• Question: volcanos - Which eruptions caused the greatest fatalities?

    Asked by jonel018 to James V, Davie on 29 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: James Verdon

      James Verdon answered on 29 Jun 2012:

      Hi jonel,

      Probably the most destructive volcano that we have evidence for in recent history is Toba in Indonesia. It erupted about 70,000 years ago. When huge volcanoes erupt the ash and dust blots out the sun, leading to reduced sunlight levels. This means that plants can’t grow very well, leading to famine and starvation.

      Genetic evidence suggests that the Toba eruption came pretty close to wiping out the human race completely (although there were many fewer humans around at this point anyway). After the eruption it seems that there were only a few tens of thousands of humans left, which is why humans have a comparative lack of genetic diversity compared to many other similar animals (like chimps for example).

      Probably the most devastating volcano in recent history was Tambora, also in Indonesia. This erupted in 1815. Again, it wasn’t the blast that killed the most people, it was the resulting famine and starvation as the volcanic ash falls left huge amounts of farmland in South Asia unproductive, leading to famine and disease.

    • Photo: Davie Galloway

      Davie Galloway answered on 3 Jul 2012:

      Hi Jonel108

      The eruption of Tambora, in Indonesia, in April 1816, killed 92,000 people, which included 10,000 from the explosion and the ash fall and 82,000 from other related causes, like famine.

      The explosion was reported felt as far as a 1,000 miles away. Mount Tambora, which was more than 13,000 feet tall before the explosion was reduced to 9,000 feet after ejecting more than 93 cubic miles of debris into the atmosphere.

      The effects of the eruption were felt worldwide …1816 became known as the “year without a summer” because of the volcanic ash in the atmosphere that lowered worldwide temperatures … crop failures were common throughout Northern Europe and North America and as many as 100,000 additional deaths from starvation in these areas are thought to be traced to the eruption.

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