Torca Island was an inhabited

phantom island A phantom island is a purported island which was included on maps for a period of time, but was later found not to exist. They usually originate from the reports of early sailors exploring new regions, and are commonly the result of navigati ...

said to be located in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

, possibly in the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around t ...

. It purportedly vanished when a volcano erupted on 4 June 1693. The survivors escaped to a nearby island called Amboyna (present-day

Ambon Island Ambon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. Ambon Island consists of two territories: the city of Ambon, Maluku, Ambon to the south and various districts ('' ...

) on 18 July 1693. The villagers attempted to flee in canoes or by swimming, but many people died attempting to do this.

References

* Vincent Gaddis (1965).
Invisible Horizons
', p. 29. New York: Chilton Books. * Clark Barnaby Firestone (1924).
The Coasts of Illusion: A Study of Travel Tales
', p. 255. Harper Books. * William Shepard Walsh (1913).
A Handy Book of Curious Information
', pp. 910–911. J. B. Lippincott. Phantom islands Islands of the Indian Ocean {{Marine-geo-stub