July 2, 1840 Eruption of Ararat

Name: July 2, 1840 Eruption of Ararat
Start: 1840-07-02
Location: Ararat, Turkey

July 2, 1840 · VEI 3 · 1,900 deaths

Ararat in Turkey erupted on July 2, 1840 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 3. The eruption killed 1,900 people.

Where it erupted

Ararat, Turkey.

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The eruption

Date: July 2, 1840
Volcano: Ararat, stratovolcano
Country: Turkey
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 3, moderate to large (eruption column 3 to 15 km)
Killed by: Pyroclastic flows, surges and direct blasts
Location: 39.700° N, 44.300° E

The toll

Deaths: 1,900

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.

A pyroclastic flow at the time of a phreatic eruption and landslide on July 2, 1840 swept over the village of Akory, killing 1900 persons. Four days later, failure of a landslide-dammed lake destroyed the town of Aralik; fatalities were not explicitly mentioned. (reference #9675)

Every eruption in 1840 The 1800s Ararat Earthquakes near Ararat 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 6265.