Rabaul, Papua New Guinea

Much like Sakurajima, a city lies within kilometers of a very active volcano at Rabaul in Papua New Guinea. The Tavurvur cone of Rabaul is persistently producing steam-and-ash plumes with occasional larger explosions. However, the volcano will occasionally produce major eruptions like it did in 1937 and 1994. However, effective volcanic hazard mitigation and education in the region meant that the 1994 eruption, which produced a ~18 km (60,000 foot) ash plume and dropped multiple meters of ash on cities near Rabaul, did not have the high number of fatalities that were experienced during the eruptions from 1937-43. This EO-1 image taken August 6, 2013 shows the strong steam plume from Rabaul - a sign of the magma below the surface.

Image: NASA Earth Observatory.