Lake Toba gave its name to the approximately 74,000-year-old supereruption in Sumatra.
Lake Toba occupies the enormous caldera created by the Toba eruption, one of the largest known explosive eruptions of the Quaternary period. The eruption spread ash across large parts of South Asia and left a caldera that later filled with water. Today the lake lies in North Sumatra, Indonesia.
Samosir Island rises within the lake and is connected to the surrounding land by a narrow isthmus. The area is culturally associated with the Batak peoples, whose communities developed around the lake’s highland environment.
Scientists continue to study how much the eruption affected global climate and human populations. Claims that it caused an almost complete human population collapse remain debated, so the eruption’s existence is certain while some effects are still discussed.