 |
| Photo taken December, 2012 from Shiroyama |
Should we be worried, living in the shadow of this active volcano? Will we suffer the same fate as the Pompeians?
 |
| Casts of corpses found in Pompeii's Garden of the Fugitives* |
"Have you ever seen a big eruption?" I asked.
"Oh, yes!" one bright woman piped up. "Once at night there was a big explosion and we saw red lava shoot up into the sky. It was beautiful!"
Far less beautiful is what we can face on a daily basis: ash.
Like snow, but gray.
Worse than ash is black ashy rain. Everything outside turns black. One morning, before driving Son #4 to school, I hosed off my car, dodging the splashing water and trying not to step in the ash/mud puddles. After dropping him off, I saw another eruption in the distance. Back home and safely indoors, more black rain fell. My car was black again. Clean rain would have been nice.
Another day, on my way home from running at the countryside sports park, I noticed a huge cloud of ash in the far distance. As I drove, I kept an eye on it. Within five minutes it had spread across the sky and more ash was billowing upwards - it didn't stop for the twenty minutes I watched. Undeniably, watching a volcano erupt is awesome.
Not long after, the local news reported on an emergency drill held that day for the people of Sakurajima. They had enacted what they would need to do if an eruption such as the one in 1914 occurred (which is what is being predicted). People, wearing helmets and masks, were evacuated from Sakurajima over to the city by ferry. Then a drill was held as to what to do during a tsunami - which would conceivably follow an eruption and its accompanying earthquakes.
As of today, February 5, 2017, Sakurajima has has not erupted since July 28, 2016. Lava is pooling underground to the north of us, building up pressure that will eventually force its way under the bay and out of the active southern vent. Volcanologists have raised the alert to level 3.
Level 1: Potential for increased activity
Level 2: Do not approach the crater
Level 3: Do not approach the volcano
Level 4: Prepare to evacuate
Level 5: Evacuate.
How long will that pressure cooker hold out?
* By Lancevortex - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
Far less beautiful is what we can face on a daily basis: ash.
Like snow, but gray.
 |
| July 30, 2012, five days after an eruption. Note the sky. This is a color photo. |
Another day, on my way home from running at the countryside sports park, I noticed a huge cloud of ash in the far distance. As I drove, I kept an eye on it. Within five minutes it had spread across the sky and more ash was billowing upwards - it didn't stop for the twenty minutes I watched. Undeniably, watching a volcano erupt is awesome.
Not long after, the local news reported on an emergency drill held that day for the people of Sakurajima. They had enacted what they would need to do if an eruption such as the one in 1914 occurred (which is what is being predicted). People, wearing helmets and masks, were evacuated from Sakurajima over to the city by ferry. Then a drill was held as to what to do during a tsunami - which would conceivably follow an eruption and its accompanying earthquakes.
As of today, February 5, 2017, Sakurajima has has not erupted since July 28, 2016. Lava is pooling underground to the north of us, building up pressure that will eventually force its way under the bay and out of the active southern vent. Volcanologists have raised the alert to level 3.
Level 1: Potential for increased activity
Level 2: Do not approach the crater
Level 3: Do not approach the volcano
Level 4: Prepare to evacuate
Level 5: Evacuate.
How long will that pressure cooker hold out?
 |
| Ash cloud filling the sky. |
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47499
No comments:
Post a Comment