What is the Smallest Volcano in the World?

Volcanoes are dangerous forces of nature that can cause devastating explosions and spew deadly lava. Every volcano is dangerous, even the smallest volcano in the world. This volcano is known as the Taal Volcano and learning about it is an indication that there really are no "small" volcanoes.

Geography

The Taal Volcano is located in the Philippines on the island of Luzon. The Philippines are located near Malaysia and the volcano is only a short distance from the capital, Manila. The volcano is surrounded by Taal Lake, which is actually surrounded by another large island. Taal Volcano is referred to as "Volcano Island" because of the way that it rests in the center of the lake and studies have showed that this small section may have once been a part of an even larger volcano structure around the whole area. This volcano sits in the northern hemisphere, and nearby volcanoes include Pinatubo, Mayon and the Ragang volcanoes.

Size

The volcano's highest peak stands at 1,312 feet, which may seem like a lot, but is actually really small in comparison to the largest volcano, Mauna Loa, which stands at 56,000 feet. For a small volcano, eruptions have reached miles away, including to the capital city of Manila.

Features

The Taal Volcano is so active that scientists have labeled it as a "Decade Volcano." The label "Decade" comes from the United Nations, which labeled the 1990s as the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, and volcanoes were one of the main issues with floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters. The volcano is used for intensive study to try and see when and how volcanoes occur and proper way to evacuate areas before large eruptions do occur. When an eruption will occur, the lake temperature either rises dramatically, or a great number of dead fish appears due to volcanic acid seeping into the water.

Types

The Taal Volcano is a stratovolcano, meaning that it is a cone volcano--lava erupts from the top. This is opposed to a shield volcano, where the volcano is actually spread out across a larger surface, with less violent eruptions.

History

One of the largest eruptions out of the 33 recorded for the volcano took place in 1911. This eruption claimed over 1,000 lives because the surrounded area was densely populated. The last eruption took place in 1977, but ever since then, the volcano has shown a lot of activity without an eruption following it. The citizens of the area are always on alert because the eruption could take place at any time and cause destruction to the surrounding areas.