On April 5 1815, a some 4000 metre high volcano, Mount Tambora, on the island of Sumbuwa in Indonesia, burst into life so loudly that soldiers hundreds of miles away in Java thought they'd heard cannon fire and dispatched troops to repel invaders.
The former municipality, made a city in 1961, is named for Mount Canlaon (8,086 feet [2,465 metres]), the volcano beneath whose eastern slopes it lies.
And I wonder whether I'm still feeling the effects of the crossing when I clap eyes on a 40-metre high plastic volcano complete with pyrotechnic eruptions.
Two mountain ranges, the Sredinny ("Central") and Vostochny ("Eastern"), extend along the peninsula and rise to 15,584 feet (4,750 metres) in Klyuchevskaya Volcano.
Among its towering volcanic peaks are Citlaltépetl (also called Orizaba), which forms the highest point in the country at 18,406 feet (5,610 metres), and the active volcano Popocatépetl, which rises to 17,930 feet (5,465 metres) to the southeast of Mexico City.
There are fine views of Mount Sumbing (11,060 feet [3,371 metres]), an active volcano that contains an archaeologically interesting grave site.
The range averages about 2,000 feet (600 metres) in elevation, reaching its highest point in the north at Popa Hill (4,981 feet [1,518 metres]), an extinct volcano.
Mount Edgecumbe (3,201 feet [976 metres]), a dormant volcano on Kruzof Island, is a conspicuous landmark in Sitka's island-studded, mountain-locked harbour.
Once the eruption melted away its icy lid, some 150 metres (492ft) thick, the volcano began to belch ash into the atmosphere.
It lies at the foot of Mount Gambier (623 feet [190 metres]), an extinct volcano with four crater lakes that was sighted in 1800 by Lieutenant James Grant of the Royal Navy, who named it after Admiral James (later Lord) Gambier.
Savai'i, the largest island, covers 659 square miles (1,707 square km) and rises to a maximum elevation of 6,095 feet (1,858 metres) at Mount Silisili, a volcano at the island's approximate centre.
