The Deadliest Volcanic Eruption in Human History; Destruction of the Maya

Описание: The year was 431 CE, and a volcanic catastrophe of unimaginable scale was about to befall the Mayan Civilization. As, within only 5 days, 100,000 people lie dead and every regional city abandoned for decades to centuries. This is the story of history's deadliest volcanic eruption, which did not occur in Indonesia but rather in the nation of El Salvador. Specifically, via the Ilopango volcano's Tierra Blanca Joven eruption.

Thumbnail Photo Credit: AI image with overlay of a photo taken by U.S. Geological Survey (Data Owner), Vallance, James W. (Photographer), USGS Denver Library Photographic Collection, Public Domain, https://library.usgs.gov/photo/index..... Note, only that layer of the U.S.G.S. image is in the public domain, and not the AI image.

Thumbnail Photo Credit: U.S. Geological Survey (Data Owner), Vallance, James W. (Photographer), USGS Denver Library Photographic Collection, Public Domain, https://library.usgs.gov/photo/index..... This image was mirrored veritally (left became right & right became left), overlaid with text, and then overlaid with GeologyHub made graphics (the image border & the GeologyHub logo).

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Sources/Citations:
[1] Richer, Mathieu & Mann, Crystal & Stix, John. (2004). Mafic Magma injection triggers eruption at the Ilopango Caldera, El Salvador, Central America. Special Paper of the Geological Society of America. 10.1130/0-8137-2375-2.175.
[2] Robert A. Dull, John R. Southon, Steffen Kutterolf, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Armin Freundt, David B. Wahl, Payson Sheets, Paul Amaroli, Walter Hernandez, Michael C. Wiemann, Clive Oppenheimer, Radiocarbon and geologic evidence reveal Ilopango volcano as source of the colossal ‘mystery’ eruption of 539/40 CE, Quaternary Science Reviews, Volume 222, 2019, 105855, ISSN 0277-3791, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2.... (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...)
[3] V.C. Smith, A. Costa, G. Aguirre-Díaz, D. Pedrazzi, A. Scifo, G. Plunkett, M. Poret, P. Tournigand, D. Miles, M.W. Dee, J.R. McConnell, I. Sunyé-Puchol, P.D. Harris, M. Sigl, J.R. Pilcher, N. Chellman, & E. Gutiérrez, The magnitude and impact of the 431 CE Tierra Blanca Joven eruption of Ilopango, El Salvador, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 117 (42) 26061-26068, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2003008117 (2020).
[4] Brown, S.K., Jenkins, S.F., Sparks, R.S.J. et al. Volcanic fatalities database: analysis of volcanic threat with distance and victim classification. J Appl. Volcanol. 6, 15 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13617-017-00..., CC BY 4.0.
This source was used to cite the number of direct fatalities in various volcanic eruptions, but not for Ilopango.
[5] VEIs, dates/years, composition, tephra layer name, DRE estimates, and bulk tephra volume estimates for volcanic eruptions shown in this video which were assigned a VEI 4 or larger are sourced from the LaMEVE database (British Geological Survey © UKRI), https://www2.bgs.ac.uk/vogripa/view/c..., Used with Permission
[6] Source of Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) methodology and criteria: Newhall, C. G., and Self, S. (1982), The volcanic explosivity index (VEI) an estimate of explosive magnitude for historical volcanism, J. Geophys. Res., 87(C2), 1231–1238, doi:10.1029/JC087iC02p01231. Accessed / Read by    / geologyhub   on Oct 5th, 2022.

0:00 History's Deadliest Eruption
1:21 Ilopango Caldera
2:50 Maya
3:41 Precursor Activity
4:46 Absolute Devastation
5:27 Abandoned Cities