Makian Volcano

Updated: Jan 18, 2025 10:51 GMT - refresh

Stratovolcano 1357 m / 4,452 ft
Halmahera (Indonesia), 0.32°N / 127.4°E
Current status: normal or dormant (1 out of 5)

Last update: 12 Dec 2021 (Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report)

Kiebesi volcano (Makian Island) seen from the NW with the prominent Ngopagita gully (image: Ruska Hadian, 1985, Volcanological Survey of Indonesia)

Makian volcano is one of Inondesia's most destructive volcanoes. It has had infrequent, but violent eruptions that have devastated villages on the island. Its eruption have been recorded since about 1550; the major eruptions in 1646, 1760-61, 1861-62, 1890, and 1988 caused extensive damage and many fatalities.

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Typical eruption style: Explosive eruptions. Infrequent but violent explosions with large amounts of ash and pyroclastic flows generated.
Makian volcano eruptions: 1550, 1646, 1660(?), 1760-61, 1854(?), 1860(?), 1861-62, 1863, 1864, 1890, 1988

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Background

Makian volcano forms a 10-km-wide island near the southern end of a chain of volcanic islands off the west coast of Halmahera. The large 1.5-km-wide summit crater, containing a small lake on the NE side, gives the 1357-m-high peak a flat-topped profile. Two prominent valleys extend to the coast from the summit crater on the north and east sides. Four parasitic cones are found on the western flanks.
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Source: GVP, Smithsonian Institution

Significant volcanic eruptions: Makian volcano

Date	Note	VEI	Deaths	Damage
1988 Jul 29 - Aug 5	Historical obs./docs.	3
1890 Jun 20 - Jun 30	Historical obs./docs.	2
1890 Jun 29 (eruption 1890 Jun 20 - Jun 30)	Historical obs./docs.	2		heavy	More info
1890 Jun 29: Kusumadinata-79 makes no mention of human fatalities but records several villages destroyed completely, many houses destroyed, many cattle killed. Cited references #1412 Simkin, Tom, and Lee Siebert with the collaboration of Russell Blong, Jonathan Dehn, Christopher Newhall, Roland Pool, and Thomas C. Stein (1994): Volcanoes of the World, Second Edition, A Regional Directory, Gazetteer, and Chronology of Volcanism During the Last 10,000 Years, Geoscience Press, Inc., Tucson, Arizona, in association with Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program, Washington, D.C., p. 164-176. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
1864 Oct	Historical obs./docs.	1
1863 Aug 25 - Aug 31	Historical obs./docs.	1
1861 Dec 28 - 1862 Oct	Historical obs./docs.	4?
1861 Dec 29 (eruption 1861 Dec 28 - 1862 Oct)	Historical obs./docs.	4	326		More info
1861 Dec 29: 326 deaths, 47 injuries. Ashflows reached the coast. Some drowned while fleeing by boat. Kusumadinata-79 gives 309 killed and 15 villages totally destroyed. Wallace also mentions this eruption but places it on the same day in 1862. Cited references #1412 Simkin, Tom, and Lee Siebert with the collaboration of Russell Blong, Jonathan Dehn, Christopher Newhall, Roland Pool, and Thomas C. Stein (1994): Volcanoes of the World, Second Edition, A Regional Directory, Gazetteer, and Chronology of Volcanism During the Last 10,000 Years, Geoscience Press, Inc., Tucson, Arizona, in association with Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program, Washington, D.C., p. 164-176. #1651 Kusumadinata K (1979): Data Dasar Gunungapi Indonesia. Bandung: Volc Surv Indonesia, 820 p (in Indonesian) Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
?? 1860	Uncertain Eruption	1
?? 1854 Jun 18	Uncertain Eruption	1
1760 Sep 22 - 1761 Apr 30 or later	Historical obs./docs.	4?
1760 (eruption 1760 Sep 22 - 1761 Apr 30 or later)	Historical obs./docs.	4	2,000		More info
1760: Major explosive eruption. IAVCEI attributes deaths to a lahar. Cited references #1412 Simkin, Tom, and Lee Siebert with the collaboration of Russell Blong, Jonathan Dehn, Christopher Newhall, Roland Pool, and Thomas C. Stein (1994): Volcanoes of the World, Second Edition, A Regional Directory, Gazetteer, and Chronology of Volcanism During the Last 10,000 Years, Geoscience Press, Inc., Tucson, Arizona, in association with Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program, Washington, D.C., p. 164-176. #1638 IAVCEI (1973-1980): Post-Miocene Volcanoes of the World. IAVCEI Data Sheets, Rome: Internatl Assoc Volc Chemistry Earth's Interior. #9675 Siebert, Lee, Tom Simkin, Paul Kimberly (2010): Fatalities & Evacuations, Volcanoes of the World, Third Edition, Geoscience Press, Inc., University of California Press, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., p. 329-347. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
?? 1660 AD	Uncertain Eruption	?
1646 AD Jul 19 - Jul 21	Historical obs./docs.	4?
1646 AD Jul 19 (eruption 1646 AD Jul 19 - Jul 21)	Tsunami recorded Historical obs./docs.	4	100-1,000 (*)		More info
1646 AD Jul 19: Many died. Not listed in Kusumadinata-79. VSI comments that major explosive eruption devasted villages on flanks. Cited references #1412 Simkin, Tom, and Lee Siebert with the collaboration of Russell Blong, Jonathan Dehn, Christopher Newhall, Roland Pool, and Thomas C. Stein (1994): Volcanoes of the World, Second Edition, A Regional Directory, Gazetteer, and Chronology of Volcanism During the Last 10,000 Years, Geoscience Press, Inc., Tucson, Arizona, in association with Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program, Washington, D.C., p. 164-176. #1678 VSI (1993): Volc Surv Indonesia. 1993. Journal of volcanic activity in Indonesia, v 1 #11528 Harris, Ron, Jonathan Major (2016): Waves of destruction in the East Indies: the Wichmann catalogue of earthquakes and tsunami in the Indonesian region from 1538 to 1877. In Geohazards in Indonesia: Earth Science for Disaster Risk Reduction, P. R. Cummins and I. Meilano (eds.), Geological Society London, Special Publications, vol. 441. DOI:10.1144/SP441.2 Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
1608 AD - 1609	Discredited Eruption
1550 AD (eruption 1550 or before AD)	Tsunami recorded Historical obs./docs.	3		light	More info
1550 AD: reference #10953 lists damage caused and an 'uncertain' tsunami Cited references #2432 Venzke, E., R.W. Wunderman, L. McClelland, T. Simkin, J.F. Luhr, L. Siebert, and G. Mayberry (eds.) (2002-): Global Volcanism, 1968 to the Present. Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program Digital Information Series, GVP-4 (http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/). #10953 Siebert, Lee, Tom Simkin, Paul Kimberly (2010): Volcanoes of the World, Third Edition, Geoscience Press, Inc., University of California Press, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 551 p. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
1550 or before AD	Historical obs./docs.	3

(*) Estimated numbers

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Volcanic Eruptions Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K | Global Volcanism Project / Smithsonian Institution

Eruptions of Makian volcano

1988 eruption
A white steam plume appeared on Makian volcano on 17 July 1988. At night, glow from the crater was visible indicating a new eruption. 15,000 people evacuated to to Moti Island 10 km to the north. On 29 July an explosion produced a large ash plume reaching 8 km height and drifting 100 km SW. On 30 July, pyroclastic flows (nuées ardentes) reached the sea. Eruptions continued until August 1988, after when the eruption started to die out.

1976 eruption warning & evacuations
In June 1976, local authorities believed an eruption of Makian could be impending and ordered the evacuation of 3,250 families. It turned out later that the seismic activity prompting this measure had been tectonic and not related to the volcano. No eruption followed.

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See also: Sentinel hub | Landsat 8 | NASA FIRMS

Latest satellite images

Makian Volcano Maps

Below is a selection of maps showing the location and surroundings of the volcano at various resolutions based on aerial-imagery / terrain maps. Feel free to use them for non-commercial purposes on your blog or website as long as you credit them with a link back to this page (click to copy it).