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It’s hard to imagine the power of volcanic eruptions, but let’s try.
Imagine living in Australia and hearing a volcano erupting 2,400 miles away in Indonesia. Imagine looking through your camera as the top of Mount St. Helens disappears. Imagine flying a jetliner and having volcanic dust stall all four of your engines. Volcanoes are among the most awesome forces in nature. Let’s discover some of the world’s most famous volcanoes.
▲ In 1902, Mount Pelée erupted on the island of Martinique in the Caribbean, and only two people survived. One was Auguste Ciparis, a prisoner. The thick walls of his jail cell protected him from the eruption, which killed 28,000 other people. He was badly burned but was rescued after four days.
◀ Poisonous gases were released when Iceland’s Mount Laki erupted more than 230 years ago. The gases killed grass that cows and sheep needed for food. Without meat and milk, many people died.
▲ Some volcanoes are dangerous even if they are not erupting. In 1986, a cloud of carbon dioxide killed 1,700 people in Cameroon in Africa. The gas also killed cows and other animals. The gas came from nearby Lake Nyos, which fills a volcanic crater. Over hundreds of years, carbon dioxide seeped up from the volcano into the lake. No one knows for sure what caused the gas to be released.
◀ Benjamin Franklin was the first scientist to suggest that volcanoes can change climate. Europe had a cold winter in 1784. Franklin saw a link between that and the fog from Mount Laki’s eruption. The fog may have blocked enough sunlight to cause the cold weather.
◀ Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines erupted in June 1991. It released a huge amount of ash. The ash from the volcano was so thick, people had to drive with their car headlights on during the day. Gas clouds from the volcano lowered temperatures around the world.
It wasn’t big, but the 1985 eruption of Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia was hot enough to start a mudflow. Melting snow and ice killed 20,000 people. ▶
◀ The 1883 eruption of Krakatau in Indonesia was one of the largest natural explosions in history. It sent rock and ash into the sea. That created huge sea waves called tsunamis (tsoo-NAM-eez).
▲ The parting of the Red Sea, which helped Moses and the Jewish people flee from Egypt, is described in the Bible. It may have been caused by a tsunami.
Mount St. Helens
▲ Before it erupted on May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens was a perfectly shaped stratovolcano. It was formed by many eruptions over 40,000 years. The 1980 eruption tore 1,300 feet off the mountain’s top! It left the crater shaped like a horseshoe.
▲ Forests were flattened by rock blasted from the mountain at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour. The destruction was huge. But plants started growing on the slopes again after just a few months.
◀ The volcano’s heat melted snow and ice. Thick, smelly mud poured down the North Toutle River Valley below the volcano. The mud swept through houses and carried off cars.
▲ This 1847 painting shows Flathead Indians watching an 1842 eruption of Mount St. Helens. The Indians called the volcano Fire Mountain.
