How Volcanoes Cause Damage

A volcano is an opening in the earth’s surface, which allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and other gases to escape through the crust of the earth. Volcanoes cause a lot of damage in many different places, for instance in Pompeii where Mount Vesuvius erupted. Mount Vesuvius is considered to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because in A.D. 79 it destroyed the whole city of Pompeii and killed about two thousand people. Pompeii was a town in the Roman Empire, located on the western coast of Italy. Many wealthy Romans had big homes there. At its height Pompeii had a population of about twenty thousand people. Pompeii happens to be a highly active volcanic area, and on August 24, A.D. 79 the city was turned into ruins by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Most people fled when the eruption started, but about two thousand people decided to stay and were buried in the eruption along with the city. The bulk of the material covering Pompeii was a small, lightweight pebbly material and some ash. Most people died from the toxic blast of poisonous gas. The eruption lasted for about a day, because of the eruption Pompeii was buried under about 25 feet of volcanic ash and lava.

Around the world there are many different types of volcanoes, but there are only three main types, Composite, Shield, and Dome volcanoes. A Composite volcano is also known as the Stratovolcano, this volcano is built by many eruptions that have happened throughout the course of history. Composite volcanoes are tall cone shaped mountains. These volcanoes erupt in different ways at different times. Shield volcanoes are the largest volcanoes on earth. These volcanoes are built almost entirely of lava. Shield volcanoes are produced by gas and heat from the earth’s ...

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...different types of gases start to exit the vent of a volcano, some of these gases can be harmful because they are extremely toxic. Therefore, you can easily find out when a volcanic eruption is about to occur because of the signs or sudden changes that the volcano gives out about weeks or months before it erupts.

Throughout the course of history many major volcanic eruptions have occurred. Those volcanic eruptions have caused starvation, tsunamis, ash flows, mud flows, and many diseases. For example Mt. Tombora erupted in Sumbawa Island, Indonesia in 1815, and is one of the highest ranking volcanic eruption in human knowledge. The eruption produced tsunamis with waves about 10 meters high. The eruption was so loud that it was heard from more than one thousand two hundred miles away and it killed about seventy one thousand people. Mt. Tambora is still active today.