683 Eruption of Rabaul
Rabaul in Papua New Guinea erupted in 683 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 6.
Where it erupted
Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, with its other significant eruptions.
The eruption
- Date
- 683
- Volcano
- Rabaul, pyroclastic shield
- Country
- Papua New Guinea
- Volcanic Explosivity Index
- 6, paroxysmal (eruption column over 25 km)
- Location
- 4.246° S, 152.194° E
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
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 large eruption about 1400 years ago, produced the caldera
collapse which is responsible for much of the topography of the present embayment. The style of this eruption and the extent of the deposits suggest that total destruction of the environment occurred within a radius of more than 50 km of the center of the caldera.
Other significant eruptions of Rabaul
More
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 2177.