July 6, 1988 Eruption of Arenal

Name: July 6, 1988 Eruption of Arenal
Start: 1988-07-06
Location: Arenal, Costa Rica

July 6, 1988 · VEI 3 · 1 death

Arenal in Costa Rica erupted on July 6, 1988 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 3. The eruption killed 1 person.

Where it erupted

Arenal, Costa Rica, with its other significant eruptions.

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The eruption

Date: July 6, 1988
Volcano: Arenal, stratovolcano
Country: Costa Rica
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 3, moderate to large (eruption column 3 to 15 km)
Killed by: Tephra (ash, bombs, lapilli, steam blasts)
Location: 10.463° N, 84.703° W

The toll

Deaths: 1

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.

A climber was struck on the head by tephra from an explosion while 3 m from crater rim.

Other significant eruptions of Arenal

Every eruption in 1988 The 1900s Arenal Earthquakes near Arenal 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 4501.