450 Eruption of Ilopango

450 A.D. +/- 30 years. Major plinian eruption associated with caldera formation destroyed early Mayan cities. Sheets estimates 30,000 fatalities in the area swept by pyroclastic flows. (reference #9675, 2379)

Here we report data on the Tierra Blanca Joven (TBJ) eruption of the Ilopango caldera in El Salvador that are consistent with the AD 536 event in terms of chronology, magnitude, and geographic location. Current tephra isopach maps including fall and flow deposits give a conservative bulk tephra volume for the TBJ event of ~84 km3, indicating a large VEI 6+ event and a magnitude of 7.0. (reference #9744)

TBJ tephra is one of the most important time markers in the northern area of Central America. It is important especially for mesoamerican archaeologists, because it had been considered as a stratigraphic boundary between the Preclassic and the Classic horizons. In spite of its importance, two different radiocarbon dates for the eruption were suggested: A. D. 260 ± 114 yr. B. P. (Sheets, 1983) and A. D. 430 with 2 a error range of A. D. 408 to 536 (Dull, et al., 2001)... The resultant AMS radiocarbon dates in this study are very close to the radiocarbon age

suggested by Dull, et al. (2001), consequently, it strongly supports that the eruptive date of Ilopango Caldera occurred in the period from the mid-4th to the mid-6th century. (reference #9745)