Eruption of Mount Tambora, 1815

Eruption of Mount Tambora

The catastrophic eruption of Mount Tambora on the island of Sumbawa in the East Indies, the most powerful in recorded human history (7 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index); it peaked on the evening of 10 April 1815.

Date

5–11 April 1815exact date · duration: 6 days

Place

Mount Tambora (Sumbawa)today: Sumbawa, Indonesia · Southeast Asia and Oceania

Threads

The world in the Age of Revolution

The first powerful explosion came on 5 April; on 10–11 April the eruption reached its peak: pyroclastic flows destroyed the villages of the peninsula, tsunamis struck the neighboring islands, and the roar was heard on Sumatra, 2,000 km away; individual explosions continued until 15 July.

Estimates of the death toll vary from 60,000 to more than 90,000, most of whom died of the famine and disease that followed. The ash and gases thrown into the stratosphere caused global cooling, which led to the “Year Without a Summer”.

Connections

Consequences

Related events

Eruption of Samalasbetween May and October 1257 · Southeast Asia and OceaniaThe two largest eruptions of the last millennium, on the neighboring islands of Lombok and Sumbawa

British conquest of Java4 August – 18 September 1811 · Southeast Asia and Oceaniain 1815 Java was still under British administration, and reports of the disaster were collected by Lieutenant-Governor Raffles

Adjacent events in the thread

War of 181218 June 1812 – 17 February 1815 · North America

Meanwhile in the world

Other regions, within a year of this event

Western and Central Europe

Napoleon’s return from Elba26 February – 20 March 1815
Hundred Days20 March – 8 July 1815
Battle of Waterloo18 June 1815
Congress of ViennaSeptember 1814 – 9 June 1815
Holy Alliance14 (26) September 1815

+ 3 events

North America

Year Without a Summer1816
War of 181218 June 1812 – 17 February 1815