October 29, 1920 Eruption of Izalco

Name: October 29, 1920 Eruption of Izalco
Start: 1920-10-29
Location: Izalco, El Salvador

October 29, 1920 · VEI 3 · Deaths: few

Izalco in El Salvador erupted on October 29, 1920 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 3.

Where it erupted

Izalco, El Salvador, with its other significant eruptions.

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The eruption

Date: October 29, 1920
Volcano: Izalco, stratovolcano
Country: El Salvador
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 3, moderate to large (eruption column 3 to 15 km)
Killed by: Pyroclastic flows, surges and direct blasts
Location: 13.813° N, 89.633° W

The toll

Deaths: Few (about 1 to 50)

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.

Deaths probably occurred in pyroclastic flow.

Every eruption in 1920 The 1900s Izalco Earthquakes near Izalco 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 3651.