Stop 1 · Italy
Catania
Mount Etna is 3,350 m high, erupts most years, and its ash makes the surrounding soil so fertile that people keep rebuilding on it.
Cities living in the shadow of an active volcano
Every stop sits within sight of a mountain that has erupted in living memory, and in most cases has already destroyed the town at least once.
The five stops
Stop 2 · Japan
Kagoshima
Sakurajima erupts hundreds of times a year. The city runs ash-collection bags like recycling, and evacuation drills are a routine part of school life.
Stop 3 · Indonesia
Yogyakarta
Merapi, 28 km north, is one of the most active volcanoes on earth. Its 2010 eruption killed over 350 people and forced 350,000 to evacuate.
Stop 4 · DR Congo
Goma
Nyiragongo's lava is unusually fluid and can flow at 60 km/h — far faster than most, and the reason its eruptions reach the city so quickly.
Stop 5 · Guatemala
Antigua Guatemala
Volcán de Fuego erupts almost continuously. Its 2018 eruption killed at least 190 people in villages on the far side of the mountain.
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