Oruanui eruption

The Oruanui eruption of New Zealand's Taupo Volcano, the world's largest known eruption in the past 70,000 years, had a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 8. It occurred around 26,500 years ago in the Late Pleistocene and generated approximately 430 km³ (100 cu mi) of pyroclastic fall deposits, 320 km³ (77 cu mi) of pyroclastic density current (PDC) deposits (mostly ignimbrite) and 420 km³ (100 cu mi) of primary intracaldera material, equivalent to 530 km³ (130 cu mi) of magma, totaling 1,170 km³ (280 cu mi) of total deposits. The eruption is divided into 10 different phases on the basis of nine mappable fall units and a tenth, poorly preserved but volumetrically dominant fall unit.

Modern Lake Taupo partly fills the caldera generated during this eruption; a 140 km² (54 sq mi) structural collapse area is concealed beneath the lake, while the lake outline reflects coeval peripheral and volcano-tectonic collapse. Early eruption phases saw shifting vent positions; development of the caldera to its maximum extent (indicated by lithic lag breccias) occurred during phase 10.