Mount Yasur
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| Mount Yasur | |
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 Mount Yasur |
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| Elevation | 361 metres (1,184 feet) |
| Location | Tanna, Vanuatu |
| Coordinates | |
| Type | Stratovolcano |
| Last eruption | ongoing |
Mount Yasur is a volcano on Tanna island, Vanuatu. It is said to be the most easily accessible active volcano in the world due to its modest height of 361 m, its location on the coast near Sulphur Bay, and the frequency of its eruptions, which occur several times an hour. It lies to the southeast of the taller Mount Tukosmera, which was active in the Pleistocene. It has a largely unvegetated pyroclastic cone with a nearly-circular summit crater 400 m in diameter. It is a stratovolcano, caused by the eastward-moving Australian plate being subducted under the westward-moving Pacific plate. It has been nearly continuously erupting for centuries, although usually it can be approached safely. Its eruptions are classified as Strombolian or Vulcanian.
The glow of the volcano was apparently what attracted Captain Cook on the first European journey to the island in 1774. Today the mountain is a sacred area for the John Frum cargo cult. The cult reveres John Frum, a deified black American World War II serviceman, and believe he resides in Mount Yasur with his countrymen. The village of Sulphur Bay, the center of the movement, claims the volcano as part of their territory.
[edit] Trivia
The female tribe in the American reality show Survivor: Vanuatu took its name from Mount Yasur. The male tribe was named after another volcano in Vanuatu, Lopevi.
In December 2006, Adventurer George Kourounis got married on the crater's edge of the volcano. The ceremony was filmed as part of the Angry Planet television series.
[edit] External links
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