World Famous Volcanoes

Volcanoes are like notorious criminals who gain fame because of the severe damage that they do every time they erupt. Volcanoes can be anywhere in the world, on land, under water and even under snow. They are vents through which the molten magma erupts onto the earth surface due to the overwhelming pressure and gas pressure, which is often lighter than the surrounding which, is the reason it tries to rise up thus resulting in an enormous amount of pressure being generated and a resultant eruption. The lava that flows out of the crevices or the vent makes volcanoes as damaging as it is perceived now as since the temperature of lava is so high that it can immediately burn any thing that is in the vicinity. Here we would discuss some of the world famous volcanoes.

Famous Volcanoes of the World

• Mount Vesuvius, Italy- This volcano killed about 2000 people in 79 A.D. and buried the entire city of Pompeii under ashes. However this volcano is no more active now, it is an extinct volcano now, though it might become active anytime. When it erupted there was no liquid lava as such, only ash and volcanic bombs which caused much of the destruction.
• Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii- This volcano lies in the southeast part of the Hawaii and major portion of the volcano remains under water. This volcano overlaps on the Mauna Loa shield of the volcano and is considered to be the most active volcano in the past. There are various legends that are associated with this volcano and its eruptions. The crater that can be seen at present was actually formed in the year 1790 and it comprises of a pit called Halemaumau. The present eruption of this volcano began in 1983 and there are layers of lave on the craters that are somewhere around 1000 years old. The present eruption has already destroyed more than 200 houses and has covered approximately100 square kilometer of land.
• Llullaillaco, Argentina-Chile- This is one of the tallest active volcanoes in the world and it is located in the Atacama region, which has a number of volcanoes. There is a loot of debris around the volcano and is covered with snow most of the times. There are avalanche deposits which are related to the southern flows of the Lava from the volcano. There are no activities, which can be observed now in this volcano. This volcano last erupted in 1877.
• Mount Saint Helens Volcano, Washington- This volcano erupted in 1980 and wreaked havoc on the people one again. It erupted for the first time approximately 120 years back and the eruption was as strong as the explosion of about 30,000 nuclear bombs. The eruption that occurred lately showed 5.1 on the Richter scale, which lead to the collapse of the north side of the mountain and resulted into a lot of avalanche debris. The eruption lasted for about nine years and it burnt down around 230 square miles of forest area. This eruption took 60 lives in spite of prior warnings. The eruption changed the landscape surrounding the mountain.