Timeline of volcanism on Earth
VEI Tephra Volume ( cubic kilometers ) Example
0 Effusive Masaya Volcano , Nicaragua , 1570
1 > 0.00001 Poás Volcano , Costa Rica , 1991
2 > 0.001 Mount Ruapehu , New Zealand , 1971
3 > 0.01 Nevado del Ruiz , Colombia , 1985
4 > 0.1 Eyjafjallajökull , Iceland , 2010
5 > 1 Mount St. Helens , United States , 1980
6 > 10 Mount Pinatubo , Philippines , 1991
7 > 100 Mount Tambora , Indonesia , 1815
8 > 1000 Yellowstone Caldera , United States , Pleistocene
Notes -- Volcanic Explosivity Index ( VEI )
Main article : Volcanic Explosivity Index VEI and ejecta volume correlation
This timeline of volcanism on Earth is a list of major volcanic eruptions of approximately at least magnitude 6 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) or equivalent sulfur dioxide emission around the Quaternary period (from 2.58 Mya to the present). Some eruptions cooled the global climate - inducing a volcanic winter - depending on the amount of sulfur dioxide emitted and the magnitude of the eruption. Before the present Holocene epoch, the criteria are less strict because of scarce data availability, partly since later eruptions have destroyed the evidence. Only some eruptions before the Neogene period (from 23 Mya to 2.58 Mya) are listed. Known large eruptions after the Paleogene period (from 66 Mya to 23 Mya) are listed, especially those relating to the Yellowstone hotspot, the Santorini caldera, and the Taupo Volcanic Zone. Active volcanoes such as Stromboli, Mount Etna and Kīlauea do not appear on this list, but some back-arc basin volcanoes that generated calderas do appear. Some dangerous volcanoes in populated areas appear many times: so Santorini, six times and Yellowstone hotspot, 21 times. The Bismarck volcanic arc, New Britain, and the Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand, appear often too. In addition to the events listed below, are many examples of eruptions in the Holocene on the Kamchatka Peninsula, which are described in a supplemental table by Peter Ward.