March 8, 1979 Eruption of Karkar
Karkar in Papua New Guinea erupted on March 8, 1979 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 2. The eruption killed 2 people.
Where it erupted
Karkar, Papua New Guinea, with its other significant eruptions.
The eruption
- Date
- March 8, 1979
- Volcano
- Karkar, stratovolcano
- Country
- Papua New Guinea
- Volcanic Explosivity Index
- 2, moderate (eruption column 1 to 5 km)
- Killed by
- Pyroclastic flows, surges and direct blasts
- Location
- 4.647° S, 145.976° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 2
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.
Two volcanologists killed by hot high-velocity directed gas-and-ejecta blast at observation camp 800 m away on caldera rim. (reference #9675)
Other significant eruptions of Karkar
More
Every eruption in 1979The 1900sKarkarEarthquakes near KarkarThis 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 20.