The volcanoes in
Indonesia are among the most active of the Pacific Ring of Fire. They are formed due to
subduction zones between the
Eurasian Plate and the
Indo-Australian Plate. Some of the volcanoes are notable for their eruptions, for instance,
Krakatau for its global effects in 1883,
Lake Toba for its
supervolcanic eruption estimated to have occurred 74,000
BP which was responsible for six years of
volcanic winter, and
Mount Tambora for the most violent eruption in recorded history in 1815. The eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815 caused wide spread harvest failures in Northern Europe, the Northeastern United States, and eastern Canada in 1816, which was known as the
Year Without a Summer.
The most active volcanoes are
Kelud and
Merapi on
Java island which have been responsible for thousands of deaths in the region. Since AD 1000, Kelud has erupted more than 30 times, of which the largest eruption was at scale 5 on the
Volcanic Explosivity Index, while Merapi has erupted more than 80 times. The
International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior has named Merapi as a
Decade Volcano since 1995 because of its high volcanic activity.
