The Tierra Blanca Joven eruption of Lake Ilopango was the largest volcanic eruption in El Salvador during historic times with a Volcanic explosivity index of 6, dating back in the mid 5th century A.D. The eruption ejected about of dense rock equivalent. The eruption was one of the largest volcanic events on Earth in recorded history, i.e. within the last 7,000 years. The date of the eruption is constrained to be within 429–433 CE by identifying volcanic ash in precisely dated Greenland ice core thus eliminating it as the cause of extreme weather events of 535–536.
Volcanic eruption
The Tierra Blanca Joven eruption is El Salvador's largest volcanic eruption in the last 10,000 years. This VEI-6 Plinian eruption occurred during the 5th century and was larger than the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa or the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, having probably been more comparable to the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora. It produced about of tephra (several times as much as the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens), produced major pyroclastic fall and large pyroclastic flows that covered under or more of pumice and ash. The eruption devastated an area of up to radius around the volcano. Having produced more than of dense rock, the Tierra Blanca Joven eruption is one of the largest volcanic events on Earth in recorded history.