In general, volcanoes are found in places where there is a lot of activity under the Earth’s surface. The most common types are shield volcanoes and composite volcanoes. Shield volcanoes form when molten rock flows out from a vent and covers an area that looks like a shield or table-top mountain. These types of eruptions happen over an extended period of time with long periods between them. Composite or stratovolcanos have layers built up by many eruptions over time, usually with more explosions happening at once than other types. But the big question is Can a Volcano Pop up in Your Backyard?
Volcanoes are found in the earth’s crust and have to be on a large fault line where two plates press against each other. This means that most people don’t live near an active volcano even if they live by one because it is unlikely for a new hole to open up nearby.
Are Volcanos Coming
While the thought of a volcano popping up in your backyard may sound terrifying. It’s not necessarily something to worry about.
Most volcanoes are found in places where there is a lot of activity under the Earth’s surface. You would also need to live on an active fault line in order for a volcano to pop up in your backyard.
Volcanoes are not just found on the Earth’s surface, but also underwater and even inside other planets. If you lived on an active fault line and in an area where the earth was active. It would be possible for a volcano to pop up in your backyard. However, for this to happen it would not be big enough to do any damage.
For instance, on Venus, there is evidence of volcanism that has been going on for hundreds of millions or billions of years!
There have never been any recorded eruptions on Venus. But scientists think that is because it has a dense atmosphere and thick clouds.
Find The Ring of Fire
The Ring of Fire is a string that is not just a song but a map of the world’s most active earthquake and volcano zones. It circles the Pacific Ocean, running through North and South America, Asia, Australia New Zealand, and part of Europe.
The Ring of Fire is made up of a string that circles the Pacific Ocean. It runs from north to south along the coastlines around much of Earth’s surface. Between Alaska and Chile, from New Zealand to Siberia.
If you live near a ring of fire you are much more likely to experience an earthquake and a volcano eruption. However, if you don’t live within a zone then it is unlikely that you will experience an eruption.
The ring of fire map is a great tool for understanding the risks of earthquakes and volcanoes in your area.
Volcano In Paricutin
While with all my searching I could not find a story of a volcano popping up in a backyard. I did find an interesting story about a volcano that literally popped up in his cornfield.
The Story of Paricutin: One day, Dionisio Pulido was plowing the field near Ciudad de Pátzcuaro. When he noticed something strange on the ground.
It looked like some type of animal had dug a hole but he didn’t see any tracks indicating its passage. When Dionisio touched the hole, a cloud of hot gas and ash erupted from it. With such force that not only did Pulido’s shirt catch on fire, but his horse also ran away in fright too!
The volcano Paricutín was born two days later it continued to grow rapidly. By the time it had reached its full height of 450 meters on February 20th, 1943.
It was already a hazard to villages around. The eruption destroyed 26 cities, killed two thousand people, and left more than 100,000 homeless.
Volcanos Aren’t Sentient
Volcanoes are complicated. It’s easy to get lost in all the details and forget that volcanos aren’t sentient beings. With feelings or thoughts of their own, they’re just a mass of rocks. That is about as unpredictable as any other natural phenomenon on earth (and sometimes less so).
I think it’s helpful when people are discussing these things to remember that volcanoes aren’t sentient beings.
There are Loads of Videos Though!
Yes, there are many videos on the internet of Volcanoes erupting, and they can be very terrifying to watch.
It’s hard not to feel a little bit more anxious about them after watching these things. However, it is not always wise to believe what you are viewing. As in most instances, these will be science experiments.
The most important thing to remember is that these videos are not always showing real events. Most of the time they will be science experiments being filmed for educational purposes. Or footage from other countries when a volcano has erupted there.
In some cases, however, it may show an eruption from another country but this doesn’t mean a similar eruption could happen in your country.
It’s important to know what you are getting into when watching these videos. It would be wise not to watch them if they have a significant impact on your mental health.
But Can We Be Sure
We heard about the story of Paricutin but this instance is the only one we know of where a volcano has popped up in someone’s backyard.
We looked into what causes volcanoes to form and found that the most likely scenario is if there are already hot magma pools underground or if they have been building from an eruption of another volcano nearby.
However, with modern science and new technology, we are more aware of the fault lines and the earth’s surface.
We can now predict where these events will happen and how to stop them from happening in a populated area.
This doesn’t mean that another volcano eruption is unlikely, but it does make you feel more confident when watching videos about this topic because you know what they are talking about and why it’s not likely to happen in your backyard.
Volcanic Activity
With global warming, it is believed that volcanic activity is on the rise.
This is due to the thinning of the earth’s crust. The Earth’s crust and lithosphere are constantly moving as plates shift. But global warming has made them more mobile than they have been in recent years. This causes a change in pressure on magma below ground. Which can cause an eruption with no warning signs at all.
However, again it is important to point out that it is unlikely that a volcano will pop up in your backyard unexpectedly. With the modern tech, we have there will be a large warning in advance.
Conclusion
If you’ve been wondering if your backyard may someday turn into a volcanic disaster zone, the answer is yes. But don’t panic – it’s not likely at all! If that does happen to be what concerns you most these days and stress keeps getting in the way of sleep or enjoying time with friends, take inventory of where any fault lines are running through your neighborhood. You’re safe from volcanoes as long as they aren’t near one; otherwise, there’s no stopping them when they go off.
If you are on a fault line there’s a slightly higher chance, but it’s still quite low. Check your location, are you in the ring of fire? It might be that this is where volcanoes pop up out from time to time and if so then maybe start getting prepared now.