December 4, 1944 Eruption of Dieng Volcanic Complex
Dieng Volcanic Complex in Indonesia erupted on December 4, 1944 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 2. The eruption killed 117 people.
Where it erupted
Dieng Volcanic Complex, Indonesia, with its other significant eruptions.
The eruption
- Date
- December 4, 1944
- Volcano
- Dieng Volcanic Complex, complex volcano
- Country
- Indonesia
- Volcanic Explosivity Index
- 2, moderate (eruption column 1 to 5 km)
- Killed by
- Tephra (ash, bombs, lapilli, steam blasts)
- Location
- 7.200° S, 109.879° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 117
- Injuries
- 250
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.
VSI plaque notes 117 fatalities and 250 injured from 1944 eruption. Van Bemmelen lists 59 dead, 55 missing, 38 hurt. Coarse gray-white ashes and blocks of old volcanic material rained on 7 villages evidently all within ~1 km of vent. Blocks reached as far as Bitingan, ~1 km from vent, where 11 people were killed and 7 hurt. Ash mud here up to 20 cm thick. At Djawera 300 m N of crater 29 were killed and 19 hurt- ash mud layer 1.5-2.0 m thick. 18 killed at Kepakisan and 1 at Pagerkandang. Wounds caused by boiling hot mud. (reference #9675)
Other significant eruptions of Dieng Volcanic Complex
More
Every eruption in 1944The 1900sDieng Volcanic ComplexEarthquakes near Dieng Volcanic ComplexThis 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 45.