The document discusses the world's most dangerous volcanoes, highlighting their active nature, proximity to populations, and types of eruptions that can cause catastrophic events. Key volcanoes mentioned include Vesuvius in Italy, Taal in the Philippines, and Mount Tambora in Indonesia, each posing significant risks due to their unique geological features and histories of deadly eruptions. The document underscores the importance of monitoring these volcanoes due to their potential to trigger larger natural disasters.

1. The World’s Most
Dangerous Volcanoes
By Anton Lennikov

2. What makes a
volcano dangerous?
• It’s active
• It’s near a lot of people
• Its “style” of eruption
• It could trigger a bigger natural
disaster

3. Vesuvius
(Italy)
• Known for a
particularly intense
form of eruption where
vast columns of gas
and ash are shot into
the sky
• Overshadows the city
of Naples, home to
over 3 million people

4. Taal (Philippines)
• Produces numerous eruptions
• Nearly 25 million people within 100 kilometers
• Lots of water nearby that can add to potential explosive
eruptions

5. Nyiragongo (DRC)
• Has erupted
several times
over the last few
decades
• Currently being
intensely
researched
• Produces a
particularly runny
and dangerous
form of lava

6. Katla (Iceland)
• Nestled under
an icecap, it
causes
devastating
glacial
flooding
• It’s been showing
increasing signs of unrest
• Last erupted
in 934,
producing one
of the largest
lava flows in
that era

7. Popocatepetl
(Mexico)
• Regularly active
• Lahars can cause death and
destruction far away from the
original volcano
• Produces plumes of smoke
that form a muddy mixture
when mixed with water called
“lahars” that can flow long
distances at high speeds
• Just 70km southwest of
Mexico City, one of the
largest cities in the world

8. Michoacan-
Guanajuato !
(Mexico)
• Nearly 6 million people living within a 5-km radius
• It’s produced numerous smaller eruptions
• The frequency, potential
explosively and large
population nearby makes it
particularly dangerous

9. Changbaishan (China)
• In the 10th century the volcano produced one of the
largest eruptions of the past 10,000 years
• Scientists have determined that its
activity was increasing
• Straddles the China-North Korea
border, making the fallout of an
eruption tough to manage

10. Cumbre
Vieja
(Canary
Islands)
• Geological
evidence
suggests the
volcano’s west
flank is at risk
of failing
• This could result
in a massive
tsunami that
would cover the
entire Atlantic
Ocean

11. Mount Tambora
(Indonesia)
• Its 1816
eruption was
one of the
deadliest
disasters in
history
• This resulted in
widespread crop
failure and food
shortage
• The average
global
temperature fell 3
degrees from ash
released by the
volcano
• 92,000 people
were killed in
the eruption

12. Unzen Volcano
(Japan)
• Made up of
numerous
overlapping
stratovolcanoes
• Killed another 43
people when it
erupted again in 1991
• When one of its lava
domes collapsed in
1792, it generated a
massive tsunami that
killed 15,000 people