List of largest volcanic eruptions
Explosive eruptions
In explosive eruptions, the eruption of magma is driven by the rapid release of pressure, often involving the explosion of gas previously dissolved within the material.

List of largest volcanic eruptions

Section Title: Explosive eruptions
Table Section Text: In explosive eruptions, the eruption of magma is driven by the rapid release of pressure, often involving the explosion of gas previously dissolved within the material.

Volcano—eruption	Age (Millions of years)	Location	Volume (km3)	Notes	Refs

Guarapuava —Tamarana—Sarusas	132	Paraná and Etendeka traps	8,600	Existence as a single volcano is controversial. Possibly a volcano chain.

Santa Maria—Fria	~132	Paraná and Etendeka traps	7,800	Existence as a single volcano is controversial. Possibly a volcano chain.

Guarapuava —Ventura	~132	Paraná and Etendeka traps	7,600	Existence as a single volcano is controversial. Possibly a volcano chain.

Sam Ignimbrite and Green Tuff	29.5	Yemen	6,800	Volume includes 5550 km³ of distal tuffs. This estimate is uncertain to a factor of 2 or 3.

Goboboseb–Messum volcanic centre—Springbok quartz latite unit	132	Paraná and Etendeka traps, Brazil and Namibia	6,340

Wah Wah Springs Tuff	30.06	Indian Peak-Caliente Caldera Complex	5,900	The largest of the Indian Peak-Caliente Caldera Complex, and includes flows over 13,000 feet thick at the most.

Caxias do Sul—Grootberg	~132	Paraná and Etendeka traps	5,650

La Garita Caldera—Fish Canyon Tuff	27.8	San Juan volcanic field, Colorado	5,000	Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma.

Lund Tuff	29.2	Indian Peak-Caliente Caldera Complex	4,400	Formed the White Rock Caldera, one of the largest eruptions of the Mid-Tertiary Ignimbrite flareup.

Jacui—Goboboseb II	~132	Paraná and Etendeka traps	4,350

Ourinhos—Khoraseb	~132	Paraná and Etendeka traps	3,900

Jabal Kura'a Ignimbrite	29.6	Yemen	3,800	Volume estimate is uncertain to a factor of 2 or 3.

Windows Butte tuff	31.4	William's Ridge, central Nevada	3,500	Part of the Mid-Tertiary ignimbrite flare-up

Anita Garibaldi—Beacon	~132	Paraná and Etendeka traps	3,450

Oxaya ignimbrites	19	Chile	3,000	Really a regional correlation of many ignimbrites originally thought to be distinct

Lake Toba—Youngest Toba Tuff	0.073	Sunda Arc, Indonesia	2,800	Largest known eruption on earth in at least the last million years, possibly responsible for a population bottleneck of the human species (see Toba catastrophe theory)

Pacana Caldera—Atana ignimbrite	4	Chile	2,800	Forms a resurgent caldera.

Mangakino Caldera—Kidnappers ignimbrite	1.01	Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand	2,760

Iftar Alkalb—Tephra 4 W	29.5	Afro-Arabian	2,700

Yellowstone Caldera—Huckleberry Ridge Tuff	2.059	Yellowstone hotspot	2,450	Largest Yellowstone eruption on record

Nohi Rhyolite—Gero Ash-Flow Sheet	70	Honshū, Japan	2,200	Nohi Rhyolite total volume over 7,000 km³ in 70 to 72 Ma, Gero Ash-Flow Sheet being the largest

Whakamaru	0.254	Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand	2,000	Largest in the Southern Hemisphere in the Late Quaternary

Palmas BRA-21—Wereldsend	29.5	Paraná and Etendeka traps	1,900

Kilgore tuff	4.3	Near Kilgore, Idaho	1,800	Last of the eruptions from the Heise volcanic field

Sana'a Ignimbrite—Tephra 2W63	29.5	Afro-Arabian	1,600

Millbrig eruptions—Bentonites	454	England, exposed in Northern Europe and Eastern US	1,509	One of the oldest large eruptions preserved

Blacktail tuff	6.5	Blacktail, Idaho	1,500	First of several eruptions from the Heise volcanic field

Mangakino Caldera—Rocky Hill	1	Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand	1,495

Emory Caldera—Kneeling Nun tuff	33	Southwestern New Mexico	1,310

Omine-Odai Caldera—Murou pyroclastic flow	13.7	Honshū, Japan	1,260	A part of the large eruptions that occurred in southwest Japan to 13 to 15 Ma.

Timber Mountain tuff	11.6	Southwestern Nevada	1,200	Also includes a 900 cubic km tuff as a second member in the tuff

Paintbrush tuff (Topopah Spring Member)	12.8	Southwestern Nevada	1,200	Related to a 1000 cubic km tuff (Tiva Canyon Member) as another member in the Paintbrush tuff

Bachelor—Carpenter Ridge tuff	28	San Juan volcanic field	1,200	Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma

Bursum—Apache Springs Tuff	28.5	Southern New Mexico	1,200	Related to a 1050 cubic km tuff, the Bloodgood Canyon tuff

Taupo Volcano—Oruanui eruption	0.027	Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand	1,170	Most recent VEI 8 eruption

Mangakino Caldera—Ongatiti - Mangatewaiiti	1.21	Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand	1,150

Huaylillas Ignimbrite	15	Bolivia	1,100	Predates half of the uplift of the central Andes

Bursum—Bloodgood Canyon tuff	28.5	Southern New Mexico	1,050	Related to a 1200 cubic km tuff, the Apache Springs tuff

Okueyama Caldera	13.7	Kyūshū, Japan	1,030	A part of the large eruptions that occurred in southwest Japan to 13 to 15 Ma.

Yellowstone Caldera—Lava Creek Tuff	0.639	Yellowstone hotspot	1,000	Last large eruption in the Yellowstone National Park area

Awasa Caldera	1.09	Main Ethiopian Rift	1,000

Cerro Galán	2.2	Catamarca Province, Argentina	1,000	Elliptical caldera is ~35 km wide

Paintbrush tuff (Tiva Canyon Member)	12.7	Southwestern Nevada	1,000	Related to a 1200 cubic km tuff (Topopah Spring Member) as another member in the Paintbrush tuff

San Juan—Sapinero Mesa Tuff	28	San Juan volcanic field	1,000	Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma

Uncompahgre—Dillon & Sapinero Mesa Tuffs	28.1	San Juan volcanic field	1,000	Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma

Platoro—Chiquito Peak tuff	28.2	San Juan volcanic field	1,000	Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma

Mount Princeton—Wall Mountain tuff	35.3	Thirtynine Mile volcanic area, Colorado	1,000	Helped cause the exceptional preservation at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

Sentence(s)

The eruption of La Garita Caldera is one of the largest volcanic eruptions.

final_sentence: The eruption of La Garita Caldera is one of the largest volcanic eruptions.