Paricutin is the most recent volcano to form in the Western Hemisphere. It stands near the city of Uruapan in southwestern Mexico. It was named for the village of Paricutin, which was destroyed by the volcano.
The volcano appeared in a cornfield on Feb. 20, 1943, from a crack in the earth. Volcanic material began to erupt from the crack and formed a cone around the opening in the earth. By the end of one week, the cone stood about 450 feet high. In two months, it reached about 1,000 feet.
Paricutin's lava destroyed the villages of Paricutin and San Juan Parangaricutiru and damaged nine other villages. The volcano also turned a large area of farmland and forests into wasteland before it appeared to cease activity in 1952.
Today, Paricutin stands 1,345 feet above its base and 9,213 feet above sea level. Lava from Paricutin covers about 9 square miles , and volcanic ash and sand extend over 19 square miles. Paricutin, like many other volcanoes in southern Mexico, is part of the Volcanic Axis, also called the Transversal. The Volcanic Axis is a line of volcanoes that extends across Mexico in an east-west direction.