Many people within the United States remember in detail the devastation the 1980 eruption of Mount
Saint Helens brought. In mere moments not only had a Mount Fuji like peak partially collapsed,
but a lateral blast incinerated all life in a 280 square mile region. Or,
if you lived elsewhere you might remember the abundant ash and continent wide disruptions to
air traffic the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull produced in 2010, or the 9 villages wiped out
by El Chichon's 1982 eruption. Yet, while all of these eruptions were unusually large and powerful,
none of what I just mentioned even falls into the top 100 of the planet's largest explosive volcanic
eruptions in recent times. What I am defining as recent times includes the entirety of the geologic
epoch known as the Holocene, translating from 9650 BCE at the end of the last major ice age
to the present aka 2024. Before I elaborate on these eruptions, here is the full list of the
top 100. I will give you 10 seconds to look at every entry. The 100th eruption on this list,
occurring during 4946 BCE and originating from the submarine Tavui volcano off the northeast of the
island of New Britain, was 346% larger than the 1980 eruption of Mount Saint Helens. This eruption
was truly devastating for everything which existed in a 15 mile radius, and the eruptions
on this list only get increasingly powerful from here. However, due to the truly massive
caldera this eruption produced, the current size estimate might be vastly underestimated. Thus,
we will head to number 94, in a remote section of Alaska's beautiful Katmai National Park. There,
in 3850 BCE, what was beforehand a cluster of lava domes that rose to 1300 meters above sea level
partially collapsed in a powerful eruption which formed a lake filled 3.3 kilometer or 2.1 mile
wide caldera. This eruption left behind more than 2 meters or 6.6 feet thick of ash in some areas.
Ranking in as 74th is a powerful eruption which surprisingly did not form a caldera, unlike many
of its similarly ranked counterparts. As, in 1932, a large volcanic crater from Chile's Cerro Azul
volcano erupted, ejecting 9.5 cubic kilometers of tephra, and causing ash to fall as far away as not
only Uruguay but also Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The first VEI 6 eruption on this list ranks
in as 73rd, which originated from the Öræfajökull volcano, killed 300 residents,
and represented Iceland's largest eruption since it was first settled by Vikings.
The 50th largest eruption originated from Russia's Khangar volcano in 5922 BCE,
forming a 2.8 kilometer wide caldera. Africa's largest Holocene eruption ranks as 24th,
forming the summit caldera of Kenya's Longonot volcano. The largest eruption of Alaska's Mount
Churchill volcano ranked in as 23rd, causing ash to fall as far away as the United Kingdom,
causing many indigenous peoples to permanantly move further south, and leaving behind a thick
and recognizable white ash layer across several million square kilometers of Canada and Alaska.
Starting at number 14 and heading upwards, we reach volcanoes which ejected 100 cubic
kilometers or more of tephra. These eruptions all devastated their regions, even leading to
the eventual downfall of a major civilization in one instance, where large volcanoes almost
completely or completely collapsed. These VEI 7 eruptions all generated volcanic winters,
caused severe long lasting climactic variations, and left a long lasting scar on the landscape.
4 of these eruptions were larger than the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora which caused
the year without a summer. These eruptions were generated by Kurile Lake in 6437 BCE,
probably Krakatau in 535 CE, Crater Lake in 5783 BCE, and the Kikai Caldera in 5284 BCE.
Of the 100 eruptions which occurred across 25 countries, 17 volcanoes landed on this list
more than once. Pago in Papua New Guinea appeared 5 times, Mount Pinatubo appeared 4 times, Okataina
and Mount Hudson appeared 3 times, and 13 other volcanoes appeared twice. The 5 countries which
had the most top 100 eruptions were the United States with 20, Papua New Guinea with 13, and then
Chile, New Zealand, and Russia all tied with 8. As a final note, I would like to thank my
new patron Carson Hutchinson for supporting this channel!