Review of the most significant volcanic eruptions of the 20th century.
1902 May 8, Martinique island, Mont Pele volcano
At 7 o'clock. 50 minutes the volcano of Mont Pele burst into pieces - 4 strong explosions sounded, similar to cannon shots. They threw out a black cloud from the main crater, which was pierced by flashes of lightning. But this was not the most dangerous release. It was the lateral emissions - those that from that time will be called "Pelei" - sent fire and sulfur at a hurricane speed down the side of the mountain directly to St. Pierre - one of the main ports of the island of Martinique.
Superheated volcanic gas, due to its high density and high speed of movement, floated above the ground itself, penetrated into all the cracks. A huge cloud covered the area of total destruction. The second destruction zone stretched for another 60 km2. This cloud, formed from super-hot steam and gases, weighed down with billions of hot ash particles, moving at a speed sufficient to carry rock debris and volcanic emissions, had a temperature of 700-980 ° C and was able to melt glass. Mont Pele erupted again - on May 20 - with almost the same force as on 8.
The volcano Mont Pele, scattered to pieces, destroyed Saint-Pierre along with its population. 36 thousand people died.
1902 October 24, Guatemala, Santa Maria volcano
The volcano Santa Maria is located in the western part of Guatemala, height 3762 m, during its eruption with volcanic ash and debris a layer 20 cm thick covered an area of 323.75 thousand km2. An explosion of gigantic power was heard from 800 km away - in Costa Rica, a whole mountain slope soared upward, carrying with it everything that was on it, then giant boulders fell down the slope. 6 thousand people died.
The clouds formed after the eruption hung for weeks. Before dispersing, they rose to a height of up to 20 km. This eruption is considered the largest in the entire history of volcanic emissions into the atmosphere.
1911 January 30, Philippines, Taal volcano
During the most powerful eruption in the twentieth century, Taal, a permanent volcano in the Philippines, killed 1,335 people. It was a classic example of a "Peleus" type eruption, when the eruption occurs not only from the summit crater, but also from craters on the mountain slopes, often with hurricane force winds. In fact, the volcano does not emit lava, but masses of white hot ash and superheated steam.
In 10 minutes. all living things ceased to exist. A layer of mud up to 80 m thick, accompanied by a stream of poisonous volcanic gases, destroyed people and houses at a distance of 10 km. Gradually, the ash covered an area of almost 2 thousand km2.
The mountain exploded a second time with almost the same force as in the first eruption. The crash was heard at a distance of almost 500 km. A black cloud of ash rose up, eclipsing the sky over Manila, located 65 km from the volcano. The cloud was seen from a distance of 400 km.
Taal remained calm until 1965, when another eruption occurred, killing 200 people. Until now, it remains an active and dangerous volcano.
1931 December 13-28, Indonesia, about. Java, Merapi volcano
One of the strongest volcanic eruptions XX century. Both slopes of the volcano exploded, and erupted volcanic ash covered half of the island. For two weeks - from 13 to 28 December, the volcano erupted a lava flow about 7 km long, up to 180 m wide and up to 30 m deep. The white-hot stream burned out the earth and destroyed all villages on its way. More than 1,300 people died.
1944 June, Mexico, Paricutin volcano
Parikutin is a volcano that was described in many magazines in 1943 as "a volcano born in a cornfield in front of its owner."
He really went up in a cornfield. For many years there was a small hole in this place; on February 5, 1943, a series of constantly intensifying tremors began, as a result of which a crack appeared near the hole. On February 19, residents felt at least 300 aftershocks. On February 20, the crack on one side of the hole began to widen. Almost immediately there was a sound like thunder. Trees shook nearby, and the ground swelled by about a meter. In some places, smoke began to rise from the crack, and fine ash-gray dust. On February 21, lava began pouring out of the growing cone. By the end of the first week, the height of the cone was 15 m; by the end of the first year, it had grown to 300 m. In June 1944, there was a strong eruption. A huge lava flow descended towards the village of Paricutin and the larger village of San Juan de Parangaricutiro. Dense ash partially covered both settlements, there were several casualties.
1951 January 21, New Guinea, Lamington volcano
The eruption of the Lamington volcano claimed the lives of 2,942 people. Many of them died from hurricane winds filled with steam, hot ash, debris and hot mud. These hurricane winds were called "New Ardente" and manifested themselves during the eruption of the Mont Pele volcano in 1902.
The Lamington eruption in New Guinea on January 21 was exactly the same type as Mont Pele, with New Ardentes sweeping away everything in its path as it descended the slope of the volcano. A series of monstrous explosions tore apart the summit and the slopes, throwing out a huge mushroom-shaped cloud of ash, which in 2 minutes. rose to a height of 12 km, and after 20 minutes. reached an altitude of 15 km. The explosion was so strong that it was heard on the coast of New Britain - 320 km from Lamington. Bursting out of the slope of the mountain, the New Ardentes rushed downward, sweeping away the forests so that not even stumps remained.
After another catastrophic outburst at 20:00. 40 minutes Mount Lamington ceased visible activity on 21 January. Within 15 years, the vegetation returned to normal, but the slopes are not inhabited to this day.
1956 March 30, USSR, Kamchatka, Bezymyanny volcano
The violent explosion of the Bezymyanny volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula largely went unnoticed, since there were no fatalities. However, in terms of intensity, it is on a par with the "Pelei" eruptions.
March 30 at 5 p.m. 10 min. The explosion of a monstrous force split the top of the Bezymyanny covered with snow, which had previously risen to an altitude of 3048 m above sea level. In a matter of seconds, 183 m summits were chopped off from the volcano, and volcanic dust rose from the crater to a height of 30–40 km.
Volcanologist G.O. Gorshkov, who was located nearby in the village of Klyuchi, described this scene as follows: “The cloud swirled strongly and quickly changed its shape ... It seemed very dense and almost palpably heavy. A rumble of thunder arose and intensified along with the cloud, accompanied by incessant flashes of lightning. About 17 hour 40 minutes, when the cloud had already passed the zenith, ash began to fall out ... and by 6.20 minutes it became so dark that it was impossible to see your own hand, even if you brought it up to your face. , wandered around the village in search of their homes. Thunder rumbled with deafening force, without stopping. The air was saturated with electricity, telephones spontaneously rang, loudspeakers in the radio network burned out ... There was a strong smell of sulfur. "
The hot ash layer, covering an area of 482 km2, melted the snow and formed rapid mud flows in the Sukhaya Khapitsa River valley and the valleys located on the slopes of adjacent volcanoes. These streams washed away huge boulders weighing hundreds of tons and carried them across the valley, sweeping away everything in their path. The trees were uprooted or burned. 3 weeks after the eruption, G.O. Gorshkov discovered thousands of jets of fumarole gases rising from the surface of a 30-meter layer of ash over an area of 47 km2.
1980 May 18, USA, Washington State, St. Helens Volcano
A cloud of ash, shot up from the cone vertically upward in 10 minutes, rose to a height of 19.2 km. Day turned into night. In the city of Spokane, Washington, 400 km from the volcano, visibility dropped to 3 m in broad daylight as soon as this cloud reached the city. In Yakima, 145 km from the volcano, a layer of ash fell up to 12 cm thick. To a lesser extent, ash fell in Idaho, in central Montana and partly in Colorado. The ash cloud circled the globe in 11 days. For several weeks, a belt of ash colored sunsets and influenced the atmosphere. As in most eruptions, a lava dome with a height of 183 m and a diameter of 610 m was formed. Lava began to pour out of it. Throughout 1982, Volcano St. Helens erupted again, but with less force.
The energy released during the catastrophic explosion of the volcano corresponded to the energy of 500 atomic bombs type dropped on Hiroshima, or 10 million tons of TNT. An area of 600 km2 burned down to the state of the lunar landscape.
Mount St. Helens shrank like a broken tooth. The once symmetrical and well-built peak disappeared, and instead an amphitheater appeared 400 m below it with 600-meter sheer walls, with barren terrain below them.
1982 March 29, Mexico, El Chichon volcano
The eruption of the El Chichon volcano took place in two stages: on March 29 and April 3-4, 1982. Initially, volcanic ash filled the atmosphere to an altitude of about 30 km. Then what happened to be in the stratosphere (about 10 Mt) began to be transferred to the west. The tropospheric part of the cloud (3–7 Mt) moved in the opposite direction and rather quickly settled on the Earth's surface. The stratospheric cloud, expanding horizontally, made several distinct revolutions around the Earth. Observations on the Hawaiian Islands showed that by December (compared to June), due to scattering, the ash concentration at an altitude of 20 km decreased by 6 times. In temperate latitudes, volcanic ash appeared in November 1982. Signs of increased turbidity of the Arctic stratosphere appeared only in March 1983. Thus, it took about a year for the pollution to be evenly distributed in the stratosphere of the Northern Hemisphere. Subsequently, it evenly decreased over the year by about 3 times.
1985 November 14-16, Colombia, Nevado del Ruiz volcano
The largest eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in terms of the number of victims and material damage occurred. A column of ash and debris rose into the sky to a height of 8 km rock... The incandescent gases thrown out of the volcano's mouth and pouring out lava melted the snow and ice at its top. The resulting mudflow completely destroyed the city of Amero, located 50 km from the volcano. The mud layer reached 8 m in places. The volcano practically destroyed everything around within a radius of 150 km. About 25 thousand people died, the total number of victims exceeded 200 thousand.
1991 June 10-15, Philippines, Luzon Island, Pinatubo volcano
Approximately 200 people died and 100 thousand were left homeless as a result of numerous eruptions.
On June 10, there was an eruption of the average force of Mount Pinatubo, located on the island of Luzon, 88 km from Manila. June 12 at 8 a.m. 41 minutes the volcano exploded, throwing a mushroom cloud into the sky. Streams of gas, ash and rocks molten to a temperature of 980 ° C poured down the slopes at a speed of up to 100 km / h. For many kilometers around, all the way to Manila, day turned into night. And the cloud and the ash falling out of it reached Singapore, which is 2.4 thousand km away from the volcano.
On the night of June 12 and in the morning of June 13, the volcano erupted again. And even more forcefully than before. He threw ash and flames into the air for 24 km.
On the morning of June 14, a typhoon hit the east coast of Luzon with a wind speed of 130 km / h, which flooded the area, soaked a layer of ash and turned it into white mud.
The volcano continued to erupt on June 15 and 16. Mud streams and water washed away the houses. A layer of ash 20 cm thick, turning into mud, destroyed buildings before our eyes. The slopes of Mount Pinatubo resembled a lunar landscape. In the province of Zambales, the most affected region, everything was covered with a 90-centimeter layer of ash and volcanic debris.
The smallest particles of the ejected ash formed a huge cloud that encircled the entire globe along the equator. It contained little ozone in its central part, and a lot of sulfur dioxide along the edges. During the eruption, more than 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide were released into the atmosphere. The ash cloud of volcano Pinatubo, like volcano Krakatoa in 1883, led to some general decrease in temperature, as ash particles form a screen that traps sunlight. The presence of chlorine compounds and some other harmful gases in the atmosphere in a concentration higher than usual was recorded from space satellites.
1997 June 30, Mexico, Popocatepetl volcano
There was a strong eruption of the Popocatepetl volcano, located 60 km from the capital of Mexico. The column of flame from the crater of the volcano reached 18 km in height, ash fell on the streets of Mexico City. Almost 40 thousand people were removed from the villages located near the mountain.
2000 March 14, Russia, Kamchatka, Bezymyanny volcano
During the eruption of the volcano, ash was thrown out with tremendous force to a height of 5 km above sea level, and a plume of ash clouds stretched in the north-western direction for at least 100 km. The village of Kozyrevsk, located at the foot of the volcano, was almost completely covered with ash, the smell of sulfur was felt. V last time the eruption of Bezymyanny took place on February 24, 1999, when ash emissions reached a height of 8 km. A similar ashfall was recorded on this volcano only in 1956. The awakened volcano did not pose any danger to the population.
2000 December, Mexico, Popocatepetl volcano
On December 14, the eruption of the Popocatepetl volcano began, it spewed hot stones and ash to a height of 1 km, the radius of their fall was about 10 km. 14 thousand people were evacuated. According to the authorities, the evacuation was announced mainly as a precaution - the ash from the volcanic eruption, which locals call El Popo, was blown away by the wind within a radius of more than 80 km.
On the night of December 18-19, there was a strong volcanic eruption. Stones, gas and a column of hot lava emanating from a crater located at an altitude of 5.5 km could be observed from anywhere in Mexico City, located 60 km away. 40 thousand people were urgently evacuated from the vicinity of the volcano.
About 74 thousand years ago, the Toba volcano exploded on the territory of present-day Sumatra. It is the largest eruption in at least two million years. It is an order of magnitude larger than the eruption of Tambora in the 19th century, which is considered the most powerful in modern history humanity. Toba ejected 2,800 cubic kilometers of magma, covered the surrounding area with a layer of ash and filled the atmosphere with thousands of tons of sulfuric acid and sulfur dioxide. This event could increase the average annual temperature on the planet by 10 C for a whole decade, and the cooling of the climate to its previous level could take about a thousand years.
This happened in the Middle Paleolithic era, when stone tools and the extraction of fire were the pinnacle of human technology. Therefore, it is easy to explain the belief, widespread in the scientific community, that this eruption had an extremely serious impact on the human population. However, there is a lot of evidence that people were not really hurt. And this is one of those mysteries that still defy explanation.
Toba's disaster theory
As a result of volcanic eruptions, ash and sulfurous gases have a major impact on the climate. This stuff can remain in the atmosphere for years, reflecting sunlight and provoking a global cooling for tens and hundreds of years. Endless winter, naturally, would be a real disaster for the then inhabitants of the planet. For comparison - due to the eruption of nearby Tambora, 1816 went down in history as a “year without summer”. There was no harvest in the whole world, and famine began in some places. At the same time, only 115 cubic kilometers of magma erupted from Tambora, that is, 25 times less than from Toba.
In the 90s of the last century, a scientist named Stanley Ambrose proposed the "Toba disaster theory." In his opinion, the eruption practically destroyed the people, reducing their number from one hundred to ten thousand. Africans are genetically more diverse than other races, which means that the rest of humanity, at some point in its history, has experienced the impact of the bottleneck effect - a sharp decline in population that has led to the loss of genetic diversity.
According to this theory, the culprit was a catastrophic volcanic eruption and the ensuing global cooling. The Africans, she says, were helped by the hot climate of their homeland. All this looks extremely logical. But as scientists receive new evidence of Toba's eruption, the situation becomes more confusing. V this moment There is currently no consensus on how severely the volcano affected the Earth's climate.
Research in recent years
In 2010, researchers created a mathematical model based on the amount of pollutant particles emitted into the atmosphere and the amount of solar radiation reflected by them. The simulation showed that the impact of Toba on the planet was much milder and shorter than previously thought - a decrease in temperature by 3-5 degrees for 2-3 years. Naturally, this is a very serious cold snap. A decrease of even 1-2 degrees, as we remember, is already a “year without summer”. But, perhaps, it was not so terrible as to destroy 90% of the human population.
Later studies showed that in sedimentary rock samples African lake There is no significant difference in plant life in Malawi before and after the eruption. But this should be expected in the first place if we are talking about a winter that lasted a whole decade. Excavations on the coast South Africa did not find any interruptions or changes in human activities in this area. The thinnest layer of fragments of volcanic glass from the Toba eruption was found here, but the artifacts associated with people were the same before and after this layer.
Some scientists in this connection have put forward the assumption that life on the warm coast, rich in resources, contributed to the fact that people did not really feel the changes caused by the eruption. However, excavations in India, which is much closer to Toba, also did not record significant changes in the activities of human communities in the time of interest to us.
Man is a very tenacious creature
The volcano, probably, still influenced people - the largest eruption in history is very difficult to miss. However, it is highly unlikely that he wiped out 90% of the human population. In connection with the debunking of the theory of the catastrophe of Toba, the question has hung about what caused the bottleneck effect during the exit of people from Africa. The most accepted explanation today is the so-called “founder effect”. According to this hypothesis, small groups of people migrated from the black continent, which limited the genetic diversity in their descendants, who subsequently settled around the world.
Perhaps the closest parallel to You today is the huge volcano beneath Yellowstone National Park. It had already erupted about two million years ago, and the scale of this event was quite comparable to the explosion of Toba. The volume of the ejected lava was then 2500 cubic kilometers. In the event of an eruption of this magnitude, people will have a very difficult time - many of the technologies that have appeared over the past several centuries - from Agriculture to communications and aviation. In some respects, humanity today is much more sensitive to such phenomena than during the eruption of Toba. Fortunately, according to most volcanologists, the likelihood of an eruption in Yellowstone is negligible. In addition, as Toba showed, man is an incredibly tenacious representative of the wildlife world. In this respect, we are hardly inferior to rats and cockroaches.
In fact, volcanoes have shaped the face of the Earth for millions of years. Here are the most serious volcanic disasters in human history.
№8 ... Experts believe that the largest volcanic eruption, which occurred at the dawn of mankind, happened in Sumatra: the volcano Toba erupted 71,000 years ago. Then about 2800 cubic meters were emitted into the atmosphere. km of ash, which could reduce the population of people around the world to only 10,000 people.
№7. Eruption El Chichon was not particularly large (5 on the VEI scale), with a maximum eruptive column height of 29 km. But there was a lot of sulfur in the cloud. In less than one month, it surrounded the globe, but half a year passed before it spread to 30 ° N. c, practically not spreading to the Southern Hemisphere. Samples collected by aircraft and balloons showed that the cloud particles for the most part were tiny glass balls coated with sulfuric acid. Gradually sticking together, they quickly deposited on the ground, and after a year the mass of the remaining cloud was reduced to about Uz from the original. The absorption of sunlight by cloud particles warmed the equatorial stratosphere by 4 ° in June 1982, but at ground level in the Northern Hemisphere, temperatures dropped by 0.4 °.
№6. Lucky , volcano in Iceland. Laki is a chain of more than 110-115 craters up to 818 m high, stretching for 25 km, centered on the Grimsvotn volcano and including the Eldgja canyon and the Katla volcano. In 1783-1784 on Laki and the neighboring volcano Grimsvotn, a powerful (6 points on the eruption scale) fissure eruption took place with the release of about 15 km³ of basaltic lava within 8 months. The length of the lava flow, which poured out from the 25-kilometer fissure, exceeded 130 km, and the area covered by it was 565 km². Clouds of poisonous compounds of fluorine and sulfur dioxide rose into the air, which killed more than 50% of the livestock in Iceland; volcanic ash covered partly or completely the pastures on most of the island. Huge masses of ice, melted by lava, led to large-scale floods. Famine began, resulting in the death of approximately 10 thousand people, or 20% of the country's population. This eruption is considered one of the most destructive in the last millennium and the largest lava eruption in historical time. Thin ash erupted by the volcano was present in the second half of 1783 over most of Eurasia. Caused by the eruption, a decrease in temperature in the northern hemisphere led to crop failure and famine in Europe in 1784.
№5. Eruption Vesuvius perhaps the most famous eruption in the world. Vesuvius (Italian Vesuvio, Neap. Vesuvio) - active volcano in the south of Italy, about 15 km from Naples. Located on the shore Gulf of Naples in the province of Naples, Campania region. It is included in the Apennine mountain system, has a height of 1281 m.
The disaster claimed the lives of 10,000 people and destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
№4 . A catastrophic volcanic eruption happened in 1883 Krakatoa, which destroyed most of the island of the same name.
The eruption began in May. By the end of August, explosions carried out a significant amount of rocks, which led to the devastation of the "underground chamber" near Krakatoa. The last powerful explosion of the pre-culmination stage occurred at dawn on August 27. The ash column reached a height of 30 km. On August 28, most of the island, under its own weight and the pressure of the water column, collapsed into voids below sea level, carrying with it a huge mass ocean water, the contact of which with magma caused the strongest hydromagmatic explosion.
A significant part of the volcanic edifice was scattered within a radius of up to 500 km. Such a range of expansion was provided by the rise of magma and rocks into the rarefied layers of the atmosphere, to an altitude of 55 km. The gas-ash column rose into the mesosphere, to an altitude of over 70 km. Ash fall occurred in the eastern part Indian Ocean on an area of over 4 million km². The volume of the material ejected by the explosion was about 18 km³. The force of the explosion (6 points on the scale of eruptions), according to geologists, was at least 200 thousand times higher than the force of the explosion that destroyed Hiroshima.
The roar of the explosion was clearly audible within a radius of 4 thousand km. On the coast of Sumatra and Java, the noise level, according to scientists, reached 180 decibels or more.
A significant amount of volcanic ash remained in the atmosphere at altitudes up to 80 km for several years and caused an intense color of the dawn.
The tsunami raised by the explosion up to 30 m in height led to the death of about 36 thousand people on the neighboring islands, 295 cities and villages were washed into the sea. Many of them, before the tsunami approached, were probably destroyed by an air wave that tumbled down the equatorial forests on the coast of the Sunda Strait and tore roofs from houses and doors from their hinges in Jakarta, 150 km from the crash site. The atmosphere of the entire Earth was disturbed by the explosion for several days. According to various sources, the air wave circled the Earth from 7 to 11 times.
№3 ... For a long time people believed the Colombian volcano Ruiz if not extinct, then at least asleep. They had reasons for this: the last time this volcano erupted in 1595, and then for almost five centuries did not show signs of activity.
The first signs of Ruiz's awakening became visible on November 12, 1985, when ash erupted from the crater. At 9 pm on November 13, several explosions thundered, and a full-scale eruption began. The height of the column of smoke and debris thrown out by the explosions reached 8 meters. Due to the outpouring of lava and outcrops of hot gases, the temperature increased, as a result of which the snow and ice that covered the volcano melted. In the late evening, the mudflow reached the city of Armero, located 40 kilometers from the volcano, and practically wiped it off the face of the earth. Several surrounding villages were also destroyed. Oil pipelines and power lines were damaged, bridges were destroyed. Due to the breaking of telephone lines and erosion of roads, communication with the affected area was interrupted.
According to the official data of the Colombian government, as a result of the eruption, about 23 thousand people died or went missing, another 5 thousand were seriously injured and mutilated. Tens of thousands of Colombians lost their homes and property. The eruption seriously damaged coffee plantations: not only the coffee trees themselves were destroyed, but also a significant part of the already harvested crop. Colombia's economy has suffered significant damage.
№2. Mont Pele ... This eruption, which occurred in 1902 on the island of Martinique, was the strongest in the 20th century. Residents of the Martinique city of Saint-Pierre, located just 8 kilometers from the Mont Pele volcano, are accustomed to considering this mountain a peaceful neighbor. And, since the last eruption of this volcano, which happened in 1851, was very weak, they did not pay special attention to the tremors and rumble that began at the end of April 1902. By May, the activity of the volcano intensified, and on May 8, one of the worst natural disasters of the 20th century broke out.
At about 8 o'clock in the morning, the eruption of Mont Pele began. A cloud of ash and stones was thrown into the air, and a stream of lava rushed towards the city. However, the most terrible were not ash and lava, but incandescent volcanic gases that swept across Saint-Pierre at great speed, causing fires. Desperate people tried to escape on ships standing in the port, but only the Roddan steamer managed to get out to sea. Unfortunately, almost all of its crew and passengers died from burns, only the captain and the driver survived.
As a result of the eruption of the volcano, the city of Saint-Pierre was almost completely destroyed, and all the people and animals in it died. The eruption of Mont Pele claimed the lives of more than 30 thousand people; of the inhabitants of the city, only the criminal who was in the underground prison was able to survive.
Currently, Saint-Pierre has been partially restored, and a museum of volcanology has been built at the foot of Mont Pele.
№1 Tambora
The first signs of the volcano's awakening became noticeable back in 1812, when the first plumes of smoke appeared over the top of Tambora. Gradually the amount of smoke increased, it became denser and darker. On April 5, 1815, a violent explosion occurred and an eruption began. The noise produced by the volcano was so strong that it was heard even 1400 kilometers from the scene. The tons of sand and volcanic dust thrown out by Tambora covered the entire area with a thick layer within a radius of one hundred kilometers. Residential buildings collapsed under the weight of ash not only on the island of Sumbawa, but also on neighboring islands. The ashes even reached Borneo, 750 kilometers from Tambora. The amount of smoke and dust in the air was so great that night stood within a radius of 500 kilometers from the volcano for three days. According to eyewitnesses, they saw nothing further than their own hand.
This terrible eruption, which lasted about 10 days, according to the most conservative estimates, killed 50 thousand people. There is data according to which the death toll has exceeded 90 thousand. Almost the entire population of Sumbawa was destroyed, and the inhabitants neighboring islands They suffered severely both from the release of ash and huge stones, and from the famine resulting from the destruction of fields and livestock.
Due to the eruption of Tambora, a huge amount of ash and dust accumulated in the Earth's atmosphere, and this had a significant impact on the climate of the entire planet. The year 1816 went down in history as a “year without summer”. Due to the unusually low temperature, east coast North America and in Europe this year there were crop failures and famine. In some countries, snow lasted most of the summer, while in New York and the northeastern United States, the snow cover was up to a meter thick. The effect of this volcanic winter provides insight into one of the consequences of a possible atomic war - a nuclear winter.
Do you know how many active volcanoes are there on our planet? About six hundred. This is relatively small, considering that more than a thousand no longer threaten humanity, since they have cooled down. More than ten thousand volcanoes are hidden under the surface of sea and ocean waters. Yet the danger of a volcanic eruption exists in many countries. There are more than a hundred of them near Indonesia, in the west of America there are about ten, there are "rumbling mountains" in Japan, Kamchatka and the Kuriles. Today we will talk about the strongest volcanic eruptions that have claimed many lives and left a noticeable imprint on the history of civilization. Let's get acquainted with the most dangerous representatives of these formidable mountains. We will find out whether it is worth fearing the Yellowstone volcano today, which worries scientists around the world. Let's start with him.
Supervolcano Yellowstone
Today, there are twenty supervolcanoes by volcanologists, compared to which the remaining 580 are nothing. They are located in Japan, New Zealand, California, New Mexico and elsewhere. But the most dangerous of the entire group is the Yellowstone volcano. Today, this monster causes concern for all scientists, as it is already ready to spew tons of lava to the surface of the earth.
Dimensions of Yellowstone where it is located
This giant is located in the west of America, more precisely, in the northwest, in the region of Wyoming. First discovered dangerous mountain in 1960, she was noticed by a satellite. The dimensions of the whopper are about 72 x 55 kilometers, and this is almost a third of the 900,000 hectares of the entire Yellowstone national park, more precisely, its park part.
The Yellowstone volcano today stores in its bowels a huge amount of hot magma, the temperature of which reaches 1000 degrees. It is to her that tourists owe a lot of hot springs. The fire bubble is located at a depth of almost 8 kilometers.
Yellowstone eruptions
Many millennia ago, this giant already watered the earth with an abundant stream of lava, and sprinkled it on top with tons of ash. The largest volcanic eruption, it was also the first, according to scientists, occurred about two million years ago. It is assumed that then Yellowstone threw out more than 2.5 thousand cubic kilometers of rock, which flew up 50 kilometers from the surface of the earth. This is power!
About 1.2 million years ago, the formidable volcano repeated the eruption. It was not as strong as the first, and the emissions were ten times less.
The last, third disturbance took place about 640 years ago. The largest volcanic eruption at that time cannot be called, but it was during it that the walls of the crater collapsed, and today we can observe the caldera that appeared during that period.
Should we fear an eruption of Yellowstone any time soon?
With the beginning of the second millennium, scientists began to notice the ongoing changes in the behavior of the Yellowstone volcano. What alerted them?
- From 2007 to 2013, that is, in six years, the earth covering the caldera rose by two meters. Compared to the last twenty years before, the rise was only a few centimeters.
- New hot geysers have appeared.
- The severity and frequency of earthquakes in the caldera region have increased since 2000.
- Underground gases began to find their way out directly from the ground.
- The water temperature in the nearby reservoirs increased by several degrees at once.
The inhabitants of the North American continent were alarmed by this news. Scientists around the world agreed: there will be an eruption. When? Most likely already in this century.
Why is the eruption dangerous?
The largest eruption of the Yellowstone volcano is expected in our time. Scientists assume that its strength will be no less than during previous unrest. If we compare the power of the explosion, then it can be equated to the release of more than a thousand atomic bombs to the ground. Such an explosion is capable of destroying everything within a radius of 150-160 kilometers, and another 1600 kilometers around it will fall into the "dead zone".
In addition, the eruption of Yellowstone can contribute to the start of eruptions of other volcanoes, and this will entail the appearance of huge tsunamis. Rumor has it that the United States government is preparing with might and main for this event: strong shelters are being made, an evacuation plan to other continents is being created.
It is difficult to say if this will be the largest volcanic eruption in history, and yet it is dangerous, and not only for the states, but for the whole world. If the height of the emission is 50 kilometers, then in two days a dangerous cloud of smoke will begin to actively spread. Residents of Australia and India will be the first to enter the disaster zone. For a period of more than two years, you will have to get used to the cold, since the sun's rays will not be able to break through the thickness of ash, and winter will come out of schedule. The temperature will drop to -25 degrees, and in some places to -50. In conditions of cold, lack of normal air, hunger, only the strongest can survive.
Etna
It is an active stratovolcano, one of the most powerful in the world and the largest in Italy. Interested in the coordinates of Mount Etna? It is located in Sicily (right coast), close to Catania and Messina. Geographical coordinates Mount Etna - 37 ° 45 '18 "north latitude, 14 ° 59' 43" east longitude.
Now the height of Etna is 3429 meters, but it changes from eruption to eruption. This volcano is the highest point in Europe, outside the Alps, Caucasus Mountains and Pyrenees. This giant has a rival - the well-known Vesuvius, who at one time destroyed an entire civilization. But Etna is more than 2 times more.
Etna is a harsh volcano. It has 200 to 400 craters on its sides. Once every three months, hot lava flows out of one of them, and about once every 150 years, really serious eruptions occur, which are constantly destroying the villages. However, local residents this fact does not upset or frighten, they actively inhabit the slopes of the dangerous mountain.
List of eruptions: timeline of Etna activity
About six thousand years ago, Etna was pretty naughty. During the eruption, a huge piece of its eastern part was broken off and thrown into the sea. In 2006, volcanologists published the news that this debris, falling into the water, created a huge tsunami.
The first eruption of this giant took place, according to scientists, in 1226 BC.
In 44 BC, there was a violent eruption. As far as Egypt, a cloud of ash extended, due to which there was no further harvest.
122 years - a city called Catania was almost wiped off the face of the earth.
In 1669, the volcano, with its eruption, greatly altered the outlines of the coast. Ursino Castle stood near the water, but after the eruption it turned out to be 2.5 km from the coast. Lava penetrated the walls of Catania, absorbing the housing of 27 thousand people.
In 1928, the eruption was destroyed Old city Maskali. This event was remembered by believers, they believe that a real miracle happened. The fact is that before the religious procession, the flow of red-hot lava stopped. A chapel was later built near it. Lava froze near the building in 1980.
In the period from 1991 to there was one of the most terrible eruptions, which practically destroyed the city of Zafferan.
The last major volcanic eruptions occurred in 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2015. But these were not the most serious cataclysms. Locals call the mountain good, as the lava quietly flows down the sides, and does not spill up into terrible fountains.
Should you be afraid of Etna?
Due to East End The volcano broke off, Etna is now erupting effusively, that is, without an explosion, lava flows down its sides in slow streams.
Scientists today are concerned that the behavior of the whopper is changing, and soon it will erupt explosively, that is, with an explosion. Thousands of people could suffer in such an eruption.
Guarapuava-Tamarana-Sarusas
The name of this volcano is difficult to pronounce even for the most professional announcer! But its name is not so terrible as the way it erupted about 132 million years ago.
The nature of its eruption is explosive, such specimens accumulate lava for many millennia, and then pour it onto the ground in incredible quantities. So it happened with this giant, which splashed out more than 8 thousand cubic kilometers of red-hot slurry.
This monster is located in the Trap province of Parana-Etendeka.
We invite you to familiarize yourself with the largest volcanic eruptions in history.
Sakurajima
This volcano is located in Japan and is considered one of the most dangerous in the world. Since 1955, this giant has been in constant activity, which frightens local residents, and not only them.
The last eruption was in 2009, but not very serious when compared with what happened in 1924.
The volcano began to signal its eruption with strong tremors. Most of the city's residents managed to leave the danger zone.
After this eruption, "Sakura Island" cannot be called an island. Such an amount of lava erupted from the throat of this giant that an isthmus was formed, which connected the island with another - Kyushu.
After this eruption, Sakurajima quietly poured out lava for about a year, which made the bottom of the bay much higher.
Vesuvius
Located in Napoli and is the only "live" volcano in continental Europe.
Its strongest eruption occurs in 79 years. August 24 woke up from hibernation and destroyed cities Ancient rome: Herculaneum, Pompeii and Stabiae.
The last major volcanic eruption occurred in 1944.
The height of this formidable giant is 1281 meters.
Colima
Located in Mexico. This is one of the most dangerous representatives of its kind. It has erupted over forty times since 1576.
The last strong eruption was recorded in 2005, on June 8. The government urgently evacuated residents of nearby villages, as a huge ash cloud rose above them - more than five kilometers in height. This threatened the lives of people.
The most high point this formidable monster - 4625 meters. Today the volcano is dangerous not only for the inhabitants of Mexico.
Galeras
Located in Colombia. The height of this giant reaches 4276 meters. Over the past seven thousand years, there have been about six of the largest eruptions.
In 1993, one of the eruptions began. Unfortunately, research work was carried out on the territory of the volcano, and six geologists never returned home.
In 2006, the volcano again threatened to flood the surroundings with lava, so people were evacuated from the local settlements.
Mauna loa
This is a formidable guardian Hawaiian Islands... He is considered the most large volcano all over the earth. The volume of this giant, taking into account the underwater part, is about 80 thousand cubic kilometers.
The last time a strong eruption was noted in 1950. And the most recent, but not strong, happened in 1984.
Mauna Loa is on the list of the most powerful, dangerous and large volcanoes the world.
Teide
This is a dormant monster, the awakening of which all the inhabitants of Spain fear. The last time the eruption occurred in 1909, today the formidable mountain shows no activity.
If this volcano decides to wake up, and it has been resting for more than a hundred years, then it will not be the most pleasant time for the inhabitants of the island of Tenerife, as well as for the whole of Spain.
We have named far from all the latest major volcanic eruptions. As mentioned at the beginning of the article, there are about six hundred active. People living in zones of active volcanoes are in fear every day, because an eruption is a terrible natural disaster that takes thousands of lives.
Most of the volcanoes of our planet are located in the "ring of fire", which stretches along the shores of all The Pacific... In total, there are about 1.5 thousand volcanoes on Earth, of which 540 are active.
Here is a list of the most dangerous ones.
1. Nyiragongo, 3470 m, Democratic Republic of the Congo
This is one of the most dangerous volcanoes in Africa. Since 1882, 34 eruptions have been recorded here. The main crater is 250 meters deep and 2 km wide, and contains a lake of actively bubbling lava. This lava is unusually fluid and its flows can reach speeds of 100 km / h. In 2002, an eruption killed 147 people and left 120,000 homeless. The last eruption to date occurred in 2016.
2. Taal, height 311 m, Philippines
It is one of the smallest active volcanoes on our planet. Since 1572, it has erupted 34 times. Located on the island of Luzon, on Lake Taal. The strongest eruption of this volcano in the 20th century occurred in 1911 - in 10 minutes, 1335 people and all living things died at a distance of up to 10 km. In 1965, 200 people died. Last eruption - 1977
3. Mauna Loa, height 4,169 m, Hawaii (USA)
There are many volcanoes in Hawaii, but this is the largest and most dangerous of all. Since 1832, 39 eruptions have been recorded. The last eruption took place in 1984, the last violent eruption in 1950.
4. Vesuvius, height 1 281 m, Italy
One of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world is located just 15 km east of Naples. The most famous historical eruption occurred in 79 AD. As a result of this disaster, two cities - Pompeii and Herculaneum - disappeared from the face of the Earth. In modern history, the last eruption of Vesuvius happened in 1944.
5. Merapi, height 2 930 m, Indonesia
This active volcano in Indonesia is located on the island of Java near the city of Yogyakarta. "Merapi" translates as "mountain of fire". The volcano is young, so it puffs with enviable regularity. Large eruptions occur every 7 years on average. In 1930, about 1,300 people died, in 1974 two villages were destroyed, in 2010 353 people died. The last eruption was in 2011.
6. St. Helens, height 2,550 m, USA
Located 154 km from Seattle and 85 km from Portland. The most famous eruption of this active volcano happened in 1980 when 57 people died. The eruption was of a rare type - "directed blast". The process of the volcanic eruption and the spread of the ash cloud was captured by photographer Robert Landsburg, who died in this eruption, but preserved the film. The last activity to date was recorded in 2008.
7. Etna, height 3 350 m, Italy
Mount Etna is located on the east coast of Sicily. It is the tallest active volcano in Europe. Throughout its existence, it has erupted about 200 times. In 1992, one of the largest eruptions was recorded, during which the town of Zafferana barely escaped. On December 3, 2015, the volcano's central crater ejected a kilometer-high lava fountain. The last eruption was on February 27, 2017.
8.Sakurajima, height 1,117 m, Japan
The volcano is located on the Osumi Peninsula of Kyushu Island in the Japanese prefecture of Kagoshima. There is almost always a cloud of smoke over the volcano. The eruptions were recorded on August 18, 2013, in March 2009. The last eruption was recorded on July 26, 2016.
9. Galeras, height 4,276 m, Colombia
Over the past 7 thousand years, at least six large eruptions and many small ones have occurred on Galeras. In 1993, during research work in the crater, six volcanologists and three tourists died (then the eruption also began). Last recorded eruptions: January 2008, February 2009, January and August 2010
10. Popocatepetl, height 5426 m, Mexico
The name translates as "smoking hill". The volcano is located near Mexico City. Since 1519, it has erupted 20 times. The last eruption was recorded in 2015.
11. Unzen, height 1,500 m, Japan
The volcano is located on the Shimabara Peninsula. The eruption of the Unzen volcano in 1792 is one of the five most destructive eruptions in human history in terms of the number of human victims. The eruption caused a tsunami 55 meters high, which killed more than 15 thousand people. And in 1991, 43 people died during the eruption. There have been no eruptions since 1996.
12. Krakatoa, height 813 m, Indonesia 
This active volcano is located between the islands of Java and Sumatra. Before the historic eruption of 1883, the volcano was much higher and represented one big Island... However, the most powerful eruption in 1883 destroyed the island and the volcano. Krakatoa is still active today and small eruptions occur fairly regularly. The last activity was 2014.
13. Santa Maria, height 3,772 m, Guatemala
The first recorded eruption of this volcano took place in October 1902, before that it "rested" for 500 years. The explosion was heard 800 km away in Costa Rica, and the ash column rose 28 km. About 6 thousand people died. Today the volcano is active. The last eruption was recorded in 2011.
14. Klyuchevskaya Sopka, height 4835 m, Russia
The volcano is located in the east of Kamchatka, 60 km from the coast. It is the largest active volcano in Russia. Over the past 270 years, more than 50 eruptions have been recorded, the last in April 2016.
15. Karymskaya Sopka, height 1468 m, Russia
Also located in Kamchatka. More than 20 eruptions have been recorded since 1852. Eruptions in recent years: 2005, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015. Very turbulent volcano.
