Mount Tambora is an active stratovolcano on Sumbawa island, Indonesia. In 1815, Tambora erupted with registered seven on the volcanic explosivity index. It is the most violent eruption in modern history. The explosion was heard on Sumatra island (more than 2,000 km or 1,200 mi away). Heavy volcanic ash rains were observed as far as Borneo, Sulawesi, Java and Maluku islands. The death toll was at least 71,000 people, of which 11,000–12,000 were killed directly by the eruption.
The eruption created global climate anomalies in the following years. 1816 became known as the Year Without a Summer because of the extreme weather impact on North America and Europe. The global summer temperature dropped 0.5°C (1°F) below average, snows fell in midsummer and Europe experienced an unusually stormy winter. In the Northern Hemisphere, agricultural crops failed and livestock died. It was the worst famine of the century.
During an excavation in 2004, a team of archaeologists discovered a civilization obliterated by the 1815 eruption. It was kept intact deep beneath the 3 m (10 ft) pyroclastic deposits. Known as the Pompeii of the East, positions of the artifacts were still encapsulated as they were in 1815. (Read more...)