List of large volcanic eruptions in the 21st century

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This is a list of volcanic eruptions of the 21st century measuring a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of at least 4, as well as notable smaller eruptions. Note that the size of eruptions can be subject to considerable uncertainty.

VEI Volcano (eruption) Country Year Casualties Notes
3 Miyake-jima Japan 2000 On July 14, 2000, Mount Oyama began another series of eruptions, and by September, the island was completely evacuated. After a four-year period of volcanic emissions, residents were allowed to return permanently on February 1, 2005. After the eruption, there has been a constant flow of sulfur dioxide gas coming from Mount Oyama. Residents of the island were once required to carry gas masks with them at all times. However, masks have not been needed for years. Alarms go off if there is a dramatic increase in the levels of toxic gases in the air. The eruption caused a crater collapse and a phreatic eruption that is high as 16 kilometers.
4 Ulawun[1] Papua New Guinea 2000
4 Shiveluch[2] Russia 2001
1 Mount Nyiragongo[3] Democratic Republic of the Congo 2002 245 Large effusive eruption. At least 15% of Goma comprising 4,500 buildings was destroyed, leaving about 120,000 people homeless.
4 Mount Ruang[4] Indonesia 2002
4 Volcán el Reventador[5] Ecuador 2002
4 Manam Volcano[6] Papua New Guinea 2004
3 Santa Ana Volcano[7] El Salvador 2005 2[8]
4 Mount Tavurvur[9] Papua New Guinea 2006
3 Jabal al-Tair[10] Yemen 2007 7[11]
4 Mount Okmok[12] Alaska, United States 2008
4 Chaitén Volcano[13] Chile 2008 1[14] On May 2, 2008, Chaitén Volcano in southeastern Chile erupted for the first time since 1640. Its initial eruption produced a plume of volcanic ash and steam that rose nearly 17,000 m (55,800 ft) high. Winds carried the plume east, over the Andes Mountains and into Argentina. The plume then drifted out over the Atlantic Ocean. It was visible on satellite images for hundreds of kilometers over the Atlantic. The town of Chaitén, 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 May 6, the eruption became more forceful and generated a wider and darker gray ash plume to an estimated altitude of 30,000 m (98,400 ft) into the stratosphere. All remaining people in Chaitén were ordered to evacuate, as well as anyone within 50 km of the volcano.
4 Kasatochi Volcano[15] Alaska, United States 2008
4 Sarychev Peak[16] Russia 2009
4 Eyjafjallajökull[17] Iceland 2010 Caused the worst flight disruption over Europe since the Second World War.[18] Over an eight-day period, an estimated 107,000 flights, representing 48% of total air traffic and 10 million passengers, were canceled.[19] According to the IATA, The total loss to the airline industry was around $1.7 billion.[20]
3 Pacaya[21] Guatemala 2010 3[22] On May 27, 2010, the Pacaya volcano erupted, followed by several tremors. At approximately 20:00 hours there was a strong eruption ejecting debris and ash columns up to 1,500 metres (4,900 ft). Ash rained down in many Guatemalan cities to the northwest of the volcano, including Guatemala City.[23] The volcanic ash fall pelted Guatemala City, and the international airport, La Aurora. The National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (CONRED) declared a red alert for the communities near the volcano and recommended the evacuation of some of them. Noti7 reporter Anibal Archila, one of the first to cover the event, was reportedly killed by volcanic debris.[24]
4 Mount Merapi[25] Indonesia 2010 353[26] Over 350,000 people were evacuated from the affected area. Ash plumes caused major disruption to aviation across Java.
4 Grímsvötn[27] Iceland 2011
5 Cordón Caulle[28] Chile 2011 Major flight disruptions across the southern hemisphere, including South America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Ejected 0.7 cu km of material into the atmosphere.
4 Nabro Volcano[29] Eritrea 2011 31
4 Plosky Tolbachik[30] Russia 2012
3 Mount Etna[31] Italy 2013- An eruption on 16 March 2017 injured 10 people, including a BBC News television crew, after magma exploded upon contact with snow.[32][33]
4 Mount Sinabung[34] Indonesia 2014 15 Mount Sinabung's eruptions caused many pyroclastic flows, one resulting in the loss of 15 lives.
4 Kelud[35] Indonesia 2014 7[36]
3 Sangeang Api[37] Indonesia 2014 Ash drifted SE, grounding flights between south-east Asia, and Darwin, Australia.[38]
3 Mount Ontake[39] Japan 2014 63 A phreatic eruption and pyroclastic flow occurred without warning, killing 63 people. Deadliest eruption in Japan since 1902, first volcano-related deaths in Japan since 1991.
4 Calbuco[40] Chile 2015 First eruption at Calbuco since 1972. At least 4,000 people evacuated. No casualties reported.[41]
4 Volcán Wolf[42] Ecuador 2015
2 Mount Sinabung[34] Indonesia 2016 7 Mount Sinabung continued to erupt, with 7 fatalities over two different occasions[43]
3 Mount Agung[44] Indonesia 2017-2019 Eruptions from 2017 - 2019 caused thousands to be evacuated, disrupted flights and a decline in tourism to Bali.
3 Kilauea[45] Hawaii, United States 2018 Most destructive volcanic event in the United States since the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. Lava flows forced the evacuation of populated areas, destroyed over 700 homes, roads and utilities, causing at least $800 million (2018 USD) of property damage.
3 Volcán de Fuego Guatemala 2018 446–3000 446 people were killed after the volcano's most powerful eruption since 1974. Ash forced the closure of La Aurora International Airport in the capital Guatemala City.[46][47] This event caused the deadliest volcanic eruption of the 21st century to date.
3 Ambae[48] Vanuatu 2018 During a series of eruptions in 2018, volcanic ash blackened the sky, buried crops and destroyed homes. Over the course of the year, the island's 11,000 population was forced to evacuate several times.[49]
3 Krakatoa[50] Indonesia 2018 426 A major eruption triggered a tsunami that killed at least 420 people and injured 14,000 others.[51][52] As a result of the landslide, the height of the volcano was reduced from 338 meters to 110 meters.[53]
4 Mount Sinabung[34] Indonesia 2019
2 Mount Stromboli[54] Italy 2019 1 A hiker was killed and several others were injured after the volcano's strongest eruption since 2002. The Italian Navy was deployed and evacuated dozens of the island's residents.[55]
3 Raikoke[56] Russia 2019 First eruption since 1924. At approximately 4 am, 22 June 2019 it erupted, with a plume of ash and gas reaching between 13,000 m (43,000 ft) and 17,000 m (56,000 ft), passing the tropopause and allowing stratospheric injection of ash and sulfur dioxide.[57]
4 Ulawun[1] Papua New Guinea 2019 On 26 June 2019 Ulawun erupted, sending an ash plume to at least 19,000 m (63,000 ft).[58] Other large eruptions occurred on 2 August, also sending ash to 19,000 m (63,000 ft).[59]
2 Whakaari / White Island[60] New Zealand 2019 22 On 9 December 2019, a phreatic eruption launched rock and ash into the air, killing 22 of the 47 people on the island, including two who are missing and declared dead. A further twenty-five people suffered injuries, including severe burns.
4 Shiveluch[2] Russia 2019 The Shiveluch volcano had four large eruptions, with one reaching 23,000 feet (7,000 meters) and another 35,000 feet (10,700 meters).
4 Taal Volcano[61] Philippines 2020 39 A phreatic eruption from the main crater spewed ashes to Calabarzon, Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Pangasinan. 39 people were killed.[62]
4 La Soufrière[63] Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2021 A small effusive eruption that started on December 27, 2020 was followed by a series of large explosive eruptions that started on April 9, 2021. These occurred after a dramatic increase in seismic activity and a large-scale evacuation the day before. The eruption also produced 0.3 cubic km of material which was the largest volcanic eruption in the Caribbean since 1902. It also made a large crater on the south flank of the volcano.
1 Mount Nyiragongo[3] Democratic Republic of the Congo 2021 32 Effusive eruption resulting in the destruction of 1,000 homes.
4 Fukutoku-Okanoba[64] Japan 2021 16 km high ash column. Pumice raft reached Ivana, Batanes
3 Cumbre Vieja[65] Spain 2021 1 Strombolian fissure eruption resulting in one person dead, over one billion dollars in damage and the destruction of over 2,500 buildings.
3 Mount Semeru[66] Indonesia 2021 57 Ejected a cloud of volcanic ash 12,000 m (40,000 ft) into the air, killing at least 57 people and injuring more than 100 others.
? Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai Tonga 2022 5 The explosive submarine eruption began on December 20, 2021, with the largest explosion so far, on January 15, 2022, Satellite measurements recorded an eruption column of at least 30,000 m (98,000 ft) into the atmosphere.[67] The explosion was heard as far as Fairbanks, Alaska, nearly 10,000 km away. Fluctuations in air pressure were recorded all over the world as the pressure wave has fully circled the world several times. Two people were killed in Peru by a 2-metre tsunami wave. A British woman was found to have been killed by the tsunami in Tonga.[68] The eruption is likely the largest of the 21st century to date, with a possible VEI as high as 5.[69][70] A preliminary estimate suggests it had an explosive force equivalent to about 10 megatons of TNT.[71]

See also[]

References[]

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  2. ^ a b "Sheveluch". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. 8 May 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
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  4. ^ "Ruang". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  5. ^ "Reventador". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
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  65. ^ EFE (20 November 2021). "El volcán de La Palma sube el índice de explosividad por la emisión de piroclastos" [The La Palma volcano increases the explosivity index due to the emission of pyroclasts]. Erupción La Palma (in Spanish). EFE. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  66. ^ "Semeru". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution.
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  71. ^ "Tonga eruption was so intense, it caused the atmosphere to ring like a bell". www.space.com. 30 January 2022.

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