17 explosive volcano facts!
Check out some fascinating facts about volcanoes!
Is it just us or is it getting hot in here, gang? Prepare to delve into the depths of the earth and uncover these seriously hot volcano facts – if you dare!
Volcano facts
1. Put simply, a volcano is an opening in the Earth’s surface.
Usually found in a mountain, the opening allows gas, hot magma and ash to escape from beneath the Earth’s crust.
2. The word “volcano” comes from the Roman name “Vulcan”.
“But who was Vulcan?” you might ask. He was the Roman god of fire!
Love animals? You’d love our magazine!
Ask your parents to check out Nat Geo Kids magazine!
(AD)
3. Volcanoes are often found at meeting points of “tectonic plates”.
These plates are pieces of the Earth’s surface that fit together just like a jigsaw puzzle.
4. Volcanoes can also occur over “mantle plumes”.
Ever heard of mantle plumes? They’re super-hot areas of rock inside the Earth!
Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable Volcanoes of Ecuador primary resource? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!
5. Approximately 350 million people live within “danger range” of an active volcano.
That means that around one in 20 people live in an area at risk of volcanic activity.
6. Volcanoes are classified as active, dormant or extinct.
This refers to the amount of volcanic activity. “Active” means there’s regular activity, “dormant” means there’s been recent activity but the volcano is currently quiet, and “extinct” means it’s been so long since the last eruption that it’s unlikely to ever erupt again.
7. Volcanoes can be a variety of shapes.
These geographical wonders come in various shapes and sizes, but there are two main types – composite volcanoes, which are cone-shaped with steep slopes, and shield volcanoes, which are wide with gentle slopes.
8. Magma and lava are two different things!
Magma is the name given to hot liquid rock inside a volcano. Once it leaves the volcano, it’s known as lava.
Psst! Make sure you download our awesome volcano facts infographic – show your friends, family, or stick it on your wall!
9. Volcanoes don’t just occur on land.
They can be found on the ocean floor and under ice caps, too!
10. Lava from a volcano can reach 1,250°C.
If you used a glass thermometer to take the temperature it would melt!
11. The world’s largest active volcano is Mauna Loa in Hawaii.
Standing a whopping 4,169m tall, this geological giant last erupted in 2022.
12. Volcanoes exist throughout the solar system!
Other planets and moons have volcanoes, too! The largest volcano in our solar system is Olympus Mons, found on Mars.
13. In A.D. 79, the Italian town of Pompeii was destroyed and buried by a volcano called Mount Vesuvius.
Incredibly, the ash deposits preserved the town and the remains of the people within it. Today, it’s one of Italy‘s most popular historical sites!
14. About 1,900 volcanoes on Earth are considered active, likely to explode again. Yikes!
Most of the world’s active volcanoes are found on the “Ring of Fire“, a 40,000 km horseshoe shaped area of the Pacific Ocean.
15. The loudest sound in recorded history was made by a volcano called Krakatau.
Found in Southeast Asia, when Krakatau erupted in 1883 it released 200 megatrons of energy – that’s the equivalent of 15,000 nuclear bombs. Boom!
16. Volcanoes can produce rich, fertile land.
Over time, lava and ash break down to produce nutrient-rich soil, great for growing crops! That’s why some people like to set up home on the slopes of a volcano.
17. It’s not just humans that makes use of volcanoes – birds do, too!
Maleo birds bury their eggs in the sand or soil near volcanoes to keep them warm. When the chicks hatch they claw their way up to the surface!
Check out this explosive video, full of exciting facts and information about volcanoes!
Discover other forces of nature with our geography features, including tornado facts, hurricane facts, tsunami facts and more!
LEAVE A COMMENT
THANK YOU
Your comment will be checked and approved shortly.
WELL DONE,
YOUR COMMENT
HAS BEEN ADDED!
COMMENTS
cool
i got a plus because of u thanks xx
niiiiccceeee
Cool
Cool
cool
i love volcanos especially in documentaries
Let's take action.
Wow
It helps me to learn more about interesting facts.
I like Volcanoes now Really Cool
Awesome
Cool
It helps me when I am searching for interesting facts
nice
It helps me learn a lot about volcanoes a lot.
Tis cool facts helps me in homework and pop quiz
This so helping me do my homework
this helps a LOT
this stuff helps me with homework
I love this thing
Great Facts
These are so educational And cool!
good
AMAZING FACTS!
OMG I LOVE YOUR MAGAZINES OWO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
nice
nice
i love it
Yayyy
Thank you for these they really help me on my assignment
Thank you
cool
interesting!!!!
Wow cool
Nice facts
Really cool facts
Wow
Cool
WoW
I think its interesting
cool
My students enjoyed learning facts about volcanoes. Very interesting!
I love volcanoes!
Awesome!
nice
Nice
Very interesting. I didn't know some birds lay their eggs near the base of a volcanoe to keep them warm.
Cool!
sooo intresting
this si information really helped and is very informing to tell readers about the topic
cool
I LOVE IT
i love volcanoes
Wow
amazing facts
omg this is cool
Cool beans
I love Nokia’s so much I have a subscription
I love it
cool magizines
I love your magizines!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love your magizines.So I thought your website would be helpful
great
very cool
This was good info
hi thank you
good help
wow
Dis Lit
LIT
you guys are the best
love dis
Woww
rubbish
this is too lit
cool
Wow
important and super cool
this was explosively interesting.
I love books and this basement is a true treasure trove
i love it so much
Awesome!
Wow!
good
We need to save our planet the amount of rubbish floating around is unexeptable
LOL!
this helped with my geography project
wow those facts were really cool
I've seen a load of real ones in lanzarote- apparently it was formed as a massive volcano that rose out of the sea! We had a tour around the park and lukily they were inactive; phew!!! I really loved these facts well done!!!
Awesome Videos! I loved them! So informative!
AWESOME
volcanoes are awesome but I would be terrified if I saw a real one!
AMAZING VOLCANO
Cool
WOW
Cool
I like volcanoes they're very interesting and i loveeeeeeeeee them!!!!!!!!!!!
I wanna jump into a volcano
This is so so so so so amazing and I'm loving it
I'm so amazed by this
Awesome
wow
Volcanoes are interesting
cool
Wow I need facts on how volcanoes eurupt
Volcanoes are pretty cool but it looks scary
Volcanoes are pretty cool
Volcanos are very dangerous but it has a very good heat .
Cool I like it
Awesome
I do not like volcanoes but I will like to live by one because it's warm heat will warm my house up
Volcanos are the best I like them but I'm sure that I will be scard when I see one.
Amazing!
amazing
Wow
Yay!
Wow
I love volcanos they are sooo cool
perfect information for my volcano project
Chicken
This small line of info has taught me a lot of new information about volcanoes that I didn't know! A very well put together seventeen bits of info. Thank you for making it.
They are very interesting and cool
I love volcano. I really want to explore one.
hi
Very good for my class
lol
wow
Thanks this is really good because i can use these facts for my volcano science project! Thanks!!
this is a good for kids that like volcanoes
Volcanoes are awesome. And I read about this explosion in Indonesia (it might have been the one from Krakatau) that was so loud that it woke people up in Western Australia!
very handy for my students
I love volcanoes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The fact about the word volcano from a Roman word "Vulcan" the Roman god of fire is actually cool.
I LOVE VOLCANOES (except that the fact volcanoes are dangerous)
Awesome
I love the facts about volcanos. did you know that there's a volcano that has blue flames
I love this ❤️
VOLCANOS ARE COOL!
the volcanoes has lots of lava
The volcanos is cool because of the lava.
Cool facts
i want to see a volcano erupt...it'll be awsome!!!!!!!!
This helped me a lot for my school project!
sup NGKids
Where is volcanoes
It's a really good website and helps my brother learn more.
I love volcanoes!
This is really great and is a great and fun website to use. It has lot's of info we can learn from and on a scale from 1 - 10, I give this a 9? Because there is always time for improvement! :)
i love volcanos!
volcanos are awsome
I really love learning about the Earth and this website has really helped me
this website is very good for volcanos
This website is amazing it has helped me with my homework.it is the best website I will ever come across.
i do not like volcanos lol
Nice Article! This really helped out when I did my homework! Five Star!!!?
Wow this was so cool I learned new things from reading this. I already Know that Mauna Loa Hawaii has the tallest volcano in the earth because it comes all the way from the bottom of the earth.
hi the video did not work but yay so:):);)
amazing really useful!
cant wait till a volcano explodes !
Thanks National Geographic Kids! I was able to finish my report on volcanos because of your great facts! Thanks! <3
So cool information
Lava eruptions are cool!
My teacher will love this
AWESOME
Im doing a project about volcanoes at school and this was SOOO helpful. Thanks a lot!
hi I think these facts are overrated I m 9 and I know more
i was do this for school and it helpful cool
cool this is awesome
These facts are so cool about volcanos
this was cool I needed it for a school project! Thanks!!!!!
Super awesome! Learned a ton, I LOVE VOLCANOES!
This is awesome!
the volcanoes are so cool
Lol so helpful for my project
i am student in primary school and our teacher sent us home with an essay to write about volcanoes she said we should go on line and look up websites for imformation on the volcanoes and i came acroos this website i clicked on it and found wonderful imformation thank you so much
volcanoes are the coolest natural disaster
This was awesome for my 5th grade class
Thanks I learned a lot in the school
gives lots of information but it doesint answer my questions
Cool so cool!
WOW
lol
yyuggugyygyg
lol
uuuhhh...
ok
lol
Ok
i look wird
My mom saw the volcano in Hawaii last week.
OMG! the ashes look scary and mount st helens ash nearly reached 14 miles per 30 seconds
BOOM!BOO BOO, BOO, BOOM!
this is cool
National Geographic is great these volcano facts help ALOT. I think its REALLY AWSOME and its a website thats OUT OF THIS WORLD.
valcanos r cul!!@@!@!!!!???!@#$%^&%%*&^(*)^#!!!!!????
Cool
Awesome bro
Last take action
cool
this is a good app for me thanks for making it
DA BOMB SON!!!!!
pretty cool guys
really cool volcano
This is awsome
Cool
you doen a great job you helped me pass my test
Awesomely amaizing!
LOLLOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
AWSOME
Weird
Weird
Nice
Hi
that is so cool
AWESOME
Wow
Im writing about volcano. Volcano are very awesome
that is so so so so bad i didnt learn a thing boo -___-
that is really bad
AMAZING
lolololololololoololol
hi and cool
ggg
really good
hello friends
SOOOO COOL!!
Wicked!
AWESOME
Wow
intresting facts
Very informative and cool
OUTSTANDING!
Wow
SICK
these place rocks
SOOOOOO COOOOOOOOOOL!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think it is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cool
terrible
no. just no. why would u even? dead. SO dead.
U spelt mt vesuvius wrong
so cool i love it
COOL YEAH
lame
awsome
wow
love it
Awsome!!!!!!!! :)
ty
Cool this helped me in my science class
Epic
Cool
awesome whoa volcano pizza
It was so helpful for my report
SO AWSOME
this is awsome such cool major eruptions i am bursting wih excitment big facts about volcanoes so cool
wow amazing volcanoes havr came to life such amazing major eruptions
Volcano was made from the ground?
these volcano facts are explosive!
so cool
So Cool
So so so Cool
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Hehe lol. ;-)
Wow
cool
rubbish
wow
Awesome!
OMG!
yay
Amazing!!!
Cool facts they really helped me at school
Nice job with the video
Very good and interesting
awsome
CUSTOMIZE YOUR AVATAR