December 25, 1988 Eruption of Lonquimay

Name: December 25, 1988 Eruption of Lonquimay
Start: 1988-12-25
Location: Lonquimay, Chile

December 25, 1988 · VEI 3 · 1 death

Lonquimay in Chile erupted on December 25, 1988 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 3. The eruption killed 1 person.

Where it erupted

Lonquimay, Chile.

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The eruption

Date: December 25, 1988
Volcano: Lonquimay, stratovolcano
Country: Chile
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 3, moderate to large (eruption column 3 to 15 km)
Killed by: Tephra (ash, bombs, lapilli, steam blasts)
Location: 38.379° S, 71.586° 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.

Autopsy of a 64 year old wood cutter exposed to ash for 8 hours daily, revealed lung and nervous system problems similar to that causing many livestock deaths.

Every eruption in 1988 The 1900s Lonquimay Earthquakes near Lonquimay 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 4118.