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World's Largest Eruptions
Below are two lists of the largest eruptions ever measured, based on the amount of material erupted out of the volcano. Eruptions with incomplete or questionable data were excluded from the list. The list are separated into two groups: Explosive eruptions and Non-explosive eruptions. This list is, by definition, incomplete, as new and revised ideas about the scope of ancient eruptions change as science progresses. For a more complete list, see List of large volcanic eruptions.
Explosive eruptions
These are the more famous and destructive type of eruption, coming from a single felsic and explosive volcanic eruption.[1] All eruptions below are rated an 8, the highest category, in the Volcanic Explosivity Index (or VEI). For reference, the 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption was 1 cubic km (VEI=5), and the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption was 10 cubic km (VEI=6). The largest eruption in modern history (at least the last 3,000 years) was Mount Tambora in Indonesia, a 160 cubic km (VEI=7) eruption in 1815, which caused 1816 to be "The Year Without a Summer".
| Volcano/Eruption | Date (Ma)* [2] | Location | 1000s of Cubic km ejected** [2] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Garita Caldera/Fish Canyon tuff | 27.83 | San Juan volcanic field, Colorado | 5 | Largest tuff ever measured on Earth,[3] part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma[4] |
| Windows Butte tuff | 31.4 | William's Ridge, central Nevada | 3.5 | Part of the Mid-Tertiary ignimbrite flare-up[5] |
| Indian Peak Caldera Complex/Wah Wah Springs tuff | 29.5 | Eastern Nevada/western Utah | 3.2 | Indian Peak Caldera Complex total volume over 10,000 cubic km, Wah Wah Springs tuff being the largest[6] |
| Oxaya ignimbrites | 19 | Chile | 3 | Really a regional correlation of many ignimbrites originally thought to be distinct[7] |
| Lake Toba | .073 | Sunda Arc, Indonesia | 2.8 | Largest eruption on earth in at least the last 25 million years, responsible for the Toba catastrophe theory, a population bottleneck of the human species[8] |
| Lund Tuff | 29 | Great Basin, USA | 2.6 | Similar in composition to the Fish Canyon Tuff[9] |
| Pacana Caldera/Atana ignimbrite | 4 | Chile | 2.5 | Forms a resurgent caldera; used multiple times[10] |
| Yellowstone caldera/Huckleberry Ridge Tuff | 2.059 | Yellowstone hotspot | 2.45 | Largest Yellowstone eruption on record[11] |
| Whakamaru | .254[12] | Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand | 2[12] | Largest in the Southern Hemisphere in the Late Quaternary[12] |
| Kilgore tuff | 4.3 | near Kilgore, Idaho | 1.8[13] | Last of the eruptions from the Heise volcanic field[13] |
| Millbrig eruptions/Bentonites | 454 | England, exposed in Northern Europe and Eastern US | 1.509[2] [14] | One of the oldest large eruptions preserved[15] |
| Blacktail tuff | 6.5 | near Blacktail, Idaho | 1.5 | First of several eruptions from the Heise volcanic field[13] |
| Davis Mountains/Gomez Tuff | 36.82 | Davis Mountains, Texas | 1.25 | Series of several silicic arc volcanism events[16] |
| Timber Mountain tuff | 11.6 | Southwestern Nevada | 1.2 | Also includes a 900 cubic km tuff as a second member in the tuff |
| Paintbrush tuff (Topopah Spring Member) | 12.8 | Southwestern Nevada | 1.2 | Related to a 1000 cubic km tuff (Tiva Canyon Member) as another member in the Paintbrush tuff |
| Bachelor/Carpenter Ridge tuff | 28 | San Juan volcanic field | 1.2 | Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions, including the world's largest, the Fish Canyon tuff in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma[4] |
| Bursum/Apache Springs Tuff | 28.5 | Southern New Mexico | 1.2 | Related to a 1050 cubic km tuff, the Bloodgood Canyon tuff |
| Huaylillas Ignimbrite | 15 | Bolivia | 1.1 | Predates half of the uplift of the central Andes[17] |
| Bursum/Bloodgood Canyon tuff | 28.5 | Southern New Mexico | 1.05 | Related to a 1200 cubic km tuff, the Apache Springs tuff |
| Yellowstone Caldera/Lava Creek Tuff | .639 | Yellowstone hotspot | 1 | Last large eruption in the Yellowstone National Park area[18] |
| Cerro Galán | 2.2 | Catamarca Province, Argentina | 1 | Elliptical caldera is ~35 km wide[19] |
| Paintbrush tuff (Tiva Canyon Member) | 12.7 | Southwestern Nevada | 1 | Related to a 1200 cubic km tuff (Topopah Spring Member) as another member in the Paintbrush tuff |
| San Juan/Sapinero Mesa Tuff | 28 | San Juan volcanic field | 1 | Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions, including the world's largest, the Fish Canyon tuff in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma[4] |
| Uncompahgre/Dillon & Sapinero Mesa Tuffs | 28.1 | San Juan volcanic field | 1 | Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions, including the world's largest, the Fish Canyon tuff in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma[4] |
| Platoro/Chiquito Peak tuff | 28.2 | San Juan volcanic field | 1 | Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions, including the world's largest, the Fish Canyon tuff in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma[4] |
| Mount Princeton/Wall Mountain tuff | 35.3 | Thirtynine Mile volcanic area, Colorado | 1 | Helped cause the exceptional preservation at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument[20] |
Non-explosive eruptions
In general, these are mafic eruptions in the class of Large igneous provinces, oceanic plateaus, and/or flood basalts, large outpourings of generally lower viscosity magma that cover large areas over many years. For reference, the modern eruption on Kīlauea on Hawai'i (1983-present) has produced 2.7 cubic km of lava.
- *Dates are an average of the range of dates of volcanics, listed in annum, where Ma=1,000,000 years ago.
- **Cubic km ejected refers to an estimated total (dense rock/magma equivalent) erupted, based on all volcanic deposits, and converted with respect to rock type.