January 20, 1913 Eruption of Colima

Name: January 20, 1913 Eruption of Colima
Start: 1913-01-20
Location: Colima, Mexico

January 20, 1913 · VEI 4 · 13 deaths

Colima in Mexico erupted on January 20, 1913 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 4. The eruption killed 13 people.

Where it erupted

Colima, Mexico, with its other significant eruptions.

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The eruption

Date: January 20, 1913
Volcano: Colima, stratovolcano
Country: Mexico
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 4, large (eruption column 10 to 25 km)
Killed by: Pyroclastic flows, surges and direct blasts; Secondary (post-eruption) mudflows
Location: 19.514° N, 103.620° W

The toll

Deaths: 13

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.

At least 8 persons died following the January 20 plinian eruption from burns produced when they walked and collapsed in hot pyroclastic-flow deposits or were buried by collapsing walls of hot deposits in river valleys. Four or five persons died from an explosion when hot pyroclastic-flow debris forming a dam collapsed into the water. One person was killed by secondary lahars. (reference #9675)

Other significant eruptions of Colima

Every eruption in 1913 The 1900s Colima Earthquakes near Colima 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 3479.