The word "volcano" has its origin in the name of Vulcan (the Greek Hephaestus), god of fire in Roman mythology.
The Earth has more than 1,500 active volcanoes.
Fact: The largest volcano in the world is the Mauna Loa (Hawaii). It has a volume of about 40,000 cubic kilometers, and has an area above sea level of 5,125 square kilometers.
The most common type of lava - called basaltic - usually has erupting temperatures of around 1150-1200 degrees Celsius.
The highest volcano in the world is Ojos del Salado in Chile. It is 6,891 meters high.
More than 80% of the earth's surface is of volcanic origin.
Some 500 million people live in the vicinity of active volcanoes!
Great fact: As you read this, there are 20 active volcanoes erupting in various parts of the world. Between 50-70 volcanoes erupted last year, and 160 in the last decade.
The names of some famous volcanoes are: Mount St. Helena, Mauna Loa, Vesuvius, Mount Rainier and Mount Olympus (on the planet Mars).
The oldest volcano is probably Etna (350,000 years).
The Indonesian volcano, Tambora, which exploded in 1815, threw so much ash into the atmosphere that temperatures dropped considerably the following year around the world. New England, in the eastern United States, suffered severe frost in August.
Fact: The loudest sound in human history was caused by a volcanic eruption in Krakatoa, near Java, in 1883. The sound was so powerful that it was even heard in Australia, about 5,000 kilometers from the Krakatoa volcano.
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