The largest volcanoes in the twenty-first century

According to various estimates, there are between 1,000 and 1,500 active volcanoes. Distinguish between operating, that is permanently or periodically erupting, asleep and extinct volcanoes, the eruption of which there is no historical data. Almost 90% of active volcanoes located in the so-called ring of fire of the Earth — chain seismically active zones and volcanoes, including underwater, stretching from the coast of Mexico South through the Philippine and Indonesian archipelagos and to New Zealand.

Mauna Loa, Hawaii. (Photo by USGS for Reuters)

The largest of existing in the land of volcanoes — Mauna Loa on the island of Hawaii, USA — 4170 m above sea level and about 10 000 m from the base at the bottom of the ocean, the crater has an area of over 10 square km.

Nyiragongo, Democratic Republic Of The Congo. The eruption on 30 August 2010. (Photo: Reuters)

17 January 2002 eruption of Nyiragongo in the East of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Under the lava flows were buried more than half are located within 10 km of the city of Goma and 14 surrounding villages. The disaster has claimed more than 100 lives and banished from their homes to 300 thousand inhabitants. Huge damage was caused to the coffee and banana plantations.

Etna, Italy. 17 November 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

October 27, 2002, the eruption of the Sicilian volcano mount Etna, the highest in Europe (3329 m above sea level). The eruption ended on 30 January 2003. Volcanic lava has destroyed several tourist campsites, hotel, ski lifts and forests of Mediterranean pines. The volcano has affected agriculture of Sicily damage of about 140 million euros. Has erupted also in 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2011.

Soufrière, the island of Montserrat. 19 February 1999. (Photo: Reuters)

July 12, 2003 — the eruption of the Soufriere hills volcano on the island of Montserrat (lesser Antilles archipelago, a British possession). The island area of 102 sq. km considerable material damage. The ash that covered almost the entire island, acid rain and volcanic gases destroyed up to 95% yield, large losses suffered by the fishing industry. The island was declared a disaster area.

12 Feb 2010 again, the eruption of the Soufriere hills volcano. Powerful "rain" from the ashes fell on several villages on the island of Gran-Terre (Guadeloupe, possession of France). In Pointe-à-Pitre was closed all schools. The local airport has temporarily suspended its work.

Merapi, Java island. 15 may 2006. (Photo: Reuters)

In may 2006, during the eruption of mount Merapi on the Indonesian island of Java, the most active of 42 volcanoes of the island, up a four-kilometer column of smoke and ash, in connection with what authorities announced a ban on overflights not only Java, but also on international flights from Australia to Singapore.

14 Jun 2006 eruption occurred again. On the slopes emerged to 700 thousand cubic meters of molten lava. 20 thousand people have been evacuated.

The eruption on 26 October 2010, which lasted about two weeks, the lava flows spread to five miles, were released into the atmosphere more than 50 million cubic meters of volcanic ash mixed with basalt dust and sand. Victims of the disaster were 347 people, more than 400 thousand residents were evacuated. The eruption violated flights over the island.

Tungurahua, Ecuador. 29 Nov 2010. (Photo: Reuters)

17 Aug 2006 in Ecuador powerful eruption of Tungurahua volcano, located in 180 km from the Ecuadorian capital Quito, killing at least six people and dozens suffered burns and wounds. Thousands of peasants were forced to leave their homes due to the poisonous gases and ash was observed, livestock deaths, killing almost the entire crop.

Redout, USA. On 2 February 2002. (Photo: Reuters)

In 2009, the airline "Alaska airlines" has been canceled flights due to the eruption of Redoubt volcano, the crater of which the ashes were thrown up to a height of 15 km from the Volcano is 176 km South-West of the city of anchorage, Alaska, USA.

Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland. 22 APR 2010. (Photo: Reuters)

14 April 2010, the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull led to the largest crisis in the history of commercial aviation. The resultant ash cloud covered almost the whole of Europe, which led to the fact that in the period from April 15 to 20, 18 European States had fully closed its skies, and the rest of the country were forced to close and to open its air space depending on the weather conditions. The governments of these countries adopted a decision on the termination of flights in connection with the recommendations of the European Bureau for monitoring the safety of air navigation.

In may 2010 for the next activation of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull was closed airspace over Northern Ireland in the North-West of Turkey, on the Munich (Germany), partially over the Northern and Central England, as well as on a number of areas of Scotland. In the area of the ban were the airports of London and Amsterdam and Rotterdam (the Netherlands). Due to the advancement of volcanic ash clouds to the South were canceled flights at the airports of Portugal, northwestern Spain, Northern Italy.

Pacaya, Guatemala. 9 Aug 2006. (Photo: Reuters)

May 27, 2010 in Guatemala in the eruption of Pacaya volcano, two people were killed and three were missing, 59 were injured and about 2 million were left homeless. From sand and ash affected the agricultural crops, more than 100 houses were damaged or destroyed.

Grimsvotn, Iceland. 22 may 2011. (Photo: Reuters)

22-25 may 2011 eruption of Grímsvötn volcano (Iceland), resulting in the airspace of Iceland was temporarily closed. Ash clouds reached the airspace in the UK, Germany and Sweden, some of the flights were cancelled. According to volcanologists, the volcano has emitted into the atmosphere is much more ash than the volcano Eyjafjallajokull in April 2010, however, the ash particles were heavier and faster settled on the ground, so traffic jams can be avoided.

Puyehue, Chile. 5 Jun 2011. (Photo: Reuters)

June 4, 2011 eruption of the Puyehue volcano, located on the Chilean side of the Andes. The column of ash reached a height of 12 km. In neighboring Argentina in the resort town of San Carlos de Bariloche has fallen to ash and small stones for a few days was paralyzed airports Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Montevideo (Uruguay).

Rokatenda, Indonesia. 12 Aug 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

10 Aug 2013 in Indonesia in the eruption of the volcano Rokatenda located on the small island of Palue, killed six local residents. From the danger zone were evacuated about two thousand people — a quarter of the residents who were on the island.

Ontake, Japan. 27 Sep 2014. (Photo: Reuters)

The unexpected eruption started on 27 September 2014. It was accompanied by powerful emission of toxic gases.

Killed and injured climbers and tourists who were at the time of the eruption on the slopes of the mountain. Japanese doctors have officially confirmed the deaths of 48 people in the eruption of the volcano Intake. According to the Japanese press, nearly 70 people were injured by poison gas and respiratory hot volcanic ash. Just up the hill was about 250 people.