Volcano Stories

Mount Etna is the highest and most active volcano in Europe. It erupts once or twice a year, threatening the 900,000 people who live nearby. Each year, half a million Sicilians congregate and pray to Santa Agata, the protector of the city. They pray for protection against the fiery giant. They would never leave this volcanic land, a land of milk and honey and the best oranges in the world.

White Island, located 40 kilometres off the New Zealand coast, is a unique place, home to a capricious lake of craters that flows into the sea or evaporates depending on magmatic activity. For the Maori people, these volcanic lakes are the sacred home of gods like Ruapehu. When scientists come to study this lake, they abide by their rules and follow the prayers of a Maori guide.

Local sources of geothermal energy are one of the great volcanic treasures from "the land of the long white cloud." Some Maori tribes have integrated this natural energy to their daily lives. This phenomenal source of energy also has more modern applications: it can provide enough electricity for 160,000 homes in New Zealand.

Despite their peaceful demeanor, the volcanoes of Auvergne in France share a tumultuous past. Large reserves of magma have been discovered below them. A new eruption is much more likely. The Pavin Lake is said to be cursed. Although today it remains quiet, many stories reveal that it was surprisingly active until the eighteenth century, with villages being engulfed by a violent outpouring of lava.

In 1973, a powerful eruption destroyed half of the city of Heimaey in Iceland. To access these steep islands, the islanders have had to adapt, using a zip line to hoist their sheep from a frail boat onto the green volcanic island. Further away, Surtsey Island emerged from the waves only 50 years ago in the wake of a violent volcanic eruption, and has become a laboratory for naturalists.

The volcanoes that formed the ancient island of Iceland impose their will on all its inhabitants. Beyond the risk of fires, a rising source of concern is linked to the glaciers that cover some of these volcanoes. These are monitored daily as their interaction with the volcanic heat, deep down, can generate huge glacial floods that destroy everything on their path.

Every year in Indonesia, a torchlight procession makes its way towards the smoking crater of the Bromo volcano. Thousands of pilgrims make offerings to the crater, which is considered an incarnation of a Hindu god, including fruits, vegetables, chickens, and more. Women and men come to give back to the volcano. They pray that it will grant them life even as it threatens them with death.

The Indonesian volcano, Kawah Ijen, guards its turbulent interior. Miners extracting sulfur here must work in extreme conditions, often carrying out some 75 kilos of the substance on their backs. Sum Arti, a volcanologist, monitors the level of danger linked to gases and seeks to protect miners from the risk of gas bubbles that can potentially be lethal.

Vesuvius is one of the world's most famous and dangerous volcanoes. At its feet lies the city of Naples, the third largest city in Italy, and its 970,000 inhabitants. Its eruption, in 79 AD made history and it literally destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. For centuries, Neapolitans have accepted this risk, most unaware that another volcano slumbers nearby ready to awaken.

The island of Stromboli, part of the Aeolian Island chain off the coast of Sicily, attracts thousands of visitors every year despite its active and dangerous volcano. It owes its renown today to Rossellini's legendary film, Stromboli, featuring Ingrid Bergman, and their tumultuous love story during the film shooting. Before then, the Aeolian islands were poor, inhospitable, and dangerous.

Here at Reunion Island, off Madagascar, is one of the world's most active volcanoes. A volcanologist monitors this volcano closely because of its five annual eruptions. This sleeping giant, the venerable Piton des Neiges volcano, shows traces of millions of years of volcanic activity. This record helps scientists anticipate the future transformations of its neighbor, the Piton de la Fournaise.

Tanzania's Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano spews liquid black lava that turns snow white when it cools down. Our distant ancestors left footprints that were petrified by the volcano 20,000 years ago. One volcanologist has been studying it intensively by regularly making the treacherous climb to its summit. At its foot, the Maasaï people worship a God who sleeps in its smoking crater: the great Engai.

In Japan, the Sakurajima volcano erupts almost daily and threatens the 600,000 inhabitants that live at its feet. Every morning, children make their way to school with protective helmets. The ash that accumulates in the village forces the inhabitants to perform a daily cleaning. But these ashes are also a source of benefits. Mr. Shirahama, a farmer, cultivates the largest radishes in the world.

Japan's Mount Unzen violently awakened in 1991 after two centuries of sleep. For five years, an outpouring of gas and ash destroyed everything. But the Japanese stood up to the volcano. They created dams to prevent catastrophic mud flows. In Japan, the sense of belonging to the land is very strong, especially when one can enjoy the benefits of geothermal energy: hot baths and volcanic cooking.

In Guatemala, the Santiaguito volcano was born less than 100 years ago. Scientists now come from all over the world to observe its youthful behaviors. But this research is also geared to protecting people and coffee plantations at its foot. For the descendants of the Mayan people, the Santiaguito and many other volcanoes of the region symbolize the creative power of nature.

In Guatemala, the Fuego volcano is permanently active, threatening tens of thousands people who live in its shadow. Gustavo Chigna, a volcanologist, inspects its slopes to measure the quantities of accumulated volcanic materials. In the village of La Trinidad, located five kilometers from the active crater, lives a small community that understands and has prepared for the risks of an eruption.

The Kilauea volcano has been erupting continuously since 1983. It sends glowing streams flowing into the Pacific in a magical commotion of water and fire, transforming the island into an everlasting cycle of creation and destruction. Even as the volcano creates new land, it destroys entire villages. Every week, those who have rebuilt come together and celebrate the bond that ties them to the land.

Mauna Loa is the largest active volcano on the planet. If its unstable flanks were to collapse into the ocean, it cause a tsunami unlike anything in human history. Gérard Fryer, a geophysicist, devoted his entire life to the study of this unknown phenomenon: which in the past has generated waves reaching some 300 meters high.

In Ecuador, the Cotopaxi volcano rises to nearly 6,000 meters in altitude. Glaciers covering its crest are prone to melting and triggering devastating mudslides. Scientific expeditions conducted at such high altitude are a challenge. Local residents stand ready to evacuate their herds should an eruption take place. A shaman maintains an ancient spiritual practice of heating volcanic rocks.

In 2006, a town at the base of the Tangurahua volcano was destroyed. The event brought its inhabitants together. They have joined a surveillance network watch the volcano, while resurrecting an ancestral Incan tradition of planting community fields for growing food. Meanwhile, the city of Banos celebrates the Virgin of the sacred water, who is believed to protect against the volcano's anger.