What does a volcanic eruption sound like, and how close can you
safely be to observe it. I am 10 years old and in the 4th grade at Montrose
Christian School in Rockville, MD.
Michael Roulette
Hi Michael,
Both the sounds and safety of eruptions vary very much depending on the
type of the eruption. You can also have differences in sounds and safety
at different parts of the same eruption. For the most part, the more
basaltic the eruption (such as here in Hawai'i), the less explosive,
quieter, and safer it is. For example, the spectacular lava fountains
that you may have seen pictures of, are not really explosions but rather
continuous jets of lava. They don't even make that much noise unless
you're really close to them. They sound kind of like heavy rain. A
flowing basalt lava flow also doesn't make too much noise. The noisest
lava flows are 'a'a flows because the solid clinkers on the top are
always jostling against each other or falling off the sides or front of
the flow. An `a`a flow sounds kind of like someone is pushing a whole
bunch of bricks with a bulldozer.
On the other hand, an explosive volcano such as Mt. Pinatubo makes lots
of big scary noises and is very dangerous to be near if it is erupting.
There the eruptions really are explosions, and just like bomb explosions
they are really loud. As you might expect, these huge explosive
eruptions can only be watched from very far away.
Sincerely,
Scott Rowland
Other Categories
Other Questions
To VolcanoWorld