Historical eruptions have taken place at the summit crater, and Aeseput, a vent on the volcano's north-east flank, which was formed in 1906. The volcano has erupted in: 1450, 1785, 1819, 1833, 1845, 1890, 1901, 1906, 1907, 1908–09, 1910, 1911–12, 1913, 1915, 1917, 1923–24, 1947, 1953, 1966–67, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1991–96, 2000–03, 2004, 2005, 2005–06, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2018.[2]
On the morning of 6 June 2008, Soputan erupted, sending pyroclastic flows as far as 4 km down its slopes, and ash 2 km into the air.[3]
An eruption at 21:03 UTC on 2 July 2011 sent an ash column 5,000 metres into the air.[4]
On 6 January 2015, an eruption began when an explosion caused a partial collapse of a summit lava dome, sending an avalanche down the west flank.[5]
On 4 January 2016, the volcano exploded, sending an ash plume to 2,000m, which prompted the authorities to establish a 4 km exclusion zone around the volcano.[6]
In 2018, Soputan erupted on 3 October, and again twice on 16 December. All three times the volcano spewed a massive column of ash more than 6,000 m (19,700 ft) into the sky.[7][8] The October eruption occurred about a week after a powerful earthquake and tsunami struck the island.[9]