Examples of explosive VEI-7 eruptions. Such eruptions release a volume of at least 100 cubic kilometers with devastating longterm effects on the surrounding area and profound shortterm effects on global climate.
For smaller eruptions that have erupted at least 10 cubic kilometers at a time, see Category:VEI-6 Eruptions.
For larger eruptions that have erupted at least 1000 cubic kilometers at a time, see Category:VEI-8 Eruptions.
The only unambiguous VEI-7 eruption to have been directly observed in recorded history was Mount Tambora in 1815 and caused the Year Without a Summer in 1816.
The Minoan eruption of Thera in the middle of the second millennium BC may have been VEI-7, but may have been just shy of the 100 cubic kilometers required.
Lake Taupo also had a VEI-7 eruption in 180, but it was not directly observed in written record. It was indirectly observed via ash clouds that reached both the Roman Empire and Han Dynasty China.
| VEI | Volcano (eruption) | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | Sesia Valley caldera | 280 Ma (million years ago)[1] |
| 7 | Bennett Lake Volcanic Complex | 50 Ma (million years ago) |
| 7 | Valles (Lower Bandelier eruption) | 1.47 Ma (million years ago) |
| 7 | Yellowstone (Mesa Falls eruption) | 1.3 Ma (million years ago) |
| 7 | Valles (Upper Bandelier eruption) | 1.15 Ma (million years ago) |
| 7 | Mangakino Caldera | 1 Ma (million years ago) |
| 7 | Long Valley Caldera (Bishop eruption) | 759,000 BP |
| 7 | Diamante Caldera | 450,000 BP |
| 7 | Maninjau | 280,000 BP |
| 7 | Reporoa Caldera | 230,000 BP |
| 7 | Maroa Caldera | 230,000 BP |
| 7 | Rotorua Caldera | 220,000 BP |
| 7 | Mount Aso | 90,000 BP |
| 7 | Atitlán (Los Chocoyos eruption) | 84,000 BP |
| 7 | Maninjau Caldera | 52,000 BP |
| 7 | Okataina Volcanic Complex | 50,000 BP |
| 7 | Kurile (Golygin eruption) | 41,500 BP |
| 7 | Campi Flegrei | 37,000 BP |
| 7 | Aira Caldera | 22,000 BP |
| 7 | Kurile (Ilinsky eruption) | ≈6400 BCE |
| 7 | Crater Lake (Mount Mazama eruption) | ≈5700 BCE |
| 7 | Kikai (Akahoya eruption) | ≈5300 BCE |
| 7 | Thera (Minoan eruption) | 1620s BCE |
| 7 | Taupo (Hatepe eruption) | 186 CE |
| 7 | Mount Tambora (1815 eruption) | 1815 |
References
edit- ^ Plumbing of a Supervolcano Revealed, LiveScience, 24 September 2009.