January 28, 1969 Eruption of Iya

Name: January 28, 1969 Eruption of Iya
Start: 1969-01-28
Location: Iya, Indonesia

January 28, 1969 · VEI 3 · 2 deaths · 287 houses destroyed

Iya in Indonesia erupted on January 28, 1969 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 3. The eruption killed 2 people.

Where it erupted

Iya, Indonesia.

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The eruption

Date: January 28, 1969
Volcano: Iya, stratovolcano
Country: Indonesia
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 3, moderate to large (eruption column 3 to 15 km)
Killed by: Tephra (ash, bombs, lapilli, steam blasts); Secondary (post-eruption) mudflows
Location: 8.891° S, 121.641° E

The toll

Deaths: 2
Injuries: 10
Houses destroyed: 287

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.

2 killed, 10 wounded, 1 village totally destroyed and 7 partly destroyed, 287 houses destroyed. VSI report houses were damaged on the island of Ende and one person was killed. Secondary lahars later caused another fatality.

Every eruption in 1969 The 1900s Iya Earthquakes near Iya 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 389.