Volcanoes: the Ornery Mountains Greeting Guests
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By PAGE Editor
Things of nightmares and wonder, volcanoes have been a constant companion of humanity, responsible for some of the most dramatic episodes in our history. When Indonesia's Krakatoa blew itself apart in 1883, it produced the loudest sound ever heard by humans - 180 dB, the equivalent of a rocket launch.
Mt Vesuvius has a similar claim to fame, burying Pompeii and Herculaneum under ash in 79AD. All the signs suggest we ought to stay away from these outlets of Mother Nature’s rage.
Innate Drama
Of course, humans, being humans, don’t seem to mind neighboring a volcano. The British Geological Society (BGS) says that 50-70 volcanoes of the 1,500 active ones on Earth erupt each year. Surprisingly, many of these exist in populated areas. Nearly 6 million people live on the Michoacan-Guanajuato volcanic field in Mexico, for example.
The popular yet volatile Mt. Etna manages to keep most people away (around 100 people live in a 5km radius of the cone). People went straight back to Mt. Vesuvius' most dangerous areas after the incident in 79AD, however.
Part of the reason for our collective proximity to volcanoes is the fertile soil. The BGS writes that volcanoes litter their surroundings with magnesium and potassium when their deposits cool and start to weather. It’s hard to deny the lure of the spectacular, though, with the fire and lightning that light up the night sky.
This innate drama keeps volcanoes present in popular culture, in movies like the Tommy Lee Jones-starring Volcano (1997), 2014's Pompeii, and Korean drama Ashfall (2019). Of course, home media has moved in some wild directions since Jones saved Los Angeles from the La Brea tar pits - but interest in the earth's moods hasn't changed.
Game developers in particular get their cues from nature, including real-life volcanoes. For example, Jackpot City, an online casino in the UK, has several popular games based on volcanoes, such as Treasures of Kilauea and Pompeii Megareels. Kilauea is located on Hawaii's "Big" Island. The forces of nature also crop up in Slingo Wolf Snowstorm and Slingo Fire and Ice.
It's perhaps only natural that people who take their pop culture explosively would seek an adventure at one of the world's volcanoes.
"Lava Chasers"
So, how about a holiday? A National Geographic article from 2025 claimed that volcano tourism was “booming”, pun no doubt intended, but raised worries about its safety. The latter concern stems from a recent explosion on Mt. Etna that sent visitors fleeing and an evacuation of Iceland’s famous Blue Lagoon site.
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The article dubs volcano visitors “lava chasers”, which forces comparisons with America’s notorious storm-chasers. Yet, in almost the same breath, it claims “blow-ups are rarely a surprise” due to monitoring by scientists. Rosaly M.C. Lopes, a volcanologist from California's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, adds that volcanoes in Hawaii, Iceland, and Stromboli in Italy aren’t explosive.
Here’s where things get interesting. Volcanoes are somewhat predictable based on their lava consistency. The US National Park Service provides a list of seven eruption types, ranging from Hawaiian and Strombolian at the gentle end to Ultra Plinian at the other extreme.
Hawaiian volcanoes have fountains of fire, but don't explode. Strombolian types also favour fireworks. In comparison, an Ultra-Plinian eruption is what’s been rumoured to be bubbling away beneath Yellowstone National Park for years. It’s an extinction-level event.
Overall, volcano tourism is a relatively safe thing to do, provided that local guidance and warnings are followed. Just stay away from world-ending events.
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