 The 1700s Gamalama Earthquakes near Gamalama

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 619.