Mount Tambora – The Killer Volcano That Changed History

The eruption happen for 8 days, 5 April-12 April 1815, with a top show on April 10, spewing out 150 billion cubic meters volcanic material which follow by tornado storm that seems like phenomenon of fire storm – fire tornado that is formed from big forestry firing. Just like a sucking machine, this riot swept out the people, animals and houses that flew away in the sky. Life creatures can be pieces and burned up , anything destroyed and became uncountable pieces. The eruption then cause 1-4 meter high sunami which attacked most of Indonesian beach.

Tambora ejected very thick ash material which can’t be penetrated by sun shine so that a massive total darkness happened in Java, which lied 310 mile (500km) away from Mount Tambora. People can’t see anything on what they were facing off especially who live near Sumbawa island. “The ash causing total dark on the day time, covered the land with the form of few inch layer” said Sir Stamford Raffles, General Governor of Java, later founder of Singapore,  in a book ” Top 100 of the biggest disaster in the history” write by Stephen J. Spignesi.

The eruption smoke reached Stratosfer, with the altitude more than 40km. The ash-rain occurred within 2 week after eruption, but the ash particles still remained at atmosphere for months. The horizontal wind blow made the particles goes around the world . That’s a big dark cloud triggering earth’s temperature fell by more than two degrees Celsius (about 5 degrees Fahrenheit), colourful sunset and twilight. Snow fell in June in Quebec City, Canada, crops in many parts of the world failure and destruction of summer yellow paddy in Europe and England. The world wide event referred to was the so-called Year without a Summer causing farmer then fed their livestock with the corn, the farmer in New York dug their potatoes plantation even it was not to time on harvest season since they should gave enough meal to their family’s members. People started hunt raccoon and pigeon for eats. Historian John Post called it, “The last great crisis in the western world.”

This explosion is recorded as the greatest eruption in modern history. What remains after that is the Kingdom of Pekat and the Kingdom of Tambora on Sumbawa Island disappeared were buried. The ash has killed entire plantations and followed by the hunger and cholera epidemic that was predicted as the main trigger of around 50.000 people world death, including Europeans and American. Another interesting side story was Napoleon’s Defeat at Waterloo Because Tambora Eruption, a clash that would change the course of world events.

The Tambora mountain condensed become 9.000 feet (2.740 m), the previous was 13.000 (4000 m) feet. Ironically, the island level increased once the ash particles accumulated in few centimeters. The depth of ash was 3 feet (90 cm), and it sucked off water around Sumbawa island – and proceeded to finish the destroying creation of Tambora against human being on a long impact range. (DodDid)

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