Posted on 12/09/2019 2:28:14 PM PST by Red Badger
WHAKATANE, New Zealand (Reuters) - New Zealand said on Tuesday that eight people were missing and presumed dead a day after a volcano erupted off the coast of New Zealand’s North Island, with at least five people confirmed dead and more than 30 injured.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told reporters that aerial reconnaissance flights did not show any signs of life on the volcanic White Island after the eruption that spewed a plume of ash thousands of feet (m) into the air.
“To those who have lost or are missing family and friends, we share in your unfathomable grief in this moment at time and in your sorrow,” she said at a news conference in Whakatane, a town near the tourist attraction.
New Zealanders and tourists from Australia, the United States, Britain, China and Malaysia were among the missing and injured, she said, without giving more details.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Someone suggesting a sacrifice to Pele?
Incinerated instantly
Sure they’ll be found. Just give it a few centuries. Archeologists will interpret their iPods in selfie pose as a religious ceremony to appease the angry volcano gods.
What happens is a pyroclasitic flow coming down from the volcano. It is a mix of ash and stones at extremely high temperature at very high velocity. Think of it as a river of heat combined with ash and stone and incinerating temperatures. Those in the direct flow were lucky. Their death was painful but quick. Those on edge may or not survive. Either way it will be brutal.
Just saw a video of a large crowd of people on the volcano crater floor minutes before it erupted 12,000 feet high. No hope for them.
May God give peace to their families.
I am pretty sure that last photo showed the people inside the volcano and not on the sides.
I know.
The most dangerous touristy thing I ever did was to take a boat ride on “The Maid of the Mist.”
That’s just the tip.
No Kidding. Our local news is asking why wasn’t the island shut down? Why were tours allowed? I ask, when does personal judgment enter the equation? As you said, it’s a live volcano. I think the same thing with the people that take kayaks out to see whales or glaciers and act surprised when a whale or break off from the glacier kills them. Same thing for the knuckleheads who go in a cage to see sharks or swim with them.
I climbed Mount St Helens 5 years after the blast. You never saw such desolation. Inch tall trees that would be buried by the wind, a few grasshoppers blown in by the wind, and some spiders.
It’s sad. Perhaps people assume that because something is allowed/legal it must be relatively safe.
Anything from live volcanoes to the blue frosted “food” at Wally World.
For all of the overt evil that is done on this planet without any apparent justice, this kind of loss is truly unfortunate. :(
RIP.
I wonder how Hank Johnson would explain a volcanic island.
What was the last thing that went through their heads ?
You would think the local guides taking people over in boats or helicopters would stop going for fear of their own lives.
At those other headlines I thought What active/live volcano ???...there are none in NZ...this is White Island miles from the mainland..
Auckland is built on an extinct volcano... Banks Peninsular (Christchurch) has an extinct volcano and there are others...
But I didn’t know NZ claimed any live ones...
Their toes?
Pumice...
During the St Helen’s eruption and pyro-clastic flow it is estimated that the velocities where 670 miles an hour or greater. It could have been supersonic. At Johnson ridge some miles from the volcano I have seen pine trees two and three feet in diameter broken off a foot or two above the ground. The tree itself was no where near. It was just gone.
At Johnson Ridge now is a great site for the public complete with Geologic exhibits and video displays explaining what happened. It is well worth the nominal price to see.
It is called Johnson Ridge in memory of a geologist that was studying the potential eruption of Mount St. Helens. When St. Helens erupted he reported. He was miles away and thought safe. The side of the volcano blew out directly at him. When the pyroclastic flow headed his way he knew he was a dead man. His body was never found. In all probability it was totally incinerated. He was hit by wind and volcanic debris and great temperature at velocities of several hundred miles an hour. It was quick.
Johnson Ridge is an appropriate name for this site.
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