Geologists have a hard time answering which volcano deserves the title of the world’s most dangerous volcano.
Volcanoes are generally so terrifyingly unpredictable that a dormant volcano could therefore at best rumble and cause the worst disaster in human history.
A constantly erupting volcano
If we want to choose a volcano that has been active relatively recently, perhaps the simplest is that Sakurajima in Japan gets the title. The volcano is in a densely populated area and has been erupting more or less continuously since 1955.
A few kilometers away is the city of Kagoshima, home to more than 700,000 people. A powerful and unexpected eruption could easily kill tens of thousands.
Fast-moving pyroclastic flows
Another volcano that could be considered is Merapi in Indonesia. There was a powerful eruption there in 2010. It cost 190 lives and 370,000 inhabitants were moved more than 20 km away from the mountain. Merapi is known for its 1,000 degree hot, fast-moving streams of gas and igneous rock that run down the slopes at hundreds of kilometers.
A ticking time bomb
However, a volcano does not have to have erupted recently to be considered dangerous. The supervolcano under Yellowstone National Park in the USA last erupted 640,000 years ago, but now the next eruption may start to shorten because it is believed that about 700,000 years pass on average between eruptions. If there is a volcanic eruption there, it will threaten large parts of the United States and will be a difficult problem for all mankind due to the ash clouds that will spread and block the sunlight.
The deadliest volcanoes
The deadliest eruption occurred in Tambora in Indonesia in 1815. Then 92,000 people died.
1. Tambora, Indonesia – 1815 – 92,000.
2. Krakatoa, Indonesia – 1883 – 36,000.
3. Mount Pelée, Martinique – 1902 – 29,000.
4. Nevado del Ruiz, Colombia – 1985 – 25,000.
5. Unzen, Japan – 1792 – 14,000.
