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Hot! Fire! Destruction! These are words that most people associate with volcanoes. But some good effects can come out of volcanoes. Volcanoes also have their own special mythology associated with them. A lot of volcanoes have some general characteristics in common. There are many volcanoes around the world and some have special characteristics. So come along and take a trip with me into the wonderful and exciting world of volcanoes. Over 550 volcanoes have erupted on the surface of the Earth since human kind has been able to record history. Their destructiveness has claimed the lives of over 200,000 people during the last 500 years with 26,000 deaths between 1980 and 1990 alone. They have also cause an innumerable amount of property damage. The biggest eruption of the twentieth century was the eruption of Novarupta on the peninsula of Alaska. The amount of lava that erupted measured to roughly 15 cubic kilometers! All of the lava erupted equaled to the amount of 30 times the amount of lava that came from Mount Saint Helens and it is also the equivalent of 230 years of eruptions at Mount Kilauea. The eruption lasted for 60 hours on June 6, 1920. The biggest eruption, despite its size, was not the most destru