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Active Volcanoes in the Eurasian Plate

The Eurasian plate extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific and includes Europe, mainland Asia except the Indian subcontinent, and Japan and Indonesia. This plate has many active volcanoes, including some of the most active volcanoes in the world. Volcanoes typically exist at the edges of two tectonic plates, one of which is slowly moving under the other; this is known as subduction. The resulting gap allows hot melted rock, called magma, to escape. This escaping magma creates volcanoes. The eastern edge of the Eurasian plate makes up part of the Ring of Fire, a large collection of active volcanoes created by the subduction of the Pacific and Oceanic tectonic plates under the Eurasian plate.

Europe
- While Europe has relatively few active volcanoes compared to other parts of the Eurasian plate, it does have a few very active volcanoes. Many of the volcanoes are situated close to Italy. The volcano with the most documented eruptions in the world is Italy's Mount Etna, which, as of May 2011, last erupted in January of this year. Another active volcano in Europe is Mount Vesuvius, which very famously erupted during Roman times and buried the Italian city of Pompeii in A.D.79.
Kamchatka
- The Kamchatka peninsula makes up the far northeast corner of Russia. Situated on the Pacific Ocean close to the edge of the Eurasian plate, it hosts many active volcanoes -- over 80. Klyuchevskaya Spoka is the tallest active volcano at 4,750 meters. It last erupted in 2010. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization declared these volcanoes World Heritage sites in 1996.
Japan
- Japan has over 100 active volcanoes, making up 10 percent of the world's total. Like Kamchatka, Japan exists at the very edge of the Eurasian plate, which has resulted in many different volcanoes because of the subduction of the Pacific plate under the Eurasian plate. Mt. Fuji, one of Japan's most symbolic places, is a volcano, although it is now dormant. Some of Japan's volcanoes have erupted recently. The Shinmoedake volcano on the island of Kyushu erupted in March of 2011, soon after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake Japan suffered.
Indonesia
- Indonesia rests on the very edge of the Eurasian plate, with many of its islands sitting on the very edge of the Eurasian plate's border with the Australia/Oceania plate. This location has given Indonesia some of the largest and most violent volcanoes in the world, and 76 eruptions have occurred on its islands throughout history. It has many active volcanoes, including Krakatoa, Tambora and Merapi.

Nature