September 18, 1994 Eruption of Rabaul
Rabaul in Papua New Guinea erupted on September 18, 1994. It caused a tsunami.
Where it erupted
Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, with its other significant eruptions.
The eruption
- Date
- September 18, 1994
- Volcano
- Rabaul, pyroclastic shield
- Country
- Papua New Guinea
- Killed by
- Waves or tsunami; Seismic, or volcanic earthquake (tectonic earthquake deaths excluded)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Earthquake
- Yes: the earthquake with it
- Location
- 4.246° S, 152.194° E
The toll
The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this eruption.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
No eruption.
At 0615 (LT) on September 19 [18 Sept 20:15 UTC], 1994, Tavurvur volcano broke into eruption, and about one hour later Vulcan volcano began erupting. The eruptions were immediately preceded by vigorous seismicity; the maximum magnitude of the earthquake was 5.1 (Blong and McKee, 1995). Soon after its onset the eruption at Vulcan increased in strength and included a phase of strong Plinian activity. Pyroclastic flows reached as far as 2 km fiom the crater, and the eruption column rose up to 20 km. Continuous sea level changes before and during the eruption period were registered by a tide gauge (Stevens A71) of The Rabaul Volcanological Observatory at Rabaul harbor (Figure 2). The first tsunami was observed associated with one of or both of two earthquakes of M5 occurred at 0251 (LT) on September 18, 1994, a day before the eruption. Hypocenters of these earthquakes are estimated beneath Tavurvur volcano and Vulcan volcano, respectively (Blong and McKee, 1995). (reference #3809)
Note: an eruption occurred the day following the seismic activity (and associated tsunamis)
Other significant eruptions of Rabaul
More
Every eruption in 1994The 1900sRabaulEarthquakes near RabaulThis 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 7573.