May 9, 1988 Eruption of Banda Api
Banda Api in the Pacific Ocean erupted on May 9, 1988 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 3. The eruption killed 4 people.
Where it erupted
Banda Api, Pacific Ocean, with its other significant eruptions.
The eruption
- Date
- May 9, 1988
- Volcano
- Banda Api, caldera
- Country
- Pacific Ocean
- Volcanic Explosivity Index
- 3, moderate to large (eruption column 3 to 15 km)
- Killed by
- Tephra (ash, bombs, lapilli, steam blasts); Lava flows
- Location
- 4.523° S, 129.881° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 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.
A lava flow overran the mosque in Batu Angus village, killing an elderly man who had sought refuge rather than flee with the evacuees. Two young men drowned when their canoe was hit by a block. SEAN gives 3 killed.
Other significant eruptions of Banda Api
More
Every eruption in 1988The 1900sBanda ApiEarthquakes near Banda ApiThis 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 486.