Natural and Man-Made Disasters | What Are The Largest Volcanic Eruptions In History?
What are the largest volcanic eruptions in history?
Scientists measure the size of volcanic eruptions by the amount of ash and other material a volcano spews into the air. Using this method, scientists have determined that the largest eruptions (beginning with the largest) include one in Wyoming at Yellowstone Park in about 600,000 B.C.; an eruption in Toba, Indonesia, in about 74,000 B.C.; an eruption in Santorini, Greece, in 1470 B.C.; an eruption in Tambora, Indonesia, in about 1815; an eruption at Laki, Iceland, in 1783; and an eruption in Krakatau (also spelled Krakatoe), Indonesia, in 1883.
The eruption at Yellowstone left a crater measuring 30 miles by 45 miles (48 kilometers by 72 kilometers) and releasing large amounts of volcanic ash into the air. Other large eruptions ejected only 10 percent of that amount of material. When Mount St. Helens, a volcano in southwestern Washington State, erupted...
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