June 27, 1953 Eruption of St. Andrew Strait

Name: June 27, 1953 Eruption of St. Andrew Strait
Start: 1953-06-27
Location: St. Andrew Strait, Papua New Guinea

June 27, 1953 · VEI 0

St. Andrew Strait in Papua New Guinea erupted on June 27, 1953 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 0. It caused a tsunami.

Where it erupted

St. Andrew Strait, Papua New Guinea, with its other significant eruptions.

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The eruption

Date: June 27, 1953
Volcano: St. Andrew Strait, complex volcano
Country: Papua New Guinea
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 0, non-explosive (eruption column under 100 m)
Tsunami: Yes: the tsunami it caused
Location: 2.380° S, 147.350° E

The toll

Damage: Limited (under about $1 million) with the tsunamis, mudflows and other effects it caused

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.

Reference #2432:

1953, June 27 - 1957, January 28. The historically active Tuluman Islands, 1.5 km south of Lou Island, were formed during a 1953-1957 eruption.

Reference #414:

1953, June 27. A clearly audible noise heralded an underwater eruption in Saint Andrew Channel. Soon afterwards, puffs of smoke became visible as they rose above the water surface at a point 2/3 of the way from Baluan Island to Lou Island.

Other significant eruptions of St. Andrew Strait

350Deaths: many

Every eruption in 1953 The 1900s St. Andrew Strait Earthquakes near St. Andrew Strait 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 2071.