The largest volcanic eruptions in the world. Killer volcanoes. The most powerful volcanic eruptions in history. What is a supervolcano
Today, September 14, 2013, marks exactly 5 years since the sudden activation of the Shiveluch volcano, which led to partial destruction of its foundation. On this day, we tried to select the 10 largest volcanic eruptions, which were recorded and assessed by a special scale - the Volcanic Explosiveness Index (VEI).
This scale was developed in the 80s, it includes many factors, such as the volume of the eruption, speed and others. The scale includes 8 levels, each of which is 10 times greater than the previous one, that is, a level 3 eruption is 10 times stronger than a level 2 eruption.
The last level 8 eruption took place on earth more than 10,000 years ago, but there have still been powerful eruptions throughout the history of mankind. We offer you the TOP of the 10 largest volcanic eruptions over the last 4000 years.
Huaynaputina, Peru, 1600, VEI 6
This volcano created the largest eruption in South America in the history of mankind. The instantaneous release instantly created several mudflows that headed towards the Pacific coast. Due to the ash thrown into the air, summers in South America were one of the coldest in half a millennium. The eruption destroyed nearby cities, which were rebuilt only a century later.
Krakatoa, Sunda Strait, Indonesia, 1883, VEI 6
All summer, a powerful roar inside the mountain foreshadowed the eruption that occurred on April 26-27. During the eruption, the volcano threw out tons of ash, rock and lava; the mountain was heard thousands of kilometers away. In addition, a sharp shock created a forty-meter wave; even on another continent, increases in waves were recorded. The eruption killed 34,000 people.
Volcano Santa Maria, Guatemala 1902, VEI 6
The eruption of this volcano was one of the largest in the 20th century. A sharp shock from a volcano that had been dormant for 500 years created a crater one and a half kilometers wide. The volcano claimed the lives of hundreds of people.
Novarupta Volcano, Alaska Peninsula, June 1912, VEI 6
This volcano is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire and had the largest eruption of the 20th century. The powerful explosion sent 12.5 cubic kilometers of ash and magma into the air.
Volcano Pinatubo, Luzon, Philippines, 1991, VEI 6
The eruption released so much ash that the roofs of nearby houses collapsed under its weight. In addition to ash, the volcano released other substances into the air, which reduced the temperature of the planet by half a degree for a year.
Ambrym Island, Republic of Vanuatu, 50 AD, VEI 6 +
One of the largest eruptions in history occurred on this small island. To this day, this volcano remains one of the most active in the world. The eruption formed calderas 12 km wide.
Volcano Ilopango, El Salvador, 450 AD, VEI 6 +
Although this mountain is located only a few miles from the capital, San Salvador, it has created an incredible eruption in the past. It destroyed all Mayan settlements and covered a third of the country with ash. Trade routes were destroyed, and the entire civilization was forced to move to the lowlands. Now the crater contains one of the largest lakes in El Salvador.
Mount Thera, Greece, circa 1610 BC, VEI 7
Archaeologists believe that the force of the eruption of this volcano is comparable to several hundred nuclear bombs. If there were inhabitants here, they either fled or died under an irresistible force. The volcano not only raised huge Tsunamis and lowered the temperature of the planet with huge clouds of sulfur, but also changed the climate as a whole.
Changbai Volcano, China-Korea border, 1000 AD, VEI 7
The eruption was so strong that there was ash deposits even in northern Japan. Over the course of a thousand years, the huge craters have turned into lakes that are popular with tourists. Scientists suggest that still unexplored creatures live in the depths of the lakes.
Mount Tambora, Sumbawa Islands, Indonesia, 1815, VEI 7
The eruption of Mount Tambora is the most powerful in the history of mankind. The mountain roared so loudly that it was heard 1,200 miles away. In total, about 71,000 people died, and ash clouds covered many hundreds of kilometers around.
Which can be highlighted in the history of existence are the eruptions on the volcanic island of Krakatoa, and the Temboro and Katmai volcanoes. These volcanic eruptions reached extraordinary strength and were accompanied by a huge number of human casualties.
Eruption on the volcanic island of Krakatoa
In terms of force of action, the first place should be given to the eruption that occurred on September 7-9, 1883 in an uninhabited volcanic island of Krakatoa , located west of the entrance to the Sunda Strait. This island, together with the nearby islets of Ferlaten and Dang, represented the remnant of an ancient volcano up to two kilometers high with a base diameter of 13 kilometers. Krakatoa shocked the world with the greatest explosion man has ever known. The eruption blasted and swept away most of the island, covering an area of about 75 square kilometers. In its place, sea depths of up to 360 meters formed. The eruption began at noon on September 7. Volcano Krakatoa. There were no direct eyewitnesses to the disaster, as the entire population of Sobezi Island, located almost 20 kilometers from Krakatoa, died. At about one o'clock in the afternoon in the city of Batavia (now Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia on the island of Java), located at a distance of 178 kilometers from Krakatau, a menacing rumble was heard. At night it reached such strength that people could not sleep. By the morning of the next day the sky had cleared somewhat, but soon there was impenetrable darkness that lasted 18 hours. At about 10 o'clock in the morning the eruption reached its greatest strength. The ash column is believed to have risen up to 30 kilometers. Clouds of ash covered the ships at a considerable distance from the island. A strong storm broke out at sea - huge waves drowned and washed ashore small ships. The blast wave was felt especially strongly in Jakarta: in many houses, not only did window glass break and lamps went out, but even window frames were dented and walls collapsed. The roar of the explosion was clearly heard not only in Australia, on the island of Ceylon, the Philippine Islands, but even on the island of Rodrigues (from the Maekaren Islands group), i.e., at a distance of about 5000 kilometers from Krakatoa. In New York, 19 thousand kilometers away from the awakened volcano, barometer fluctuations were noted due to the spread of the blast wave. The waters of the ocean began to move. A wave of extraordinary height (up to 36 meters) swept for thousands of kilometers, washing away villages from the islands and killing tens of thousands of people. About 36 thousand people died on the islands of the Sunda Strait and on its shores during this disaster. On the shores of Sumatra and Java, in many places the vegetation was washed away, trees torn out by the wind, corpses of people and animals were lying around, the ground was covered with mud and ash. Even on the island of Ceylon, about 3,000 kilometers from Krakatoa, the wave washed away fishermen on the shallows. The wave, rounding the Cape of Good Hope, reached the shores of France and the British Isles and caused sea tides of extraordinary force. In an easterly direction, the wave reached the coast of North America from Panama to Alaska. The masses erupted by the volcano consisted mainly of fine ash and pumice. On the islands closest to Krakatoa, a layer up to 40 meters thick grew from these volcanic products. The ash thrown out by the explosion spread over a huge area equal to approximately half of our country. The total volume of volcanic ash was determined by scientists to be approximately 18 cubic kilometers. For a long time, especially in the winter of 1883 and spring of 1884, morning and evening dawns in Europe and America were exceptionally colorful. The unusual color of the sun, the reddish ring around its disk and the fiery purple shine of dawn were explained by the presence in the atmosphere of finely divided ash particles raised to a height of 80 kilometers. A huge amount of pumice was also thrown out. After the eruption, accumulations of pumice covered the surface of the ocean and in some places it formed standing floating islands, rising 2 meters above the water. There was so much pumice collected in the Sunda Strait that it impeded the movement of steamships. One Dutch warship crashed into a pumice field and was marooned for six days until disturbances dispersed the pumice accumulations. In 1927, after a rest of forty-four years, the almost disappeared volcano Krakatoa resumed its activity again: a new volcanic island, Anak Krakatoa, arose on the site of the previous crater.Eruption of Mount Tembora
The Sunda Islands region has been the site of terrible volcanic eruptions more than once. An exceptional place in terms of the power of action and the number of victims (over 56 thousand human lives) is occupied by eruption of volcano Tembora in 1815 on the island of Sumbawa (from the Sunda Islands group, east of the island of Java). The eruption continued for several days. When it reached its greatest strength, impenetrable darkness remained around the volcano for three days within a radius of over 800 kilometers. The noise of the eruption was heard not only on the large and small Sunda Islands, but even on the northwestern coast of Australia (over 1000 kilometers from the volcano).
Volcano Tambora. Much of Sumbawa Island was covered in a thick layer of ash. Even stone buildings collapsed under its weight. A flourishing country has turned into a gray, dead desert. 12 thousand people died on the island. 44 thousand people died under the ashes, as well as from hunger (due to the loss of crops and feed for livestock). The ashes even flew to Jakarta (1,300 kilometers from the volcano) and to the island of Celebes. Pumice covered the ocean over vast distances, impeding the movement of ships. In addition, terrible disasters were caused by a hurricane that raged on the ocean when the volcanic eruption reached its greatest force. Waves of extraordinary height rushed to the ground and, although they raged for only three minutes, their effect was terrible. Forests and entire villages were demolished, the spinning tornado uprooted trees, captured individual buildings, animals and people. It is believed that the amount of volcanic products ejected by the Temboro volcano was no less than 120 cubic kilometers, i.e. approximately six and a half times more than Krakatoa ejected. After the Temboro eruption, purplish-red sunsets were observed in Europe, in addition, the eruption's impact on the climate was noted, which resulted in a noticeable decrease in the average temperatures of the months (and year). According to the definition of contemporaries, it was “the year without summer”, “a disastrous year for rural owners.” Katmai volcano eruption
One of the Alaskan volcanoes - Katmai resembles the nature of an eruption. An exceptionally powerful eruption of this volcano, which lasted about two months, occurred in the summer of 1912. As a result of several successive explosions, the top of the volcanic cone was completely swept away. In its place, as further research established, a gloomy hole formed almost 1000 meters deep with a diameter of about two kilometers. The volcano is believed to have released about 20 cubic kilometers of solid eruption products. The area closest to Katmai was covered with a layer of sand and ash up to three meters thick. When it rained ash, the surroundings of the volcano were plunged into impenetrable darkness for almost three days.
Volcano-Katmai. Everything in the immediate district of Katmai had changed beyond recognition: where there were dense ancient forests, a lifeless plain lay spread out, only in many places streams of vapors and gases rose from under a layer of ash. This area is called “the valley of ten thousand smokes.” Katmai is located in a deserted area, which is why its eruptions, as far as we know, did not result in significant human casualties. Add topic most powerful volcanic eruptions you can read the articles: On August 24, 79, the most famous volcanic eruption in history occurred - the eruption of Vesuvius. The cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae were buried under volcanic ash. Ashes from Vesuvius reached Egypt and Syria. We decided to make a selection of several world-famous volcanic eruptions.
1. One of the largest eruptions in modern history occurred on April 5–7, 1815 in Indonesia. Volcano Tambora erupted on the island of Sumbawa. Humanity remembers this volcanic eruption because of the large number of victims. During the disaster itself and subsequently, 92 thousand people died from hunger. The ash clouds from the Tambora eruption blocked the sun's rays for so long that it even caused the temperature over the area to drop.
2. The Taupo volcano in New Zealand erupted 27 thousand years ago. It remains the largest volcanic eruption in the last 70 thousand years. During it, about 530 km³ of magma was erupted from the mountain. After the eruption, a giant caldera was formed, which is now partially filled by Lake Taupo, one of the most beautiful tourist destinations in the world.
3. On August 27, 1883, the Krakatoa volcano began to erupt between the islands of Java and Sumatra. This eruption is known for the largest volcanic explosion in history. The tsunami caused by this explosion covered 163 villages. More than 36 thousand people died. The roar from the colossal force of the explosion could be heard by 8 percent of the world's population, and pieces of lava were thrown up to a height of 55 kilometers. Volcanic ash, which was carried by the wind, fell 10 days later 5 thousand kilometers from the eruption site.
4. After the eruption of the Santorini volcano in Greece, the Cretan civilization perished. This happened around 1450 BC on the island of Thera. There is a version that Fera is Atlantis, which Plato described. According to another version, the pillar of fire that Moses saw is the eruption of Santorini, and the parting of the sea is a consequence of the immersion of the island of Thera in water.
5. Volcano Etna, in Sicily, according to some sources, has already erupted more than 200 times. In one of them, in 1169, 15 thousand people died. Etna is a still active volcano that erupts approximately once every 150 years. But the Sicilians still continue to settle on the mountainside because the solidified lava makes the soil fertile. During the eruption that occurred in 1928, a miracle occurred. The lava stopped right in front of the Catholic procession. A chapel was built on this site. Lava from the eruption, which occurred 30 years after construction, also stopped in front of it.
6. In 1902, the Montagne Pelee volcano erupted on the island of Martinique. On May 8, a cloud of hot lava, vapors and gases covered the city of Saint-Pierre. The city was destroyed in a few minutes. Of the 28 thousand residents in the city, two were saved, including Opostos Siparis, who was sentenced to death. He was saved by the walls of the death row. The governor pardoned Siparis and for the rest of his life he traveled around the world, talking about what happened.
7. The city of Armero in Colombia was destroyed in ten minutes after the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano on November 13, 1985. This city was located 50 kilometers from the eruption site. Of the 28 thousand inhabitants, only 7 thousand remained alive after the eruption. Many more people could have survived if they had listened to the volcanologists who warned of disaster. But no one believed the experts that day, since their forecasts turned out to be wrong several times.
8. On June 12, 1991, the Pinatubo volcano, which had been dormant for 611 years, came to life in the Philippines. 875 people died in the disaster. Also destroyed during the eruption was an Air Force base and a US Naval base. The eruption resulted in a drop in temperature of 0.5 degrees Celsius and a reduction in the ozone layer, specifically the formation of an ozone hole over Antarctica.
9. In 1912, on June 6, one of the largest eruptions of the 20th century occurred. Katmai volcano erupted in Alaska. The ash column from the eruption rose 20 kilometers. A lake formed on the site of the crater from the volcano - the main attraction of Katmai National Park.
10 . Eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull in 2010. Thick clouds of volcanic ash blanketed parts of the Icelandic countryside and an invisible plume of sand and dust blanketed Europe, clearing the skies of planes and sending hundreds of thousands of people scrambling to find hotel rooms, train tickets and taxis.
11 . Klyuchevskaya Sopka, Russia. This volcano has erupted about 20 times. In 1994, another eruption began, when a powerful eruptive column loaded with ash rose from the summit crater to an absolute height of 12-13 km. Fountains of hot bombs flew up 2-2.5 km above the crater, the maximum size of the debris reached 1.5-2 m in diameter. A thick dark plume loaded with volcanic products extended to the southeast. Powerful mud flows traveled 25 - 30 km along already developed channels and reached the river. Kamchatka
Volcanoes have always been dangerous. Some of them are located on the seabed and when lava erupts, they do not cause much damage to the surrounding world. Much more dangerous are similar geological formations on land, near which large settlements and cities are located. We offer for review a list of the deadliest volcanic eruptions.
79 AD. Volcano Vesuvius. 16,000 dead.
During the eruption, a deadly column of ash, dirt and smoke rose from the volcano to a height of 20 kilometers. The spewing ash even reached Egypt and Syria. Every second, millions of tons of molten rock and pumice came out of the Vesuvius vent. A day after the start of the eruption, streams of hot mud mixed with stones and ash began to flow. Pyroclastic flows completely buried the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis and Stabiae. In some places the thickness of the avalanche exceeded 8 meters. The death toll is estimated at at least 16,000.
Painting "The Last Day of Pompeii". Karl Bryulov
The eruption was preceded by a series of tremors with a magnitude of 5.0, but no one responded to natural warnings, since earthquakes are a frequent occurrence in this place.
Last eruption Vesuvius recorded in 1944, after which it died down. Scientists suggest that the longer the volcano’s “hibernation” lasts, the stronger its next eruption will be.
1792 Volcano Unzen. About 15,000 dead.
The volcano is located on the Japanese Shimabara Peninsula. Activity Unzen has been recorded since 1663, but the most powerful eruption was in 1792. After the volcanic eruption, a series of tremors followed, which caused a powerful tsunami. A deadly 23-meter wave hit the coastal zone of the Japanese islands. The number of victims exceeded 15,000 people.
In 1991, at the foot of Unzen, 43 journalists and scientists were killed by lava as it rolled down the slope.
1815 Volcano Tambora. 71,000 victims.
This eruption is considered the most powerful in the history of mankind. On April 5, 1815, the geological activity of the volcano, located on the Indonesian island, began Sumbawa. The total volume of erupted material is estimated at 160-180 cubic kilometers. A powerful avalanche of hot rocks, mud and ash rushed to the sea, covering the island and sweeping away everything in its path - trees, houses, people and animals.
All that remains of the Tambora volcano is a huge caledera.
The roar of the explosion was so strong that it was heard on the island of Sumatra, which was located 2000 kilometers from the epicenter; the ashes reached the islands of Java, Kilimantan, and Moluccas.
An artist's impression of the eruption of Mount Tambora. Unfortunately, the author could not be found
The release of huge amounts of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere caused global climate changes, including the phenomenon of “volcanic winter”. The following year, 1816, also known as the “year without summer,” turned out to be abnormally cold, unusually low temperatures set in North America and Europe, and a catastrophic crop failure led to great famine and epidemics.
1883, Krakatoa volcano. 36,000 deaths.
The volcano woke up on May 20, 1883, it began to release huge clouds of steam, ash and smoke. This continued almost until the end of the eruption; on August 27, 4 powerful explosions occurred, which completely destroyed the island where the volcano was located. The fragments of the volcano scattered over a distance of 500 km, the gas-ash column rose to a height of more than 70 km. The explosions were so powerful that they were heard 4,800 kilometers away on Rodrigues Island. The blast wave was so powerful that it circled the Earth 7 times; they were felt after five days. In addition, it raised a tsunami 30 meters high, which led to the death of about 36,000 people on nearby islands (some sources indicate 120,000 victims), 295 cities and villages were washed into the sea by a powerful wave. The air wave tore off the roofs and walls of houses and uprooted trees within a radius of 150 kilometers.
Lithograph of the Krakatoa eruption, 1888
The eruption of Krakatoa, like Tambora, affected the planet's climate. Global temperatures dropped by 1.2 degrees Celsius during the year and only recovered by 1888.
The force of the blast wave was enough to lift such a large piece of coral reef from the bottom of the sea and throw it several kilometers away.
1902, Mont Pele volcano. 30,000 people died.
The volcano is located in the north of the island of Martinique (Lesser Antilles). He woke up in April 1902. A month later, the eruption itself began, suddenly a mixture of smoke and ash began to burst out of the crevices at the foot of the mountain, and lava began to flow in a hot wave. The city was completely destroyed by an avalanche Saint Pierre, which was located 8 kilometers from the volcano. Of the entire city, only two people survived - a prisoner who was sitting in an underground solitary confinement cell, and a shoemaker who lived on the outskirts of the city; the rest of the city's population, more than 30,000 people, died.
Left: Photograph of ash plumes erupting from the Mont Pelee volcano. Right: a surviving prisoner, and the completely destroyed city of Saint-Pierre.
1985, Nevado del Ruiz volcano. More than 23,000 victims.
Located Nevado del Ruiz in the Andes, Colombia. In 1984, seismic activity was recorded in these places, clouds of sulfur gases were released from the summit and there were several minor ash emissions. On November 13, 1985, the volcano exploded, releasing a column of ash and smoke more than 30 kilometers high. The erupting hot streams melted the glaciers on the top of the mountain, creating four lahars. Lahars, consisting of water, pieces of pumice, rock fragments, ash and dirt, swept away everything in their path at a speed of 60 km/h. City Armero was completely washed away by the flood, of the 29,000 inhabitants of the city, only 5,000 survived. The second lahar hit the city of Chinchina, killing 1,800 people.
Lahar descent from the summit of Nevado del Ruiz
The consequences of the lahar are the city of Armero razed to the ground.