Some facts about volcanoes and the Ring of Fire

Some facts about volcanoes and the Ring of Fire

The word "volcano" comes from the little island of Vulcano in the Mediterranean Sea off Sicily. In ancient times, people there thought Vulcano was the chimney of Vulcan, the blacksmith of the Roman gods. They reasoned that the lava and ash from the peak were byproducts from making thunderbolts for Jupiter and Mars.
The first recorded attempt at volcanology was in 79 A.D., when Pliny the Younger sent two letters to a historian describing the eruption of Vesuvius, "in a very crude, flowery way," said Steve Malone, a volcanic seismologist at the University of Washington.
Vesuvius' blast buried two Roman cities in ash so deep 1,700 years passed before their ruins were discovered.
This advice on disaster planning is found in Portici, Italy:
"Vesuvius burst into flames, always with huge extermination of those who hesitated. I warn you so that it does not find you undecided, this mountain has its womb heavy with pitch ... if you are wise listen to the voice of this stone."
Good advice never goes out of style.
The warning, carved in stone, is dated Jan. 16, 1632.
Northwest Indians were fearful of and had numerous legends about Cascade Range volcanoes.
The Nespelem Indians who lived along the Columbia River tell about the 3 inches of "dry snow" that fell one summer. Panicked by the fall of ash, the Indians began non-stop prayer and dancing that kept them from their usual tasks of collecting berries, salmon and dried meat for the winter. Starvation followed.
The story is thought to date from 1800 -- when St. Helens erupted.
In 1853, Oregon's Kalispel Indians told naturalist George Suckley of a time when they saw it rain cinders and fire.
"The Indians supposed that the sun had burnt up and that there was an end of all things," Suckley wrote. "The next morning, when the sun arose, they were so delighted as to have a great dance and a feast."
Well before geologists stumbled on to it, Hawaiians recognized that their islands weren't the same age: The farther north and west from the big island, the older the island.
Hawaiians say Pele, the Goddess of Volcanoes, lived on one of the oldest islands of the chain but was attacked by her older sister Namakaokahai, the Goddess of the Sea, and was forced to flee. She began to island-hop, igniting volcanoes in her path until she reached Hawaii.
Pele now resides in the Halemaumau Crater at the summit of Kilauea Volcano, where her devotees still bring offerings of appeasement, including flowers, berries and bottles of gin, reportedly her beverage of choice.
It's not clear how she developed her taste for booze.
There are about 65 active volcanoes in the United States, and some are restless.
After a persistent swarm of earthquakes beneath Mammoth Mountain, Calif., in 1989, large volumes of carbon dioxide began seeping out, killing trees and becoming a hazard in some campgrounds.
Most active volcanoes are in Alaska, where eruptions occur almost every year.
An increase in earthquake activity has been observed at Iliamna Volcano in Alaska's Cook Inlet since May 1996. Also in Alaska, the Katmai region, which produced the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes during a colossal eruption in 1912, has experienced swarms of small earthquakes in recent years. And Pavlof volcano has been erupting sporadically since September 1996 and remains restless.