1815 eruption of Mount Tambora

1815 eruption of Mount Tambora
Impact range of the 1815 Tambora Explosion
VolcanoMount Tambora
Start date1812[1]
End date15 July 1815[1]
TypeUltra-Plinian
LocationSumbawa, Lesser Sunda Islands, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia)
8°15′S 118°00′E / 8.25°S 118.00°E / -8.25; 118.00
Volume37–45 km3 (8.9–10.8 cu mi)
VEI7
Impact10,000 to 11,000 deaths from direct volcanic effects; 49,000 to 90,000 deaths from post-eruption famine and epidemic diseases on Sumbawa, Lombok and Bali; reduced global temperatures in the following year which led to famine in numerous regions

Mount Tambora is a volcano on the island of Sumbawa in present-day Indonesia, then part of the Dutch East Indies,[2] and its 1815 eruption was the most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded human history. This volcanic explosivity index (VEI) 7 eruption ejected 37–45 km3 (8.9–10.8 cubic miles) of dense-rock equivalent (DRE) material into the atmosphere,[3] and was the most recent confirmed VEI-7 eruption.[4]

Although the Mount Tambora eruption reached a violent climax on 10 April 1815,[5] increased steaming and small phreatic eruptions occurred during the next six months to three years. The ash from the eruption column dispersed around the world and lowered global temperatures in an event sometimes known as the Year Without a Summer in 1816.[6] This brief period of significant climate change triggered extreme weather and harvest failures in many areas around the world. Several climate forcings coincided and interacted in a systematic manner that has not been observed after any other large volcanic eruption since the early Stone Age.

  1. ^ a b "Tambora". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  2. ^ * Hägerdal, Hans (2017), Held's History of Sumbawa. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, p. 19-20, 141-2.[1]
  3. ^ Kandlbauer, J.; Sparks, R. S. J. (2014-10-01). "New estimates of the 1815 Tambora eruption volume". Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. 286: 93–100. Bibcode:2014JVGR..286...93K. doi:10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2014.08.020. ISSN 0377-0273.
  4. ^ Oppenheimer, Clive (2003). "Climatic, environmental and human consequences of the largest known historic eruption: Tambora volcano (Indonesia) 1815". Progress in Physical Geography. 27 (2): 230–259. Bibcode:2003PrPG...27..230O. doi:10.1191/0309133303pp379ra. S2CID 131663534.
  5. ^ Earth Observatory
  6. ^ "Tambora Volcano, Indonesia". United States Geological Survey. 3 June 2002. Archived from the original on 2 June 2010. Retrieved 8 September 2010.