they are ticking time bombs that can
alter the shape of the world welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’ll be
counting down our picks for the top ten
devastating volcanic disasters for this
list we’re counting down our picks of
the most destructive volcano eruptions
these are ranked by a mix of explosive
power environmental impact and human
death tolls
we’re also only including incidents that
occurred within recorded human history
so we won’t be counting Indonesia’s Lake
Toba eruption around seventy five
thousand years ago number ten Mount
Pinatubo Philippines the power of a
natural explosion is measured by the
volcanic explosivity index or vei which
ranks incidents on a scale from zero to
eight the eruption of Mount Pinatubo
earned a six rating which qualifies it
as the second largest volcanic explosion
in the 20th century it caused magma
flows and ash deposits that left 100,000
homeless and 847 dead thanks to the 20
million tons of sulfur dioxide emitted
resulting in damage to the ozone the
world’s temperature dropped a whole
degree fahrenheit in the following year
number nine lake ela Pengo El Salvador
with a vei of six ela pango was
catastrophic in scale it covered central
El Salvador and waist-deep ash for over
3,800 square miles and killed an
estimated 30,000 people this area is
notable because it was one of the places
where the Mayans called home that is
until you open– go erupted ‘add the
explosion effectively displaced the
civilization forcing the residents to
flee to northern El Salvador and
Guatemala and because the volcanic
fallout would have destroyed crops and
livestock for thousands of miles
the Mayans had to resettle permanently
number eight wine a patina Peru this was
South America’s largest eruption in
recorded history the volcano exploded
with a vi6 force sending volcanic matter
many miles in each direction mud and
lava flows destroyed villages killed
1,500 people and only stopped once it
reached the Pacific Ocean almost 75
miles away the wake was worse than the
blast though as earthquakes rattled the
region and sulfurous gas ruined the
atmosphere historians cite this eruption
as the cause of the great
and famine as the compromise atmosphere
lowered temperatures and ravaged crops
killing 1/3 of Russia’s people number
seven mount big do China and North Korea
few eruptions in human history have
registered a seven on the vei scale but
now peg to was one of the deadly few
interjected ash over 15 miles high and
more than seven hundred and forty-five
miles away
covering the Sea of Japan and reaching
as far as Hokkaido Japan’s northernmost
island the blast also created a crater
that is 2.7 miles wide and over 2,700
feet deep which is now a lake and a
popular tourist destination while the
death count is unknown
thousands were presumably killed due to
the location in scope of the eruption
number six mount Pele Martinique the
lead-up to this eruption is perhaps more
unsettling than the blast itself
st. Pierre was a city located at the
base of Mount Pele on the island of
Martinique after the volcano reportedly
started shaking bubbling and
foreshadowing the disaster hordes of
snakes rats centipedes and biting
insects fled from the mountain and
terrorized the posh resort city it was
said that dozens of fatalities occurred
from animal bites before the volcano
even exploded then came the vei for
eruption which buried the city in lava
and ash and killed about 30,000 people
legend has it only two people survived
which while not true is not that far off
either number 5 Mount Vesuvius Italy
Mount Vesuvius is legendary for the
devastation it has caused the
stratovolcano has erupted multiple times
since humans colonized the area but its
eruption in 79 AD was the worst of them
all the vei 5 explosion buried the Roman
cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in
many feet of Ash rock and lava it is
estimated that over 16,000 people were
killed with preserved bodies still being
uncovered today many died in
exceptionally horrifying ways as the
rapid heat expulsion vaporized bodies
and caused people’s heads to explode
worryingly not only does the Sioux vyas
remain active to this day but also
millions still live in its blast radius
number 4
Laki Iceland the laki eruptions lasted
eight months and plagued the northern
hemisphere after the initial explosion
registered a six on the
i scale a series of missions were
triggered that released lava and
volcanic gas for parts of two years
these fissures ejected chemicals that
poison the atmosphere people choked to
death on the fumes livestock were killed
and soil was rendered unusable drastic
weather changes occurred worldwide and
famine was felt from Africa to Asia a
quarter of Iceland’s population was
killed from the blast and it’s aftermath
while it’s estimated that six million
people in multiple continents died from
the fallout number three Krakatoa
Indonesia Krakatoa blew itself up
literally the volcanic island exploded
into oblivion after the ve i6 blast
which had the power of 13,000 Hiroshima
bombs and can be heard 3,000 miles away
besides destroying the island Krakatoa
cause tsunamis 150 feet high sent
volcanic debris as far as South Africa
and even rippled the English Channel
enough ash was released to obscure part
of the Sun causing global cooling for
several years over 35,000 people
perished on the nearby islands with many
dying purely from the shock of the blast
number two Fira Greece located on the
island now known as Santorini the Thira
or Minoan eruption exploded over 3500
years ago and its effects are still felt
today in a 20-mile radius of the blast
zone ash deposits 100 feet thick are
present and at the bottom of this ash
lays the ancient Minoan civilization of
Akrotiri the vei seven explosion
preserved the city in perpetuity and the
site is rife with buildings and
artifacts it is thought the Thira as
well as biblical plague stories inspired
the atlantis legend the truthfulness of
these theories remains blurred though
the fact that this was one of the
largest volcanic events on earth and
recorded history cannot be denied before
we unveil our top pick here are a few
dishonorable mentions
number one Mount Tambora Indonesia in
1815 Mount Tambora exploded with the
energy of 2 million atomic bombs the vei
7 eruption was 100 times more powerful
than Mount Vesuvius and 10 times more
powerful than Krakatoa it tore 4000 feet
off the mountain killed all the
vegetation on the island and expelled so
much chemical ash that much of the world
went without a summer in 1816 widespread
disease and famine predictably occurred
which reportedly along with the initial
blast killed as many as 100,000 people
as volcanic disasters go Tambora is a
hard act to follow
do you agree with our list which
eruption fact shocked you the most for
more stupefying top 10s published daily
be sure to subscribe to watchmojo.com
alter the shape of the world welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’ll be
counting down our picks for the top ten
devastating volcanic disasters for this
list we’re counting down our picks of
the most destructive volcano eruptions
these are ranked by a mix of explosive
power environmental impact and human
death tolls
we’re also only including incidents that
occurred within recorded human history
so we won’t be counting Indonesia’s Lake
Toba eruption around seventy five
thousand years ago number ten Mount
Pinatubo Philippines the power of a
natural explosion is measured by the
volcanic explosivity index or vei which
ranks incidents on a scale from zero to
eight the eruption of Mount Pinatubo
earned a six rating which qualifies it
as the second largest volcanic explosion
in the 20th century it caused magma
flows and ash deposits that left 100,000
homeless and 847 dead thanks to the 20
million tons of sulfur dioxide emitted
resulting in damage to the ozone the
world’s temperature dropped a whole
degree fahrenheit in the following year
number nine lake ela Pengo El Salvador
with a vei of six ela pango was
catastrophic in scale it covered central
El Salvador and waist-deep ash for over
3,800 square miles and killed an
estimated 30,000 people this area is
notable because it was one of the places
where the Mayans called home that is
until you open– go erupted ‘add the
explosion effectively displaced the
civilization forcing the residents to
flee to northern El Salvador and
Guatemala and because the volcanic
fallout would have destroyed crops and
livestock for thousands of miles
the Mayans had to resettle permanently
number eight wine a patina Peru this was
South America’s largest eruption in
recorded history the volcano exploded
with a vi6 force sending volcanic matter
many miles in each direction mud and
lava flows destroyed villages killed
1,500 people and only stopped once it
reached the Pacific Ocean almost 75
miles away the wake was worse than the
blast though as earthquakes rattled the
region and sulfurous gas ruined the
atmosphere historians cite this eruption
as the cause of the great
and famine as the compromise atmosphere
lowered temperatures and ravaged crops
killing 1/3 of Russia’s people number
seven mount big do China and North Korea
few eruptions in human history have
registered a seven on the vei scale but
now peg to was one of the deadly few
interjected ash over 15 miles high and
more than seven hundred and forty-five
miles away
covering the Sea of Japan and reaching
as far as Hokkaido Japan’s northernmost
island the blast also created a crater
that is 2.7 miles wide and over 2,700
feet deep which is now a lake and a
popular tourist destination while the
death count is unknown
thousands were presumably killed due to
the location in scope of the eruption
number six mount Pele Martinique the
lead-up to this eruption is perhaps more
unsettling than the blast itself
st. Pierre was a city located at the
base of Mount Pele on the island of
Martinique after the volcano reportedly
started shaking bubbling and
foreshadowing the disaster hordes of
snakes rats centipedes and biting
insects fled from the mountain and
terrorized the posh resort city it was
said that dozens of fatalities occurred
from animal bites before the volcano
even exploded then came the vei for
eruption which buried the city in lava
and ash and killed about 30,000 people
legend has it only two people survived
which while not true is not that far off
either number 5 Mount Vesuvius Italy
Mount Vesuvius is legendary for the
devastation it has caused the
stratovolcano has erupted multiple times
since humans colonized the area but its
eruption in 79 AD was the worst of them
all the vei 5 explosion buried the Roman
cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in
many feet of Ash rock and lava it is
estimated that over 16,000 people were
killed with preserved bodies still being
uncovered today many died in
exceptionally horrifying ways as the
rapid heat expulsion vaporized bodies
and caused people’s heads to explode
worryingly not only does the Sioux vyas
remain active to this day but also
millions still live in its blast radius
number 4
Laki Iceland the laki eruptions lasted
eight months and plagued the northern
hemisphere after the initial explosion
registered a six on the
i scale a series of missions were
triggered that released lava and
volcanic gas for parts of two years
these fissures ejected chemicals that
poison the atmosphere people choked to
death on the fumes livestock were killed
and soil was rendered unusable drastic
weather changes occurred worldwide and
famine was felt from Africa to Asia a
quarter of Iceland’s population was
killed from the blast and it’s aftermath
while it’s estimated that six million
people in multiple continents died from
the fallout number three Krakatoa
Indonesia Krakatoa blew itself up
literally the volcanic island exploded
into oblivion after the ve i6 blast
which had the power of 13,000 Hiroshima
bombs and can be heard 3,000 miles away
besides destroying the island Krakatoa
cause tsunamis 150 feet high sent
volcanic debris as far as South Africa
and even rippled the English Channel
enough ash was released to obscure part
of the Sun causing global cooling for
several years over 35,000 people
perished on the nearby islands with many
dying purely from the shock of the blast
number two Fira Greece located on the
island now known as Santorini the Thira
or Minoan eruption exploded over 3500
years ago and its effects are still felt
today in a 20-mile radius of the blast
zone ash deposits 100 feet thick are
present and at the bottom of this ash
lays the ancient Minoan civilization of
Akrotiri the vei seven explosion
preserved the city in perpetuity and the
site is rife with buildings and
artifacts it is thought the Thira as
well as biblical plague stories inspired
the atlantis legend the truthfulness of
these theories remains blurred though
the fact that this was one of the
largest volcanic events on earth and
recorded history cannot be denied before
we unveil our top pick here are a few
dishonorable mentions
number one Mount Tambora Indonesia in
1815 Mount Tambora exploded with the
energy of 2 million atomic bombs the vei
7 eruption was 100 times more powerful
than Mount Vesuvius and 10 times more
powerful than Krakatoa it tore 4000 feet
off the mountain killed all the
vegetation on the island and expelled so
much chemical ash that much of the world
went without a summer in 1816 widespread
disease and famine predictably occurred
which reportedly along with the initial
blast killed as many as 100,000 people
as volcanic disasters go Tambora is a
hard act to follow
do you agree with our list which
eruption fact shocked you the most for
more stupefying top 10s published daily
be sure to subscribe to watchmojo.com
Please follow and like us: