January 27, 1973 Eruption of Vestmannaeyjar

Name: January 27, 1973 Eruption of Vestmannaeyjar
Start: 1973-01-27
Location: Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland

January 27, 1973 · VEI 3 · 1 death · 300 houses destroyed

Vestmannaeyjar in Iceland erupted on January 27, 1973 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 3. The eruption killed 1 person.

Where it erupted

Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland.

Open the live map with volcanic ash advisories and webcams

The eruption

Date: January 27, 1973
Volcano: Vestmannaeyjar, submarine volcano
Country: Iceland
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 3, moderate to large (eruption column 3 to 15 km)
Killed by: Gas (from eruptive craters, fumaroles and solfataras)
Location: 63.416° N, 20.266° W

The toll

Deaths: 1
Houses destroyed: 300

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.

Sleeping man killed by pooling of CO2 in house basement. (reference #1412)

~300 houses, fish-freezing plants, and power generating facility destroyed in Vestmannaeyjar. (reference #13732)

Every eruption in 1973 The 1900s Vestmannaeyjar Earthquakes near Vestmannaeyjar 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 2026-10-01. Volcano numbers are the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program’s. NCEI event 4509.