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Interesting Facts About Volcanoes
 Mount
St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980 and destroyed nearly 230 square
miles of forest. The eruption lasted for 9 hours (picture at right).
Vesuvius is famous for the
eruption that happened in 79 A.D. It buried the towns of Herculaneum
and Pompeii.
The eruption of Tambora in
Indonesia in 1815 killed more people than any known eruption. Including
those that died from contamination of water, disease and crop destruction,
about 92,000 people died.
Mt. Rainier looms
over the Seattle/Tomoca area endangering a population
of over three million people.
Earth has more than
1,500 active volcanoes.
The tallest volcano
in the world is Ojos del Salado in Chile. It is 22,589
feet high. However, measuring from base to summit, the
tallest would be Mauna Kea, which is more than 30,000
feet high when measured from its base on the ocean floor
to its summit.
There are five active
volcanoes in Hawaii. They are Loihi, Kilauea, Mauna Loa, Hualalai,
and Haleakala. Hawaii is a volcano island because it was made
by volcanoes.
Mt. Kilauea in Hawaii
has erupted 62 times in 245 years. Some eruptions have lasted
a long time. The current eruption began in January 1983 and
has been going on ever since.
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