The 1783-4 eruption of Laki was history’s biggest volcanic eruption. When it erupted, the ash darkened the sky over all of Europe for years. The ash’s toxicity caused widespread crop failures and the resulting famine all over Europe was almost certainly one of the causes of the French revolution in 1789, ultimately resulting in the first modern democracy as we know it.
NOT JUST ONE, BUT TWO OF THE BIGGEST ERUPTIONS IN THE RECORDED HISTORY OF THE WORLD, OCCURRED IN ICELAND! Not only was Laki the biggest eruption in recorded history, measured by volume of lava, but Iceland was also the site of the second biggest emission in recorded history, the 2014 eruption of Bárðarbunga. In just 6 months, Bárðarbunga produced enough lava to cover the island of Manhattan – 85km2. It still isn‘t close to matching Laki. That eruption produced 370 km2 of lava, the size of the Gaza strip, in only 50 days!
All photos provided by the Volcano House
For more information on Icelandic volcanoes, check out www.volcanohouse.is
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