Most of these volcanoes are stratovolcanoes ... Each succeeding VEI is 10 times greater than the last. Need examples? Click on for some of the worst volcanic eruptions in history.

This means that when a shield volcano erupts, the lava is extremely fast and can cover large areas very quickly. Some of the most famous examples of shield volcanoes make up the islands of Hawaii.

Mount Etna in Sicily, Italy, is an example of a composite volcano. Shield volcanoes do not have such violent eruptions. These volcanoes tend to have gentle slopes and their runnier lava spreads ...

Arizona is home to over 1,000 volcanoes and has three active volcanic fields, the largest of which is the San Francisco ...

An underwater volcano located off the coast of Oregon is on track for a potential eruption in 2025, with scientists hailing ...