April 4, 1906 Eruption of Vesuvius
Vesuvius in Italy erupted on April 4, 1906 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 3. The eruption killed 350 people. It caused a tsunami.
Where it erupted
Vesuvius, Italy, with its other significant eruptions.
The eruption
- Date
- April 4, 1906
- Volcano
- Vesuvius, complex volcano
- Country
- Italy
- Volcanic Explosivity Index
- 3, moderate to large (eruption column 3 to 15 km)
- Killed by
- Tephra (ash, bombs, lapilli, steam blasts); Lava flows
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Location
- 40.821° N, 14.426° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 350
- Injuries
- 300
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.
Nazarro suggests a total of 216 fatalities. Delme-Radcliff indicates approximately 300 killed and 300 injured: 105 killed and 90 injured in fall of church roof in San Giuseppe, 90 killed in collapse of house roofs, 90 killed in Ottaviano, 20 killed in San Gennaro, and about 50 others elsewhere including 14 killed in the collapse of the Monte Oliveto Market in Naples. Lacroix indicates 3 deaths in a lava flow. Witham list 218-700 fatalities. (reference #9675)
Other significant eruptions of Vesuvius
More
Every eruption in 1906The 1900sVesuviusEarthquakes near VesuviusThis 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 1344.