Volcanoes have been a part of earth's history long before humans. Compare the history of human beings, a few million years in the making, to that of the Earth, over four billion years in the making.
Eruption Date Volume in km^3 -------- ---- -------------- Paricutin, M�xico 1943 1.3 Mt. Vesuvius, Italy 79 A.C. 3 Mount St. Helen, Washington 1980 4 Krakatoa, Indonesia 1883 18 Long Valley, California pre-historic 500 - 600 Yellowstone, Wyoming pre-historic 2400