Mount St Helens after May 18, 1980

Mt. Fuji, Japan

Mount Pinatubo, Philippines, 1991

This image shows the Paricutin cinder cone of western Mexico. This cinder cone was "born" on Feb. 20, 1943, in the field of a poor Mexican peasant who was planting corn when he saw flames begin shooting out of a nearby crack in the ground. Within several years, Paricutin grew to a height of more than 1000 feet years. For a time, it was Mexico's main tourist attraction. Although Paricutin's eruptions consisted mainly of cinders for several years, it eventually emitted a lava flow that covered dozens of square miles of the surrounding countryside. Only nine years after eruptions initiated, Paricutin went extinct and has remained inactive since 1952.