Dangerous Volcanoes One thing is for sure, there are a lot of people living in places where volcanoes are in danger of erupting. Some of the places they live in make me wonder why. I say this, because of past volcanic eruptions which killed a lot of people in these areas. Remember the story about how Mt. Vesuvius and all the Romans who were killed and how their bodies were covered with ash and created creepy statues of them after they died? This happened when Vesuvius erupted and destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 A.D. This means the city of Naples is also in constant danger, because it is near enough to the volcano to get hit with burning ash and pumice. The volcano had a minor eruption in 1944 and experts note it is only a matter of time before Mt. Vesuvius erupts again and it could be the big one at any time. In 2014 the population of Naples was said to be slightly under one million people. The biggest volcanic explosion in recorded history occurred in a lesser island of Indonesia. When the volcano exploded in caused volcanic ash rains as far away as Borneo, Sulawesi, Java and Maluku islands. The death toll was 71,000 people. The eruption occurred in 1815. Today it is thought an eruption of that size would kill even more people. The impact on the weather was incredible. The year 1816 was known as the year without a summer, because of the impact of the eruption the year before. It is said an eruption of this magnitude today would affect millions of Indonesians. Since this volcano is so dangerous it is being monitored day and night. It seems like a good reason to me to pack up your things and move. Japan is a very crowded country and this is reflected in the price of its property. One of the most active volcanoes in the world is located there. Its name is Mount Sakurajima. The volcano is in Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu. Eruptions have been ongoing since 1955 and can be traced back to 708 A.D. As eruptions continued over the years the island of Sakurajima grew and eventually connected with the mainland of Japan. Every year the volcano lets out thousands of small explosions. The city of Kagoshima has almost 700,000 residents and is just a thousand meters from it. This volcano is so dangerous the U.N. declared it a Decade Volcano which means it is part of the United Nations’ International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction and is constantly watched. There is also concern for the Sendai nuclear plant if a large eruption occurs. Why would anyone build a nuclear plant near a volcano? There is a volcano in Guatemala known as Volcán de Agua. When the Spanish established the first capital city in Guatemala this volcano exploded and wiped out the city. There is nothing scarier than living in a town or city which is near an active volcano and Guatemala is no exception. Antigua, Guatemala is very near this volcano. There are also several other large towns near the volcano. The combined population is roughly 100,000 people. It is also within 12 miles of the city of Escuintla, which has a population of 100,000. An eruption here could be a terrible disaster. There have been no recent eruptions but this could just be lulling the nearby populations into a false sense of safety. While many of us don’t realize it, Mount Kilimanjaro is a volcano. The largest peak is Kibo, a dormant volcano but Kilimanjaro is only one of twenty explosive volcanoes in East Africa’s Rift Valley. The Rift Valley is a place where the continent of Africa is splitting into two pieces. Two other volcanoes which are part of the twenty are the Nyiragongo, and the Nyamuragira and these bad boys are responsible for over 40% of the eruptions in the area. They are located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and are near Rwanda, and Uganda. These two volcanoes are among the most active on the planet. Nyiragongo, is considered the ninth most deadly volcano in the world. Mount Mayon is a volcano located on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. It is very near to the Luzon Airport. Some climbers were killed when a phreatic explosion took place. This happens when water seeps into the magma chamber and gets blasted out as steam. An eruption took place this year 2018. It has caused columns of ash to fall over farmlands and towns. This had put 74,000 people into shelters. A few months later it finally stopped erupting, but erupted again in July 2018. Experts are predicting explosions could start in days or weeks. There is a volcano in Mexico known as the Popocatépetl volcano. Since 1994 ash and steam could be seen coming from it. One of the facts which make it so dangerous is it is only about forty miles from Mexico City which has a population of about 8.5 million people. Eruptions by this volcano have been traced back to 1345 A.D. This volcano is also linked to another which is the Lztaccihuatl volcano in the north. When the volcano erupts it puts out andesitic with dacite. Andestic is large black rock and dacite is a brown rock. If this volcano had a large explosive eruption, millions might be at risk. There is a volcano in Ecuador which is one of South America’s most active and it is known as Tungurahua volcano. The name means Throat of Fire. Unfortunately for the residents near the volcano the volcanic activity started in 1999. A new lava dome has been growing in its summit center. The volcano is constantly emitting smoke and seems to be in danger of a large explosion. The volcano is located 87 miles south of Quito. Quito has about 1.6 million people.
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