Tag: volcano

Calendar: May 21

 

A Year: Day to Day Men: 21st of May

Opposites: Torrid and Frigid

May 21, 1792 is the date of Japan’s Mount Unzen’s deadliest volcanic eruption.

Mount Unzen consists of a group of composite volcanic domes located on Japan’s Shimabara Peninsula east of Nagasaki. This area has seen extensive volcanism over millions of years. The oldest volcanic deposits in the region date from over 6 million years ago, and extensive eruptions occurred over the whole peninsula between 2.5 and 0.5 million years ago.

Unzen’s deadliest recorded eruption occurred on May 21 in 1792, with a large igneous rock lava flow coming from the Fugen-dake dome. The east flank of the Mayu-yama dome collapsed unexpectedly following a post-eruption earthquake, creating a landslide into Ariake Bay. This caused a mega-tsunami that reached a height of 330 feet. The wave surge devastated nearby areas, causing further widespread damage and death. Most of the estimated 15,000 deaths caused by the event are believed to have resulted from the landslide and the tsunami. The scar created from the Mayuyama landslide remains visible today.

After 1792, the volcano remained dormant until November 1989 when an earthquake swarm, a series of earthquakes in a short time, began about 12 miles underneath and 6 miles west of the Fugen-dake dome. Over the following year, earthquakes continued, their hypo-centers gradually migrating towards the summit. The first steam blast eruptions began in November 1990, and after inflation of the summit area, fresh lava began to emerge on May 20, 1991.

The threat of further disastrous events prompted authorities to evacuate 12,000 residents from their homes. On June 3, 1991, the volcano erupted violently, possibly as a result of depressurization of the magma column after a landslide in the crater. A pyroclastic flow triggered by the collapse of a lava dome reached 3 miles from the crater and claimed the lives of 43 scientists and journalists, including volcanologist Katia and Maurice Krafft and Harry Glicken.

From 1993 onward, the rate of lava effusion gradually decreased, and eruptions came to an end in 1995. Since then heavy rains have frequently caused pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water to flow down the slopes. Dikes have been constructed in several river valleys to channel the lava flows away from vulnerable areas.

Anak  Krakatau

Anak  Krakatau

Anak Krakatau has grown at an average rate of five inches (13 cm) per week since the 1950s. This equates to an average growth of 6.8 meters per year. The island is still active, with its most recent eruptive episode having begun in 1994. Quiet periods of a few days have alternated with almost continuous Strombolian eruptions since then.

Hot gases, rocks, and lava were released in an eruption in April 2008. Scientists monitoring the volcano have warned people to stay out of a 3 km zone around the island. Several videos of Krakatoa on YouTube show recent footage of eruptions and of the inside of the crater as seen from the rim of the volcano.

On 6 May 2009 the Volcanological Survey of Indonesia raised the eruption alert status of Anak Krakatau to Level III. A Level Three alert signifies an increasing tendency toward eruption, relatively high unrest, and magna close to the crater. A recent expedition to the volcano has revealed that a 100-meter (328-foot)-wide lava dome is growing in its crater. The dome has two active vents that eject incandescent gas.

Volcanic Crevasse

Photographer Unknown, Volcanic Crevasse at Grimsvotn, Iceland

Grímsvötn is a volcano in South-East Iceland. It is in the highlands of Iceland at the northwestern side of the Vatnajökull ice-cap.

Grímsvötn is a basaltic volcano which has the highest eruption frequency of all the volcanoes in Iceland and has a southwest-northeast-trending fissure system. The massive climate-impacting Lake fissure eruption of 1783–1784 was a part of the same fissure system. Grímsvötn was erupting at the same time as Laki during 1783, but continued to erupt until 1785. Because most of the volcano lies underneath Vatnajökull, most of its eruptions have been subglacial and the interaction of magma and meltwater from the ice causes phreatomagmaticexplosive activity.

Grimsvotn erupted again on 21 May 2011 with 12 kilometer high plumes accompanied by multiple earthquakes. This forced the cancelation of nine hundred flights in Iceland, the United Kingdom, Greenland, Germany, Ireland and Norway on the 22-25 May.

Sergio Velasco Garcia

Sergio Velasco Garcia, “Colima Volcano Explosion”,

This photo won third prize in the Nature category of the 2016 World Press Photo Contest.

The Colima Volcano in Mexico shows a powerful night explosion with lightning and some incandescent rockfalls. The photo was taken on December 13, at a distance of 12.5 kilometers away from the crater near a lagoon named Carrizalillos on Comala Municipality. This particular bolt of lightning is more than 600 meters tall, lighting details of the south portion of volcano in this 8 second exposure.

Kaleo, “Way Down We Go”, Live

Kaleois an Icelandic rock band that formed at Mosfellsbaer in 2012. It consists of lead vocalist and guitarist JJ Julius Son (Jökull Júlíusson), drummer David Antonsson, bassist Daniel Kristjansson, and lead guitarist Rubin Pollock. They have released two studio albums, “Kaleo” in 2013 and “A/B” in 2016, as well as an EP “Glasshouse” in 2013.. “A/B“ has sold over one million albums worldwide. 

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)