Pinatubo erupted around 3,550 BCE with a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 6, a colossal eruption that threw tens of cubic kilometres of ash and rock into the air. Eruptions of this size inject sulphur into the stratosphere and can cool the global climate for a year or more. The VEI is a logarithmic scale: each step means roughly ten times more erupted material. It took place around 3,550 BCE.
Before and after
- c. 4,000 BCEEruption of Witori
- c. 3,600 BCEConstruction of Ġgantija
- from c. 3,600 BCE to 2,500 BCEOrigins of Megalithic Temples of Malta
- c. 3,580 BCEEruption of Taal
- c. 3,550 BCEEruption of Pinatubo
- from 36th century BCE to 18th century BCECaral–Supe civilization
- c. 3,501 BCEPeople first tame horses on the steppe
- from c. 3,500 BCE to 2,500 BCEOrigins of Brú na Bóinne
- from c. 3,500 BCE to 2,500 BCEAfanasevo culture
More in Earth & climate
- from about 115,000 years ago to 10th millennium BCELast Glacial Period
- about 21,000 years agoLast Glacial Maximum
- from about 13,000 years ago to 9,750s BCEYounger Dryas
- 10th millennium BCEThe Holocene begins
- c. 6,440 BCEEruption of Kurile Lake
- c. 5,680 BCEEruption of Crater Lake
The era
This moment belongs to the Human prehistory (300,000 years ago to 3,200 BCE), the human story before writing.