Qualla: The Eruption of Tambora: The Year Without a Summer https://qualla.com/tambora en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:06 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/q/w/e/c/mount-tambora-wp/mount-tambora-banner.jpg Qualla: The Eruption of Tambora: The Year Without a Summer https://qualla.com/tambora The Eruption of Tambora: The Year Without a Summer: Introduction https://qualla.com/tambora/ Photo credit myself, CC BY-SA 3.0. On April 10, 1815, Mount Tambora on the island of Sumbawa in the Dutch East Indies exploded in the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history. The explosion was heard 1,600 miles away. The eruption column reached 27 miles into the atmosphere. An estimated 71,000 people died on Sumbawa and neighboring islands from the blast, pyroclastic flows, and subsequent famine. But Tambora's effects were only beginning. The volcanic ash circled the globe, blocking sunlight and lowering temperatures. In 1816, the Year Without a Summer, crops failed across Europe and North America. Snow fell in June. Famine spread. And in a gloomy Swiss summer, Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein.

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Image: myself | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/q/w/e/c/tambora-wk/qwec-the-eruption-of-tambora-the-year-without-a-summer-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full The Eruption of Tambora: The Year Without a Summer: The Mountain https://qualla.com/tambora/ Photo credit USGS. Combination of the two images by Avenue., Public domain. Mount Tambora had been dormant for perhaps 1,000 years before 1815. It was the tallest peak in the region, rising over 14,000 feet. The people of Sumbawa knew it as a mountain, not as a volcano. Then, in 1812, the mountain began to rumble. Small eruptions and earthquakes increas...

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Image: USGS. Combination of the two images by Avenue. | Public domain

]]> Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/q/w/e/c/tambora-wk/qwec-the-eruption-of-tambora-the-year-without-a-summer-the-mountain.mp3 0:06 2 full The Eruption of Tambora: The Year Without a Summer: The Eruption https://qualla.com/tambora/ Photo credit J. M. W. Turner, Public domain. The main eruption occurred on April 10. The explosion was one of the most powerful in human history - measuring 7 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index, the same as the Bronze Age eruption that may have destroyed Minoan civilization. The eruption column reached 27 miles into the atmo...

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Image: J. M. W. Turner | Public domain

]]> Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/q/w/e/c/tambora-wk/qwec-the-eruption-of-tambora-the-year-without-a-summer-the-eruption.mp3 0:06 3 full The Eruption of Tambora: The Year Without a Summer: The Deaths https://qualla.com/tambora/ Photo credit Sadalmelik, CC BY-SA 3.0. An estimated 10,000-12,000 people died immediately from the eruption itself - from the blast, the pyroclastic flows, and the tsunamis that struck coastal areas. But far more died in the following months. The ash buried crops. Contaminated water killed livestock. Famine spread acr...

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Image: Sadalmelik | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/q/w/e/c/tambora-wk/qwec-the-eruption-of-tambora-the-year-without-a-summer-the-deaths.mp3 0:06 4 full The Eruption of Tambora: The Year Without a Summer: The Year Without a Summer https://qualla.com/tambora/ Photo credit Georesearch Volcanedo BLN, CC BY-SA 4.0. The ash and sulfur dioxide ejected by Tambora spread through the upper atmosphere, reflecting sunlight and cooling the Earth. In 1816 - the 'Year Without a Summer' - global temperatures dropped by about 0.5°C. It doesn't sound like much. It was enough to cause catastrophe. In Ne...

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Image: Georesearch Volcanedo BLN | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/q/w/e/c/tambora-wk/qwec-the-eruption-of-tambora-the-year-without-a-summer-the-year-without-a-summer.mp3 0:06 5 full The Eruption of Tambora: The Year Without a Summer: The Monster https://qualla.com/tambora/ Photo credit Georesearch Volcanedo BLN, CC BY-SA 4.0. In June 1816, a group of friends gathered at a villa on Lake Geneva to wait out the gloomy, rainy summer - the product of Tambora's ash. Among them were the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, his future wife Mary Godwin, and Lord Byron. To pass the time, Byron suggested they each write a...

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Image: Georesearch Volcanedo BLN | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/q/w/e/c/tambora-wk/qwec-the-eruption-of-tambora-the-year-without-a-summer-the-monster.mp3 0:06 6 full