Out of an estimated 1,500 active volcanoes on Earth, 50 or so erupt every year, spewing steam, ash, toxic gases, and lava. Just yesterday, December 9, at least six people were killed in an eruption on New Zealand’s volcanic White Island. In 2019, other active volcanoes included Anak Krakatau in Indonesia, Reventador in Ecuador, Mount Etna in Italy, Villarrica in Chile, Piton de la Fournaise on Réunion Island, Popocatépetl in Mexico, Raikoke in Russia, and more. Collected below are scenes from the wide variety of volcanic activity across our planet over the past year.
2019: The Year in Volcanic Activity
-
-
Smoke billows and flames propagate across the hillside near houses after the Stromboli volcano erupted on July 3, 2019. The eruption killed one hiker and sent tourists fleeing into the sea. #
Giovanni Isolino / AFP via Getty -
Lava is seen glowing in a lake inside the crater of the Nyiragongo volcano inside the Virunga National Park near the eastern Congolese city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo, on August 9, 2019. #
Baz Ratner / Reuters -
A huge plume of ash rises from the Raikoke volcano on the Kuril Islands, as viewed from the International Space Station on June 22, 2019. The small, oval-shaped island most recently exploded in 1924, and before that in 1778. Astronauts shot this photograph of the eruption as the column of ash spread out in a part of the plume known as the umbrella region—the area where the density of the plume and the surrounding air equalize and the plume stops rising. The ring of clouds at the base of the column appears to be water vapor. #
NASA Earth Observatory -
-
The Anak Krakatau volcano spews hot ash during an eruption, as seen from an Indonesian naval patrol boat in Sunda Strait near Lampung, Indonesia, on January 1, 2019. #
Antara Foto Agency / Reuters -
-
-
In this August 4, 2019, photo, a geologist uses a thermal camera to make observations of water at the bottom of the Kilauea volcano's summit crater. Scientists have discovered the water inside Halemaumau Crater is hot. The U.S. Geological Survey says temperature readings taken over the weekend show that a growing pool of water in the crater, the former home of Kilauea's summit lava lake, is about 158 degrees Fahrenheit (70 degrees Celsius). For the first time in recorded history, the presence of water in the crater was confirmed in August. #
J. Babb / USGS via AP -
-
Diane Cohen, 64, who was forced to leave her home when the Kilauea volcano erupted and covered it with lava last summer, plants coconut trees on her property in Kapoho, in Hawaii, on April 1, 2019. #
Terray Sylvester / Reuters -
-
A view looking into the crater of Alaska’s Korovin volcano on July 25, 2019. Note gas emissions emanating from the lake surface, yellow sulfur rafts floating on the lake, and lava-flow layers within the crater wall. #
Taryn Lopez / Alaska Volcano Observatory / University of Alaska Fairbanks, Geophysical Institute -
Footprints are seen in volcanic ash after the previous day's volcanic eruption at a tourist area on Mount Tangkuban Parahu in the north of Bandung, West Java province, Indonesia, on July 27, 2019. #
Novrian Arbi / Antara Foto Agency / Reuters -
-
People on a boat react as steam and ash billow from the volcanic eruption of Whakaari, also known as White Island, New Zealand, on December 9, 2019, in this picture grab obtained from a social-media video. #
Instagram user @Allessandrokauffmann via Reuters -
-
Steam rises from a volcano on White Island early in the morning on December 10, 2019, in Whakatane, New Zealand. Six people were confirmed dead and several people remain missing following a volcanic eruption at White Island on December 9. #
John Boren / Getty -
-
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.