Mayon

Without a doubt the most beautiful volcano in the world. The perfect cone rising above the coastal plain. Nay, even from spacelooks like an almost perfect circle. And that one of the most active, almost always with its top rises to smoke.


Mayon is not high, only 2463 meters above sea level. But his relative height is 2447 m above ground level. Volcano is doing soreally big impression. It lies on the coastal plain fact, near the sinuses Lagonoy and Albay, but also not far from the Sibuyan Sea.Because at this point in Luzon pulls out a narrow and long Bicol peninsula. Mayon is in the southern tip of Luzon, the northern end of 200-thousand city of Legaspi, Albay province's capital. Not far is the San Bernardino Strait, which separates the island ofLuzon from Samar.


Mayon, that little showy, it is still very active. Over the last 400 years recorded 49 explosions. At fifty it looked in December 2009.At that time, authorities evacuated more than 50 thousand. inhabitants within a radius of 8 kilometers from the volcano. Farmershad to take up to three times the strength, because in spite of the danger they returned to their homes, where they remained after all the inventory. At a safe distance from the volcano greedily gather thrill tourists. A Mayon rarely fails in this situation ...


Mayon is a stratovolcano. Alternately throws magma and pyroclastic material (heated to temperatures up to over a thousanddegrees of dust, gases and volcanic bombs of various sizes) and is shaped more or less similar to the cone. Mayon has allstratovolcanos most regular shape. Slope, depending on the height varies from 35 to 40 degrees. Lines do not interfere with anyso-called side. Parasitic cones or other inequalities. Why, despite frequent outbreaks still maintains impeccable appearance?Because what the explosion will throw in the air, falls and rebuilding strained eruption cone. The current creates a lava andpyroclastic materials from 2006. Then broke out last time.


And where such activity? Well, the fact that it is part of the surrounding Pacific Ring of Fire, stretching from New Zealand forTonga, Melanesia, the Philippines, Japan, the Kurile, Aleutian, after trailing by two American Cordillera. In this region there is 81 percent of earthquakes and there smokes and spits fire 90 percent of active volcanoes. It is on this site connect to many of the lithosphere plates. It's basically still clash. Pushing at each other, move away, etc., and any movement causes reactions in the form of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.


Mayon eruption was the most tragic February 1, 1814 year. Initially it seemed that the eruption will be a weak, much smaller than the previous one from 1766, so residents ignored the eruption. But when they saw the gray clouds rushing down pyroclastic runoff, it was too late. 2.2 thousand were killed. people. Cagsawa town disappeared under a layer of ashes. Only the church bell towerjutting above the new level ground. The layer of ashes was 9 meters. During the outbreak of the 23-30 June 1897 year at the15-meter-thick layer of stones and ashes disappeared Bacacay town. San Roque, Misericordia and Santo Niño burned. Killed more than 400 people.


As the Philippines is a densely populated even minimal losses. During the tambora explosion in 1815 killed 117 thousand.people. The eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 consumed 36 thousand. people and the Colombian Nevado de Ruiz in 1995 - 23thousand. people. Why? We do not know. Often lower volcanoes that mention only Vesuvius, lakes, or even lying in the middle ofMount Pinatubo Luzon, exploded much stronger. Pinatubo in 1991 had lost one-tenth of his height (he was 1745, and now has a1486 meters high). Volcanology is still young and aspiring science, and that everything has a beginning in the liquid magma within the Earth, it must be based on unreliable models.

In recent years, thanks to advances in science, volcanologists can warn in time before the eruption. When seismographs recordlow-frequency earthquakes, shock, followed every minute, and even more frequently (about two thousand a day), and land on the ground level is raised (even a few millimeters), a sign that deep inside the cone builds up more and more magma, which may at any time of the hellish roar skyrocket.


In 1984, evacuated more than 73 thousand people and no one was killed. But in 1993, some ignored the warning. I killed 77farmers in their fields and farms. Also, the last eruption, in 2006, fortunately without casualties was held.


But volcanoes are unpredictable. Sometimes everything seems to indicate that the eruption about to happen, but everythingspreads the bones. In 2006, Mayon scare in June, and broke out in August. Similarly, in 2009. Symptoms of impending outbreakreported since June, 11 November eruption occurred, but small. And there was peace, until mid-December, when he woke upagain Mayon. December 14 began evacuating tens of thousands of people. 16 December the volcano ejected plume of smokeand dust, and then began to belch lava. And so, until December 20.


Locals are proud of their volcano. Once it looks really nice, two, that they earn on it. Due to the high activity come here not onlyscientists, but also many tourists.


Mayon was prepared by the Philippines as their candidate for the title of the Seven Wonders of Nature, but had to give way to the underground river of Puerto Princesa.