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As I have written about previously, there were a total of 3,542 volcanic eruptions during the entire 20th century. When you divide that number by 100, that gives you an average of about 35 volcanic eruptions per year. So the number of volcanoes that are erupting right now is well above the 20th century’s average for an entire calendar year. especially seems to be true of the Ring of Fire. If you are not familiar with the Ring of Fire, just imagine a giant ring that runs around the outer perimeter of the Pacific Ocean. Approximately 90 percent of all...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - A volcano that has been erupting for several days in Alaska's Aleutian Islands may be preparing for a more explosive event, scientists said on Wednesday. Cleveland Volcano, a 5,676-foot peak located on Chuginadak Island, about 940 miles southwest of Anchorage, has been in low-level eruption since the end of July, the Alaska Volcano Observatory said. "An eruption for us is any time that magma is coming up from the surface in the ground," said John Power, scientist in charge at the observatory, a joint federal-state operation. "This is very much happening here." Chuginadak Island is uninhabited...

PUERTO MONTT, Chile (Reuters) - Experts believe Chile's Chaiten volcano could continue belching out vast clouds of ash for months but distraught people evacuated from nearby towns say they yearn to return as soon as possible. Ash that has reached as far as Argentina continued to spew for a sixth day on Wednesday, disrupting flights to the southern Patagonia region with no sign of let-up. "Everything is so uncertain," said Patricio Ide, 40, who was evacuated from the remote village of Chaiten to Puerto Montt, 125 miles away from the volcano. "This could last a month, three months, maybe we...

Tuesday, 29 October, 2002, 12:55 GMTQuake rattles erupting Etna Motorcycles are banned on Catania's ash-strewn streets An earthquake rattled Sicilian villages in the shadow of erupting Mount Etna on Tuesday morning. Reports said villagers ran into the streets in panic after the quake, measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale. The villages of Giarre, Santa Venerina and Zafferana Etnea were among those affected, and civil defence official Enrico Galeani said some people had been slightly injured. The earthquake was the latest in a series of tremors to hit the area, as two rivers of lava snaked down the mountainside, one heading...