| has gloss | eng: The Oruanui eruption of New Zealands Taupo volcano was the worlds largest known eruption in the past 70,000 years, with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 8. It occurred around 24,500 BC (26,500 years ago) in the Late Pleistocene and generated approximately 430 km³ of pyroclastic fall deposits, 320 km³ of pyroclastic density current (PDC) deposits (mostly ignimbrite) and 420 km³ of primary intracaldera material, equivalent to 530 km³ of magma. The explosive force of this eruption would be greater than the combined power of all the nuclear weapons ever created by man. The eruption is divided into 10 phases on the basis of nine mappable fall units and a tenth, poorly preserved but volumetrically dominant fall unit. |