1815 eruption of Mount Tambora — catastrophic volcanic eruption in present-day Indonesia
The 1815 Tambora eruption is the most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history, triggering global climate disruption and the 1816 Year Without a Summer.
Key Facts
- Volcanic Explosivity Index
- 7
- Material ejected (DRE)
- 37–45 km³
- Eruption climax date
- April 10, 1815
- Aftermath climate event
- Year Without a Summer, 1816
- Post-eruption activity duration
- 6 months to 3 years
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Mount Tambora, a stratovolcano on the island of Sumbawa in the Dutch East Indies, exhibited increased steaming and small phreatic eruptions in the months before April 1815, signaling a buildup of volcanic pressure that had been accumulating over an extended period beneath the mountain.
On April 10, 1815, Mount Tambora erupted in a cataclysmic explosion rated VEI 7, the highest confirmed for any eruption in recorded human history. The eruption ejected 37–45 km³ of dense-rock equivalent material into the atmosphere, with ash dispersing globally and minor eruptive activity continuing for up to three years afterward.
The enormous volume of ash and aerosols injected into the atmosphere lowered global temperatures, producing the so-called Year Without a Summer in 1816. This climate disruption caused extreme weather events and widespread harvest failures across multiple regions of the world, representing a convergence of climate forcings not observed after any comparable eruption since the early Stone Age.