The eruption of Santorini in 1,650 B.C. was one of the largest (VEI=6) in the last 10,000 years. About 7 cubic miles (30 cubic km) of rhyodacite magma was erupted. The plinian column during the initial phase of the eruption was about 23 miles (36 km) high. The removal of such a large volume of magma caused the volcano to collapse, producing a caldera. Ash fell over a large area in the eastern Mediterranean and Turkey. The eruption probably caused the end of the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete. An eruption at Santorini in 1650 AD caused more than 120 deaths by toxic gas, tsunami, and tephra. An earthquake at Santorini killed 48 people in 1926. This photo shows an exposure of about 150 feet (50 m) of tephra from the caldera-forming eruption. The tephra consists of pumice, pyroclastic surge, and pyroclastic flow deposits. Photography copyrighted by Robert Decker.
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