Ash rises from Mount Awu after a volcanic eruption, Thursday, June 10, 2004, in Tahuna, Indonesia. 20,000 people have been evacuated from three regencies in the area. (AP Photo/Suzanne Plunkett)
Posted on 06/10/2004 7:17:15 AM PDT by NYer
TAHUNA, Indonesia - A volcano on a tropical island in northeastern Indonesia exploded in a major eruption Thursday, hurling stones and spewing smoke. Warnings of more blasts kept thousands of villagers away from their homes on the mountainside.
Vulcanologists have expected a big eruption of Mount Awu on Sangihe Island since last week, and the nearly 12,000 people living around the mountain had been evacuated to a nearby town. There were no reports of injuries in Thursday's blast.
"We cannot predict when it will end since many smaller blasts and aftershocks continue to occur," said Syamsul Rizal, the vulcanologist.
It was the second volcanic eruption in Indonesia this week. On Tuesday, two hikers were killed by an eruption of Mount Bromo, a volcano popular with tourists on the eastern end of Java island.
Thursday's explosion at Mount Awu, 1,350 miles northeast of Jakarta, threw up rocks near the volcano crater and spewed smoke 9,900 feet into the air, but there was no lava flow, Rizal said.
It was followed by several smaller blasts and aftershocks, and thick black smoke billowed from the crater for much of the day, witnesses said.
The island's airport was closed and authorities blocked roads leading to the mountain.
Authorities in recent days evacuated people living in a radius of four miles around Mount Awu. Evacuees were housed in the nearby town of Tahuna, in government offices and other public buildings.
A light coat of ash from the volcano — which lies just south of the Philippines' Mindanao Island — has covered local beaches and villages.
In August 1966, the 4,330-foot volcano erupted, killing 40 people. It last erupted in October 1992.
Tuesday's eruption on Mount Bromo also injured seven people who were hit by a shower of hot rocks expelled by the volcano, which also sent a plume of smoke 9,900 feet into the air, officials said.
There's more SO2 being expelled from these volcanoes than all the coal fired power plants in North America.
That might be a slight stretch.
"Volcanoes and other natural processes release approximately 24 Tg of sulfur to the atmosphere each year. Thus, volcanoes are responsible for 43% of the total natural S flux each year. Man's activities add about 79 Tg sulfur to the atmosphere each year. In an average year, volcanoes release only 13% of the sulfur added to the atmosphere compared to anthropogenic sources. Andres and Kasgnoc (1997) noted that the bulk of the anthropogenic flux is located in the northern hemisphere while volcanic fluxes occur in much more focused belts around the world."
Nice pictures! Where do you get them from?
Volcanic eruptions have been connected to the transit of Venus in the past.
Yahoo News.
Somehow this seems to be asking for trouble.
...volcano popular with tourists...
Somehow this seems to be asking for trouble.
I lived on the Big Island for a couple of years and yes it is very very fascinating. At least Kilauea was more docile.
Bush's fault...
you. beat. me. to. it.
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Ok but what percentage of world wide anthropogenic sources is due to sulfur from North American coal burning power plants ? My guess is that it is less than 13% with the bulk from diesel engines and other coal burning around the world. Especially since most US coal burning power plants have so2 scrubbers installed.
Hmm ... hope it puts enough dust in the air to cool the summer here a bit.
Muslims are such wonderful guests. I wonder we're Uncle Sam is going to put them now.
Environmental concerns dictate that we must use a nuclear weapon to seal it up so no more harmful greenhouse gases and particulate pollution will enter the atmosphere.
Indonesia just went over their allowable green house gas emissions!
That's a very good point. My point was directed at the comment that two modest* Indonesian volcanoes were contributing more SO2 to the atmosphere than all North American coal-fired power plants. Given the numbers shown, I still feel that's a bit of an overstatement.
* A major eruption like Pinatubo or El Chichon puts much more SO2 into the atmosphere, but (fortunately) they don't happen every year.
Man-made includes lots of sources besides coal fired power plants. Has anyone backed out the sulfur in gasoline, distillate and from oil refineries ? How about molten sulfur, etc ?
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