October 3, 1983 Eruption of Miyakejima

Name: October 3, 1983 Eruption of Miyakejima
Start: 1983-10-03
Location: Miyakejima, Japan

October 3, 1983 · VEI 3 · 400 houses destroyed

Miyakejima in Japan erupted on October 3, 1983 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 3.

Where it erupted

Miyakejima, Japan, with its other significant eruptions.

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The eruption

Date: October 3, 1983
Volcano: Miyakejima, stratovolcano
Country: Japan
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 3, moderate to large (eruption column 3 to 15 km)
Killed by: Lava flows; Tephra (ash, bombs, lapilli, steam blasts)
Earthquake: Yes: the earthquake with it
Location: 34.094° N, 139.526° E

The toll

Damage: Limited (under about $1 million); Moderate (about $1 to $5 million) with the tsunamis, mudflows and other effects it caused
Houses destroyed: 400

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.

Flank (excentric) vent, lava flow(s), damage (land, property, etc.), evacuation, lava volume: 6.1 x 106m3, tephra volume: 1.5 x 107m3. (reference #2379)

A lava flow and large discharge of blocks and volcanic ash buried and burned down approximately 400 residences. Mountain forest and agricultural land were damaged. (reference #12936)

Other significant eruptions of Miyakejima

Every eruption in 1983 The 1900s Miyakejima Earthquakes near Miyakejima 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 2585.