August 12, 1976 Eruption of Sangay

Name: August 12, 1976 Eruption of Sangay
Start: 1976-08-12
Location: Sangay, Ecuador

August 12, 1976 · VEI 3 · 2 deaths

Sangay in Ecuador erupted on August 12, 1976 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 3. The eruption killed 2 people.

Where it erupted

Sangay, Ecuador, with its other significant eruptions.

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The eruption

Date: August 12, 1976
Volcano: Sangay, stratovolcano
Country: Ecuador
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 3, moderate to large (eruption column 3 to 15 km)
Killed by: Tephra (ash, bombs, lapilli, steam blasts)
Location: 2.005° S, 78.341° W

The toll

Deaths: 2
Injuries: 4

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 and 4 seriously injured as British Vulcan Expedition neared summit of perennially active cone.

Other significant eruptions of Sangay

March 5, 2021VEI 2

Every eruption in 1976 The 1900s Sangay Earthquakes near Sangay 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 4504.