List of largest volcanic eruptions


In a volcanic eruption, lava, volcanic bombs and ash, and various gases are expelled from a volcanic vent and fissure. While many eruptions only pose dangers to the immediately surrounding area, Earth's largest eruptions can have a major regional or even global impact, with some affecting the climate and contributing to mass extinctions. Volcanic eruptions can generally be characterized as either explosive eruptions, sudden ejections of rock and ash, or effusive eruptions, relatively gentle outpourings of lava. A separate list is given below for each type.
There have probably been many such eruptions during Earth's history beyond those shown in these lists. However erosion and plate tectonics have taken their toll, and many eruptions have not left enough evidence for geologists to establish their size. Even for the eruptions listed here, estimates of the volume erupted can be subject to considerable uncertainty.

Explosive eruptions

In explosive eruptions, the eruption of magma is driven by the rapid release of pressure, often involving the explosion of gas previously dissolved within the material. The most famous and destructive historical eruptions are mainly of this type. An eruptive phase can consist of a single eruption, or a sequence of several eruptions spread over several days, weeks or months. Explosive eruptions usually involve thick, highly viscous, silicic or felsic magma, high in volatiles like water vapor and carbon dioxide. Pyroclastic materials are the primary product, typically in the form of tuff. Eruptions the size of that at Lake Toba 74,000 years ago, at least, or the Yellowstone eruption 620,000 years ago, around, occur worldwide every 50,000 to 100,000 years.
Volcano—eruptionAge LocationVolume Notes
Guarapuava —Tamarana—SarusasParaná and Etendeka traps8,600Existence as a single volcano is controversial. Possibly a volcano chain.
Santa Maria—FriaParaná and Etendeka traps7,800Existence as a single volcano is controversial. Possibly a volcano chain.
Guarapuava —VenturaParaná and Etendeka traps7,600Existence as a single volcano is controversial. Possibly a volcano chain.
Flat Landing Brook EruptionFlat Landing Brook Formation'One of the largest and oldest supereruption. Existence as a single eruption is controversial. Possibly a multiple 2,000+ under a million years.
Sam Ignimbrite and Green TuffYemenVolume includes 5550 km³ of distal tuffs. This estimate is uncertain to a factor of 2 or 3.
Goboboseb–Messum volcanic centre—Springbok quartz latite unitParaná and Etendeka traps, Brazil and Namibia6,340
Wah Wah Springs TuffIndian Peak-Caliente Caldera Complex'The largest of the Indian Peak-Caliente Caldera Complex, and includes flows over 13,000 feet thick at the most.
Caxias do Sul—GrootbergParaná and Etendeka traps5,650
La Garita Caldera—Fish Canyon TuffSan Juan volcanic field, Colorado5,000Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma.
Lund Tuff29.2Indian Peak-Caliente Caldera Complex4,400Formed the White Rock Caldera, one of the largest eruptions of the Mid-Tertiary Ignimbrite flareup.
Jacui—Goboboseb IIParaná and Etendeka traps4,350
Ourinhos—KhorasebParaná and Etendeka traps3,900
Jabal Kura'a IgnimbriteYemenVolume estimate is uncertain to a factor of 2 or 3.
Windows Butte tuffWilliam's Ridge, central Nevada3,500Part of the Mid-Tertiary ignimbrite flare-up
Anita Garibaldi—BeaconParaná and Etendeka traps3,450
Oxaya ignimbritesChile3,000Really a regional correlation of many ignimbrites originally thought to be distinct
Lake Toba—Youngest Toba TuffSunda Arc, Indonesia2,800Largest known eruption on earth in at least the last million years, possibly responsible for a population bottleneck of the human species
Pacana Caldera—Atana ignimbriteChile2,800Forms a resurgent caldera.
Mangakino Caldera—Kidnappers ignimbriteTaupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand2,760
Iftar Alkalb—Tephra 4 WAfro-Arabian2,700
Yellowstone Caldera—Huckleberry Ridge TuffYellowstone hotspotLargest Yellowstone eruption on record
Nohi Rhyolite—Gero Ash-Flow SheetHonshū, Japan2,200Nohi Rhyolite total volume over 7,000 km³ in 70 to 72 Ma, Gero Ash-Flow Sheet being the largest
WhakamaruTaupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand2,000Largest in the Southern Hemisphere in the Late Quaternary
Palmas BRA-21—WereldsendParaná and Etendeka traps1,900
Kilgore tuffNear Kilgore, Idaho1,800Last of the eruptions from the Heise volcanic field
Sana'a Ignimbrite—Tephra 2W63Afro-Arabian1,600
Millbrig eruptions—BentonitesEngland, exposed in Northern Europe and Eastern US1,509One of the oldest large eruptions preserved
Blacktail tuffBlacktail, Idaho1,500First of several eruptions from the Heise volcanic field
Mangakino Caldera—Rocky HillTaupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand1,495
Emory Caldera—Kneeling Nun tuffSouthwestern New Mexico1,310
Omine-Odai Caldera—Murou pyroclastic flowHonshū, Japan1,260A part of the large eruptions that occurred in southwest Japan to 13 to 15 Ma.
Timber Mountain tuffSouthwestern Nevada1,200Also includes a 900 cubic km tuff as a second member in the tuff
Paintbrush tuff Southwestern Nevada1,200Related to a 1000 cubic km tuff as another member in the Paintbrush tuff
Bachelor—Carpenter Ridge tuffSan Juan volcanic field1,200Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma
Bursum—Apache Springs TuffSouthern New Mexico1,200Related to a 1050 cubic km tuff, the Bloodgood Canyon tuff
Taupo Volcano—Oruanui eruptionTaupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand1,170Most recent VEI 8 eruption
Mangakino Caldera—Ongatiti - MangatewaiitiTaupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand1,150
Huaylillas IgnimbriteBolivia1,100Predates half of the uplift of the central Andes
Bursum—Bloodgood Canyon tuffSouthern New Mexico1,050Related to a 1200 cubic km tuff, the Apache Springs tuff
Okueyama CalderaKyūshū, Japan1,030A part of the large eruptions that occurred in southwest Japan to 13 to 15 Ma.
Yellowstone Caldera—Lava Creek TuffYellowstone hotspot1,000Last large eruption in the Yellowstone National Park area
Awasa CalderaMain Ethiopian Rift1,000
Cerro GalánCatamarca Province, Argentina1,000Elliptical caldera is ~35 km wide
Paintbrush tuff Southwestern Nevada1,000Related to a 1200 cubic km tuff as another member in the Paintbrush tuff
San Juan—Sapinero Mesa TuffSan Juan volcanic field1,000Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma
Uncompahgre—Dillon & Sapinero Mesa TuffsSan Juan volcanic field1,000Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma
Platoro—Chiquito Peak tuffSan Juan volcanic field1,000Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma
Mount Princeton—Wall Mountain tuffThirtynine Mile volcanic area, Colorado1,000Helped cause the exceptional preservation at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

Effusive eruptions

s involve a relatively gentle, steady outpouring of lava rather than large explosions. They can continue for years or decades, producing extensive fluid mafic lava flows. For example, Kīlauea on Hawaii continuously eruped from 1983 to 2018, producing of lava covering more than. Despite their ostensibly benign appearance, effusive eruptions are no less dangerous than explosive ones: one of the largest effusive eruptions in history occurred in Iceland during the 1783–1784 eruption of Laki, which produced about of lava and killed one fifth of Iceland's population. The ensuing disruptions to the climate may also have killed millions elsewhere. Still larger were the Icelandic eruptions of Katla circa 934, with of erupted lava, and the Þjórsárhraun eruption of Bárðarbunga circa 6700 BC, with lava erupted, the latter being the largest effusive eruption in the last 10.000 years. The lava fields of these eruptions measure 565 km2, 700 km2 and 950 km2.
EruptionAge LocationVolume
NotesRefs
Mahabaleshwar–Rajahmundry Traps Deccan Traps, India9,300
Wapshilla Ridge flowsColumbia River Basalt Group, United States5,000–10,000Member comprises 8–10 flows with a total volume of ~50,000 km3
McCoy Canyon flowColumbia River Basalt Group, United States4,300
Umtanum flowsColumbia River Basalt Group, United States2,750Two flows with a total volume of 5,500 km3
Sand Hollow flowColumbia River Basalt Group, United States2,660
Pruitt Draw flowColumbia River Basalt Group, United States2,350
Museum flowColumbia River Basalt Group, United States2,350
Moonaree DaciteGawler Range Volcanics, Australia2,050One of the oldest large eruptions preserved
Rosalia flowColumbia River Basalt Group, United States1,900
Gran Canaria shield basalt eruptionGran Canaria, Spain1,000p. 17
Joseph Creek flowColumbia River Basalt Group, United States1,850
Ginkgo BasaltColumbia River Basalt Group, United States1,600
California Creek–Airway Heights flowColumbia River Basalt Group, United States1,500
Stember Creek flowColumbia River Basalt Group, United States1,200

Large igneous provinces

Highly active periods of volcanism in what are called large igneous provinces have produced huge oceanic plateaus and flood basalts in the past. These can comprise hundreds of large eruptions, producing millions of cubic kilometers of lava in total. No large eruptions of flood basalts have occurred in human history, the most recent having occurred over 10 million years ago. They are often associated with breakup of supercontinents such as Pangea in the geologic record, and may have contributed to a number of mass extinctions. Most large igneous provinces have either not been studied thoroughly enough to establish the size of their component eruptions, or are not preserved well enough to make this possible. Many of the eruptions listed above thus come from just two large igneous provinces: the Paraná and Etendeka traps and the Columbia River Basalt Group. The latter is the most recent large igneous province, and also one of the smallest. A list of large igneous provinces follows to provide some indication of how many large eruptions may be missing from the lists given here.
Igneous provinceAge LocationVolume NotesRefs
Ontong Java–Manihiki–Hikurangi Plateau121Southwest Pacific OceanLargest igneous body on Earth, later split into three widely separated oceanic plateaus, with a fourth component perhaps now accreted onto South America. Possibly linked to the Louisville hotspot.
Kerguelen Plateau–Broken Ridge112South Indian Ocean, Kerguelen IslandsLinked to the Kerguelen hotspot. Volume includes Broken Ridge and the Southern and Central Kerguelen Plateau, but not the Northern Kerguelen Plateau.
North Atlantic Igneous Province55.5North Atlantic OceanLinked to the Iceland hotspot.
Mid-Tertiary ignimbrite flare-up32.5Southwest United States: mainly in Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and New MexicoMostly andesite to rhyolite explosive to effusive eruptions, 25–40 Ma. Includes many volcanic centers, including the San Juan volcanic field.
Caribbean large igneous province88Caribbean–Colombian oceanic plateauLinked to the Galápagos hotspot.
Siberian Traps249.4Siberia, RussiaA large outpouring of lava on land, believed to have caused the Permian–Triassic extinction event, the largest mass extinction ever.
Karoo-Ferrar183Mainly Southern Africa and Antarctica. Also South America, India, Australia and New ZealandFormed as Gondwana broke up
Paraná and Etendeka traps133Brazil/Angola and NamibiaLinked to the Tristan hotspot
Central Atlantic magmatic province200Laurasia continentsFormed as Pangaea broke up
Deccan Traps66Deccan Plateau, IndiaMay have helped kill the dinosaurs.
Emeishan Traps256.5Southwestern ChinaAlong with Siberian Traps, may have contributed to the Permian–Triassic extinction event.
Coppermine River Group1267Mackenzie Large Igneous Province/Canadian ShieldConsists of at least 150 individual flows.
Ethiopia-Yemen Continental Flood Basalts28.5Ethiopia/Yemen/Afar, Arabian-Nubian ShieldAssociated with silicic, explosive tuffs
Columbia River Basalt Group16Pacific Northwest, United StatesWell exposed by Missoula Floods in the Channeled Scablands.