10 DEADLY VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS
How Earth’s fiery outbursts remind us of our planet’s power and unpredictability
WORDS AILSA HARVEY
As a species that has evolved to suit conditions on thesurface of Earth, humans don’t fare well when the planet spills out its innards. Searing magma from the flowing mantle below the crust can push through ruptures in the outer layer. Local scientists can sometimes predict these explosions by monitoring volcanoes’ behaviour or documenting those that are particularly volatile. Active volcanoes are often classed as ‘dangerous’ and extinct volcanoes as ‘safe’, but what happens when one dismissed as dormant has a change of heart? Throughout history, the volcanoes that have claimed the most lives held an element of mystery and surprise, with incredible and terrifying power lurking within. These are the world’s deadliest eruptions.
DID YOU KNOW?
During the 1783 to 1784 eruption of Mount Laki in Iceland, lava spewed from 135 fissures
1 MOUNT KELUD’S LE THAL LEGACY
EAST JAVA, INDONESIA
One of Mount Kelud’s most significant outbursts occurred over five centuries ago, in 1586. Though hosting a full crater lake, the volcano was ready to blow, with lethal power. The hot mudflows triggered by the eruption crushed and buried anything in their path, killing over 10,000. Following the eruption – the largest ever recorded from the volcano – no activity was recorded for the next 75 years.