A massive supervolcano erupted at present-day Lake Toba around 70,000 BCE . It is believed to have caused a global volcanic winter and cooling of the climate , and subsequently led to a genetic bottleneck in human evolution , though this is still in debate . The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora and the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa were among the largest in recorded history . The former caused 92,000 deaths and created an umbrella of volcanic ash which spread and blanketed parts of the archipelago , and made much of Northern Hemisphere without summer in 1816 . The latter produced the loudest sound in recorded history and caused 36,000 deaths due to the eruption itself and the resulting tsunamis . There were significant additional effects around the world years after the event . Recent catasthropic disasters due to seismic activity include the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake
massive supervolcano erupted
Toba catastrophe theory
Indonesia