Major volcanic eruptions are not very common, and when they do occur, they are often tragic and both extremely dangerous and destructive. There are 2 recent major volcanic eruptions that can be compared and contrasted in many interesting ways. How do the separate aftermaths of the events discussed in this essay share similarities as well as differences?
The two volcanoes from these events are called stratovolcanoes, meaning they are volcanoes “composed of explosively erupted cinders and ash with occasional lava flows” (1), and cone shaped. Neither of these volcanoes are shield volcanoes, which are “built up by successive outpourings of very fluid lava” (2). Both of these volcano 's had a huge impacts on humans, human structures and property, and had very high damage costs.
The major Mount St. Helens eruption was on May 18, 1980,
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Something these two eruptions have in common is the extremely high cost of property damage done. The Mount St. Helens eruption demolished hundreds of square miles, costing over a billion U.S. dollars in damage.(10) The damage done after the St. Pinatubo eruption was not as expensive, the damage to crops and property was estimated at $374 million, to which continuing lahar flows added a further $69 million in 1992, a total of $443 million in damages, which is still extremely expensive. (11)
As you can see, the damages done by these eruptions can be both compared and contrasted. These events are important pieces of history and it can be interesting to compare the two. Can now compare the aftermaths of these two events with ease? Major volcanic eruptions are not very common, and when they do occur, they are often tragic and both extremely dangerous and destructive. Now you know the things you can compare about these eruptions are much more complicated than that, and you can compare the different aspects of these natural disasters