A day in the life

Volcano!

by T Whitaker

imagesOne of my favorite movies to watch to pass the time is Dante’s Peak with Pierce  Bronson.  It is a pretty good movie but I have to admit I watch it because of Bronson.  The other one with Bruce Willis is a better movie. Neither of them however can compare to the real deal.
The Calbuco Volcano in Chile has remained dormant for decades until it blew its top twice in the last twenty four hours. More than 4000 people were evacuated an the news reports that there were runs on the markets and the Bank ATMS.  This eruption took every one by surprise and, boy ,the movies can learn a thing or two about the special effects  from Mother Nature. Check out this time lapse video uploaded on You Tube

Here are some pictures of the volcano

Alex Vidal Brecas—EPA The Chilean Calbuco volcano seen from Puerto Montt, located 600 miles south of Santiago de Chile, Chile on April 22, 2015.
Alex Vidal Brecas—EPA The Chilean Calbuco volcano seen from Puerto Montt, located 600 miles south of Santiago de Chile, Chile on April 22, 2015.
View from Frutillar, southern Chile, showing volcanic lightnings and lava spewed from the Calbuco volcano on April 23, 2015.
View from Frutillar, southern Chile, showing volcanic lightnings and lava spewed from the Calbuco volcano on April 23, 2015.
View from Puerto Montt, southern Chile, of a high column of ash and lava spewing from the Calbuco volcano, on April 22, 2015. (Diego Main/AFP/Getty Images)
View from Puerto Montt, southern Chile, of a high column of ash and lava spewing from the Calbuco volcano, on April 22, 2015. (Diego Main/AFP/Getty Images)

The scary part is that according to the USGS:
“There are about 1500 potentially active volcanoes worldwide, aside from the continuous belt of volcanoes on the ocean floor. About 500 of these have erupted in historical time. Many of these are located along the Pacific Rim in what is known as the ‘Ring of Fire.'”
AND what should you do in the case of an Eruption, beside kiss your booty good bye? The California Seismic Safety  Commission has some pretty good ideas. Many of them are the same one would follow in an earthquake with the addition of what to do with ash fall.
http://www.seismic.ca.gov/VolcanoWhat2Do.html

Mauna Loa
Mauna Loa

I grew up in Hawaii where the largest active Volcano, Mauna Loa is located.  Honestly never gave it much, though, the eruptions. Lava did not seem to flow fast.I was young, and had  a bit of a so what attitude. After looking at this eruption in Peru  and surfing the net, though, I change my mind. Those Volcanoes are pretty nasty stuff, from spewing Hydrocholoric Acid into the air that helps thin  the Ozone Layer to the famous Mt. Vesuvius entombing the citizens of Pompeii in ashy graves.

At first it was thought that the inhabitant of Pompeii died slow deaths due to suffocation form the ash-filled air over several days or even weeks but The Garden of the Fugitives tells a different story. Hollow spaces were found in the hardened ash where bodies had once lain, the spaces were filled with plaster, leaving a plaster cast of the people in the exact moment they died.
At first it was thought that the inhabitant of Pompeii died slow deaths due to suffocation form the ash-filled air over several days or even weeks but The Garden of the Fugitives tells a different story. Hollow spaces were found in the hardened ash where bodies had once lain, the spaces were filled with plaster, leaving a plaster cast of the people in the exact moment they died.
facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us
PinterestSave