
Volcanoes in Papua New Guinea
With 14 volcanoes in Papua New Guinea there have been a total of 33 significant eruptions over the past 1,500 years. Over 5,400 people were killed. The worst volcanic eruption in terms of deaths, destroyed houses and financial damages happened on 01/01/1660 with the eruption of "Long Island". Here, 2000 people died.Out of 44 volcanos in Papua New Guinea, 21 are considered still active.
Other natural hazards in Papua New Guinea:
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› Cyclones
› Current volcanoes worldwide
Back to overview: Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, which stretches for about 40,000 km around the Pacific Ocean. Here the tectonic plate of the Pacific collides with several surrounding continental plates and seismic tremors occur again and again. Most of the world's volcanic eruptions, which are also the most severe, occur in this zone.
The following list shows all volcanic eruptions of the last 1,500 years with significant damage. The column "VEI" stands for the volcano explosivity index, which represents the strength of the eruption from a geological point of view. This takes into account the height and volume of the rocks ejected. The scale ranges from 0-8, with the severity of the eruption increasing tenfold with each value. For example, a VEI of 1 means that the volcano throws lava and rock masses of 100,000 to 1 million cubic meters up to 1 kilometer high. From VEI 8, a volcano is considered a super volcano. Here, more than 1,000 cubic kilometers of tephra are thrown to altitudes of more than 25 kilometers.
The highest explosivity index in Papua New Guinea reached in the review period was VEI 6 in 1660. The volcano Long Island threw tephramasses of at least 10 cubic kilometers over 25 kilometers high. Such an intensity is normally only achieved every 100 years.
Significant volcanic eruptions in Papua New Guinea in the last 1500 years

The highest explosivity index in Papua New Guinea reached in the review period was VEI 6 in 1660. The volcano Long Island threw tephramasses of at least 10 cubic kilometers over 25 kilometers high. Such an intensity is normally only achieved every 100 years.
Eruption | Volcano | VEI | Deaths | Total damage |
---|---|---|---|---|
06/28/2019 | Manam | 4 | 0 | |
06/26/2019 | Ulawun | 0 | 0 | |
01/07/2019 | Manam | 4 | 0 | |
08/25/2018 | Manam | 4 | 0 | |
07/31/2015 | Manam | 2 | 0 | |
07/31/2015 | Manam | 2 | 0 | |
03/01/2007 | Manam | 4 | 4 | |
01/27/2005 | Manam | 4 | 1 | |
10/24/2004 | Manam | 4 | 5 | |
12/03/1996 | Manam | 3 | 13 | |
09/19/1994 | Rabaul | 3 | 4 | |
06/24/1990 | Rabaul | 0 | 6 | |
03/08/1979 | Karkar | 2 | 2 | |
10/17/1974 | Ritter Island | 1 | 0 | |
10/09/1972 | Ritter Island | 1 | 0 | |
08/03/1954 | Bam | 2 | 0 | |
01/21/1951 | Lamington | 4 | 2942 | |
05/29/1937 | Rabaul | 4 | 507 | |
01/18/1914 | Pago | 3 | 0 | |
01/01/1899 | Manam | 2 | 2 | |
06/17/1895 | Karkar | 2 | 1 | |
01/01/1895 | Dakataua | 2 | 0 | |
01/01/1890 | Victory | 2 | 0 | |
03/13/1888 | Ritter Island | 3 | 0 | |
12/01/1883 | Bagana | 3 | 0 | |
01/01/1878 | Rabaul | 3 | 1 | |
01/01/1850 | Rabaul | 2 | 0 | |
01/01/1825 | Balbi | 0 | 0 | |
01/01/1660 | Long Island | 6 | 2000 | |
01/01/1580 | Billy Mitchell | 6 | 0 | |
01/01/0800 | Dakataua | 6 | 0 | |
01/01/0710 | Pago | 6 | 0 | |
01/01/0540 | Rabaul | 6 | 0 |
All volcanoes in Papua New Guinea
Volcano | Elevation | Status | Last eruption |
---|---|---|---|
Ambitle | 562 m | Solfatara stage | |
Baluan | 246 m | Solfatara stage | |
Bam | 600 m | Active | 08/03/1954 |
Bangum | 1052 m | Solfatara stage | |
Benda | 320 m | Active | |
Bola | 1164 m | Solfatara stage | |
Day-Day | 200 m | Active | |
Dobu | 274 m | Solfatara stage | |
Doma Peakes | 3567 m | Solfatara stage | |
Galloseulo | 1173 m | Solfatara stage | |
Garbuna | 564 m | Solfatara stage | |
Garove | 350 m | Solfatara stage | |
Garua Harbour | 30 m | Solfatara stage | |
Goropu | 540 m | Active | |
Ielia | 3385 m | Solfatara stage | |
Jamelele | 10 m | Solfatara stage | |
Kadovar | 365 m | Active | |
Kadovar | 365 m | Active | |
Karkar | 1500 m | Active | 03/08/1979 |
Krummel | 869 m | Solfatara stage | |
Langila | 1189 m | Active | |
Lihir | 817 m | Solfatara stage | |
Lolobau | 932 m | Active | |
Loloru | 1894 m | Solfatara stage | |
Long Island | 320 m | Active | 01/01/1660 |
Lou Island | 281 m | Solfatara stage | |
Manam | 1830 m | Active | 06/28/2019 |
Mt.Bagana | 1702 m | Active | |
Mt.Balbi | 2593 m | Solfatara stage | |
Mt.Bamus | 2248 m | Solfatara stage | |
Mt.Lamington | 1780 m | Active | |
Mt.Ulawun | 2300 m | Active | |
Mt.Victory | 1928 m | Active | |
Musa | 808 m | Solfatara stage | |
Narage | 315 m | Active | |
Pago | 724 m | Active | 01/18/1914 |
Rabaul | 226 m | Active | 09/19/1994 |
Ritter | 107 m | Active | |
Sakar | 998 m | Solfatara stage | |
Talo | 1390 m | Solfatara stage | |
Tuluman | 40 m | Active | |
Ulawun | 2334 m | Active | 06/26/2019 |
Walo | 15 m | Solfatara stage | |
Welker | 897 m | Solfatara stage |
These statistics are based on datas from the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program (GVP), and the Significant Volcanic Eruptions Database of the National Geophysical Data Center (NOAA) / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS) doi:10.7289/V5JW8BSH. Several data have been summarized and translated.