Tambora, Mount

Tambora, Mount, dormant volcano on northern Sumbawa island, Indonesia. Tambora rises 2,850 m (9,350 ft), though it was once about 4,100 m (13,450 ft) high. The reduction in height was caused by the greatest volcanic eruption in recorded history, which occurred in April 1815. About 50 cubic km (12 cubic mi) of material was hurled into the atmosphere and volcanic ash rained down on islands within a radius of 1,000 km (620 mi). The explosion left a crater up to 7 km (4y mi) across and 1,000 m (3,300 ft) deep. The eruption accounted for about 10,000 deaths, but the destruction of crops and livestock caused a famine that killed an estimated 50,000 more people. Volcanic debris circulated round the world in the upper atmosphere for two years, lowering temperatures, and 1816 became known as the “year without a summer”.