Mount Tambora

Mount Tambora (8°14’41”S, 117°59’35”E) is an active volcano in Indonesia. It is on top of a subduction zone. Tambora was about two-thirds taller(or about 1,449 meters, 4746 feet) before its explosive volcanic eruption in 1815. This killed tens of thousands of people around the world. Later eruptions have been smaller.

 History 
When the volcano erupted in 1815, it climaxed on 10 April. It was the most destructive volcanic eruption in modern history, with a Volcanic Explosivity Index(VEI) of 7. It has been estimated that it was four times larger than the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, between Java and Sumatra, in terms of volume of magma and lava ejected. Before the explosion, Tambora was 4,300 m (14,100 ft) high, now it is only 2,722 m (8,930 ft) high. Its massive crater is therefore a caldera.

The eruption destroyed a small Asian culture, known to archaeologists as the Tamboran kingdom. Most deaths from the eruption were from starvation and disease, as the fallout ruined farming in the local region. The death toll was at least 71,000 people,This may seem a small total, but there were far fewer people living in the region in 1816. of whom 11,000–12,000 were killed directly by the eruption. The often-cited figure of 92,000 people killed is believed to be overestimated.

It released 160 cubic kilometers    of ash into the upper atmosphere. This caused famine around the world. Tambora's 1815 outburst was the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history. With a VEI of 7, it was one of the most violent eruptions in the last 5,000 years, comparable to the 180 AD "Hatepe eruption" of Taupo Volcano and the 969 AD eruption of Baekdu Mountain. The explosion was heard on Sumatra island more than  away. Heavy volcanic ash falls were observed as far away as Borneo, Sulawesi, Java and Maluku islands.

 Climate change 
Because of the ash released which blocked out the Sun, the eruption caused a global climate change known as the "volcanic winter". 1816 became known as the "Year without a Summer" because of the effect on North American and European weather. Crops failed and livestock died in much of the Northern Hemisphere, resulting in the worst famine of the 19th century.

 References 

Category:Volcanoes of Indonesia
Category:Calderas
Category:VEI-7 volcanoes