Volcano!

Yep, they've got 'em!  To quote the handy-dandy guide book, "Vanuatu...
where the mountains, talk, yell, stink, smoke and shoot wild fireworks high in the sky for fun."

Vanuatu lies squarely on top of the Pacific Ring of Fire. In fact, it is on the edge of the Pacific tectonic plate, which is being pushed up and over the Indo-Australian plate, which causes… you've guessed it… volcano eruptions and earthquakes!! This boundary region is among the most seismically active areas in the world, but most of it is also about 22 miles under the sea. Last October they had a 24 hour period that got seven quakes over 6.2 on the Richter scale, the greatest being 7.8. Now that is one mighty display of natural power.  Are we having fun yet?

According to my handy-dandy Lonely Planet guide book, Vanuatu has 9 active volcanoes, 7 on land, 2 under the sea. The most famous is on Tanna and is easily accessible. We have six slated building sites on Tanna, so we just might get in a hike to Mt. Yasur. The most potentially dangerous one (Mt. Garet) is located on Gaua, which has at least one church scheduled. So, might get a hike up to that one, but not as likely. We have two churches slated for Ambae, home of Mt. Lombenben. Only 5 years ago it had locals ready for evacuation for approximately a year due to its activity.

An Australian volcanologist and adventurer has stacks of info and pictures on Vanuatu volcanoes at      http://www.volcanolive.com/vanuatu.html

Will keep you posted on how much volcano action we get in on.