Europe

Volcanoes Europe

The European continent has around 100 volcanoes that have been active over the last 10,000 years, including 30 on the territory of the European Union. Around 140 volcanic eruptions have been recorded in Greece and Italy since the 16th century.

The most famous and highest volcano in Europe is Mount Etna in Sicily. This is an approx. 3,320 m high stratovolcano that was formed approx. 600,000 years ago and still erupts frequently today. Vesuvius, located on the Gulf of Naples, is also a stratovolcano with a height of approx. 1,280 m. Probably the best-known Plinian eruption took place in AD 79, when the city of Pompeii was buried by an 18-hour eruption. The last major eruption was in 1944.

Also in Italy is the 926 m high volcanic island of Stromboli. The cinder cone volcano Stromboli is always active and ejects small amounts of volcanic material at short intervals of at most a few hours. The last major eruption was in 2002.

A large number of mostly smaller volcanoes can also be found in Iceland. The country has a total of around 130 active volcanoes, which explains Iceland's location on the submarine mountains of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.