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Volcanoes are geological formations on the surface of the Earth’s crust. Periodically, magma comes out of the bowels, forming lava, volcanic gases and stones. Of course, all living things located in the immediate vicinity are in great danger.
At the moment, there are about 900 active volcanoes in the world. Eruptions are emergencies and often lead to natural disasters. Even now, scientists cannot predict the exact date, although in most cases even this will not help. For example, evacuating a city with a population of a million is a difficult and sometimes impossible task.
If you are interested in this topic, pay attention to our rating of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world.
10 Kilauea, Hawaii
The youngest and most active active volcano on Earth. Its age is 25 thousand years. Two years ago, another eruption ended, which lasted 35 years, but volcanologists believe that he never falls asleep at all. A sluggish eruption is his usual state.
Kilauea is located in the southeast of the Hawaiian Islands and is part of the Hawaiian National Volcanic Park. Crowds of tourists come here every day. They have one goal – to see the volcanic eruption with their own eyes. The park is equipped with viewing platforms, so you can enjoy this unique phenomenon and the picturesque beauty of the area without risk to your life.
True, you need to be very brave to decide on this. For example, in 2018, the volcano destroyed the village of Kapoho, without serious casualties. In 1980, everything was much sadder, several dozen people died.
9. Merapi, Indonesia
The volcano is the most active in Indonesia. Located on the island of Java. Its exact age is unknown, but activity in this area began more than 400 thousand years ago. During its existence, Merapi brought a lot of grief. In 1006, he completely destroyed the state of Mataram. Dead people and destroyed villages – these are the consequences of major eruptions, and they occur every seven years.
In the spring of 2020, the volcano again showed activity, this time low. He threw out a pillar of ash 5 meters high. Experts reassured residents of nearby cities and advised not to approach the crater closer than 3 kilometers.
8. Saint Helens, USA
Location of the Cascade Mountains Volcano (Skamania County, Washington). It is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Age – 40 thousand years.
St. Helens became world famous in 1980. The volcanic eruption was known in advance. Of course, no one could specify the exact date, but the evacuation was carried out in advance. That’s just the number of victims – 57 people suggests that scientists underestimated the scale of the disaster. Not only people died, but also a huge number of animals – about 7 thousand large and countless small ones. The damage from the destructive actions was estimated at one billion dollars. Residential buildings, kilometers of highways and railways, bridges – all this turned out to be buried under a mixture of lava and ash. Now St. Helens is sleeping, but it will definitely prove itself more than once. It remains to be hoped that next time people will have time to prepare for a disaster.
7. Sakurajima, Japan
The stratovolcano is located on the Osumi Peninsula. It appeared relatively recently – about 13 thousand years ago, over the past 65 years it has been active (since 1955). For example, in 2013, more than 1097 small eruptions were recorded. In 1914, the largest eruption occurred, after which the Osumi Peninsula turned into a peninsula. Since then, it has been connected to the “mainland” by flows of solidified lava. Fortunately, there were no casualties then. In 1941, nothing foreshadowed danger, so people did not have time to evacuate, 35 people died.
Sakurajima is located in close proximity to the city of Kagoshima with a population of over 680 thousand people. Measures have been taken for their safety: the volcano is under the supervision of webcams, and the city is full of underground shelters where you can hide from the raging Sakurajima.
6. Mayon, Philippines
The volcano is located in the southeast of Luzon. Its feature is an ideal cone-shaped shape, which does not change even after numerous eruptions, and there have been at least 400 of them over the past 50 years. Moreover, most of them are large, possessing destructive power. In 1814, he destroyed the city of Kagzava, a huge number of deaths – 1200 people. In 1993, the volcano caused the death of 79 more people.
Recently, periods of quiet eruption have been replaced by active phases. At the moment, he is calm, but back in 2018 he was a great danger, the evacuation zone was 8 km, victims were avoided.
5. Nyiragongo, Congo
Location – African Virunga Mountains. Translated into Russian, Nyiragongo means “valley of reddening fire.” Indeed, this is a unique place. The area of the volcano reaches 350 km, inside it there is a “lake” with lava, which has an unusual consistency due to its chemical composition. It is very liquid and if a crack appears in the crater, its propagation speed will be 100 km / h.
So far, two such cases have been recorded (in 1977 and 2002), both ended tragically. Nyiragongo killed more than one hundred people.
4. Popocatepetl, Mexico
The volcano is considered the most dangerous in the world, as there is a very high population density next to it. It is located in close proximity to the urban agglomeration – the states of Puebla. Its eruptions pose a danger to at least 1 million people.
The last eruption occurred at the beginning of 2020, evacuation was not required, but Popocatepetl brought a lot of inconvenience to the residents of settlements in the form of a regular release of volcanic ash.
Things didn’t go so well in 2017. Then the volcano showed its activity at the height of the working day, a strong earthquake began. Hundreds of people were under the rubble. The victims of Popocatepetl were 273 people.
3. Santorini, Greece
All that reminds of the Santorini volcano is the island of Thira, which is the eastern edge of an ancient crater drowned 2 years ago. There is no need to talk about the exact date, but geologists believe that this eruption was very powerful. It is compared to the explosion of several hundred atomic bombs.
Santorini destroyed the Cretan-Minoan civilization. This eruption was reflected both in religion and in literature. True, it is now unclear which events really took place, and which ones are just the authors’ imagination.
2. Cotopaxi, Ecuador
An active volcano, the highest in the country. Eruptions occur at different intervals, more than 1738 have been recorded since 50. The eruption of 1768 had the greatest destructive power. Cotopaxi destroyed the city of Latacunga and all the settlements located nearby. In 1877, the volcano erupted for the last time. 140 years of sleep, and in 2015 he again reminded himself. The situation is complicated by the fact that at a distance of 50 km from Cotopaxi is the capital of Ecuador, Quito. A yellow alert was issued and no one was hurt.
1. Vesuvius, Italy
The legendary Vesuvius is located 15 km from Naples. It is the only active volcano in continental Europe. It has more than 80 eruptions that have gone down in history. He destroyed Pompeii and other ancient Roman cities. These events were considered fictional for a long time, but thanks to excavations, they were able to confirm their veracity. The last strong eruption occurred at the height of the Second World War – 1944. Consequences – significant destruction and a small number of victims (27 people).
At the moment, volcanologists are talking about a weak fumarole activity of Vesuvius. This is a post-volcanic phenomenon that is often indicative of attenuation.