November 8, 1779 Eruption of Aira

Date

November 8, 1779

Volcano

Aira, stratovolcano

Country

Japan

Volcanic Explosivity Index

4, large (eruption column 10 to 25 km)

Killed by

Tephra (ash, bombs, lapilli, steam blasts); Waves or tsunami; Indirect deaths (disease, starvation, exposure)

Location

31.577° N, 130.659° E

Deaths

153

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.

• September 4, 2013
• August 9, 1974VEI 3 · 5 deaths
• June 17, 1974VEI 3 · 3 deaths
• October 13, 1955VEI 3 · Deaths: few
• January 1946VEI 2 · 1 death
• January 12, 1914VEI 4 · 63 deaths · $19 million · 2,268 houses destroyed · tsunami
• 1797VEI 2 · tsunami
• April 11, 1781VEI 4 · 38 deaths · tsunami
• October 31, 1780tsunami
• September 9, 1780VEI 4 · tsunami
• February 9, 1780VEI 4 · Deaths: many
• November 3, 1471VEI 5 · Deaths: many
• July 20, 766VEI 3 · Deaths: many · tsunami
• 764VEI 4 · 80 deaths

Every eruption in 1779The 1700sAiraEarthquakes near AiraThis day in weather history

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 858.