1778 Eruption of Raikoke

Name: 1778 Eruption of Raikoke
Start: 1778
Location: Raikoke, Russia

1778 · VEI 4 · 15 deaths

Raikoke in Russia erupted in 1778 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 4. The eruption killed 15 people.

Where it erupted

Raikoke, Russia, with its other significant eruptions.

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The eruption

Date: 1778
Volcano: Raikoke, stratovolcano
Country: Russia
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 4, large (eruption column 10 to 25 km)
Killed by: Tephra (ash, bombs, lapilli, steam blasts)
Location: 48.292° N, 153.250° E

The toll

Deaths: 15

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.

15 persons under the command of Cpt. Chemy were killed by volcanic bombs, prompting the first volcanological investigation in the Kurile Islands.

Every eruption in 1778 The 1700s Raikoke Earthquakes near Raikoke

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 2813.