Parícutin emerged from a cornfield in Mexico in 1943 and grew rapidly.
On 20 February 1943, farmer Dionisio Pulido witnessed a fissure opening in his field near the village of Parícutin, in Michoacán. The volcano built a cinder cone from ash, scoria, and lava during an eruption that lasted until 1952.
Within its first year, the cone had risen hundreds of metres, and lava eventually buried the villages of Parícutin and San Juan Parangaricutiro. The church tower of San Juan Parangaricutiro remains a well-known feature in the hardened lava landscape.
Parícutin is notable because its birth was observed and documented from the beginning. It is often confused with Mexico’s much taller stratovolcanoes, including Popocatépetl and Pico de Orizaba.