The Deadliest Volcanic Eruptions in the Last 500 Years

It is believed that a volcano eruption in the fifth or sixth century created the small volcanic island of Krakatoa. Located about 100 miles west of Jakarta, Krakatoa’s most deadly eruption began on Aug. 26, 1883 as gas and debris shot 15 miles into the air. The eruption started at 1 p.m. and continued over the next 21 hours as more powerful explosions rocked the volcano. The strongest blast occurred at 10 a.m. on Aug. 27. Most of those killed perished in tsunamis as the volcano collapsed. The Krakatoa eruption was so famous it spawned a 1968 disaster film, “Krakatoa, East of Java.”

Mount Tambora’s most destructive eruption began on April 5, 1815, as a series of small tremors. Pyroclastic flows, a mixture of hot rock fragments, hot gasses, and trapped air, followed. As much as 36 cubic miles of ash, pumice, other rocks, and aerosols, including sulfur, spread into the atmosphere, lowering the average global temperature by 3 °C (5.4 °F), leading to crop failures and starvation.