1815 — 2022 · Seven sourced moments
History, written in ash and water.
Measured facts are kept separate from our interpretation. Uncertainty remains visible instead of being rounded into certainty.
Move through timeeruption
Tambora
Sumbawa, present-day IndonesiaMeasured / recorded
GVP records a VEI 7 eruption and extensive caldera formation.
Narrative interpretation
Its atmospheric effects make Tambora central to global eruption history, even though Smithsonian’s current Pacific Ring of Fire region set largely excludes Indonesia.
Uncertainty preserved
Early nineteenth-century mortality estimates combine direct and indirect effects and vary by source.
eruption
Krakatau
Sunda Strait, IndonesiaMeasured / recorded
Explosions and sector collapse generated destructive tsunamis around the Sunda Strait.
Narrative interpretation
The event connects volcanic processes, ocean displacement, and worldwide communication history.
Uncertainty preserved
Historical run-up and fatality numbers differ among reconstructions and administrative records.
earthquake + tsunami
Valdivia
Southern ChileMeasured / recorded
USGS lists moment magnitude 9.5, the largest instrumentally recorded earthquake.
Narrative interpretation
The Pacific-wide tsunami revealed how a rupture on one continental margin becomes an ocean-basin event.
Uncertainty preserved
Deaths and wave heights are location-dependent; database totals are revised as records improve.
eruption
Mount St. Helens
Washington, United StatesMeasured / recorded
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake preceded a giant landslide and lateral blast on 18 May.
Narrative interpretation
The event changed how scientists and publics visualize flank collapse and directed blasts.
Uncertainty preserved
Deposit volumes and energy estimates depend on model and measurement method.
eruption
Pinatubo
Luzon, PhilippinesMeasured / recorded
The climactic eruption injected a large sulfur dioxide mass into the stratosphere.
Narrative interpretation
Successful monitoring and evacuation are as important to its story as the globally observed atmospheric response.
Uncertainty preserved
Climate response estimates separate volcanic forcing from simultaneous natural variability.
earthquake + tsunami
Tōhoku
Northeastern JapanMeasured / recorded
A magnitude 9.1 megathrust earthquake generated a devastating tsunami on 11 March.
Narrative interpretation
Its consequences crossed geology, engineering, infrastructure, and long-term displacement.
Uncertainty preserved
Impact totals change by whether missing people and disaster-related deaths are included.
eruption
Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai
TongaMeasured / recorded
The 15 January explosion generated atmospheric waves, ash, and a trans-oceanic tsunami.
Narrative interpretation
The eruption expanded scientific attention to air–sea coupling and non-earthquake tsunami generation.
Uncertainty preserved
Peak plume height and energy have been refined across multiple satellite and model studies.
Reading rule
“A number without its method is atmosphere, not evidence.”
Historical databases combine observations created for different purposes, in different eras, with different levels of precision. Trend charts in the Data Lab therefore default to 1960 onward.