Real-Lfe Volcanoes

It doesn't take much searching to find real-life eruptions as dangerous as Sam's last adventure Volcano. There are many active volcanoes at this very moment and many more from the past that have destroyed cities or blown whole islands off the map.

You are probably familiar with volcanoes like Mt. Vesuvius that destroyed the Roman city of Pompeii. Then there is Mt. St. Helens in the US that erupted in 1980 and killed 58 people. And then there is Mt. Pinatubo that erupted in 1991 in the Philippines.

On August 26-27, 1883, the Indonesian volcano Krakatoa erupted in the Sunda Straight between Java and Sumatra, totally destroying itself and most of the island of Krakatoa. 3 explosions occured during the eruption. One of those explosions was the loudest ever heard. It could be heard 3,000 miles away!!! As many as 40,000 people may have been killed by the 50' waves produced by the associated earthquake. Those waves traveled up to 8,000 miles.

In April of 1815, Indonesia saw an even greater eruption, Tambora, on the island of Sumbawa.

The largest volcano in recorded history may have been Thera about 1630 BC on the island of Santorini, between Greece, Crete, and Turkey. Santorini was the home of the Minoan civilization. Thera was 4 or 5 times larger than Krakatoa and left Santorini as a thin crescent island. The Minoans were also destroyed, never to reappear.