Volcanoes are all over the world, mostly located in the Ring of Fire.
Volcanoes are beautiful, but dangerous when they erupt. Volcanic eruptions are a blessing and a curse, causing death and destruction while providing fertile elements for the soil.
However, some volcanic eruptions are so great that they have caused complete annihilation across the lands. Here are 5 deadliest volcanic eruptions to ever occur in recorded history.
1. Mt. Tambora’s 1815 Eruption
It’s hard to imagine that Mt Tambora, a 2850m was a tall and large volcano just 200 years ago. The eruption in 1815 was so large that the force of the eruption destroyed it’s top, leaving a very large crater where the top once was.The eruption caused devastation on the entire island, literally all vegetation was destroyed. The volcanic column reaches a height of 43km, and given the scale of the eruption, it affected weather patterns all over the world. 1816 was known as the “Year Without Summer” as the 120 million tons of sulfur block the sun’s rays from reaching the surface. It was reported that in June 1816, it snowed in several countries. Approximately 71,000 people died on the island and many more from diseases and famine.
2. Mt Krakatoa
The 1883 eruption of Krakota was so big that it forever changed the landscape of the volcano. It destroyed the island the volcano was sitting on, breaking it into three. The sound generated from the eruption was the loudest recorded sound in history – people as far as 3,000 KM away heard the sound. The eruption was equivalent to 200 Megatons of TNT and generated a landslide that created a tsunami that hit Java and Sumatra. 36,000 people were killed as a result, and there were reports of people in the African coast finding skeletons in raft months after it’s an eruption. Like Mt Tambora’s eruption, Krakatoa’s eruption changed the climate. The gas circled around the world, blocking out the sun and plunged world temperatures by 2.1 F, and only return to normal after 5 years.
3. Mt Pelee’s 1902 Eruption
Located in the island of Martinique in the Caribbean, Mt Pelee erupted with force on 8 May 1902. And It didn’t take long to show it’s deadly force. The toxic cloud reaching up to 1075 degrees C descended upon the town of St Pierre, killing animals, residents, and burning literally everything it touched.The town of St Pierre was completely decimated by the eruption, reduced to ashes. Of the 28,000 killed in the town, only 3 survivors were found.
4. Mt Pinatubo
Mt Pinatubo’s 1991 eruption was one of its kind. On June 15. 1991, after weeks of intermittent eruptions, it finally unleashed the climax, the second-largest eruption of the 20th century. Its volcanic explosivity index was VEI 6, a “Colossal” by scientific standards that only happens every 50-100 years. To make things worse, the eruption hit at the same time as Typhoon Yunya hit the Philippines, causing lahar flows, further exacerbating the damage. Around 800 people died, and more than 200,000 were left homeless. The eruption has world-reaching effects. The gas released by the volcano flew high into the atmosphere, blocking out sunlight and reducing the amount of sunlight by 10%. Temperatures of the Northern hemisphere plunged by 0.5 C, and globally it fell by 0.4 C
5. Mt St Helens
The 18 May 1980 eruption of Mt. St Helens completely changed the face of the volcano. It erupted in a unique way – sideways instead of vertical. The vertical eruption reduces the height from 2950 m to 2549 m and caused a landslide. 57 people died, but the environmental impact was colossal. It costed $1.1 billion of damage and 2.4 million cubic yards of ash fell over 11 states. Infrastructure around the mountain was crippled. 4 billion board feet of timber were destroyed and millions more of animals and fish were killed. The eruption forever changed Mt. St Helens’ image, completely removing its caldera. Check out the differences below, taken from the same spot.
Did we miss out on any deadly volcanic eruptions? Let us know in the comment section below!
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