What is the largest volcanic crater lake in the world?
Answer
Lake Toba
Answer
Lake Toba
What is the largest volcanic crater lake in the world? Lake Toba. In northern Sumatra, Indonesia, Lake Toba fills the enormous caldera created by the Toba supervolcano.
Lake Toba covers roughly 1,100 square kilometres and stretches about 100 kilometres long and 30 kilometres wide. Its maximum depth is approximately 505 metres. The lake is technically a caldera lake, formed when the ground collapsed after a vast eruption, but caldera lakes are commonly included among volcanic crater lakes.
The eruption that created Toba occurred about 74,000 years ago and is classified as a VEI 8 supereruption. It released enormous volumes of ash and volcanic material, leaving a depression that later filled with water. Samosir Island, in the lake’s centre, formed as a resurgent volcanic dome.
Crater Lake in Oregon is a frequent wrong answer because it is famous and exceptionally deep. However, Crater Lake is much smaller in surface area. Lake Toba is also Indonesia’s largest lake and one of Southeast Asia’s most significant volcanic landscapes.
Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026