Volcanoes, though are scary, are fascinating. There’s just something extremely interesting about something that looks like a mountain and can just erupt fire and lava any minute.
Volcanic eruptions bring about a lot of destruction and throughout history, a lot of eruptions have been recorded. Some eruptions have been so big and caused so much damage that entire cities and civilizations were destroyed.
1. Mount Tambora, Indonesia
Via YouTube Video
This is one of the most deadliest volcanic eruptions that resulted in 1816 being the “year without summer”. The eruption resulted in a cloud of ash that covered the atmosphere and the result was felt throughout the world and not just in Indonesia. It killed close to 90,000 people and caused the height of the 13000 feet mountain to reduce to 9000 ft.
2. Mount Pelee, West Indies
Okay, what’s worse than a volcanic eruption? The eruption of a volcano that was thought to be dormant. This dormant volcano erupted on May 8th, 1902 and destroyed the entire city of St. Pierre, which was called the “Paris of the Caribbean”. Only two people survived this volcanic eruption. The ports and harbors in the city where completely destroyed and the eruption was preceded by a series of signs for weeks, some of them being slight tremors and birds found dead in the morning due to smoke and ash.
3. Mount Vesuvius, Italy
Credits: VolcanoCafé
This is a popular volcanic eruption in history with movies made about it. This completely destroyed two cities – Herculaneum and Pompeii. Though this volcanic eruption occurred in 79 AD, August 24th to be exact, the details of this eruption are clearly written by a survivor Pliny. This eruption killed around 33,000 people and lasted for about two days.
4. Krakatoa, Indonesia
Credits: LIKETIMES for Philippines
In 1883, Krakatoa in Indonesia erupted, shifting sunsets around the world. Around 70% of the island were reduced to caldera and the eruption created tsunamis. Over 36000 lives were killed and this is one of the most famous eruptions recorded in history.
5. Mount Unzen, Japan
Japan faced a really ugly volcanic eruption in 1792 and the evidence of the volcano’s disruption like landslides are said to be seen even today. The eruption caused tsunamis in Japan and killed nearly 10,000 people and is by far the deadliest volcanic eruption to have occurred in Japan.
6. Volcanic Eruptions in Jupiter’s Moon
Credits: NASA
So, let’s leave the volcanic eruptions on Earth. Jupiter’s moon Io is said to have extremely catastrophic volcanic eruptions which make the eruptions in Earth look less dangerous. The lava from the volcano reaches over 200 miles from the moon’s surface and the moon is said to have volcanic eruptions very frequently.
Looks like we’re not the only planet in the universe where volcanoes are causing damage.
Also, as magnesium chloride suppliers, we would like to tell you another interesting fact, under water volcanoes have high concentration of magnesium chloride. Who knew what lies in the bottom of the sea, right?
