August 6, 1812 Eruption of Awu

Name: August 6, 1812 Eruption of Awu
Start: 1812-08-06
Location: Awu, Indonesia

August 6, 1812 · VEI 3 · 953 deaths

Awu in Indonesia erupted on August 6, 1812 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 3. The eruption killed 953 people.

Where it erupted

Awu, Indonesia, with its other significant eruptions.

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The eruption

Date: August 6, 1812
Volcano: Awu, stratovolcano
Country: Indonesia
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 3, moderate to large (eruption column 3 to 15 km)
Killed by: Pyroclastic flows, surges and direct blasts; Mudflows and lahars
Location: 3.689° N, 125.447° E

The toll

Deaths: 953

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.

From the number of fatalities and the amount of damage it can be concluded that the eruption also included lahars and glowing clouds. Sapper gives death toll as 953. Kusumadinata-79 gives toll as hundreds killed, 3 wounded.

Other significant eruptions of Awu

Every eruption in 1812 The 1800s Awu Earthquakes near Awu This 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 580.