Merapi

January 7, 1969 Eruption of Merapi

January 7, 1969 · VEI 2 · 3 deaths

Merapi in Indonesia erupted on January 7, 1969 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 2. The eruption killed 3 people.

Where it erupted

Merapi, Indonesia, with its other significant eruptions.

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The eruption

Date
January 7, 1969
Volcano
Merapi, stratovolcano
Country
Indonesia
Volcanic Explosivity Index
2, moderate (eruption column 1 to 5 km)
Killed by
Pyroclastic flows, surges and direct blasts
Location
7.540° S, 110.446° E

The toll

Deaths
3

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.

Pyroclastic flows swept as far as 13.5 km, but villages had been evacuated as a result of a seismic swarm, and only one fatality occurred (some sources list 3 fatalities). (reference #9675)

Other significant eruptions of Merapi

More

Every eruption in 1969The 1900sMerapiEarthquakes near MerapiThis 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 105.