Why humans choose to build homes on active volcanoes

Nature · Published 21 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In Iceland, 4,500 people live on an island born from volcanic fire just 12,000 years ago. Despite the risk of being swallowed by magma overnight, they stay. It is a profound study in how humanity chooses to coexist with—rather than conquer—the planet's most violent forces.

The Vestmann Islands off Iceland's southern coast represent some of the youngest land on Earth, formed from volcanic fire only 12,000 years ago. Among these 17 islands, Heimaey is the sole inhabited territory. The residents here live in a state of constant negotiation with geological instability; in 1973, a massive eruption buried half the island in a single night. While many fled, the community eventually returned, choosing to integrate volcanic activity into their daily existence rather than fleeing it permanently.

This coexistence is practical as well as cultural. On Heimaey, residents utilize the volcano's heat for baking bread and interpret weather patterns as a primary survival skill. This mirrors a broader global pattern where volcanic activity provides essential resources. For instance, in Italy, people live near Mt. Etna because its eruptions create some of the country's richest agricultural soil. Similarly, in Hawaii, the 2018 eruption of Kilauea—the most devastating in 200 years—enriched lava with nutrients that triggered giant phytoplankton blooms, fueling the marine food chain.

Beyond agriculture and survival, these sites serve as laboratories for understanding life's origins. Scientists like Dr. Jeffrey Marlow travel to the Marum crater in Vanuatu to search for extremophiles near boiling lava lakes. These microorganisms may provide clues about how life first emerged on Earth—potentially from volcanic water vapor rather than comets—and what life might look like elsewhere in the universe.

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