Volcanoes

A volcano is a mountain. Under the mountain there is lava in a hole in the rock. Lava is like rock but it is soft and very, very hot. Sometimes the volcano erupts and lava comes out of the top of the mountain. It is very noisy. The hot lava goes down the mountain.

This volcano is erupting. Smoke is coming out of the top.

Some volcanoes do not erupt. They are called extinct volcanoes.

The people on the island of Tristan da Cunha thought the volcano there was extinct. But one day in 1961 it erupted. Lava ran down into the sea. Not many people lived on the island. They all escaped -in a small boat. Later the volcano was quiet, so the people went back.

There is a volcano on the island of Krakatau in Indonesia. The people there did not know they lived on a volcano! In 1883 the volcano erupted. Some of the island sank into the sea. Some people escaped but many people were killed.

The volcano Vesuvius, in Italy, erupted in the year AD 79. Rocks and dust flew up into the sky and lava ran down the mountain. Stones and lava fell on the city of Pompeii. The houses fell down and the people were killed.

Many years later people found the city of Pompeii. Under the lava they found the houses and the people.

Today you can visit Pompeii. You can see how people lived in AD 79. You can see some of the people in their houses.

In the United States (USA), there is an old story about a volcano. A man stole some fire from a volcano and ran away. The man was not careful. He tripped and fell, and the world caught fire. He was very sorry.