Although it may seem that a volcano can bring only loss and destruction, a volcano can do many good things.
After the Heimaey incident, the residents embraced the volcano as an asset.
"The residents returned to an island that was 20% larger, had a more sheltered port and a landscape now graced with a pair of volcanoes. With most of the 2 million cubic yards of volcanic debris that littered the streets, they lengthened the airport runway... for the next 10 years, an automatic system that watered the still-smoldering lava provided heat for all the homes on Heimaey" (Tamers, 3).
On the islands in the ring of fire, volcanoes have enriched the soil so much that wooden fences that are put in the ground often sprout leaves and braches within a few years. Volcanoes that started on the ocean seafloor made many of the Pacific islands. Each time they erupted the lava piled up and eventually broke the surface of the ocean.
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