2. 13 Details
1. Mount Tambora was formed by the active subduction zone (a convergent
plate boundary where one plate subducts beneath the other) beneath it.
2. Mount Tambora’s outburst in 1815 was the largest volcanic eruption in
recorded history of the 19th century.
3. 1816 became known as “The Year without a Summer” because of a huge
amount of dust that blasted into the upper atmosphere contributed to a
bizarre and highly destructive weather event the following year.
4. About three years before the eruption, the mountain seemed to come to life.
Rumblings were felt, and a dark smoky cloud appeared on top of the
volcano.
5. The 1815 explosion of Tambora was heard 1,600 miles away.
6. Mount Tambora was originally thought to be an extinct volcano.
7. The eruption was thought to be a battle starting from the townspeople’s
perspective.
8. Ash and Pumice found their way to neighboring islands as far as 10 miles
away!
9. Some reports claim that the eruption trigged small earthquakes.
10. Mount Tambora has caused more destruction than any other volcano.
11. Mount Tambora is located in the Ring of Fire.
12. During the “Year without a Summer”, Temperatures dropped and caused
global cooling.
13. A caldera, a large, roughly circular crater left after a volcanic explosion or
the collapse of a volcanic cone, formed after the eruption.
3. Where is it?
Mount Tambora is found on the
beautiful island of Sumbawa,
Indonesia.
Mount Tambora
4. When it Erupted
Mount Tambora erupted on April
10, 1815. Ash flew everywhere! It
reached far distances, too.
This map shows the estimated regions where ash had
fallen during the eruption. The red areas show
thickness of the volcanic ash fall.
5. Damage Caused
• The death toll was at least 71,000
people, of whom 11,000–12,000
were killed directly by the
eruption.
• It is estimated that Mount
Tambora stood about 12,000 feet This is a painting of the natives on Sumbawa running
tall before the eruption, and the away from Mount Tambora.
top 4,000 feet of the mountain
was completely demolished.
6. Benefits
In the summer of 1816, a group of
friends were vacationing in
Switzerland, but the cold and wet
weather from “The Year without a
Summer” kept them indoors. The
group decided to see who could tell
the best ghost story while they
were inside. Mary Shelley won the
best ghost story, and because of the
weather that Mount Tambora
caused, her ghost story,
Frankenstein, was published in
1818.
7. What Kind of Volcano?
Mount Tambora is an active
stratovolcano, which is also known
as a composite volcano.
A stratovolcano is a tall, conical
volcano built up by many layers of Mount Tambora
hardened lava, tephra, pumice, and
volcanic ash.
