Facts about Mount Tambora

Stratovolcanoes are characterized by a conical summit and are made of several layers of hardened lava and tephra. They are also considered the deadliest of all types of volcanoes.

Several small eruptions occurred prior to the deadly eruption in 1815.

It lasted from April 5th to April 17th, 1815. The death toll is estimated at over 71,000 people.

Over 50,000 people fell victim to famine, bronchial diseases, and tsunamis caused by eruptions. All vegetation in the region was killed by the lava flows, and the falling ash caused various breathing problems among survivors of the eruption.

VEI—Volcanic Explosivity Index—a 1–8 scale of the explosivity of volcanic eruptions describes the 1815 eruption as super-colossal.

Among eruptions recorded in modern history, such as Cumbre Vieja (2021), Vesuvius (79), Mount St. Helens (1980), Krakatoa (1883), or Mount Pinatubo (1991), Mount Tambora eruption was so far the only VEI-7.

The British troops stationed in Java, an Indonesian island, mistaken the sound of the explosion for cannon fire. They were dispatched to investigate and repel an attack on a nearby post thought to be in progress.

The streams of lava erupting from the volcano were recorded by witnesses as "liquid fire".

Before the eruption, Mount Tambora was the highest peak in the Indonesian archipelago.

An estimated 60 megatons of sulfur were diffused during the eruption.

The year 1816 was called a year without summer because the volcanic ash prevented the sun’s rays from penetrating the atmosphere.

The volcanic winter of 1816 affected the whole world. The eruption of Mount Tambora covered Earth with an impenetrable blanket of ash, killing fruit trees, crops, and cattle. Prices went up over 700%, and thus people found it difficult to feed horses, the main means of transportation in the 19th century. This prompted a German inventor, Karl von Drais, to construct a transport machine that enabled people to travel without the use of horses.