Merapi

December 27, 1822 Eruption of Merapi

December 27, 1822 · VEI 3 · 100 deaths

Merapi in Indonesia erupted on December 27, 1822 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 3. The eruption killed 100 people.

Where it erupted

Merapi, Indonesia, with its other significant eruptions.

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The eruption

Date
December 27, 1822
Volcano
Merapi, stratovolcano
Country
Indonesia
Volcanic Explosivity Index
3, moderate to large (eruption column 3 to 15 km)
Location
7.540° S, 110.446° E

The toll

Deaths
100
Injuries
Some (about 51 to 100)
Damage
Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
Houses destroyed
Many (101 to 1,000)

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.

100 killed, many wounded, 4 villages completely destroyed, and 4 villages partly devastated. Sapper gives death toll as 20 and indicates villages were on W side. Hadikusumo gives 16 villages destroyed. (reference #9675)

Other significant eruptions of Merapi

More

Every eruption in 1822The 1800sMerapiEarthquakes near MerapiThis 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 69.