Mexico's Colima Volcano erupted thrice on Sunday in a few hours interval and spewed massive plumes of ash and vapor to a wider area of more than a mile. Colima is one of the most active volcanoes in North America.
According to the civil defense office of Jalisco, three eruptions took place on Sunday morning and columns of ash reached 1.25 miles (2 km) of height. Also known as Volcano of Fire, the 12,533-foot (3,820-meter) volcano is 430 miles (690 km) west of Mexico City.
Dangerous Volcano
The volcano has been spitting ash and lava since September. In October, hundreds of people were evacuated. Nearly, a quarter million people live in the 25-mile radius of Colima Volcano.
Colima, located 75 miles to the southern part of Guadalajara, is spread across states of Jalisco and Colima. Made up of two stratovolcanoes, Colima' older part is Nevado de Colima with 4,200 meters of height. Volcan de Fuego is younger and 200 meters smaller. Colima's massive eruption was in January 1913 and lasted four days.
Top 10 Volcanoes
The world has many active volcanoes with a high potential of eruptions in future. The top 10 active volcanoes are the following.
- Mauna Loa, Hawaii: This is the largest volcano in the world in terms of volume and surface area. It was erupting since 700,000 years with the most recent one in 1984.
- Taal Volcano, Philippines: The Taal Volcano is located in Luzon Island and in the middle of the Taal Lake. Since 1572, the Tall Volcano has erupted 33 times.
- Ulawun, Papua New Guinea: The Ulawun Volcano is an active volcano in Papua New Guinea and had 22 active eruptions since the year 1700.
- Mt. Nyiragongo, Congo: The Mount Nyiragongo in Congo is the most active volcano in Africa and known for its lava lakes.
- Mt. Merapi, Indonesia: The Mt. Merapi is the active volcano in Indonesia and erupts since the year 1548 and is active for the past 10,000 years.
- Galeras, South Colombia: Located in South Colombia, the volcano has been active since one million years. Its first eruption was recorded in 1580.
- Sakurajima, Japan: Sakurajima in Japan is considered the 'Vesuvius of the East' because of its high volcanic activities.
- Popocatépetl, Mexico: Popocatépetl is Mexico's peak volcano covered by a glacier and erupted 20 times since 1519.
- Mt. Vesuvius, Italy: Mt. Vesuvius is the second most active volcano in the world and the last eruption was in 1944.
- Yellowstone Caldera, USA: The Yellowstone Caldera of the United States of America is active and its greatest eruption 640,000 years ago devastated its surroundings.
Photo: Christian Villicaña | Flickr
