May 7, 1861 Eruption of Dubbi

Name: May 7, 1861 Eruption of Dubbi
Start: 1861-05-07
Location: Dubbi, Eritrea

May 7, 1861 · VEI 3 · 106 deaths

Dubbi in Eritrea erupted on May 7, 1861 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 3. The eruption killed 106 people.

Where it erupted

Dubbi, Eritrea, with its other significant eruptions.

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The eruption

Date: May 7, 1861
Volcano: Dubbi, stratovolcano
Country: Eritrea
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 3, moderate to large (eruption column 3 to 15 km)
Killed by: Pyroclastic flows, surges and direct blasts
Earthquake: Yes: the earthquake with it
Location: 13.579° N, 41.809° E

The toll

Deaths: 106
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.

Fatalities occurred during initial explosive phase of eruption. Two villages were destroyed and large herds of cattle were killed. The agent of fatalities is not clear, but may have been pyroclastic flows. (reference #9675)

Every eruption in 1861 The 1800s Dubbi Earthquakes near Dubbi 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 1342.