1815 eruption of Mount Tambora
| 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora | |
|---|---|
Impact range of the 1815 Tambora Explosion | |
| Volcano | Mount Tambora |
| Start date | 1812 |
| End date | July 15, 1815 |
| Type | Ultra-Plinian |
| Location | Sumbawa, Lesser Sunda Islands, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) 8°15′S 118°00′E / 8.25°S 118.00°E |
| Volume | 37–45 km3 (8.9–10.8 cu mi) |
| VEI | 7 |
| Impact | 10,000 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 |
| Maps | |
In April of 1815, Mount Tambora, a volcano on the island of Sumbawa in present-day Indonesia (then part of the Dutch East Indies), erupted in what is now considered the most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded human history. This eruption, with a volcanic explosivity index (VEI) of 7, ejected 37–45 km3 (8.9–10.8 cubic miles) of dense-rock equivalent (DRE) material into the atmosphere, and was the most recent confirmed VEI-7 eruption.
Although the Mount Tambora eruption reached a violent climax on April 10th, 1815, increased steaming and small phreatic eruptions occurred during the next 6 months to 3 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. 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.