Q 01/05

Which volcano buried the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in AD 79?

A) Etna

B) Vesuvius

C) Stromboli

D) Vulcano

Answer · why

B) Vesuvius

Mount Vesuvius buried Pompeii in ash and Herculaneum under more than 15 metres of volcanic rock; both lay sealed until excavations began in the 18th c...

Q 02/05

Which 1883 volcanic eruption produced the loudest sound ever recorded, heard thousands of miles away?

A) Santorini

B) Mount Tambora

C) Mount Pelée

D) Krakatoa

Answer · why

D) Krakatoa

Krakatoa's climactic blast on 27 August 1883 was heard more than 2,000 miles away in Australia, and barometers around the world recorded its pressure ...

Q 03/05

Mount St. Helens' 1980 eruption began with the largest what in recorded history?

A) Landslide

B) Lava flow

C) Ash plume

D) Earthquake

Answer · why

A) Landslide

Landslide: a magnitude 5.1 earthquake shook loose the bulging north face, and its sudden collapse released the pressure on the magma inside the mounta...

Q 04/05

What global climate event was largely attributed to the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora?

A) The Little Ice Age

B) The Dust Bowl

C) The Medieval Warm Period

D) The Year Without a Summer

Answer · why

D) The Year Without a Summer

The immense amount of ash and aerosols injected into the atmosphere by the 1815 Tambora eruption caused global temperatures to drop, leading to widesp...

Q 05/05

Mudflows from which volcano buried the town of Armero in November 1985?

A) Galeras

B) Nevado del Ruiz

C) Nevado del Huila

D) Cotopaxi

Answer · why

B) Nevado del Ruiz

Nevado del Ruiz's eruption on 13 November 1985 was modest, but it melted summit ice into mudflows that ran tens of kilometres down river valleys and b...