by Muhammad Al-Ameen Musa [Sahel Explorer]
Around the world, there are many major tectonic hot spots that are known to have a chance of activity. This activity can cause natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and earthquakes. Some of these include the Yellowstone, Icelandic, and Pacific Ring of Fire hotspots. Some of these are weak points in the mantle that erupt in a chain as the tectonic plates move. A popular example of this is Hawaii. Volcanic eruptions can be measured on the Volcanic Eruption Index [VEI] which has a scale of 0 to 5 (with 5 being the highest level of eruption with significant damage to the surrounding. Extrusive igneous rock is the most common type of rock formed by magma cooling off and others include Basalt and Andesite. There have been many popular historical eruptions such as that of Pompei – a city in Italy.
The Last 10 Major Volcanic eruptions are:
- Bezymianny Russia – 2009/2023
- Tonga Volcanic Eruption – 2009/2022
- Mount Merapi Eruption – 2010/2021
- Fogo Volcanic Eruption – 2014
- Mount Sinabung – 2015
- La Soufriere – 2020
- Fukutoku-Okanoba Volcano – 2021
- Cumbre Vieja volcanic – 2021
- Mauna Loa, Hauwaii, – 2022
- Litli-Hrutur Volcano, Iceland – 2023
Bezymianny Eruption Russia – 2009/2023
Bezymianny is a Volcano located on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia – north of Japan. It erupted on December the 17th 2009 and produced an ash plume rising 10km or 32,000 feet. It is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire (a series of volcanic hotspots located around the Pacific Ocean). The ash from the volcano was seen 100km away, and the ash plume measured a great 35 km in width. The volcano erupted again on April 7 2023 and the Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) issued a warning not to fly. The eruption formed a column of ash that rose 12 kilometres and stretched a distance of 2,000 kilometres.
Image Source: Pickpic
Tonga Volcanic Eruption – 2009/2022
A volcano near the island of Tonga erupted on January 15 2009. The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano released a sonic boom that circled the world twice. The Volcano erupted approximately 62 kilometres from the Capital. Only 4 days after there was an earthquake that measured 7.6 on the Ritcher scale. Another eruption took place in 2022 and was the largest in the last in the lat 100 years. It was also seen to be larger than any nuclear explosion but only caused four deaths according to the government.
Image Source: Wikipedia
Mount Merapi Eruption – 2010/2021
In late October 2010, Mount Merapai in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Central Java began a series of eruptions. The volcano in Indonesia release outbursts of lava as seismic activity continued. Large eruptions continued and released pyroclastic flows along the populated slopes of the Volcano. The eruptions caused the deaths of 353 people and over 350,000 people were evacuated from the area. However, many others refused to leave their homes and stayed. It also caused many disruptions to aviation on the island of Java where the capital is located. In 2021, an eruption took place and the Yogyakarta Volcanology Center reported that ash was launched 200 metres into the air. Pyroclastic flows continued down 2 kilometres of the volcano.
Image Source: Wikipedia
Fogo Volcanic Eruption – 2014
On 23 November 2014, the eruption of Volcano Fogo began and didn’t stop until the 8th of February 2015. It was the first eruption in the last 19 years. The Volcano is located on the islands of Cabo Verde, a series of islands off the coast of Morrocco. It had a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 3 making it the largest eruption in its history. The damage caused cost about €45.3 million according to pressreader.com. . Prior to the eruption, there had been heightened seismic activity and tremors the day before the eruption. Despite warnings, some people were reluctant to leave their homes but many agreed to do so. After a few days, the lava was traveling at 15 metres per hour and had destroyed over a dozen houses. By the end, it had affected the whole Island.
Image Source: Wikipedia
Mount Sinabung Eruption – 2015
Mount Sinabung is a Volcano in Sumatra, Indonesia. It is located 40 kilometres away from the Lake Toba supervolcano. Prior to the eruptions, its last known activity was between 740 and 880 CE. The eruptions have taken place in 2010, 2013, and 2014. In 2015, as a result of the constant eruptions, 10,000 people were evacuated according to CNN. The volcano reaches up to 2,460 metres high and was created by the subduction of the Indo-Australian plate under the Eurasian plate. 3,500 people were evacuated and the ash cloud was blown across many cities in the Southern Hemisphere including Buenos Aires and Wellington.
Image Source: Wikipedia
La Soufriere Eruption – 2020/2021
It is a stratovolcano on the Caribbean Island of Sint Vincent. It began an effusive eruption on 27 December 2020. This continued until 9 April 2021 when there was an explosive eruption and it continued with an increase in pyroclastic flows. It had a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 4 showing a great amount of destruction. Estimations suggest it will cost over $300 million to reconstruct and rebuild and $15 million a month to feed and house affected people according to bloomberg.com. This will be about 50% of the country’s GDP. Additionally, this was during the time of Covid-19 making it harder to rebuild from the destruction.
Image Source: Wikipedia
Fukutoku-Okanoba Eruption – 2021
It is a submarine volcano and is part of the Volcano Islands in the Bonin Islands of Japan. It is located five kilometres northeast of the island of Iwo Jima. The Volcano erupted on August 14 and Nasa detected a huge plume reported to be reaching as high as 16 kilometres above the water’s surface. The summit of the volcano lies only 25 metres below the water’s surface. It also created a lot of pumice. This is a volcanic rock and is the only one that can float on the surface of the water due to the hole in the rock.
Image Source: Flickr
Cumbre Vieja volcanic eruption 2021
The volcano erupted for 85 days, the longest eruption in its history. It is located on the island of La Palma known for its volcanoes such as the Tujuya volcano. About 7,000 people were forced to evacuate to avoid the eruptions. Fortunately, no people were injured or killed due to the eruption. The eruption created a volcanic building, 1,100 metres above sea level. The lava covered 1, 219 hectares of land and was measured to be 1,140 degrees.
Image Source: Wikipedia
Mauna Loa, Hawaii Eruption – 2022
Mauna Loa is the largest active volcano in the world. It had its first eruption since 1984 in 2022 which lasted 12 days. It began at the Caldera of the volcano at about 11:30p, on November 27 Local time. Fissures began to appear further away from the summit and began to erupt. Fortunately, the lava flows did not affect any majorly populated areas and caused little damage.
Litli-Hrutur Volcano, Iceland 2023
The volcano in Iceland erupted on July 10, 2030, after heightened seismic activity. It is being monitored carefully as it is 30 km from Iceland’s capital and the sulfur dioxide released can be a potential health hazard. Satellites depicted images of lava and ash coming out of the volcano. In the weeks leading to the eruption earthquakes up to 4.8 on the Richter scale were detected. The eruption continued for a month and tourists came to witness the spectacle and there were even satellite videos of it.
Image Source: Flickr
It is clear that across the World many events are taking place that can destroy entire communities. These natural disasters can sometimes take place without warning and can be very dangerous. These include earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. However many people live in the areas of hotspots where volcanic activity is usually imminent. There are many eruptions that have changed people’s lives like the Tongan eruption or the La Soufriere eruptions. These are all caused by the moving tectonic plates and each is of different size and magnitude. The effects of these eruptions have taught us to always be alert and to monitor any possible tectonic activity to ensure safety.
