These large geological structures have caused destruction throughout history and many of them were marked in the books
The eruption of Vesuvio volcano in Italy, which devastated Pompeii, is probably the most famous event of this kind in history. However, despite his power, he is far from the largest volcano in the world. There are geological structures with much larger altitude, area and volume.
What is the largest volcano in the world? THE Digital Look list from now on some of these giants.
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The largest volcanoes in the world
- If we look just time from the sea level, the champion of this list is Nevado Volcano Ojos del Salado, which is on the border between Chile and Argentina, in Andes.
- He owns an elevation of 6,879 meters and has asset status (ie, he can still erupted).
- Now, if you ask the Googlethe search engine will say that the largest volcano in the world is Mauna Loa, in Hawaii.
- This is because Mauna Loa, which means “long mountain” in the local language, holds several other records.
- Above sea level, it has “only” 4,170 meters.
- It turns out that the base of this volcano is at the bottom of the ocean – and from the other end, Mauna Loa is 9,170 meters.
- For you to have an idea, it is higher than the Monte Everest!
- The volcano in Hawaii is also the surface area record holder and covers 5,271 square kilometers.
- This makes it cover half the island where it is located.
- It is in the Volcano National Park and is part of Ilha Grande, the largest in the US archipelago.
- Other volcanoes that deserve to be highlighted are Kilauea and Mauna Kea, both in Hawaii, Popocatépetl, Mexico, and Etna, Italy.
- The Etna, which became part of Sicily’s scenario, is the largest volcano on the European continent and is quite active (even erupted in June 2025).
An eruption giant
Speaking of activity, Mauna Loa also has this feature. In addition to being colossal, it is hyperactive. There were 33 eruptions since 1843, when the official records began. At that time, the Polynesians colonized the Hawaiian archipelago.
The longest eruption of 1859: It lasted 300 days and produced a lava flow that covered 51 kilometers. At this time, the volcano destroyed villages and essential resources for the population, which took a long time to rebuild the affected places.
In terms of destruction, however, the most emblematic case is the year 1950, when a much shorter rash of 23 days caused almost irreversible damage. MAUNA LOA poured about 375 million cubic meters from lava on the island. The balance was of destruction of almost all infrastructure.
The 1984 penultimate registered eruption was also quite scary. To the point that the phenomenon almost swallows the city of Hilo. At the time, authorities even tried to use explosives to divert lava flows, but efforts didn’t work out.
Finally, the most recent episode occurred in 2022, in a beautiful but also destroying spectacle. A true “Lava Show” on which the Digital Look treated at the time.
Text made based on a Digital Look Report of 01/05/2023.
Collaboration for the digital look
Roberto (Bob) Furuya has a degree in Journalism from Mackenzie Presbyterian University and has been in the area since 2010. He has passed the newsrooms of Jovem Pan and BandNews FM.
Lucas Soares is a journalist graduated from Mackenzie Presbyterian University and is currently editor of science and digital look space.
