volcanoes are one of earth's most destructive forces giving us a glimpse into the inner workings of our planet these explosive mountains can spew out massive amounts of rock superheated ash and lava history is littered with stories of deadly volcanic eruptions from the eruption of mount vesuvius to krakatoa today volcanoes still pose a threat to some countries and the lives of those living near them but when volcanoes erupt in modern times we don't simply pass stories down to other generations we have cameras with which we can capture the moment allowing others to see the events unfold
as if they were actually there even though the chances of having a camera pointed at the perfect place at the perfect time are slim it has happened and some truly amazing footage has been recorded from mount sinabung to the tall volcano here are five massive volcanic eruptions that were caught on camera papua new guinea is a country that is packed full of active volcanoes with a count of 94 it has the most active volcanoes of any other country in the south pacific while australian couple phil and linda mcnamara were on vacation there in 2014 they
had heard that there would be some possible volcanic activity happening near mount tavervar one of the country's most active volcanic sites jumping at the chance to see it they got on a boat to see if they could get a closer look they got their wish and captured the mountain erupting this volcano has a history of eruptions some of them have been very violent and deadly most notably in 1994 when mount taver erupted and buried the nearby town of rabbal in ash luckily for the mcnamaras this eruption wasn't quite as large nonetheless it was still amazing
the initial explosion sent an ash cloud spewing upwards as the explosion's shockwave tore across the water you can even see the clouds above start to move as the shockwave pushes them away 12 seconds later it hit the boat with a loud bang even as the shock wave passed the film continues to roll capturing the mountain in all of its glory indonesia is no stranger to volcanic eruptions home to one of the deadliest volcanoes in history mount krakatoa this country is a tectonic and seismic hot spot in the pacific one of these many volcanoes on this
island erupted on august 9 2020 in spectacular fashion luckily the locals who were not hurt were able to capture it on video is located on the island of sumatra the footage taken from one of the nearby villages shows what is actually the second eruption of the volcano this mountain's volcanic activity actually started the day before with a smaller eruption knowing that cinebong is still volatile the government ordered all residents to stay at least three kilometers away from the mountain just before the footage started the mountain erupted violently with some residents describing the sounds as a
loud clap of thunder that lasted for over 30 seconds then the video shows a huge cloud of volcanic ash spewed three miles into the air turning the sky dark ash was spread across hundreds of miles of land covering cities and villages in a thick layer of ash up to 15 miles away it was the first time mount sinabung had seen any activity in over a year surrounding the pacific ocean is a long chain of volcanoes known as the ring of fire on the other side of this ring in south america lies the country of chile
it has its fair share of active volcanoes as well luckily for this country the mountainous regions where these volcanoes exist are usually sparsely populated on april 23 2015 an unknown tourist who is staying in the nearby town of puerto varas captured the eruption of calbuco volcano although the camera only started rolling after the initial blast there is still plenty to be seen the ash cloud is visible miles into the air with no signs of dispersing as you hear the low rumble of the eruption the camera zooms in towards the caldera providing an incredible view of
the event the video ended shortly after but the eruption itself continued for some time later that afternoon and evening the eruption went from being mostly ash and gas to rock and lava everything was destroyed for miles around the volcano and the landscape was illuminated by the orange glow even more spectacular were the reports of lightning sparking in the ash clouds during the eruption because there were very few people living in the vicinity of calbuco volcano there were no deaths and very little property damage back on the other side of the pacific ocean we will visit
the philippines another volcano-rich country in which eruptions are not an incredibly uncommon occurrence on one of the many islands around the philippines lies the tall volcano although it had been active in recent history the volcano had laid quiet for 47 years but that changed on january 12 2020. that day the tall volcano exploded with tremendous force sending gases ash and lava high into the air but this would prove to be a bit of an unusual situation in the days and weeks that followed the eruption dropped a layer of unusually wet and heavy ash on the
surrounding landscape this killed nearly every bit of vegetation that it touched after two months the once green island looked more like the landscape of a rocky desert or the moon volcanic ash isn't made from the same soft and fluffy material that forms when wood leaves or paper burns rather this ash is made up of small jagged pieces of rock and glass that are incredibly hard abrasive and do not dissolve in water so when it lands the effects can be disastrous for plants animals and humans alike the tall eruption was especially problematic because the ash became
wet enough to turn into something like mud before drying and hardening into a cement-like state sadly this particular eruption was not without fatalities and many nearby economies also suffered a great deal it's unfortunate how quickly mother nature can impact an area or person's way of life central american countries and their landscapes have been shaped by volcanoes countries like costa rica el salvador and guatemala have all seen eruptions in the last few decades that have taken a toll on the people and economies in this video we see a group of hikers walking along what is thought
to be the vulcan fuego an active volcano near los pajales guatemala as seen in the film the mountain blows a very small amount of ash seemingly away from where they are hiking they had no doubt that they had captured a once-in-a-lifetime shot so they started celebrating and enjoying the moment lucky for them the explosion wasn't bigger in the video it seems that the eruption was only a couple of hundred yards away from where they were hiking maybe it was unknown to them but earlier that year that mountain exploded in an eruption that was guatemala's worst
volcanic disaster in more than a century the eruption lasted for 16 hours burying nearby villages in ash in total 62 people lost their lives and thousands more were displaced so although these hikers were able to escape unharmed they were incredibly fortunate that things did not get worse as it had been a few months prior the volcanoes in the central american region are incredibly volatile and do not yield for anything from the amazing to the morbid the videos of these volcanoes will definitely leave a mark they have been shaping our planet for longer than we've been
around and will continue to do so long after we're gone in the meantime everyone has a camera on them so if you do end up venturing close to a volcano have your camera ready you never know what you'll capture to see another video about natural disasters be sure to click the link on screen now otherwise thanks for watching and we'll see you in the next one
