May 25, 1885 Eruption of Purace

Name: May 25, 1885 Eruption of Purace
Start: 1885-05-25
Location: Purace, Colombia

May 25, 1885 · VEI 3 · Deaths: some

Purace in Colombia erupted on May 25, 1885 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 3.

Where it erupted

Purace, Colombia, with its other significant eruptions.

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The eruption

Date: May 25, 1885
Volcano: Purace, stratovolcano
Country: Colombia
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 3, moderate to large (eruption column 3 to 15 km)
Earthquake: Yes: the earthquake with it
Location: 2.320° N, 76.400° W

The toll

Deaths: Some (about 51 to 100)
Damage: Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
Houses destroyed: Some (about 51 to 100)

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 catastrophic explosion accompanied by an earthquake killed many people and destroyed many houses.

Other significant eruptions of Purace

May 26, 1949VEI 2 · 17 deaths

Every eruption in 1885 The 1800s Purace Earthquakes near Purace 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 3846.