1815 eruption of Mount Tambora

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1815 eruption of Mount Tambora
False color image of Mount Tambora, taken from the Space Shuttle Endeavour on May 13, 1992; east at top
Volcano	Mount Tambora
Start date	1812[1]
End date	15 July 1815[1]
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 / -8.25; 118.00
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

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.