THE BIGGEST VOLCANIC ERUPTION EVER, WHAT A CATASTROPHE

The first eruption of SANTA MARIA VOLCANOE in recorded history occurred on October 24, 1902. Before 1902 it had been dormant for at least five hundred years. 

The eruption, with a VEI of 6, equivalent in magnitude to both Krakatau in Indonesia in 1883 and Katmai in Alaska in 1912, was the second biggest of the twentieth century. The ash that subsequently fell devastated most of the 120,000 square miles of surrounding territory. Volcanic ash was detected as far away as San Francisco—a distance of 2,500 miles. 

The CRATER on the southwest flank was half a mile in width and a thousand feet deep. At least 5,000 people were killed by the eruption. Many more died from a subsequent outbreak of malaria.