Posted on May 23, 2018
A volcano in the United States has erupted more than 22 times in the nation's history.
Instead, it tends to emit plumes of ash and smoke and gas. That can be dangerous to planes - so scientists try to keep a close watch on the volcano's activity.
A volcano in the United States has erupted more than 22 times in the nation's history.
Including five times in the last decade.
Wow! That's pretty devastating, isn't it?
Guess what? There is only one known death from all 22 of those eruptions, combined!
Let me point out, first, that although the United States is considered 241 years old (and will turn 242 years old on July 4), Alaska only joined the U.S. in 1959, a mere 59 years ago.
And the volcano in question, Mount Cleveland, is in Alaska. So...what I said in my first line is definitely misleading.
Also, Mount Cleveland is located in one of the more remote parts of Alaska. It is, according to Wikipedia, "on the western end of Chuginadak Island, which is part of the Islands of Four Mountains just west of Umnak Island in the Fox Islands of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska."
So...that's pretty confusing, isn't it? Suffice to say, the super-active volcano is on one of the islands that stretches waaaaaay out from Alaska toward Russia:
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| A view of Mt. St. Helen - the hands show how big the mountain was BEFORE it blew its top! |
When Cleveland erupts, it's not blowing half of the mountain away like Washington's Mount Saint Helen did...
And Cleveland is not shooting thin, runny lava all over the place like Hawaii's Kilauea...
Instead, it tends to emit plumes of ash and smoke and gas. That can be dangerous to planes - so scientists try to keep a close watch on the volcano's activity.
On this date in 2006, Mount Cleveland's eruption was captured in a photo by astronaut Jeff Williams aboard the International Space Station:
Also on this date:
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