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FAMOUS VOLCANOES
It literally buried two whole Roman cities with ash. Vesuvius exploded in A.D 79, burying Pompeii and Herculaneum and killing 16,000 people. But this was not the worst volcano in history; Tambora in Indonesia was. It claimed 92,000 lives in 1815. Only 12,000 died in the blast but the ash ruined livestock and crops, starving the remaining 80,000 people to death. The ash cloud lowered the temperatures so much that it snowed in the United States June, July, and August of the following year! There were many other notable killers, such as Krakatau (1883), which created a tsunami that drowned 36,000 citizens. Nevado del Ruiz (1985) made a wave of mud which smothered and crushed 23,000 inhabitants.
MOUNT SAINT HELENS
Mt. St. Helens erupted in Washington on May 18,1980 at 8:23 a.m. When it erupted, it blew a 200-foot hole in the side of the mountain. It flung out lots of ash, rocks, and heat. Scientists knew it was going to blow soon but didn't know exactly when. When it did finally explode, it had devastating effects. People were killed and injured and the forest surrounding the mountain was flattened by the force of the explosion.
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