1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: The day in History Class. It's a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:06,960 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello everyone, I'm Eves and welcome to this 3 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:10,000 Speaker 1: stand History Class, a podcast that peels back a new 4 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:24,080 Speaker 1: layer of history every day. Today is April. The day 5 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 1: was April tenth, eighteen fifteen. Mount Tambora, on the island 6 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: of Sambawa and what is now Indonesia, produced one of 7 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:36,920 Speaker 1: the largest and deadliest eruptions in recorded history. Indonesia was 8 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:40,840 Speaker 1: then a Dutch colony called the Dutch East Indies before 9 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:43,640 Speaker 1: the eruption. Mount Tambora was a straddle volcano in the 10 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:47,519 Speaker 1: northern part of Sambawa that stood at about fourteen thousand 11 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: feet or tall. Radio carbon dating has confirmed that Mount 12 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: Tombora erupted around thirty b C et c E and 13 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:03,880 Speaker 1: seven four EC roughly. The magnitude of those eruptions is unknown, 14 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: but historical records show that the volcano was highly active 15 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:12,440 Speaker 1: starting in eighteen twelve. In early April of eighteen fifteen, 16 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:17,400 Speaker 1: Mount Tomboro's eruption began with small tremors and pyroclastic flows. 17 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 1: On April tenth, days after the rumbling began, the volcanoes 18 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:27,240 Speaker 1: eruption became violent. Three columns of lava shot into the air, Ash, rock, 19 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:32,040 Speaker 1: and aerosols were spewed into the atmosphere. Strong winds uprooted trees, 20 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:36,680 Speaker 1: pumice stones rained down on nearby villages. Lava hurled into 21 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 1: the ocean, killing wildlife and causing tsunamis. Huge fields of 22 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: pumice formed and floated out to sea, posing a hazard 23 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: to ships. Ash and waves destroyed people's boats and homes. 24 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: The volcano ejected so much material into the atmosphere that 25 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,120 Speaker 1: it prevented a lot of sunlight from reaching Earth's surface. 26 00:01:56,560 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: For the next several days, the area was plunged into darkness. 27 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:05,200 Speaker 1: Air temperatures dropped significantly, and ash continued to rain down 28 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,960 Speaker 1: in the region for weeks. The major eruptions stopped by 29 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,800 Speaker 1: mid July. The top three thousand feet of the volcano 30 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:16,520 Speaker 1: were destroyed. A caldera about three point seven miles in 31 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,120 Speaker 1: diameter and thirty six undred feet deep formed. On the 32 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:24,120 Speaker 1: Volcanic Explosivity Index, the eruption is rated at a magnitude seven. 33 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 1: The volcano had released an estimated thirty six cubic miles 34 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:32,800 Speaker 1: of ash, pummice, and aerosols. Most of the immediate destruction 35 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: happened on Simbawa and surrounding islands. Freshwater was contaminated, crops 36 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:43,280 Speaker 1: and forests were destroyed. Around ten thousand deaths were caused 37 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:48,640 Speaker 1: by volcanic bombs, tefra fall, and pyroclastic flows, but in total, 38 00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: somewhere around ninety thousand people died in the disaster. At 39 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: more died from disease and famine. Countries all around the 40 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:01,000 Speaker 1: world were affected in the aftermath of the eighteen fifteen 41 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: Mount Tombora eruption. All the ash and the atmosphere lord 42 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:08,799 Speaker 1: global temperatures, leading to eighteen sixteen being dubbed the year 43 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,359 Speaker 1: without a Summer. In China and Tibet, lower than normal 44 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:16,920 Speaker 1: temperatures killed trees, crops and animals. Summer frosts hit the 45 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 1: northeast United States, causing crops to fail and prices to rise. 46 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 1: There was more rainfall than usual in Europe in the 47 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: summer of eighteen sixteen, which caused crop failures and famine. 48 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: There's not much evidence that Mount Tamboras eruption affected the 49 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 1: Southern hemisphere, but it was linked to sudden and extreme 50 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: weather changes in the Northern Hemisphere. Small eruptions at Mount 51 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:43,440 Speaker 1: Tambora have been reported in the centuries after the eighteen 52 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:47,760 Speaker 1: fifteen disaster. I'm Eve Jeffcote and hopefully you know a 53 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: little more about history today than you did yesterday. 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