Explosive eruptions can send rocks, dust, gas and pyroclastic material up to 20 km (12 mi) into the atmosphere at a rate of up to 100,000 tonnes per second, traveling at several hundred meters per second. This cloud may then collapse, creating a fast-moving pyroclastic flow of hot volcanic matter.

What volcanoes have violent eruptions?

Because they form in a system of underground conduits, stratovolcanoes may blow out the sides of the cone as well as the summit crater. Stratovolcanoes are considered the most violent.

What volcano has the most violent eruptions?

The most violent eruption registered in history was that in the La Garita Caldera in the United States. It occurred 2.1 million years ago and formed a 35 x 75 km crater, drastically changing the climate on Earth.