Volcanoes worldwide

Throughout history volcanoes have both fascinated and frightened. Below are some of the most famous and most recent volcanic eruptions, with facts from the Global Volcanism Program. You can also view more volcanoes from around the world  by searching within a region, or by a volcano’s name, and read it's eruptive history, last known eruption and volcanic activity plus you'll find maps, facts and pictures.

St Helens – Washington State, USA

• Volcano type: Stratovolcano
• Last known eruption: 2005
• Summit elevation: 2549 m 8,363 feet
• Shape: Prior to its 1980 eruption Mount St. Helen's was a conical volcano. During its eruption in 1980 the upper 400 m of the summit was lost, leaving a 2 x 3.5 km horseshoe-shaped crater, partially filled by a lava dome. Tephra, lava domes, and pyroclastic flows form the older St. Helens' edifice. The modern edifice was created from basaltic, andesitic and dacitic products from summit and flank vents during the last 2200 years.
• Eruption History:
• Was formed during nine eruptive periods beginning about 40-50,000 years ago.
• Video cam
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Mount Etna – Sicily, Italy

• Volcano type: Basaltic Stratovolcano
• Europe's highest volcano, towering 3350 m above the city of Taormina on its NE flank. 60 x 40 km wide and extends to the sea
• Eruption History:
• historical records, date back to the 2nd millenium BC.
• Eruptions occur both from persistently active summit craters and intermittently from flank fissures and cones.
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Santa Ana – El Salvador

• Volcano type: Andesitic-to-Basaltic Atratovolcano
• Last known eruption: 1904 
• Summit Elevation: 2381 m 7,812 feet
• Location: El Salvador's highest volcano immediately west of Coatepeque caldera.
• The collapse of the volcano during the late Pleistocene produced a voluminous debris avalanche that swept into the Pacific Ocean, forming the Acajutla Peninsula.
• The summit of the volcano is cut by several crescentic craters. A series of parasitic vents and cones have formed along a 20-km-long fissure.
• Eruption History:
• Small-to-moderate explosive eruptions from both summit and flank vents have been documented since the 16th century. In 1722 the San Marcelino cinder cone on the SE flank produced a lava flow that travelled 13 km to the east
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Pinatubo – Phillioines – Luzon

• Volcano type: Stratovolcano
• Last known eruption: 1993
• Summit elevation: 1486 m 4,875 feet
• Location: Heavily forested lava dome complex located 100 km NW of Manila
• Eruption History:
• The 1991 eruption was one of the largest of the 20th century. Ejected massive amounts of tephra and the pyroclastic flows, formed a 2.5-km-wide summit caldera whose floor is now covered by a lake. Widespread lahars.
• 6 major eruptive periods from modern Pinatubo volcano during the past 35,000 years producing more extensive pyroclastic flows and lahars than in 1991.
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Yellowstone, Wyoming, United States
 

• Volcano type: Calderas
• Last Known Eruption: 1050 BC (?)
• Summit Elevation: 2805 m 9,203 feet
• Eruption history:
• Yellowstone plateau volcanic field developed through 3 volcanic cycles spanning 2 million years, including some of the world's largest known eruptions.
• 640,000 years ago an eruption of the >1000 cubic km Lava Creek Tuff formed the present 45 x 85 km caldera.
• 1000 cubic km intracaldera rhyolitic lava flows erupted between 150,000 and 70,000 years ago.
• No magmatic eruptions have occurred since the late Pleistocene, but phreatic eruptions took place near Yellowstone Lake during the Holocene.
• Yellowstone is presently the site of one of the world's largest hydrothermal systems including the Earth's largest concentration of geysers.
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Soufriere Hills Monserrat Volcano, West Indies

• Volcano Type: mainly Andesitic Stratovolcano
• Last known Eruption: 2004 
• Summit elevation: 915 m 3,002 feet
• Location: Soufrière Hills Volcano occupies the southern half of the island of Montserrat and consists primarily of a series of lava domes. English's Crater, (1-km-wide) formed during an eruption about 4000 years ago in which the summit collapsed, producing a large submarine debris avalanche.
• Eruption history:
• An eruption produced the Castle Peak lava dome in the 17th-century
• Non-eruptive seismic swarms occurred at 30-year intervals during the 20th century
• In 1995, small-to-moderate ash eruptions were later succeeded by lava-dome growth and pyroclastic flows, forcing the evacuation of the southern half of the island and destroying the capital city, Plymouth.
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Mount Vesuvius, Italy /Pompeii

• Volcano Type: Complex volcano
• Last known eruption: 1944 
• Summit elevation: 1281 m 4,203 feet
• Location: Vesuvius (Vesuvio) forms a dramatic backdrop to the Bay of Naples.
• The active cone of Vesuvius was created within a large caldera of the Monte Somma volcano, which started formation about 17,000 years ago.
• One of the world's most noted volcanoes due to the well-known events at Pompeii.
• Eruption history:
• 8 major explosive eruptions in the last 17,000 years, often accompanied by large pyroclastic flows and surges. 
• Eruption in 79 AD which engulfed Pompeii.
• Intermittent eruptions since 79 AD, followed by frequent explosive and effusive eruptions from 1631 to 1944.
• The 1631 eruption was the largest since 79 AD with devastating pyroclastic flows that reached as far as the coast. 
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