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The destructive

power of a valcano is one of the most violent and deadly of all natural

forces. In a short period of time, these massive explosions of the earth's crust can shatter

whole communities. Valcanoes are very destructive

no matter how big or how small they

erupt at. They cause the highest amount of deaths and the greatest amount of damage.

Of the two major types of Volcanoes, andestic and basaltic, the two typical

volcanoes begin life when a mass of low-density magma forces its way to the surface.

When the density of the rising magma is the same as that of the surrounding rock, it

gathers in a magma chamber. Any rise in pressure in the chamber may now push the

magma upwards through cracks in the overlying rock. As the magma traveling up a

crack approaches the surface, the pressure from the overlying rocks reduces; gases are

released from the magma and expand so suddenly that an explosion rips open a funnel

shaped vent (called a diatreme) to the surface. The lava that blasts out of the vent then

cools, to form cinders, ash and dust - all referred to as Tephra. A ring of tephra collects

around the vent and, as the eruption subsides, this blocks up the diatreme.

Volcanoes have erupted in many different places. Volcanoes have erupted in The

Philippines, Java, Papua New Guinea & Hawaii and many other places. The Ring of

Fire, located around the Pacific Ocean,