16 questions · Geography
Volcanoes are the places where the Earth reveals its interior. Around 1,500 are considered potentially active, and roughly 50 to 70 of them erupt every year. They have buried cities, changed the climate and raised islands from the sea. At the same time their slopes hold some of the most fertile soils in the world, which is why millions of people deliberately live in their shadow. Some eruptions have made history. Mount Vesuvius buried Pompeii in AD 79 and preserved the town for archaeology. Krakatoa exploded so loudly in 1883 that it was heard almost 5,000 kilometres away. Tambora hurled so much ash into the sky in 1815 that Europe suffered a year without a summer in 1816. In our own time Eyjafjallajökull grounded air traffic with its ash cloud, and Pinatubo measurably cooled the global climate. Other volcanoes are landmarks. Mount Fuji is Japan’s sacred mountain, Kilimanjaro the roof of Africa, Mount Etna the highest active volcano in Europe, and Stromboli, with its constant small eruptions, the lighthouse of the Mediterranean. In Hawaii, Mauna Loa and Kilauea rise from the ocean; in the Andes, Ojos del Salado is the highest volcano on Earth; and Popocatépetl smokes on the horizon of Mexico City. How well do you know the world’s most famous fire mountains?
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Mount Vesuvius
Pliny the Younger described the eruption in letters; his uncle Pliny the Elder died in it.
💡 Did you know? It is considered one of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes because about three million people live nearby.
Krakatoa
It is considered the loudest sound in recorded history; tsunamis killed more than 36,000 people.
💡 Did you know? Since 1927 a new volcano has been rising from the sea in the same place: Anak Krakatau, the child of Krakatoa.
Mount Etna
It is more than 3,300 metres high, and its height changes with every major eruption.
💡 Did you know? The fertile lava soils on its slopes support vineyards, pistachios and citrus groves.
Mount St. Helens
It was the largest landslide ever recorded, and the summit lost about 400 metres of height.
💡 Did you know? The eruption on 18 May 1980 was the deadliest in US history.
Eyjafjallajökull
Around 100,000 flights were cancelled and millions of travellers were stranded.
💡 Did you know? The name means “island mountain glacier” and tripped up newsreaders all over the world.
Mount Tambora
Crop failures and famines followed, and grain prices soared across Europe.
💡 Did you know? During the rainy summer of 1816 Mary Shelley wrote “Frankenstein” by Lake Geneva.
Mount Pinatubo
Timely warnings saved tens of thousands because the area was evacuated beforehand.
💡 Did you know? It was one of the largest eruptions of the 20th century.
Mount Fuji
It last erupted in 1707 and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2013.
💡 Did you know? Hokusai made it world-famous with his “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji”.
Kilimanjaro
Its summit, Kibo, reaches 5,895 metres; the volcano is considered dormant.
💡 Did you know? Its glaciers near the equator have been shrinking sharply for decades.
Mauna Loa
Measured from the sea floor, it is more than 9,000 metres tall.
💡 Did you know? An observatory on its flank has measured CO₂ in the air since 1958, producing the famous Keeling Curve.
Stromboli
It has been almost continuously active for more than 2,000 years.
💡 Did you know? Volcanologists named a whole type of eruption after it: the Strombolian eruption.
Ojos del Salado
It lies in the arid Atacama region, near one of the highest lakes in the world.
💡 Did you know? Its Spanish name means “eyes of the salty one”, after the salt lakes at its foot.
Kilauea
Its runny lava often reaches the sea and makes the island grow.
💡 Did you know? It lies in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and is one of the most active volcanoes on Earth.
Popocatépetl
It is about 5,400 metres high and one of Mexico’s most active volcanoes.
💡 Did you know? An Aztec legend turns it into a warrior watching over the sleeping princess Iztaccíhuatl.
Santorini
The eruption left a huge caldera that is now filled by the sea.
💡 Did you know? Some see the disaster as a model for the legend of Atlantis.
Mount Pelée
A glowing cloud of gas and ash swept over the town within minutes.
💡 Did you know? One of the few survivors was a prisoner protected by the thick walls of his cell.
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