Demonstrations of Nature's Power

9/11/2010

Mount Mirapi, in Indonesia, has been erupting since October 25 of this year. As far as eruptions go, it is, so far, a tiny one. It has the potential, as do almost all volcanos of this type, to continue to erupt and escalate into a truly massive eruption with the potential ability to affect world climate.

The largest eruption ever recorded (since humans have been recording such things) was the 1815 eruption of Mt. Tambora, in Indonesia. The resulting "Volcanic Winter" caused massive climate change leading to drought and famine. As estimated 200,000 people starved to death in Europe in the following winter due to effects from this eruption.

"On April 10, 1815, Tambora Volcano produced the largest eruption in recorded history. An estimated 150 cubic kilometers (36 cubic miles) of tephra (exploded rock and ash) resulted, with ash from the eruption recognized at least 1,300 kilometers (808 miles) away to the northwest... Enough ash was put into the atmosphere from the April 10 eruption to reduce incident sunlight on the Earth’s surface, causing global cooling, which resulted in the 1816 “year without a summer.”

Take a look at these pictures from the Mt. Merapi eruption. Warning: graphic content.
Mount Merapi's eruptions - The Big Picture - Boston.com

Can you identify other historically significant volcanic eruptions and mention a few of their effects?

17 Comments

Amani Kayed

10/11/2010 04:21:20 am

Mount Vesuvius, Bay of Naples erupted many times. The biggest eruption it had was in AD 79. It killed up to 25,000. This led to the destruction of the Roman cities, Pompeii, and Herculaneum. The eruption caused the Sarno River sea level to get higher, and also changed the course. It overgrown slopes into ashes and sand with in a few hours after the volcano erupted.

Amani Kayed

10/11/2010 04:22:06 am

I forgot to mention it was in Italy.

Adya Maddox link

10/11/2010 06:48:33 am

Novarupta Volcano Eruption
The largest eruption of the 20th century occurred in 1912, from June 6 to June 8, to form Novarupta. Rated a 6 on the volcanic explosivity index, the 60 hour long eruption expelled 13 to 15 cubic kilometers of magma, 30 times as much as the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. The erupted magma resulted in more than 17 cubic kilometers of air fall and approximately 11 cubic kilometers of ash-flow tuff Only the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines was of a similar magnitude during the 20th century, ejecting 11 cubic kilometers (2.6 cu mi) of tephra. At least two larger eruptions occurred in the 19th century: the 1815 eruption of Tambora (150 km3 (36.0 cu mi) of tephra[8] and the 1883 eruption of Indonesia's Krakatoa of tephra).
Eruption of such a large quantity of magma from underneath the Mount Katmai area resulted in the formation of a 2-kilometer (1.2 mi) wide funnel shaped vent and the collapse of the summit of Mount Katmai creating a 600-meter (2,000 ft) deep, 3 by 4 km caldera.
The eruption ended with the extrusion of a lava dome that plugged the vent. The 295 feet (90 m) high and 1,180 feet (360 m) wide dome is what is now referred to as Novarupta

Trevor

10/11/2010 07:09:57 am

Mount Pelee Eruption Martinique
Signs could be seen as early as the summer of 1900. But over time these signs increased over time until April 23rd 1902.
The eruptions started On the morning of April 23rd but the main eruption was not until May 8th the eruption destroyed the town of Saint Pierre 4 miles south of the summit. It killed about 29095 people mostly the people were killed by the ash flow. The volcano continued to erupt until the summer of 1905.

Beth Whitrod

11/11/2010 02:31:29 am

The volcano in Iceland has recently erupted a few times in less than a year. Eyjafjallajökull, the Icelandic volcano caused so much ash and smoke into the sky that aircrafts were closed. Ice was also caused to fall and melt from the volcano. April 14 2010 was around the time it erupted. It caused flooding aswell. It also erupted in March as well.

Beth Whitrod link

11/11/2010 02:36:46 am

The eruptions were officially declared over in OCtober. Seismic waves were causing actions at the end of 2009 and increased a lot in March. The volcano is located above a jet scream. Close to 3,00 earthquakes were caused at the epicenter under the volcano. Around 500 farmers around the area evacuated with their families over night.

Bryan Leue

11/11/2010 02:38:49 am

The eruption of Krakatau (often spelled Krakatoa.)

On August 27th, 1883 a series of blasts on the island of Krakatoa created a colossal explosion that blew the island apart in one of the largest eruptions in history.
Some of the causes were:
1. The 23km square island of Krakatoa existed at a height of 450m above sea level. The blast leveled most of the island to 250m below sea level.

2. Pyroclastic flows traveled as far as 40km from the island consuming traversing ships in fire and ash.

3. The sound of the final explosion was heard over 4500km away and covered 1/13th of the Earth's surface.

4. The eruption generated tsunamis 40m high that devastated nearby coastlines.

5. The death caused by Krakatau amounted to 36,417

More found at this website: http://www.earlham.edu/~bubbmi/krakatoa.htm

Erin Anderson

11/11/2010 02:39:28 am

In Indonesia there was a volcanoe called Tambora. This volcanoe was in 1815. It killed approximatley 92,000. The main cause of deaths was starvation.

Joey Archibald-Bowers

11/11/2010 02:55:11 am

In Montserrat, there is a volcano that erupted after being dormant for about 400 years called the Soufriere Hills. It caused so much damage even before it got to the capital, Plymouth, they had to evacuate. People stayed behind though because they thought that they would be safe. My parents knew someone that tried running away from they lava when it came, but he got caught and got trapped in place. It was a very bad time in Montserrat. The church that my father served at got trapped in lava and only the cross at the top survived.

Kitty

11/11/2010 02:55:27 am

Mount Vesuvius has erupted many times, it is most famous for its eruption in AD 79 that covered the Roman cities, Pompeii and Herculaneum. Then, it killed up 25,000 people; and with 3 million people living near it today, it is regarded as one of the most dangerous volcanoes on the planet. Although its last eruption was in 1944, a few landslides in the crater have raised false alarms since.

http://www.popcrunch.com/10-biggest-volcanic-eruptions-in-history/

Sebastian Hibbard

11/11/2010 05:57:50 am

The eruption of a volcano named Laki in Iceland was one of the greatest eruptions in history. It erupted in 1783 killing over 50% of Iceland's livestock at the time because of clouds of poisonous fluorine and sulphur dioxide. This resulted in famine killing 25% of Iceland's population. It created lava fountains up to 1400 meters. Great Britain called that summer sand summer because of the ash that reached them. The poisonous gas and aerosols built up causing one of the worst winters in history. The temperatures killed over 8000 people in England and caused the Mississippi to melt in New Orleans! It changed much more than just Iceland, it altered the world.

Seb

11/11/2010 05:58:05 am

Sebastian Hibbard

11/11/2010 05:58:47 am

These is my source
http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-deadly-volcano-eruptions.php

Ellen

11/11/2010 07:49:39 am

Those photos were very sad and hard to look at :(
Mount Lamington in Papua New Guinea remain dormant until 1951. On 18 January, smoke and lava started erupting which lead to fatal pumice dust, sulfurous fumes and magma showers. More tremors and eruptions followed causing around 3,000 deaths.

http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-deadly-volcano-eruptions.php

Austin

14/11/2010 06:02:03 am

The Mayon Volcano in Alby has erupted 49 times in the last 400 years. It is the most active volcano in the Phillipeans. On June 23rd 1897 there was a volcano that killed 400 people.

Xante Chalwell

14/11/2010 07:17:43 am

well

Xante Chalwell

14/11/2010 07:34:52 am

Plymouth, the former capital city and major port of Montserrat, July 12, 1997, after pyroclastic flows burned much of what was not covered in ash. The whole capital was cover in ash and that forced many people to move. Lava flowing into the city and distroying house and offices.Mount Meakan is one of the tallest volcano in the world at 4,918 ft, it is an active stratovolcano. Major earth quakes ash clouds.

Demonstrations of Nature's Power

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