Data: Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program (volcano.si.edu), 11,079 eruptions. Years follow the GVP start-date convention; negative years are BCE.
How to read this eruption timeline
Every dot on the chart above is one eruption, plotted by year along the horizontal axis. The higher and redder the dot, the more powerful the eruption. We measure power with the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI), a logarithmic scale where each step is a roughly tenfold jump in erupted volume. Because the geological record is far more complete for recent centuries, most dots cluster toward the present — that is a feature of how eruptions are recorded, not evidence that volcanism is speeding up.
Only eruptions of VEI 4 and above appear here — the 754“large” events out of the full 11,079-eruption catalogue. Smaller eruptions (VEI 0–3) happen almost constantly at volcanoes like Kilauea and Stromboli and would swamp the chart. To see current low-level activity instead, visit our active volcanoes tracker.
The VEI scale at a glance
| VEI | Class | Erupted volume | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Large | ~0.1 km³ | Eyjafjallajökull 2010 |
| 5 | Very large | ~1 km³ | Mount St. Helens 1980 |
| 6 | Colossal | ~10 km³ | Krakatau 1883 |
| 7 | Super-colossal | 100+ km³ | Tambora 1815 · Toba (VEI 8) |
The most powerful eruptions on the timeline
Filtering to VEI 7 reveals the 7largest confirmed eruptions in the dataset — among them Kurile Lake (6,440 BCE), Crater Lake (5,680 BCE), Kikai (4,350 BCE), Blanco, Cerro (2,300 BCE). For a curated ranking by erupted volume, see our guide to the largest volcanic eruptions in history, or the human cost in our deadliest eruptions list.