May 2, 2008 Eruption of Chaiten
Chaiten in Chile erupted on May 2, 2008 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 4. The eruption killed 1 person.
Where it erupted
Chaiten, Chile, with its other significant eruptions.
The eruption
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.
On Friday, May 2, 2008, Chaiten Volcano in southeastern Chile erupted for the first time since about 7400 BC. Its initial eruption produced a plume of volcanic ash and steam that rose nearly 17 kilometers high. Winds carried the plume east, over the Andes Mountains and into Argentina. The plume then drifted out over the over the Atlantic Ocean. It was visible on satellite images for hundreds of kilometers over the Atlantic.
The town of Chaiten, located about 10 kilometers southwest of the eruption site, was blanketed with ash. About 4,000 people who lived there were evacuated by boat. One elderly person died during the evacuation efforts. On 6 May, the eruption became more forceful and generated a wider and darker gray ash plume to an estimated altitude of 30 km (98,400 ft) a.s.l. All remaining people in Chaitén were ordered to evacuate, as well as anyone within 50 km of the volcano.
More
Every eruption in 2008The 2000sChaitenEarthquakes near ChaitenThis 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 4884.