Paricutin Volcano

The volcano that grew in a farmer's cornfield/Natural Wonders

Paricutin is a cinder cone volcano in Michoacan, Mexico, notable as the only volcano whose birth was witnessed and documented from beginning to end. On February 20, 1943, farmer Dionisio Pulido watched a crack in his cornfield begin to emit ash and smoke. Within a week, the cone was 50 meters tall. Within a year, it reached 336 meters above the original ground level. The volcano was active for nine years until 1952, eventually burying the nearby villages of Paricutin and San Juan Parangaricutiro under lava and ash. Its peak now stands at 2,800 meters above sea level.