Kelud

May 19, 1919 Eruption of Kelud

May 19, 1919 · VEI 4 · 5,110 deaths · 9,000 houses destroyed

Kelud in Indonesia erupted on May 19, 1919 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 4. The eruption killed 5,110 people.

Where it erupted

Kelud, Indonesia, with its other significant eruptions.

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The eruption

Date
May 19, 1919
Volcano
Kelud, stratovolcano
Country
Indonesia
Volcanic Explosivity Index
4, large (eruption column 10 to 25 km)
Killed by
Mudflows and lahars
Location
7.935° S, 112.314° E

The toll

Deaths
5,110
Houses destroyed
9,000

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.

5,110 killed, 9,000 houses destroyed, 104 villages destroyed. Pyroclastic flows were produced but inference is that deaths resulted from lahars. Volcano Letter (VL) and some other sources give death total as 5,500. Kusumadinata (1979) gives 0519-20 date. (reference #9675)

Other significant eruptions of Kelud

More

Every eruption in 1919The 1900sKeludEarthquakes near KeludThis 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 138.