What is the Largest Volcanic Eruption in Recorded History?
The largest volcanic eruption in recorded history is that out Mount Tambora on Sumbawa island, Indonesia. Taking place on 10 April 1815, the eruption was so loud it sounded like a a gunshot to people on the island of Sumatra, 2,600 km (1,615 mi away). Only one larger eruption has occurred in the last three thousand years: that of Mt. Taupo, New Zealand in 181 CE. However, because no historians — in fact, no humans at all — were on New Zealand at the time, the largest volcanic eruption in history remains Mt. Tambora.
