Page 53 - (DK) Danger! Open with Extreme Caution!

8 Megacolossal
Ejects 240 cu. miles
(1,000 cu. km)
of material

Occurs every
10,000 years

ALAKAZAM! 7 Supercolossal
Ejects 24 cu. miles
(100 cu. km)
of material
Occurs every
1,000 years

BANG! Volcanoes can appear out of nowhere. 6 Colossal
Ejects 2.4 cu. miles
(10 cu. km)
The cinder-cone volcano Parícutin
of material

appeared in a Mexican cornfield on
February 20, 1943. Within a week, it Occurs every
100 years
When a volcano erupts, hot was five stories tall, and by the end
molten rock from deep inside of the year, it had grown to more than 5 Paroxysmal
Earth bursts out of the ground 1,100 ft (336 m) in height. Ejects 0.24 cu. miles
through an opening in its crust (1 cu. km)
of material
and explodes out of the volcano’s

main crater. Rocks, ash, mud, and Occurs every
poisonous gases are also flung 100 years
out. Volcanic eruptions can cause
widespread devastation and have 4 Cataclysmic
killed more than 250,000 people Ejects 0.02 cu. miles
(0.1 cu. km)
over the past 30 years. of material

Heads down! Lumps of glowing Occurs every
lava can cool and harden as they 10 years
whiz through the air. In 1993,
six scientists were killed by one 3 Severe
of these “lava bombs” from Ejects 353,000,000
cu. ft
the Galeras volcano in Colombia. (10,000,000 cu. m)
Cowpie bombs are another of material

hazard to avoid—made of fluid Occurs yearly
WHAM! (1,000,000 cu. m)
magma, they’re still liquid when
they hit the ground but land with
enough thump to flatten you. 2 Explosive
Ejects 35,000,000
cu. ft
of material

Occurs weekly

1 Gentle
Ejects 353,000 cu. ft
(10,000 cu. m)
of material

SIZZLE... Occurs daily

BLASTOMETER
0 Nonexplosive
Ejects 35,000 cu. ft
Volcanic eruptions are compared using (1,000 cu. m)
the volcano explosivity index (VEI), which of material
Seething rivers of liquid rock measures the amount of material released during
called lava flow down the side of Occurs daily
an eruption. The index ranges from zero (minimal
a volcano, burning trees, houses,
and anyone unlucky enough to get material) to eight (maximum material). The largest
in the way. Mercifully, most are known eruption occurred 73,000 years ago in what
slow enough for you to dodge, is now Indonesia—Volcano Toba threw out so
much material that it blocked out the sun and
although the rivers of basalt lava
plunged the world into an ice age.
that flow from Hawaiian volcanoes
can be a speedy 6 mph (10 km/h)
and are the hottest known, at
o
o
a scorching 2,100 F (1,150 C). VOLCANOES 53
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