August 24-25, 79 AD an eruption occurred that was considered extinct Mount Vesuvius, located on the shores of the Gulf of Naples, 16 kilometers east of Naples (Italy). The eruption led to the death of four Roman cities - Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontius, Stabia - and several small villages and villas. Pompeii, located 9.5 kilometers from the crater of Vesuvius and 4.5 kilometers from the base of the volcano, was covered with a layer of very small pieces of pumice about 5-7 meters thick and covered with a layer of volcanic ash. With the onset of night, lava flowed from the side of Vesuvius, everywhere fires started, the ashes made it hard to breathe. On August 25, along with the earthquake, a tsunami began, the sea receded from the coast, and a black thundercloud hung over Pompeii and the surrounding cities, hiding Cape Mizensky and the island of Capri. Most of the population of Pompeii was able to escape, but about two thousand people died from poisonous sulfurous gases on the streets and in the houses of the city. Among the victims was the Roman writer and scholar Pliny the Elder. Herculaneum, located seven kilometers from the crater of the volcano and about two kilometers from its sole, was covered with a layer of volcanic ash, the temperature of which was so high that all wooden objects were completely charred. The ruins of Pompeii were accidentally discovered back in late XVI century, but systematic excavations began only in 1748 and continue to this day, along with reconstruction and restoration.
March 11, 1669 there was an eruption Mount Etna in Sicily, which lasted until July of that year (according to other sources, until November 1669). The eruption was accompanied by numerous earthquakes. Lava fountains along this crack gradually shifted downward, and the largest cone formed near the city of Nikolosi. This cone is known as Monti Rossi (Red Mountain) and is still clearly visible on the slope of the volcano. Nicolosi and two nearby villages were destroyed on the first day of the eruption. In another three days, the lava flowing down the slope to the south destroyed four more villages. At the end of March, two larger cities were destroyed, and in early April, lava flows reached the outskirts of Catania. Lava began to accumulate under the fortress walls. Part of it flowed into the harbor and filled it. On April 30, 1669, lava flowed over the upper part of the fortress walls. The townspeople built additional walls across the main roads. This made it possible to stop the progress of the lava, but the western part of the city was destroyed. The total volume of this eruption is estimated at 830 million cubic meters. Lava flows burned 15 villages and part of the city of Catania, completely changing the configuration of the coast. According to some sources, 20 thousand people, according to others - from 60 to 100 thousand.
October 23, 1766 on the island of Luzon (Philippines) began to erupt mayon volcano. Dozens of villages were swept away, incinerated by a huge lava flow (30 meters wide), which descended for two days eastern slopes. Following the initial explosion and lava flow, the Mayon volcano continued to erupt for another four days, ejecting a large number of steam and watery mud. Greyish-brown rivers, 25 to 60 meters wide, crashed down the slopes of the mountain in a radius of up to 30 kilometers. They completely swept away roads, animals, villages with people (Daraga, Kamalig, Tobako) on their way. More than 2,000 residents died during the eruption. Basically, they were swallowed up by the first lava flow or secondary mud avalanches. For two months, the mountain spewed ash, poured lava into the surrounding area.
April 5-7, 1815 there was an eruption Volcano Tambora on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa. Ashes, sand and volcanic dust were thrown into the air to a height of 43 kilometers. Stones up to five kilograms in weight scattered over a distance of up to 40 kilometers. The Tambora eruption affected the islands of Sumbawa, Lombok, Bali, Madura and Java. Subsequently, under a three-meter layer of ash, scientists found traces of the fallen kingdoms of Pekat, Sangar and Tambora. Simultaneously with the volcanic eruption, a huge tsunami 3.5-9 meters high was formed. Receding from the island, the water hit the neighboring islands and drowned hundreds of people. Directly during the eruption, about 10 thousand people died. At least 82 thousand more people died from the consequences of the catastrophe - hunger or disease. Ashes that covered Sumbawa with a shroud destroyed the entire crop and covered the irrigation system; acid rain poisoned the water. For three years after Tambora's eruption, a veil of dust and ash particles enveloped the entire globe, reflecting part of the sun's rays and cooling the planet. The following year, 1816, Europeans felt the effects of a volcanic eruption. He entered the annals of history as "a year without a summer". The average temperature in the Northern Hemisphere has fallen by about one degree, and in some areas even by 3-5 degrees. Large areas of crops suffered from spring and summer frosts on the soil, and famine began in many territories.
August 26-27, 1883 there was an eruption Krakatoa volcano located in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra. From the tremors on the nearby islands, houses collapsed. On August 27, at about 10 am, there was a giant explosion, an hour later - a second explosion of the same force. More than 18 cubic kilometers of rock fragments and ash shot up into the atmosphere. The tsunami waves caused by the explosions instantly swallowed up cities, villages, forests on the coast of Java and Sumatra. Many islands disappeared under water along with the population. The tsunami was so powerful that it bypassed almost the entire planet. In total, 295 cities and villages were swept off the face of the earth on the coasts of Java and Sumatra, more than 36 thousand people died, hundreds of thousands were left homeless. The shores of Sumatra and Java have changed beyond recognition. On the coast of the Sunda Strait, fertile soil was washed away down to the rocky base. Only a third of the island of Krakatoa survived. In terms of the amount of water and rock displaced, the energy of the Krakatoa eruption is equivalent to the explosion of several hydrogen bombs. The strange glow and optical phenomena persisted for several months after the eruption. In some places above the Earth, the sun seemed blue and the moon bright green. And the movement in the atmosphere of dust particles thrown out by the eruption allowed scientists to establish the presence of a "jet" flow.
May 8, 1902 Mont Pelee volcano, located on Martinique, one of the islands of the Caribbean, literally exploded into pieces - four strong explosions sounded like cannon shots. They threw out a black cloud from the main crater, which was pierced by flashes of lightning. Since the emissions did not go through the top of the volcano, but through side craters, then all volcanic eruptions of this type have since been called "Peleian". Superheated volcanic gas, due to its high density and moving at a high speed above the earth itself, penetrated into all the cracks. A huge cloud covered the area of complete destruction. The second zone of destruction stretched for another 60 square kilometers. This cloud, formed from super-hot steam and gases, weighed down by billions of particles of incandescent ash, moving at a speed sufficient to carry rock fragments and volcanic eruptions, had a temperature of 700-980 ° C and was able to melt glass. Mont Pele erupted again - on May 20, 1902 - with almost the same force as on May 8. The volcano Mont-Pele, having scattered to pieces, destroyed one of the main ports of Martinique, Saint-Pierre, along with its population. 36 thousand people died instantly, hundreds of people died from side effects. The two survivors have become celebrities. Shoemaker Leon Comper Leander managed to escape within the walls of his own house. He miraculously survived, although he received severe burns to his legs. Louis Auguste Cypress, nicknamed Samson, was in a prison cell during the eruption and sat there for four days, despite severe burns. After being rescued, he was pardoned, soon he was hired by the circus and was shown during performances as the only surviving resident of Saint-Pierre.
June 1, 1912 eruption began Katmai volcano in Alaska, for a long time was in a state of rest. On June 4, ash material was thrown out, which, mixed with water, formed mud flows, on June 6 there was an explosion of colossal force, the sound of which was heard in Juneau for 1200 kilometers and in Dawson for 1040 kilometers from the volcano. Two hours later there was a second explosion of great force, and in the evening a third. Then, for several days, an eruption of a colossal amount of gases and solid products went on almost continuously. During the eruption, about 20 cubic kilometers of ash and debris escaped from the mouth of the volcano. The deposition of this material formed a layer of ash from 25 centimeters to 3 meters thick, and much more near the volcano. The amount of ash was so great that for 60 hours there was complete darkness around the volcano at a distance of 160 kilometers. On June 11, volcanic dust fell in Vancouver and Victoria at a distance of 2200 km from the volcano. In the upper atmosphere, it spread throughout North America and fell in large quantities in the Pacific Ocean. whole year small particles of ash moved in the atmosphere. Summer on the entire planet turned out to be much colder than usual, since more than a quarter of the sun's rays falling on the planet were retained in the ashy curtain. In addition, in 1912 surprisingly beautiful scarlet dawns were observed everywhere. A lake with a diameter of 1.5 kilometers formed on the site of the crater - the main attraction of the Katmai National Park and Reserve, formed in 1980.
December 13-28, 1931 there was an eruption volcano Merapi on the island of Java in Indonesia. For two weeks, from December 13 to 28, the volcano erupted a lava flow about seven kilometers long, up to 180 meters wide and up to 30 meters deep. The white-hot stream burned the earth, burned the trees and destroyed all the villages in its path. In addition, both sides of the volcano exploded, and the erupted volcanic ash covered half of the island of the same name. During this eruption, 1,300 people died. The eruption of Mount Merapi in 1931 was the most destructive, but far from the last.
In 1976, a volcanic eruption killed 28 people and destroyed 300 houses. Significant morphological changes taking place in the volcano caused another disaster. In 1994, the dome that had formed in previous years collapsed, and the resulting massive release of pyroclastic material forced the local population to leave their villages. 43 people died.
In 2010, the number of victims from the central part of the Indonesian island of Java was 304 people. The death toll included those who died from exacerbations of lung and heart diseases and other chronic diseases caused by ash emissions, as well as those who died from injuries.
November 12, 1985 eruption began Volcano Ruiz in Colombia, which was considered extinct. On November 13, several explosions were heard one after another. The power of the strongest explosion, according to experts, was about 10 megatons. A column of ash and rock fragments rose into the sky to a height of eight kilometers. The eruption that began caused the instantaneous melting of vast glaciers and eternal snows lying on the top of the volcano. Main blow fell on the city of Armero located 50 kilometers from the mountain, which was destroyed in 10 minutes. Of the 28.7 thousand inhabitants of the city, 21 thousand died. Not only Armero was destroyed, but also a number of villages. Such settlements as Chinchino, Libano, Murillo, Casabianca and others were badly affected by the eruption. Mudflows damaged oil pipelines, fuel supply to the southern and western parts of the country was cut off. As a result of the sudden melting of snow lying in the mountains of Nevado Ruiz, nearby rivers burst their banks. Powerful streams of water washed away roads, demolished power lines and telephone poles, destroyed bridges. According to the official statement of the Colombian government, as a result of the eruption of the Ruiz volcano, 23 thousand people died and went missing, about five thousand were seriously injured and maimed. About 4,500 residential buildings and administrative buildings were completely destroyed. Tens of thousands of people were left homeless and without any means of subsistence. The Colombian economy has suffered significant damage.
June 10-15, 1991 there was an eruption Mount Pinatubo on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The eruption began quite rapidly and was unexpected, as the volcano came into a state of activity after more than six centuries of dormancy. On June 12, the volcano exploded, sending a mushroom cloud into the sky. Streams of gas, ash and rocks melted to a temperature of 980 ° C poured down the slopes at a speed of up to 100 kilometers per hour. For many kilometers around, all the way to Manila, day turned into night. And the cloud and the ash falling from it reached Singapore, which is 2.4 thousand kilometers away from the volcano. On the night of June 12 and the morning of June 13, the volcano erupted again, throwing ash and flame into the air for 24 kilometers. The volcano continued to erupt on June 15 and 16. Mud streams and water washed away houses. As a result of numerous eruptions, about 200 people died and 100 thousand were left homeless
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
In fact, volcanoes have shaped the face of the Earth for millions of years. Here are the most serious volcano-related disasters in human history.
№8 . Experts believe that the largest volcanic eruption that occurred at the dawn of mankind happened in Sumatra: a volcano Toba erupted 71,000 years ago. Then about 2800 cubic meters were thrown into the atmosphere. km of ash, which could reduce the human population worldwide to just 10,000 people.
№7. erupting volcano El Chichon It was not particularly large (5 on the VEI scale), with a maximum height of the eruptive column of 29 km. But there was a lot of sulfur in the cloud. In less than one month it circled the globe, but half a year passed before it spread to 30°N. ts, practically not spreading to the Southern Hemisphere. Samples collected by aircraft and balloons showed that the cloud particles were mostly tiny glass beads coated with sulfuric acid. Gradually sticking together, they quickly settled on the ground, and after a year the mass of the remaining cloud was reduced to about Oz from the original. The absorption of sunlight by cloud particles warmed the equatorial stratosphere by 4° in June 1982, but at ground level in the Northern Hemisphere the temperature dropped by 0.4°.
№6. Lucky , volcano in Iceland. Laki is a chain of more than 110-115 craters up to 818 m high, stretching for 25 km, centered on the Grímsvotn volcano and including the Eldgja canyon and the Katla volcano. In 1783-1784, a powerful (6 points on the eruption scale) fissure eruption occurred on Laki and the neighboring Grimsvotn volcano, with the release of about 15 km³ of basaltic lava within 8 months. The length of the lava flow that poured out of the 25-kilometer crack exceeded 130 km, and the area filled by it was 565 km². Clouds of poisonous fluorine and sulfur dioxide compounds rose into the air, killing more than 50% of Iceland's livestock; volcanic ash partially or completely covered pastures in most of the island. Huge masses of ice, melted by lava, led to large-scale floods. Famine began, resulting in the death of approximately 10 thousand people, or 20% of the country's population. This eruption is considered one of the most destructive in the last millennium and the largest lava eruption in history. Fine ash erupted by the volcano was present in the second half of 1783 over most of the territory of Eurasia. The decrease in temperature in the northern hemisphere caused by the eruption led in 1784 to crop failure and famine in Europe.
№5. atrocities Vesuvius, perhaps the most famous eruption in the world. Vesuvius (Italian Vesuvio, Neap. Vesuvio) is an active volcano in southern Italy, about 15 km from Naples. Located on the coast of the Gulf of Naples in the province of Naples, Campania region. Included in the Apennine mountain system, has a height of 1281 m.
The disaster claimed the lives of 10,000 people and destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
№4 . 1883 happened catastrophic eruption volcano Krakatoa, which destroyed most of the island of the same name.
The eruption began in May. Until the end of August, a significant amount of rock was carried out by explosions, which led to the devastation of the "underground chamber" under Krakatoa. The last powerful explosion of the pre-climax occurred at dawn on August 27. The ash column reached a height of 30 km. August 28 most of the islands, under their own weight and the pressure of the water column, collapsed into voids below sea level, dragging along a huge mass ocean water, whose contact with magma caused the strongest hydromagmatic explosion.
A significant part of the volcanic structure scattered within a radius of up to 500 km. Such a range of expansion was ensured by the rise of magma and rocks into the rarefied layers of the atmosphere, to a height of up to 55 km. The gas-ash column rose into the mesosphere, to a height of over 70 km. Ash fall occurred in the eastern Indian Ocean over an area of over 4 million km². The volume of material ejected by the explosion was about 18 km³. The force of the explosion (6 points on the eruption scale), according to geologists, was at least 200 thousand times greater than the force of the explosion that destroyed Hiroshima.
The roar of the explosion was clearly audible within a radius of 4,000 km. On the coast of Sumatra and Java, the noise level, according to scientists, reached 180 decibels or more.
A significant amount of volcanic ash remained in the atmosphere at altitudes up to 80 km for several years and caused intense coloration of dawns.
Tsunamis up to 30 meters high caused the death of about 36 thousand people on neighboring islands, 295 cities and villages were washed into the sea. Many of them, before the tsunami approach, were probably destroyed by an air wave that toppled the equatorial forests on the coast of the Sunda Strait and tore roofs from houses and doors from hinges in Jakarta at a distance of 150 km from the crash site. The atmosphere of the entire Earth was perturbed by the explosion for several days. The air wave went around the Earth according to various sources from 7 to 11 times.
№3 . For a long time people considered the Colombian volca Ruiz If not extinct, then at least dormant. They had reasons for this: last time this volcano erupted in 1595, and then for almost five centuries did not show signs of activity.
The first signs of the awakening of Ruiz became noticeable on November 12, 1985, when ash began to erupt from the crater. At 9 pm on November 13, several explosions thundered, and a full-scale eruption began. The height of the column of smoke and rock fragments thrown out by explosions reached 8 meters. Due to the outpouring of lava and the release of hot gases, the temperature increased, as a result of which the snow and ice covering the volcano melted. Late in the evening, the mudflow reached the city of Armero located 40 kilometers from the volcano and actually wiped it off the face of the earth. Several surrounding villages were also destroyed. Oil pipelines and power lines were damaged, bridges were destroyed. Communication with the affected area was interrupted due to broken telephone lines and erosion of roads.
According to official figures from the Colombian government, about 23,000 people died or went missing as a result of the eruption, and another 5,000 were seriously injured and maimed. Tens of thousands of Colombians lost their homes and property. Coffee plantations were seriously damaged by the eruption: not only the coffee trees themselves were destroyed, but also a significant part of the already harvested crop. The Colombian economy has suffered significant damage.
№2. Mont Pelee . This eruption, which occurred in 1902 on the island of Martinique, became the strongest in the 20th century. Residents of the city of Saint-Pierre, located in Martinique, located just 8 kilometers from the Mont Pele volcano, are accustomed to considering this mountain a peaceful neighbor. And, since last eruption this volcano, which happened in 1851, was very weak, they did not special attention to the tremors and rumble that began at the end of April 1902. By May, the activity of the volcano intensified, and on May 8, one of the worst natural disasters of the 20th century broke out.
Around 8 o'clock in the morning began the eruption of Mont Pele. A cloud of ash and stones was thrown into the air, and a stream of lava rushed towards the city. However, the most terrible were not ash and lava, but hot volcanic gases, with great speed swept through St. Pierre, causing fires. Desperate people tried to escape on ships standing in the port, but only the steamer Roddan managed to go to sea. Unfortunately, almost all of its crew and passengers died due to burns, only the captain and engineer survived.
As a result of the volcanic eruption, the city of Saint-Pierre was almost completely destroyed, and all the people and animals that were in it died. The eruption of Mont Pele claimed the lives of more than 30 thousand people; of the inhabitants of the city, only the criminal who was in the underground prison could remain alive.
Currently, Saint-Pierre has been partially restored, and a museum of volcanology has been built at the foot of Mont Pele.
№1 Tambora
The first signs of the awakening of the volcano became noticeable as early as 1812, when the first jets of smoke appeared above the top of Tambora. Gradually, the amount of smoke increased, it became denser and darker. April 5, 1815 there was a strong explosion, and an eruption began. The noise produced by the volcano was so strong that it was heard even 1,400 kilometers from the scene. The tons of sand and volcanic dust thrown out by Tambora covered the entire area with a thick layer within a radius of one hundred kilometers. Under the weight of ash, residential buildings collapsed not only on the island of Sumbawa, but also on neighboring islands. Ashes even reached the island of Borneo, located 750 kilometers from Tambora. The amount of smoke and dust in the air was so great that within a radius of 500 kilometers from the volcano it was night for three days. According to eyewitnesses, they saw nothing further than their own hand.
This terrible eruption, which lasted about 10 days, according to the most conservative estimates, claimed the lives of 50 thousand people. There are data according to which the death toll exceeded 90 thousand. Almost the entire population of Sumbawa was destroyed, and the inhabitants of neighboring islands suffered severely both from the ejection of ash and huge stones, and from starvation, which was the result of the destruction of fields and livestock.
Due to the eruption of Tambora, a huge amount of ash and dust accumulated in the Earth's atmosphere, and this had a significant impact on the climate of the entire planet. The year 1816 went down in history as "the year without a summer". Due to the unusually low temperatures in east coast North America and Europe experienced crop failures and famine this year. In some countries, the snow stayed for most of the summer, and in New York and the northeastern United States, the thickness of the snow cover reached a meter. The effect of this volcanic winter gives an idea of one of the consequences of a possible nuclear war— nuclear winter.
Volcanic eruptions
Scientists believe that in the second stage of the formation process earth's crust The surface of our planet was completely covered with volcanoes. But those volcanoes that can be seen now are not related to this distant period. They were formed not so long ago, in the Quaternary period, that is, on last step geological history that continues to this day.
According to the definition, a volcano (from the Latin vulcanus - fire, flame) is a geological formation that occurs above channels and cracks in the earth's crust, through which hot lava, ash, hot gases, water vapor and rock fragments rise to the earth's surface during a volcanic eruption. . Today, scientists have not come to a consensus on the structure of the mechanism that causes volcanoes to erupt, the nature of underground energy, and also about other problems related to volcanic activity. Much remains unclear here, apparently, it will take a long time before a person can say that he knows everything about the driving forces of volcanic eruptions.
A modern take on what is life cycle volcanoes, that is. In the very depths of the earth's bowels, huge strata of overlying rocks press on hot rocks. According to physical laws, the stronger the pressure, the higher the boiling point of the substance, so magma, located far from earth's surface, is in a solid state.
However, if you release the pressure on it, it will become fluid. Where the earth's crust is stretched or compressed, the pressure exerted by the rocks on the magma drops and a zone of partial melting is formed. There are such zones in hot spots, which are discussed in more detail below. Semi-molten rock, which has a lower density than the surrounding solid matter, begins to rise to the surface, forming giant drops - diapirs. The diapira slowly goes up, while the pressure on it decreases, and, as a result, everything more substance in a giant drop goes into a molten state. Having risen to a certain depth, the diapira becomes a magma chamber, or in other words, a magma chamber, which serves as a direct source of volcanic activity. The molten rock may not erupt immediately, but remain inside the earth's crust. It will cool, and in this case, the process of separation of the magmatic substance into layers will occur: denser substances will solidify first and settle to the bottom of the chamber. The process will continue and the upper part of the reservoir will be occupied by light minerals and dissolved gases. All this will be in equilibrium for some time. As the gases separate from the molten substance, the pressure in the magma chamber will increase. At a certain point, it can go beyond the strength of the overlying rocks, then the magma can make its way and come to the surface. This exit will be accompanied by an eruption. Sometimes water can get into the hearth, and a huge amount of water vapor is formed and a powerful volcanic explosion will inevitably sound. If a new portion of magma suddenly enters the chamber, then the settled layers will mix and a rapid process of release of light components will occur, which will cause a sharp increase in intra-chamber pressure. An eruption can be the result of tectonic processes - such as an earthquake, because in this case cracks can form that open the magma chamber, the pressure inside it immediately drops, the contents of the chamber rushes up.
The magma chamber is connected to the Earth's surface by a channel. It goes through processes similar to what happens when we open a bottle of champagne. Everyone probably knows how it happens: gas comes out of a bottle under high pressure, knocks out the cork, there is a bang, and jets of carbonated drink fly to the ceiling. But magma is denser than champagne, a substance with a high viscosity, therefore gases make it not only foam, but also break, throwing it out in shreds.
The lava flowing out to the surface, solidifying, forms a cone-shaped mountain, which is also composed of rock fragments and ash. However, volcanic mountains do not grow indefinitely. Along with the process of elevation, from time to time a phenomenon is observed that destroys the top of the volcano, the collapse of the cone and the formation of a caldera - a cauldron-shaped depression with round slopes and a flat bottom. Caldera- spanish word literally meaning "big cauldron". The mechanism for the emergence of the caldera is as follows: when the volcano throws everything out of the magma reservoir located directly under the top, it turns out to be devastated, and the walls of the crater lose their internal support, then they collapse and a giant pit is formed. Calderas can be truly enormous, for example, the entire Yellowstone National Park is a caldera. It happens that the caldera is filled with water and a large crater lake is formed. An example is Crater Lake in Oregon, which is the caldera of a volcano that erupted about 7,000 years ago. Quite often it happens that a dome begins to grow again inside the caldera, which means that a new cycle of active life begins near the volcano.
Here is how E. Markhinin, Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, describes his feelings from meeting face to face with an active volcano: ... We see at the bottom of the crater two black, like heaps of coal, cinder cones several tens of meters high. In the center of the cone, small round fiery yellow holes gape, from which streams of red-hot slag and volcanic bombs burst out every now and then ... Many bombs fly to a height of more than three hundred meters.
Explosions shake the body of the volcano... complete darkness in the eastern part huge crater a long streak of fire glows. This is a lava flow ... We can freely and for a long time look into the very mouth of erupting craters, which few people have been lucky enough to do.”
Scholars have identified several various types volcanic eruptions:
1. plinian type - viscous lava, with high content gases, it is hardly squeezed out of the vent. At the same time, gas accumulates and explodes - huge masses of ash and volcanic bombs fly up many kilometers high, so a giant black column of ash and gases, called the Plinian column, appears at the top. The eruption of Vesuvius is a typical example of this kind of natural disaster.
2. Peleian type - lava is very viscous. It practically clogs the vent, blocking the way upward for volcanic gases. Mixed with hot ash, they find their way to freedom elsewhere, making a breach in the side of the mountain. It is this type of eruptions that generates terrible scorching clouds, consisting of hot gas and ash. by the most best example this type of eruptions can serve as a volcano Mont Pele.
3. Icelandic type - the eruption occurs along the cracks. Liquid lava pours out in small fountains, flows quickly, and can flood vast areas. An example is the eruption of Laki volcano in Iceland in 1783.
4. Hawaiian type - liquid lava flows pour out only from the central vent, so these volcanoes have very gentle slopes. This type includes the volcanoes of the Hawaiian Islands. In particular, the fire-breathing mountain Mauna Loa.
5. Strombolian type - the eruption is accompanied by fireworks of volcanic bombs, a blinding glow and a deafening roar during explosions. The lava erupted by these types of volcanoes has a more viscous consistency. A striking example is the Stromboli volcano in Italy.
6. Bandai type It is purely a gaseous eruption. Strong explosions throw fragments of rocks, pieces of old hardened lava, ashes to the surface. This is how Japan's Bandai volcano erupts.
From ancient times, there have been legends among various peoples about amazing mountains spewing fire. The first information about volcanoes that has come down to us dates back to the middle of the first millennium BC. A person who at least once in his life witnessed this, without exaggeration, a grandiose natural phenomenon that gives rise to a mixture of chilling horror from the destructive power and admiration from the dazzling beauty of the spectacle in his soul, could never forget what he saw, and his story about this would undoubtedly be transmitted word of mouth. Many generations carefully preserved the memories of these terrible catastrophic events. And now the volcanoes, the eruptions of which have remained in the memory of mankind, are conditionally called active. The rest are considered extinct or asleep, although the latter is more likely to be more accurate, because the sleeper can wake up, and this is precisely what happens to volcanoes not so rarely. Considered extinct for a long time, they suddenly turn into active ones, an eruption occurs, the power of which is directly proportional to the duration of the deep sleep stage. These volcanoes are the cause of the largest, most tragic disasters. Here are some examples. The Bandai-San volcano (Japan) woke up in 1888 and destroyed 11 villages. Volcano Leamington ( New Guinea) claimed in 1951 5 thousand human lives. It is believed that the most powerful eruption of the 20th century is the explosion of the Bezymyanny volcano (Kamchatka), it was also considered extinct.
On land, volcanoes are located in strictly defined areas, which are characterized by high tectonic mobility, that is, it is possible to change the shape and volume of rocks. Earthquakes often occur in these areas different strength sometimes with devastating consequences.
The largest tectonically active zone is the Pacific Fire Belt, with 526 volcanoes. Some of them are at rest, but the eruptions of 328 volcanoes are historical fact. Volcanoes also belong to this ring. Kuril Islands, Kamchatka, there are 168 of them. Among them are the largest and most dangerous, constantly reminding of themselves, active volcanoes Klyuchevskoy, Ksudach, Shiveluch, Narymskoy and, finally, the already mentioned Bezymyanny volcano.
Another extensive volcanic active area is a ring that includes the Mediterranean, the Iranian plateau, Indonesia, the Caucasus and Transcaucasia. There are especially many volcanoes in the Indonesian Sunda archipelago - 63, and 37 of them are considered active. The Mediterranean volcanoes Vesuvius, Etna, Santorino are notorious all over the world. While “sleeping”, but at any moment they can remind of their existence, the Caucasian five-thousanders Elbrus and Kazbek, the handsome Iranian Damavend. Not far from them, Transcaucasian Ararat “dozes” under a huge thickness of ice and fluffy snow.
The third largest volcanic zone is a narrow strip that stretches along the Atlantic Ocean, including 69 volcanoes. Eruptions of 39 of them are documented. 70 percent of the active volcanoes in this zone are located on the mid-ocean ridge line in Iceland. These are active, frequently erupting volcanoes.
The smallest volcanic core occupies an area in East Africa. It has 40 volcanoes, 16 of them are active. The height of the largest volcano in this area is about six thousand meters, this is the famous Mount Kilimanjaro.
Outside these zones, there are almost no volcanoes on the continents, but the ocean floor of all four oceans is filled with a huge number of volcanic formations. Although it should be noted that underwater ones have a significant difference from terrestrial ones - a flat top and are called giyotes. Apparently, once they also had a conical shape, but the waves of the oceans, having washed away, destroyed the part that protruded above the surface. The flat surface volcanoes thus obtained later sank to the ocean floor. The Pacific Ocean is especially “rich” in guillots.
Vesuvius
For the first time in the history of mankind, a detailed description of a grandiose natural disaster caused by a powerful volcanic eruption was given by the Roman scientist Pliny the Younger. Of course, having written to the Roman historian Tacitus about the death of his uncle, the famous scientist and naval commander Pliny the Elder, Pliny the Younger could not imagine that in this way he would tell the whole world about the tragic events associated with the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, that many subsequent generations would read with inexhaustible interest lines telling about the terrible death of the once prosperous Roman cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabia. The Romans knew Vesuvius was a volcano. At that time, this mountain had a regular conical shape, on its flat top there was a crater overgrown with grass, but there were no records of its eruptions, and the Romans believed that the volcano fell asleep forever. A terrible eruption could have had less tragic consequences if people had paid attention to the warning given to them by nature itself: in 69 AD, an earthquake occurred in the vicinity of Vesuvius, which destroyed part of Pompeii. But the inhabitants of Pompeii did not feel the danger and rebuilt their city anew.
16 years later, in AD 79, they apparently regretted it bitterly. And yet, most people managed to escape death, they all left the city as soon as the first signs of an impending disaster appeared. Thanks to writing talent and love for the scientific accuracy of the young man Pliny the Younger, one can vividly imagine what happened on August 24, 79 AD. The work of this boy became the first document of volcanology, the modern science of the causes of the formation of volcanoes, their development, structure, composition of eruption products and patterns of placement on the Earth's surface. “On August 24, at about one in the afternoon, in the direction of Vesuvius,” wrote Pliny, “a cloud of extraordinary size appeared ... in its shape it resembled a tree, namely a pine tree, because it evenly stretched upwards with a very high trunk and then expanded into several branches ... After some time, to the ground it began to rain ashes and pieces of pumice, burned and cracked from the heat; the sea became very shallow. Meanwhile, from Vesuvius, in some places, wide tongues of flame burst out, and a huge column of fire rose, the brilliance and brightness of which increased due to the surrounding darkness. All this was accompanied by tremors, the strength of which was increasing, and the number of pumice pieces erupted by Vesuvius also increased; the amount of hot ash that fell at the same time was such that the ashen cloud completely blocked the sun and the day turned into night.
There was total darkness, similar, in the words of Pliny, to “the darkness that comes in the room when the lights go out.” In the Stabiae, ash and pieces of pumice almost completely covered the courtyards of houses. Even a few kilometers from Vesuvius, people were forced to constantly shake off the ashes, otherwise they would have died, covered with ashes or even crushed by them. Pliny reported: "All objects were covered with ashes, like snow." In Pompeii, the fallen layer had a thickness of about three meters, that is, the entire city was completely littered with volcanic precipitation. As already mentioned, the majority escaped, but about 2 thousand people remained buried, perhaps even buried alive in a huge common grave, the size of an entire city. The reasons for the death of these people could be very different: someone hesitated and could not get out of a covered house or cellar, someone suffocated from acrid smoke, or maybe because of a lack of oxygen in the air. Volcanic ash, having hardened, preserved skeletons, and more often casts of the bodies and clothes of these people, objects home furnishings and utensils. Thus, this terrible event gave our scientists invaluable material, helped to study in detail the culture, life and customs of that distant, inaccessible era for us. Ashes and pieces of pumice had time to cool down, flying to the ground quite long distances, so there were almost no fires in the city. It turned out that during the eruption of Vesuvius, so much liquid magma erupted from it that the top of the mountain disappeared, falling into the resulting void, which resulted in a huge hole - a crater - having a width of about three kilometers. This once again demonstrates what colossal power this widely known volcanic catastrophe had. Three years later, Vesuvius woke up again, but this time he behaved not so menacingly. All subsequent years, he also continued to act actively, constantly reminding of his existence.
And in 1794 there was a new very strong eruption. His eyewitness was the twenty-year-old Christian Leopold von Buch, who later became a famous German geologist, in particular, the author of important works on volcanology. Apparently, this event left an indelible mark on his soul and influenced his subsequent choice. Here is how he describes what happened: “On the night of June 12, there was a terrible earthquake, and then from morning to evening in the whole of Campagna the earth trembled, like sea waves ... Three days later, a terrible underground shock was heard ... Suddenly the sky lit up with red flames and luminous vapors . A crack formed at the foot of the cone of Vesuvius ... a dull but strong noise was heard from the mountain, like the roar of a waterfall falling into an abyss. The mountain trembled incessantly, and a quarter of an hour later the earthquake intensified... People did not feel solid ground under them, the air was all engulfed in flames, terrible, never heard sounds rushed from all sides. Terrified, the people rushed to the church ... But nature did not heed the prayers; new lava flows appeared in the volcano. Smoke, flames and vapors rose above the clouds and spread in all directions in the form of a huge pine tree. After midnight the continuous noise ceased; the earth ceased to tremble, and the mountain to sway; lava poured out of the crater at short intervals ... explosions followed less and less, but their strength doubled ... After midnight, on the other side of the volcano, the sky suddenly lit up with a bright light. The lava that had wrought havoc on the south side of the mountain now rushed down northern slopes into a wide gorge.
In the vicinity of Naples, lava quickly rushed down the slopes in a wide river. Residents of the towns of Rezina, Portici, Torre del Greco and others followed every movement with horror fiery river, threatening either one or another village ... Suddenly, lava rushed to Rezina and Portici. In Torre del Greco, the entire population rushed to the church, thanking God for salvation; in a fit of joy, they forgot about the inevitable death that awaited their neighbors. But the lava met a deep ditch on its way and again changed direction, rushing to the unfortunate Torre del Greco, who considered himself already saved. The fiery stream now rushed with fury along the steep slopes and, without splitting into branches, in the form of a river two thousand feet wide, reached the flourishing city. The entire population of eighteen thousand rushed to the sea, seeking salvation there. From the shore one could see columns of black smoke and huge tongues of fire rising like lightning above the roofs of lava-filled houses. Palaces and churches fell with a noise, the mountain thundered terribly. A few hours later, there was no trace of the city, and almost all the inhabitants died in a fiery stream. Even the sea was powerless to stop the lava; the lower parts of the lava flows solidified in water, while the upper ones flowed over them. At a great distance, the water boiled in the sea, and the fish boiled in the water floated in large heaps on the surface of the water.
The next day came. The fire no longer escaped from the crater, but the mountain was still not visible. A thick black cloud lay over her and spread a gloomy veil over the bay and over the sea. Ashes fell in and around Naples; it covered grass and trees, houses and streets. The sun was devoid of brilliance and light, and the day resembled the dusk of the dawn. Only in the west was a bright streak visible, but the darkness that enveloped the city seemed all the more gloomy ... Little by little, the eruption ceased. The lava began to harden, in many places it gave cracks; vapors rose rapidly, saturated table salt; along the edges of the cracks one could see in places a brightly glowing flame. There was a continuous noise, reminiscent of distant thunder, and lightning, cutting through the black clouds of rain falling from the volcano, broke the darkness of the night. By their light, these huge masses could be seen erupting from a large crater at the top of the mountain. They rose in a thick black cloud and blurred at a height. Heavy fragments of stones fell back into the crater. The first cloud was followed by the second and third, and so on; to us the mountain seemed to be dressed in a crown of clouds arranged in some kind of peculiar order.
Finally, the ash rain turned from gray to white, and it became clear that the terrible eruption was coming to an end. And now, 10 days later, Vesuvius fell silent, although the ashes showered the city for several more days.
Santorini
The legendary volcano Santorini, whose grandiose eruption occurred in 1470 BC, is located in the Aegean Sea, north of the island of Crete. It is with him that some prominent scientists associate famous myth about the death of Atlantis. Therefore, a detailed story about this eruption, unique in its destructive power, is placed in the chapter devoted to the question of the existence of the ancient civilization of the Atlanteans.
Dobrach
The eruption of Mount Dobrach, located near the town of Belyaka in Bulgaria, can be considered completely unpredictable. No one, even volcanologists, could imagine that such a catastrophe was possible in these parts, because nothing like this had ever happened before. However, in January 1348, Mount Dobrach suddenly turned into a fire-breathing volcano, there was a strong eruption. 11 thousand people, residents of 17 nearby settlements, became victims of a natural disaster unique for these places. By the way, the raging fiery element completely destroyed all 17 settlements, only gray dead ashes remained in their place.
Lucky
It is not for nothing that Iceland is called the country of volcanoes, because here in a relatively small area there are 40 fire-breathing mountains.
In 1783, the Icelandic volcano Laki erupted. original form crater - in fact, this is a whole line of volcanic vents about 25 kilometers long. Volcanoes with a similar structure usually pour out a very large amount of lava during eruptions. Lucky this time released a truly colossal portion of molten material, it is believed that it was the most lava-rich volcanic eruption in the world. It did not start suddenly; tremors and emissions of gas jets warned of its approach. And on June 8, steam poured out of the crack-vent and ash fell down. A few days later, the process of lava flow began. The first lava flows poured out of southwest end crater fissure, by the end of the month lava began to flow out of the northeastern side of the giant fissure. The lava flow advanced on the valley of the Skaftar River with a thirty-meter wall, he managed to move forward 60 kilometers. The width of the front of the spread of the fire mass along the flat coast was equal to 15 kilometers. There was so much lava that it completely flooded this valley, the thickness of the layer of volcanic material reached 180 meters. In the next valley, Hverliefljot, the lava flow deepened 50 kilometers. This eruption lasted for six months, during which time Lucky released about 12 cubic kilometers of magma, the hot streams of which destroyed 13 farms, flooded an area of 560 square kilometers. Lava has a low propagation speed, a physically healthy person can run away from a fiery danger. Few died directly during the eruption itself. But the longer-term consequences of this catastrophe were truly terrible. Hot lava flows melted glaciers, rivers, which had already changed their path due to changes in the terrain by magmatic discharges, also spilled extensively, the flood covered vast areas of agricultural land. The ash, which fell in a sufficiently large amount, fell on fertile soil and destroyed all vegetation. Clouds filled the air poisonous gases, only a quarter of domestic animals survived in these conditions. Iceland of the 18th century was isolated from the rest of the world, and food aid was not provided to the population from outside. A monstrous tragedy awaited the country: a fifth of its population, that is, about 10 thousand people, died out. The death toll was so great because, as they say, trouble does not come alone: an unusually severe winter was added to the terrible famine.
Tambor
In 1812, the Indonesian volcano Tambor, located on the island of Sumbavu, woke up from a dream, it was reported gas emissions over time, they thickened and darkened. But before the volcano began to actively operate, it took no less than three years. And on April 5, 1815, there was a deafening explosion, the roar of which was heard almost one and a half thousand kilometers away, while the blue sky was covered with huge black clouds, an ash shower poured onto Sumbawa and the islands surrounding it: Lombok, Bali, Madura, Java. From April 10 to April 12, strong explosions were repeated several more times, powerful jets of volcanic emissions flew into the air again: dust, ash, sand - their small particles clouded the sky, blocking the path of the sun's rays. A vast area inhabited by millions of people was plunged into impenetrable darkness. On the island of Lombok, all vegetation was destroyed, the greenery of gardens and fields disappeared, its place on the island was taken by a sixty-meter layer of ash. The force of the eruption was colossal - the volcano threw five-kilogram stones to a forty-kilometer distance. Tambor was a four-thousander, after the eruption its height decreased by 1150 meters, as 100 cubic kilometers of rocks were crushed and thrown into the air by the volcano. A giant caldera 700 meters deep and approximately 6 kilometers in diameter was formed. This terrible catastrophe took the lives of 92 thousand people.
Krakatoa
In the second half of the 19th century, one of the most grandiose world catastrophes occurred - the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano. The part of Mount Krakatau that rose above the water was the most major island in the archipelago, the size of this piece of land was 9 by 5 kilometers. It had three interconnected craters: the southern one - Rakata, about 800 meters, the northern one - Perbuatan, about 120 meters and the central one - Danan, about 450 meters. There were several other small islands nearby, among them Lang and Verleiten. All these islands were parts of a two-thousander volcano, the destruction of which occurred at that time. long time ago when a person could not yet fix the events that took place, that is, in prehistoric times. These islands were not inhabited. But, although not so often, merchant and military ships passed near them, sometimes these places were visited by fishermen from Sumatra. Due to the uninhabited nature of this area, the exact time of activation of Krakatoa is unknown.
However, the testimony of the sailors of the German ship “Elizabeth” was preserved, on May 20, sailing through the Sunda Strait, they saw how a huge cloud rose above the Krakatoa crater, which had the shape of a mushroom and a height of almost 11 kilometers. In addition, the ship was caught in an ash fall despite being quite far from the volcano. The same sightings were made by crew members and other ships passing by Krakatoa over the next few days. Periodically, the volcano exploded, while the vibrations of the soil were felt in Batavia, today renamed Jakarta.
On May 27, residents of Jakarta noted that Krakatoa was especially violent - every 5-10 minutes a menacing rumble was heard from the central crater, smoke poured in a column, ash and pieces of pumice fell.
The first half of June was relatively calm. But then the activity of the volcano increased sharply again, and on June 24, the ancient rocks that bordered the central crater disappeared, while the crater pit increased significantly. The process continued to grow. On August 11, all three main craters and a large number of small ones were already active, all of them emitted volcanic gases and ash.
The morning of August 26th was wonderful, but by noon a strange annoying noise suddenly appeared. This monotonous incessant hum kept the people of Batavia awake. At two o'clock in the afternoon, the ship "Medea" was sailing along the Sunda Strait, from its side it was clear how ash streams shot up into the sky, their height, it is believed, reached 33 kilometers. At 5 pm, the first tsunami wave was recorded - the result of the collapse of the crater wall. That same evening, the villages located on the island of Sumatra were lightly powdered with ashes. And the inhabitants of Angers and other coastal villages of Java found themselves in pitch darkness, it was almost impossible to see anything, but an unusually strong sound of waves was heard from the sea - these were huge bubbling water shafts falling ashore, erasing villages from the face of the Earth, throwing them onto a devastated coastal strip small ships.
The volcano came into force: from its mouth, along with gas jets and ash, massive stone boulders rapidly flew out, like small pebbles. The ashfall was so plentiful that by two o'clock in the morning the deck of the ship "Berbice" was covered with a meter layer of volcanic ash. Flashes of lightning, deafening peals of thunder accompanied this grandiose eruption. Eyewitnesses said that the air was so highly electrified that touching metal objects could cause swipe current.
By morning the sky cleared up, but not for long. Soon darkness again engulfed the area, a timeless impenetrable night lasting 18 hours. A complete set of products of volcanic activity: pumice, slag, ash, and thick mud - launched an offensive against the islands of Java and Sumatra. And at 6 o'clock in the morning the low-lying coastal zones were again attacked by powerful waves.
At 10 am on August 27, the most powerful explosion of Krakatoa took place, it had (without exaggeration) colossal power. Enormous masses of clastic rocks, ash, as well as powerful jets of gas and steam were ejected to a height of 70-80 km. All this was spread over an area of one million square kilometers. Some scientists believe that the smallest particles of ash scattered around the globe. The consequence of this terrible explosion become giant waves, the height of these destructive, deadly water walls reached the thirty-meter mark. Having fallen with all their monstrous power on the inhabited islands, they swept away everything in their path: roads, forests, villages, and cities. The water element turned the cities of Angers, Bentam, Merak into ruins. The islands of Sebesi and Serami suffered the most from the natural disaster, almost all of their population was washed away by the surging water. Only a few were brought back alive by the sea. But it cannot be said that their misadventures ended there, they had to fight for a long time and hard with the rampant natural elements for their lives. The darkness descended on the ground again. At 10:45 a new monstrous explosion sounded, fortunately, this time the sea did not support it with its terrible excitement. At 4:35 p.m., people heard a new rumbling roar, the volcano reminded people that its violent activity was not over yet. Ashfall continued until morning, more and more explosions sounded, a storm wind howled, forcing the sea surface to wave. As the sun rose, the sky cleared and the volcanic activity subsided.
However, the volcano continued to operate until February 20, 1884, on this day the last explosion occurred, which completed this catastrophe, monstrous in scale, which claimed the lives of 40 thousand people. Most of these people died in the waves of a giant tsunami. The largest wave generated by this explosion went around almost the entire World Ocean, it was recorded in the Indian Ocean, the Pacific and the Atlantic. The shock wave generated during the colossal explosion, even at a distance of 150 kilometers from the epicenter, was so powerful that windows were knocked out on the island of Java, doors were torn off the hinges, and even pieces of plaster fell. The roar that was heard during the explosion was heard even in Madagascar, that is, at a distance of almost 4800 kilometers from the volcano itself. No eruption was accompanied by such a powerful sound effect.
This is amazing, but after this eruption, the shores of the islands of Sumatra and Java completely changed: once the most picturesque areas, favorite vacation spots for tourists from all over the world, now represented the most deplorable picture - bare land covered with gray mud, ash, pieces of pumice, fragments of buildings, trunks of uprooted trees , bodies of drowned animals and people.
The island of Krakatau itself, whose area was 45 square kilometers, disappeared, now only half of the ancient volcanic cone rose above the sea surface. The eruption of Krakatoa provoked the occurrence of atmospheric cataclysms - terrible hurricanes raged in the vicinity of Krakatoa. It was also recorded by barometric instruments that the air wave generated by the eruption circled the globe three times.
Another amazing phenomenon was the result of this grandiose eruption, it was observed in Ceylon, Mauritius, the western coast of Africa, Brazil, Central America and several other places. It was noticed that the sun took on some strange greenish hue. This amazing color was given to the solar disk by the presence of very small particles of volcanic ash in the upper atmosphere. Other very interesting phenomena were also noted: the dust precipitation that covered the earth in Europe was of volcanic origin and coincided in chemical composition with the dust emissions of Krakatoa.
The eruption dramatically changed the topography of the seabed. The products of volcanic activity formed an island with an area of 5 square kilometers on the site of Krakatoa, the island of Ferleiten increased due to all the same volcanic eruptions by 8 square kilometers. One of the islets simply disappeared, and two new ones appeared instead, which later also disappeared under water. The surface of the sea was cluttered with floating pumice islands, and only very large ships managed to break through the jams they formed.
Krakatoa, although calmed down, did not fall asleep. A column of smoke is still rising from its crater. Its new volcanic cone, Anak-Krakatau, which is now weakly erupting, began to grow in late 1927.
Mont Pelee
Among the Lesser Antilles, located in the Caribbean, there is the island of Martinique. Among other things, it is noteworthy in that in its northern part there is a sad known to the world Mont Pelee volcano. Information about its first eruptions refers to 1635. During the following centuries, its volcanic activity proceeded sluggishly. After 50 years of almost absolute calm, at the beginning of the 20th century, a new eruption of Mont Pele occurred, which unexpectedly turned out to be fatal not only for the local flora and fauna, but also caused the painful death of tens of thousands of people. A detailed description of this catastrophe was compiled by the famous geologist Academician A.P. Pavlov.
And it all started, as it seemed, harmless. Numerous hot springs have opened up on the slopes of Mont Pele. Then the inhabitants of the town of Saint-Pierre, only six kilometers away from the volcano, felt an underground disturbance, and a monotonous unpleasant noise broke the natural silence. The local population, showing curiosity, went to the top of the mountain, they saw that the water in the crater lake was boiling. The volcano was actively working: in the darkness of the night, bright flashes were visible above the summit, a noise was heard from inside, which became louder and louder. Ashfall also intensified. On May 17, ash flour covered the entire western slope, animals and birds, left without food, died, their corpses could be found everywhere.
On May 18, a new misfortune came: a hot mud stream gushed along the bed of the Belaya River, it rushed at great speed and instantly destroyed the sugar factory located on the seashore. Here is the terrible story of an eyewitness to the tragedy: “At 10 minutes past midnight I hear screams. Sound the alarm. People run past my house and shout in horror: “The mountain is coming!” And I hear a noise that cannot be compared with anything, a terrible noise, well, just the devil on earth ... and I go out, look at the mountain ... Above the white clouds of steam from the mountain, a black avalanche more than 10 meters high and 150 meters wide descends with a crash ... Everything is broken, sunk ... My son, his wife, 30 people, large building- everything is carried away by an avalanche. They are advancing with a furious onslaught, these black waves, they are advancing like a mountain, and the sea is receding before them.
On May 21, the volcano seemed to calm down, but a giant column of light gray smoke continued to stand on the top of the volcano. At first it was light and clear, but gradually the ash rain became stronger. The ash column at the top turned into a huge silvery fan-shaped cloud. Soon twilight came - it was clouds of dark smoke that enveloped the city. Residents of Saint-Pierre were forced to use artificial lighting. The ground shook, a rumble was heard from under the ground. At 07:50 there was a deafening explosion, followed by several less powerful blows. The huge mass of volcanic eruptions separated: finer ash and gases rose up, larger and heavier particles formed a monstrous black cloud, within which fiery zigzags of lightning flashed. This eerie formation rolled down the slope towards St. Pierre. It took him only three minutes to get to the city. Outside observers claimed that "the city was in an instant burned down by fire." The edge of a scorching cloud touched several carriages climbing the hill. Those who were closer to the fiery formation simply disappeared without a trace, while those who were further away managed to survive, although they received serious burns and were shell-shocked. The scorching cloud, which appeared so suddenly, suddenly “did its dirty work”, melted right before our eyes. The darkness receded, and the witnesses of the tragedy saw that Saint-Pierre was turned into a huge dead ashes, on which flames could be seen in some places, greedily devouring what could survive.
Of the 18 ships anchored in the harbor, 17 were destroyed. Only the steamer Roddan was able to leave the bay. The ship's captain, Freeman, later said that he was in his cabin around 8:00 am. The passengers of the ship stood on the deck and watched the volcano release thick clouds of smoke and beams of light into the sky. Suddenly there was a terrible roar, a strong wind came up, drove across the sea big waves, the ship began to rock. The captain rushed to the deck, and then a hot wave covered the ship, its temperature reached 700 degrees. Freeman compared the incident to a blow to the ship with a huge hammer. From the scorching cloud came lava rain. The heat was terrible, it became completely impossible to breathe, the air seemed to burn everything inside. Many, seeking salvation at sea, threw themselves overboard. Others, suffocating in their cabins, decided that they would be able to get a portion of fresh air on deck, but death awaited them there, the air was hot. The captain, trying to find a way out of a difficult situation, decided to go full speed back, and then the Roddan crashed into the flaming steamer Roraima. The last thing the captain saw from the board of the Roddan leaving the port was the flaming streets of the city of Saint-Pierre and people rushing about in their death throes among the buildings engulfed in fire. Freeman managed to bring the ship to the pier of the island of Santa Lucia. The deck of the ship was covered with a six-centimeter layer of ash, half of the people who were on the ship died. The bodies of the surviving passengers and crew were covered in horrific burns. Unfortunately, almost all of these people died from severe wounds, not having lived even two days, only the captain and engineer won the fight against death.
Here is another terrible evidence of what happened. The passenger of the steamship Roraima, it was with him that he encountered when leaving the harbor of Roddan, G. Thompson was one of the lucky ones who managed to survive in this fiery hell. He said that there were 68 people on the Roraima. Most of them went on deck to see what was happening on top of the volcano. Of course, it was a bewitching incomparable spectacle, not everyone manages to become an eyewitness to such a grandiose natural phenomenon in life. One of the passengers decided to capture the eruption on film. Suddenly, an eerie sound, like the roar of thousands of large cannons fired simultaneously, cut through the air. The sky was lit up with a powerful fiery flash, Captain Myugg ordered to urgently weigh anchor. But he was too late, the monstrous fiery cloud had already reached the bay and breathed on the ship with its scorching burning heat. Thompson ran to the cabin, the steamer tossed from side to side, the masts collapsed, the pipes fell, as if cut off. Fiery ash and red-hot lava clogged the eyes, mouth, ears of everyone who remained on the deck. The people were blinded by the instantly falling pitch darkness and deafened by the roar. They were dying from suffocating heat, it was impossible to help them, it was an excruciating, painful death. At least someone managed to survive only because the fiery whirlwind lasted only a few minutes. However, its consequences were terrible: the bodies of burnt people covered the deck, a fire broke out in several places on the ship, the wounded, unable to endure the hellish pain, screamed for help. Flames engulfed the ship, most of those on board perished. Only a few people miraculously survived, almost seven hours after the disaster that occurred around 8 in the morning, these people were picked up by the steamer "Suchet", which arrived from Fort-de-France.
It took another two days before it was possible to get into the city. This is what people saw when they came to the bay: the water surface was littered with the wreckage of the pier and ships, as well as the charred corpses of the dead. The steamer Roraima was still on fire. The beautiful city of Saint-Pierre no longer existed, the lush vegetation that delighted the eye, which surrounded it, disappeared without a trace. A gray, lifeless desert appeared before the eyes of the people. Ash covered everything, only in some places one could see the charred tree trunks, as well as the black ruins of houses, slightly powdered with the same silvery ash dust. The strange, more like a winter landscape was complemented by puffs of dense white steam rising over the top of the now gray mountain. Attempts to get into the city center were unsuccessful - the ashes that covered the ground were so hot that it was impossible to walk on it. Less affected, if I may say so, because the whole city was destroyed, the northern part of Saint-Pierre. The trees and wooden parts of the buildings were not so badly burned here, the glass was not melted. Apparently, here the fiery avalanche passed casually. Everything in the central and southern parts of the city burned down, the trees turned into black firebrands, the glass melted, the bodies of people were charred, it was impossible to identify them. Of the 30,000 inhabitants of Saint-Pierre, only two survived. The first was a prisoner, he was kept in a near-sealed death row in a local prison. His body was severely burned. Before he was found, he spent three days without food or water. The second chosen one of fate was the shoemaker, who was in his own house. He owes his life to a light breath of a breeze that suddenly breathed freshness in his direction at the most terrible moment. Everyone who was near him died in agony. Here is his brief, terrifying story: “I felt a terrible wind ... My arms and legs were burning ... Four of those who were nearby were screaming and writhing in pain. In 10 seconds, the girl fell down dead… My father was dead: his body became red and swollen… Distraught, I waited for death… An hour later the roof was on fire… I came to my senses and ran.”
However, the volcano did not calm down on this, continuing to act actively. And more than once terrible scorching clouds formed over Mont Pele. So, on June 2, 1902, a fiery hurricane swept over the ruins of the dead city again, more powerful than the first.
Twenty days later there was a new strong eruption and the volcano gave rise to another hot whirlwind. The English scientist Anderson described this amazing phenomenon as follows: “Suddenly our attention was attracted by the appearance of a black cloud... It did not rise up, but kept for some time on the edge of the crater near the crevice and retained its shape for a long time ... We looked at it for a while and, finally, noticed that the cloud did not stand still, but rolled down the mountainside, gradually increasing in volume. The further it rolled, the faster its movement became ... There was no doubt that this was an ash cloud, and it was coming straight at us. The cloud descended the slope of the mountain. It became immeasurably larger, but still had a rounded shape with a swollen surface. It was black as pitch, and streaks of lightning flashed through it. The cloud reached the northern edge of the bay, and in its lower part, where the black mass came into contact with the water, a strip of lightning flashed incessantly was visible. The speed of the cloud's movement decreased, its surface became less and less agitated - it turned into a large black cover and no longer threatened us.
On September 12, the volcano again threw out a deadly fiery cloud, the edge of which reached the Red Hill, previously scorching whirlwinds did not pass over this territory. The victims of the new disaster were 1,500 people.
Scientists believe that the scorching cloud consists of an emulsion mixture of hot gases and red-hot lava dust. The speed of its movement is colossal, it can reach 500 kilometers per hour, which is why this amazing formation is so dangerous for humans and all living things in general - it is impossible to escape from it.
From the book Security Encyclopedia the author Gromov V I8.4. Volcano Hazards A volcano ejects gases, liquids, and solids from high temperature. This often causes the destruction of buildings and the death of people. Lava and other hot erupted substances flow down the slopes of the mountain and burn out everything they meet on
From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (EC) of the author TSBExtrusion (a type of volcanic eruption) Extrusion, a type of volcanic eruption characteristic of viscous lava volcanoes. The protruding viscous lava forms a dome over the vent of the volcano, from which, from time to time, during strong explosions, gases are released and
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From the book Countries and Peoples. Questions and answers author Kukanova Yu. V.Secrets of asphalt volcanoes Asphalt volcanoes, which are only 10 years old in the scientific inventory of the world, are considered one of the most unusual ecosystems. These mountains rise on the seabed, at a depth of about 3000 meters. Only robots have so far managed to penetrate here, to the mysterious Black box
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From the author's bookThe mysterious geology of the Moon: magnetic field, volcanic eruptions, seismic activity One after another, automatic stations rush to the Moon. Each time they come to a planet that we, it turns out, do not know. We visited it, but did not get all its secrets. How
From the author's bookWhat is the "country of volcanoes"? Iceland is quite big Island in Atlantic Ocean. For the first time, Iceland was settled by the Vikings, who were forced to move here from Norway. The capital of Iceland, Reykjavik (this word translates as "bay of smoke") is located just in
From the author's bookWhere is Volcano Alley located? In the territory of Ecuador, located on the equator itself, there are several active and extinct volcanoes at once. We can say that the inhabitants of this country live literally on a volcano, or rather on a whole “alley”, on the parallel ridges of the Andes.
From the author's bookTHE MOST POWERFUL OF REGISTERED VOLCANO EPARTURES GEOGRAPHY West Indies, Fr. Saint Vincent Soufrière. 1902 GuatemalaAqua, 1549 Santa Maria, 1902 GreeceSantorini: Atlantis, 1470 B.C. e. Indonesia Papandayan, 1772 Miyi-Lma, 1793 Tambora, 1815 Krakatau, 1883 Kelud, 1909 Kelud. 1919
From the author's book1. VOLCANO ERUPTIONS AND NATURAL EXPLOSIONS If drama and spectacle were the essence of natural disasters, then volcanic eruptions would become their standard, since there is probably nothing more terrifying and magnificent. Volcanic eruption catastrophic and
August 24-25, 79 AD an eruption occurred that was considered extinct Mount Vesuvius, located on the shores of the Gulf of Naples, 16 kilometers east of Naples (Italy). The eruption led to the death of four Roman cities - Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontius, Stabia - and several small villages and villas. Pompeii, located 9.5 kilometers from the crater of Vesuvius and 4.5 kilometers from the base of the volcano, was covered with a layer of very small pieces of pumice about 5-7 meters thick and covered with a layer of volcanic ash. With the onset of night, lava flowed from the side of Vesuvius, everywhere fires started, the ashes made it hard to breathe. On August 25, along with the earthquake, a tsunami began, the sea receded from the coast, and a black thundercloud hung over Pompeii and the surrounding cities, hiding Cape Mizensky and the island of Capri. Most of the population of Pompeii was able to escape, but about two thousand people died from poisonous sulfurous gases on the streets and in the houses of the city. Among the victims was the Roman writer and scholar Pliny the Elder. Herculaneum, located seven kilometers from the crater of the volcano and about two kilometers from its sole, was covered with a layer of volcanic ash, the temperature of which was so high that all wooden objects were completely charred. The ruins of Pompeii were accidentally discovered at the end of the 16th century, but systematic excavations began only in 1748 and are still ongoing, along with reconstruction and restoration.
March 11, 1669 there was an eruption Mount Etna in Sicily, which lasted until July of that year (according to other sources, until November 1669). The eruption was accompanied by numerous earthquakes. Lava fountains along this crack gradually shifted downward, and the largest cone formed near the city of Nikolosi. This cone is known as Monti Rossi (Red Mountain) and is still clearly visible on the slope of the volcano. Nicolosi and two nearby villages were destroyed on the first day of the eruption. In another three days, the lava flowing down the slope to the south destroyed four more villages. At the end of March, two larger cities were destroyed, and in early April, lava flows reached the outskirts of Catania. Lava began to accumulate under the fortress walls. Part of it flowed into the harbor and filled it. On April 30, 1669, lava flowed over the upper part of the fortress walls. The townspeople built additional walls across the main roads. This made it possible to stop the progress of the lava, but the western part of the city was destroyed. The total volume of this eruption is estimated at 830 million cubic meters. Lava flows burned 15 villages and part of the city of Catania, completely changing the configuration of the coast. According to some sources, 20 thousand people, according to others - from 60 to 100 thousand.
October 23, 1766 on the island of Luzon (Philippines) began to erupt mayon volcano. Dozens of villages were swept away, incinerated by a huge lava flow (30 meters wide), which descended the eastern slopes for two days. Following the initial explosion and lava flow, Mayon volcano continued to erupt for another four days, spewing large amounts of steam and watery mud. Greyish-brown rivers, 25 to 60 meters wide, crashed down the slopes of the mountain in a radius of up to 30 kilometers. They completely swept away roads, animals, villages with people (Daraga, Kamalig, Tobako) on their way. More than 2,000 residents died during the eruption. Basically, they were swallowed up by the first lava flow or secondary mud avalanches. For two months, the mountain spewed ash, poured lava into the surrounding area.
April 5-7, 1815 there was an eruption Volcano Tambora on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa. Ashes, sand and volcanic dust were thrown into the air to a height of 43 kilometers. Stones up to five kilograms in weight scattered over a distance of up to 40 kilometers. The Tambora eruption affected the islands of Sumbawa, Lombok, Bali, Madura and Java. Subsequently, under a three-meter layer of ash, scientists found traces of the fallen kingdoms of Pekat, Sangar and Tambora. Simultaneously with the volcanic eruption, a huge tsunami 3.5-9 meters high was formed. Receding from the island, the water hit the neighboring islands and drowned hundreds of people. Directly during the eruption, about 10 thousand people died. At least 82 thousand more people died from the consequences of the catastrophe - hunger or disease. Ashes that covered Sumbawa with a shroud destroyed the entire crop and covered the irrigation system; acid rain poisoned the water. For three years after Tambora's eruption, a veil of dust and ash particles enveloped the entire globe, reflecting part of the sun's rays and cooling the planet. The following year, 1816, Europeans felt the effects of a volcanic eruption. He entered the annals of history as "a year without a summer". The average temperature in the Northern Hemisphere has fallen by about one degree, and in some areas even by 3-5 degrees. Large areas of crops suffered from spring and summer frosts on the soil, and famine began in many territories.
August 26-27, 1883 there was an eruption Krakatoa volcano located in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra. From the tremors on the nearby islands, houses collapsed. On August 27, at about 10 am, there was a giant explosion, an hour later - a second explosion of the same force. More than 18 cubic kilometers of rock fragments and ash shot up into the atmosphere. The tsunami waves caused by the explosions instantly swallowed up cities, villages, forests on the coast of Java and Sumatra. Many islands disappeared under water along with the population. The tsunami was so powerful that it bypassed almost the entire planet. In total, 295 cities and villages were swept off the face of the earth on the coasts of Java and Sumatra, more than 36 thousand people died, hundreds of thousands were left homeless. The shores of Sumatra and Java have changed beyond recognition. On the coast of the Sunda Strait, fertile soil was washed away down to the rocky base. Only a third of the island of Krakatoa survived. In terms of the amount of water and rock displaced, the energy of the Krakatoa eruption is equivalent to the explosion of several hydrogen bombs. The strange glow and optical phenomena persisted for several months after the eruption. In some places above the Earth, the sun seemed blue and the moon bright green. And the movement in the atmosphere of dust particles thrown out by the eruption allowed scientists to establish the presence of a "jet" flow.
May 8, 1902 Mont Pelee volcano, located on Martinique, one of the islands of the Caribbean, literally exploded into pieces - four strong explosions sounded like cannon shots. They threw out a black cloud from the main crater, which was pierced by flashes of lightning. Since the emissions did not go through the top of the volcano, but through side craters, all volcanic eruptions of this type have since been called "Peleian". The superheated volcanic gas, which, due to its high density and high speed of movement, floated above the earth itself, penetrated into all the cracks. A huge cloud covered the area of complete destruction. The second zone of destruction stretched for another 60 square kilometers. This cloud, formed from super-hot steam and gases, weighed down by billions of particles of incandescent ash, moving at a speed sufficient to carry rock fragments and volcanic eruptions, had a temperature of 700-980 ° C and was able to melt glass. Mont Pele erupted again - on May 20, 1902 - with almost the same force as on May 8. The volcano Mont-Pele, having scattered to pieces, destroyed one of the main ports of Martinique, Saint-Pierre, along with its population. 36 thousand people died instantly, hundreds of people died from side effects. The two survivors have become celebrities. Shoemaker Leon Comper Leander managed to escape within the walls of his own house. He miraculously survived, although he received severe burns to his legs. Louis Auguste Cypress, nicknamed Samson, was in a prison cell during the eruption and sat there for four days, despite severe burns. After being rescued, he was pardoned, soon he was hired by the circus and was shown during performances as the only surviving resident of Saint-Pierre.
June 1, 1912 eruption began Katmai volcano in Alaska, which has been dormant for a long time. On June 4, ash material was thrown out, which, mixed with water, formed mud flows, on June 6 there was an explosion of colossal force, the sound of which was heard in Juneau for 1200 kilometers and in Dawson for 1040 kilometers from the volcano. Two hours later there was a second explosion of great force, and in the evening a third. Then, for several days, an eruption of a colossal amount of gases and solid products went on almost continuously. During the eruption, about 20 cubic kilometers of ash and debris escaped from the mouth of the volcano. The deposition of this material formed a layer of ash from 25 centimeters to 3 meters thick, and much more near the volcano. The amount of ash was so great that for 60 hours there was complete darkness around the volcano at a distance of 160 kilometers. On June 11, volcanic dust fell in Vancouver and Victoria at a distance of 2200 km from the volcano. In the upper atmosphere, it spread throughout North America and fell in large quantities in the Pacific Ocean. For a whole year, small particles of ash moved in the atmosphere. Summer on the entire planet turned out to be much colder than usual, since more than a quarter of the sun's rays falling on the planet were retained in the ashy curtain. In addition, in 1912 surprisingly beautiful scarlet dawns were observed everywhere. A lake with a diameter of 1.5 kilometers formed on the site of the crater - the main attraction of the Katmai National Park and Reserve, formed in 1980.
December 13-28, 1931 there was an eruption volcano Merapi on the island of Java in Indonesia. For two weeks, from December 13 to 28, the volcano erupted a lava flow about seven kilometers long, up to 180 meters wide and up to 30 meters deep. The white-hot stream burned the earth, burned the trees and destroyed all the villages in its path. In addition, both sides of the volcano exploded, and the erupted volcanic ash covered half of the island of the same name. During this eruption, 1,300 people died. The eruption of Mount Merapi in 1931 was the most destructive, but far from the last.
In 1976, a volcanic eruption killed 28 people and destroyed 300 houses. Significant morphological changes taking place in the volcano caused another disaster. In 1994, the dome that had formed in previous years collapsed, and the resulting massive release of pyroclastic material forced the local population to leave their villages. 43 people died.
In 2010, the number of victims from the central part of the Indonesian island of Java was 304 people. The death toll included those who died from exacerbations of lung and heart diseases and other chronic diseases caused by ash emissions, as well as those who died from injuries.
November 12, 1985 eruption began Volcano Ruiz in Colombia, which was considered extinct. On November 13, several explosions were heard one after another. The power of the strongest explosion, according to experts, was about 10 megatons. A column of ash and rock fragments rose into the sky to a height of eight kilometers. The eruption that began caused the instantaneous melting of vast glaciers and eternal snows lying on the top of the volcano. The main blow fell on the city of Armero located 50 kilometers from the mountain, which was destroyed in 10 minutes. Of the 28.7 thousand inhabitants of the city, 21 thousand died. Not only Armero was destroyed, but also a number of villages. Such settlements as Chinchino, Libano, Murillo, Casabianca and others were badly affected by the eruption. Mudflows damaged oil pipelines, fuel supply to the southern and western parts of the country was cut off. As a result of the sudden melting of snow lying in the mountains of Nevado Ruiz, nearby rivers burst their banks. Powerful streams of water washed away roads, demolished power lines and telephone poles, destroyed bridges. According to the official statement of the Colombian government, as a result of the eruption of the Ruiz volcano, 23 thousand people died and went missing, about five thousand were seriously injured and maimed. About 4,500 residential buildings and administrative buildings were completely destroyed. Tens of thousands of people were left homeless and without any means of subsistence. The Colombian economy has suffered significant damage.
June 10-15, 1991 there was an eruption Mount Pinatubo on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The eruption began quite rapidly and was unexpected, as the volcano came into a state of activity after more than six centuries of dormancy. On June 12, the volcano exploded, sending a mushroom cloud into the sky. Streams of gas, ash and rocks melted to a temperature of 980 ° C poured down the slopes at a speed of up to 100 kilometers per hour. For many kilometers around, all the way to Manila, day turned into night. And the cloud and the ash falling from it reached Singapore, which is 2.4 thousand kilometers away from the volcano. On the night of June 12 and the morning of June 13, the volcano erupted again, throwing ash and flame into the air for 24 kilometers. The volcano continued to erupt on June 15 and 16. Mud streams and water washed away houses. As a result of numerous eruptions, about 200 people died and 100 thousand were left homeless
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
Today we will talk about the most destructive volcanoes in the history of mankind.
The eruption attracts us, frightens and fascinates at the same time. Beauty, entertainment, spontaneity, a huge danger to humans and all living things - all this is inherent in this violent natural phenomenon.
So, let's look at volcanoes whose eruptions have caused the destruction of vast territories and mass extinctions.
VESUVIUS.
The most famous active volcano is Vesuvius. It is located on the coast of the Gulf of Naples, 15 km from Naples. With a relatively low altitude (1280 meters above sea level) and "youth" (12 thousand years), it is rightfully considered the most recognizable in the world.
Vesuvius is the only active volcano on European continent. It poses a great danger due to the dense population near the quiet giant. A huge number of people are daily at risk of being buried under a thick layer of lava.
The last eruption that managed to wipe out two Italian cities from the face of the Earth happened quite recently, in the midst of World War II. However, the eruption of 1944 cannot be compared with the events of August 24, 79 AD in terms of the scale of the catastrophe. The devastating consequences of that day stagger our imagination to this day. The eruption lasted more than a day, during which the ash and mud mercilessly destroyed the glorious city of Pompeii.
Until that moment, the locals were unaware of the impending danger, they were let down by a very familiar attitude to the formidable Vesuvius, as to an ordinary mountain. The volcano gave them fertile soil rich in minerals. Abundant harvests caused the city to quickly populate, develop, gain some prestige and even become a resting place for the then aristocracy. Soon a drama theater and one of the largest amphitheaters in Italy were built. Time later, the region gained fame as the most calm and prosperous place on the whole Earth. Could people have guessed that ruthless lava would cover this flowering area? That the rich potential of this region will never be realized? What will wipe off the face of the Earth all its beauty, accomplishment, cultural development?
The first push that should have alerted the inhabitants was a strong earthquake, as a result of which many buildings in Herculaneum and Pompeii were destroyed. However, people who arranged their life so well were in no hurry to leave their settled place. Instead, they restored buildings in an even more luxurious, new style. From time to time there were minor earthquakes, to which no one paid much attention. This then became their fatal mistake. Nature itself gave signs of the approaching danger. However, nothing disturbed the calm way of life of the inhabitants of Pompeii. And even when on August 24 a frightening roar was heard from the bowels of the earth, the townspeople decided to escape within the walls of their homes. At night, the volcano finally woke up. People fled to the sea, but the lava caught up with them near the shore. Soon their fate was decided - almost everyone ended his life under a thick layer of lava, mud and ash.
The next day, the elements ruthlessly attacked Pompeii. Most of the townspeople, whose number reached 20 thousand, managed to leave the city even before the start of the disaster, but about 2 thousand still died on the streets. human. The exact number of victims has not yet been established, since the remains are found outside the city, in the surrounding area.
Let's try to feel the magnitude of the catastrophe by referring to the work of the Russian painter Karl Bryullov.
"The last day of Pompeii
The next major eruption occurred in 1631. It should be noted that a large number of victims was not due to a powerful ejection of lava and ash, but because of the high population density. Just imagine sad historical experience did not impress people enough - they still densely settled and settled near Vesuvius!
Santorini
Today, the Greek island of Santorini is a tidbit for tourists: white-stone houses, cozy atmospheric streets, picturesque views... Only one thing darkens the romance - the neighborhood with the most formidable volcano in the world.
Santorini is an active shield volcano located on the island of Thira in the Aegean Sea. Its strongest eruption of 1645-1600 BC. e. caused the death of the Aegean cities and settlements on the islands of Crete, Thira and the coast mediterranean sea. The power of the eruption is impressive: it is three times stronger than the eruptions of Krakatoa, and is equal to seven points!
Of course, such a strong explosion managed not only to reshape the landscape, but also to change the climate. Huge cubes of ash thrown into the atmosphere prevented the sun's rays from touching the Earth, which led to global cooling. The fate of the Minoan civilization, whose center of culture was the island of Thira, is shrouded in mystery. The earthquake warned local residents about the impending disaster, they left their native land in time. When a huge amount of ash and pumice came out of the interior of the volcano, the volcanic cone collapsed under its own gravity. Sea water rushed into the abyss, which formed a huge tsunami that washed away nearby settlements. There was no more Mount Santorini. A huge oval abyss, the caldera of the volcano, was forever filled with the waters of the Aegean Sea.
Recently, researchers have found that the volcano has become more active. Almost 14 million cubic meters of magma has accumulated in it - it seems that Sentorin can reassert itself!
UNZEN
For the Japanese, the Unzen volcanic complex, which consists of four domes, has become a real synonym for disaster. It is located on the Shimabara Peninsula, its height is 1500 m.
In 1792, one of the most destructive eruptions in human history occurred. At one point, a 55-meter tsunami arose, destroying more than 15 thousand inhabitants. Of these, 5 thousand died during the landslide, 5 thousand drowned during the tsunami that hit Higo, 5 thousand from the wave that returned to Shimabara. The tragedy is forever imprinted in the hearts of the Japanese people. Helplessness before the raging elements, the pain from the loss of a huge number of people was immortalized in numerous monuments that we can observe on the territory of Japan.
After this terrible event, Unzen calmed down for almost two centuries. But in 1991 there was another eruption. 43 scientists and journalists were buried under the pyroplastic flow. Since then, the volcano has erupted several times. Currently, although it is considered weakly active, it is under the close supervision of scientists.
TAMBOR
The Tambora Volcano is located on the island of Sumbawa. Its 1815 eruption is considered to be the most powerful eruption in human history. Perhaps, during the existence of the Earth, stronger eruptions occurred, but we have no information about this.
So, in 1815, nature raged in earnest: there was an eruption with a magnitude of 7 on the scale of the intensity of the eruption (explosive force) of the volcano, maximum value— 8. The catastrophe shook the entire Indonesian archipelago. Just think about it, the energy released during the eruption is equal to the energy of two hundred thousand atomic bombs! 92 thousand people were destroyed! Places with once fertile soil turned into a lifeless space, resulting in a terrible famine. Thus, 48 thousand people died of starvation on the island of Sumbawa, 44 thousand on the island of Lambok, 5 thousand on the island of Bali.
However, the consequences were observed even far from the eruption - the climate of all of Europe underwent changes. The fateful year 1815 was called the "year without summer": the temperature became noticeably lower, and in a number of European countries it was not even possible to harvest.
KRAKATAU
Krakatay is an active volcano in Indonesia, located between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Malay Archipelago in the Sunda Strait. Its height is 813 m.
The volcano before the eruption of 1883 was much higher and was one large island. However, the 1883 eruption destroyed the island and the volcano. On the morning of August 27, Krakatau fired four powerful shots, each of which caused a powerful tsunami. Huge masses of water poured into the settlements at such a speed that the inhabitants did not have time to climb the nearby hill. The water, sweeping away everything in its path, raked in crowds of frightened people and carried them away, turning the once flourishing lands into a lifeless space full of chaos and death. So, the tsunami caused the death of 90% of the dead! The rest fell under volcanic debris, ash and gas. The total number of victims was 36.5 thousand people.
Most of the island was submerged. The ashes captured the whole of Indonesia: the sun was not visible for several days, the islands of Java and Sumatra were covered in pitch darkness. On the other side of the Pacific, the sun Blue colour due to the huge amount of ash released during the eruption. Ejected into the atmosphere, volcanic debris managed to change the color of sunsets around the world for three whole years. They turned bright red and it seemed as if nature itself symbolized human death with this unusual phenomenon.
MON PELE
30 thousand people died as a result of the powerful eruption of the Mont Pele volcano, which is located in Martinique, the most beautiful island in the Caribbean. The fire-breathing mountain spared nothing, everything was destroyed, including the nearby elegant, cozy city of Saint-Pierre - the West Indian Paris, in the construction of which the French invested all their knowledge and strength.
The volcano began its inactive activity in 1753. However, rare emissions of gases, flames and the absence of serious explosions gradually established the fame of Mont Pele as a capricious, but by no means formidable volcano. Subsequently, it became only a part of a beautiful natural landscape and served for the inhabitants rather as an ornament to their area. Despite this, when in the spring of 1902 Mont-Peleis began to broadcast danger with shocks and a column of smoke, the townspeople did not hesitate. Sensing trouble, they decided to flee in time: some sought refuge in the mountains, some in the water.
Their determination was seriously affected by the huge number of snakes that crawled down the slopes of Mont Pele and filled the entire city. Victims from bites, then from a boiled lake, which was not far from the crater, overflowed its banks and poured into the northern part of the city in a huge stream - all this confirmed the inhabitants in the need for urgent evacuation. However, the local government considered these precautions unnecessary. The mayor of the city, extremely concerned about the upcoming elections, was too interested in the turnout of the townspeople at such an important political event. He undertook necessary measures in order to prevent the population from leaving the territory of the city, he personally persuaded the residents to stay. As a result, most of them did not attempt to escape, the fugitives returned, resuming their usual way of life.
On the morning of May 8, a deafening roar was heard, a huge cloud of ash and gases flew out of the crater, instantly descended the slopes of Mont Pele and ... swept away everything in its path. In one minute, this amazing, flourishing town was completely destroyed. Factories, houses, trees, people - everything was melted, torn out, poisoned, burned, torn to pieces. It is believed that the death of the unfortunate came in the first three minutes. Of the 30 thousand inhabitants, only two were lucky enough to stay alive.
On May 20, the volcano exploded again with the same force, which led to the death of 2 thousand rescuers who were raking the ruins of the destroyed city at that moment. On August 30, a third explosion was heard, which led to the death of thousands of residents of nearby villages. Mont Pele erupted several more times until 1905, after which it fell into hibernation until 1929, when a rather powerful eruption occurred, however, without any victims.
Today, the volcano is considered inactive, Saint-Pierre is recovering, but after these terrible events he has little chance of regaining the status of himself beautiful city Martinique.
NEVADO DEL RUIS
Due to its impressive height (5400m.), Nevado del Ruiz is considered to be the highest active volcano in the Andes mountain range. Its top is shrouded in ice and snow - that is why its name is "Nevado", which means "snowy". It is located in the volcanic zone of Colombia - the areas of Caldas and Tolima.
Nevado del Ruiz ranks among the deadliest volcanoes in the world for a reason. The eruptions that led to mass death have already occurred three times. In 1595, over 600 people were buried under the ashes. In 1845, as a result strong earthquake 1 thousand inhabitants died.
And, finally, in 1985, when the volcano was already considered dormant, 23 thousand people fell victims. It should be noted that the reason last disaster was the outrageous negligence of the authorities, which did not consider it necessary to monitor volcanic activity. At the moment, 500 thousand inhabitants of nearby territories are daily at risk of becoming a victim of a new eruption.
So, in 1985, the crater of the volcano threw out powerful gas-pyroclastic flows. Because of them, the ice on the summit melted, which led to the formation of lahars - volcanic flows that instantly moved down the slopes. This avalanche of water, clay, pumice crushed everything in its path. Destroying rocks, soil, plants and absorbing all this into themselves, the lahars quadrupled during the journey!
The thickness of the streams was 5 meters. One of them destroyed the city of Armero in an instant, out of 29 thousand inhabitants, 23 thousand died! Many of the survivors died in hospitals as a result of infection, epidemics of typhus and yellow fever. Among all the volcanic disasters known to us, Nevado del Ruiz ranks fourth in terms of the number of human deaths. Devastation, chaos, disfigured human bodies, screams and groans - that's what appeared before the eyes of the rescuers who arrived the next day.
To understand the full horror of the tragedy, let's take a look at the famous photograph of the journalist Frank Fournier. On it, 13-year-old Omaira Sanchez, who, being among the rubble of buildings and unable to get out, bravely fought for her life for three days, but could not win this unequal battle. You can imagine how many lives of such children, teenagers, women, old people were taken by the raging elements.
TOBA
Toba is located on the island of Sumatra. Its height is 2157 m., it has the largest caldera in the world (area 1775 sq. km.), in which the largest lake of volcanic origin was formed.
Toba is interesting because it is a supervolcano, i.e. From the outside, it is almost imperceptible, you can see it only from space. We can be on the surface of this kind of volcano for thousands of years, and learn about its existence only at the time of the catastrophe. It is worth noting that if an ordinary fire-breathing mountain erupts, then a similar supervolcano has an explosion.
The eruption of Toba, which occurred during the last ice age, is considered one of the most powerful during the existence of our planet. 2800 km³ of magma came out of the volcano's caldera, and the ash deposits that covered South Asia Indian Ocean, Arabian and South China Sea reached 800 km³. Thousands of years later, scientists discovered the smallest ash particles in 7 thousand km. from a volcano on the territory of the African lake Nyasa.
As a result of the fact that the volcano threw out a huge amount of ash, the sun was closed. It was a real volcanic winter that lasted for several years.
The number of people was sharply reduced - only a few thousand people managed to survive! It is with the explosion of Toba that the “bottleneck” effect is associated - a theory according to which in ancient times the human population was genetically diverse, but most of the people died out sharply as a result of a natural disaster, thus reducing the gene pool.
EL CHICHON
El Chichon is the southernmost volcano in Mexico, located in the state of Chiapas. Its age is 220 thousand years.
It is noteworthy that until recently, local residents were not at all worried about the proximity to the volcano. The issue of safety was not relevant also because the territories adjacent to the volcano were rich dense forests, which testified to the long hibernation of El Chichon. However, on March 28, 1982, after 12 hundred years of peaceful sleep, the fire-breathing mountain showed all its destructive power. The first stage of the eruption entailed a powerful explosion, as a result of which a huge ash column (height - 27 km) formed above the crater, which covered an area within a radius of 100 km in less than an hour.
A huge amount of tephra was thrown into the atmosphere, strong ashfalls took place around the volcano. About 2 thousand people died. It should be noted that the evacuation of the population was poorly organized, the process was slow. Many residents left the territory, but after a while they returned, which, of course, had terrible consequences for them.
In May of the same year, the next eruption occurred, which turned out to be even more powerful and destructive than the previous one. The convergence of the pyroclastic flow left a scorched strip of land and a thousand human deaths.
On this element was not going to stop. Two more Plinian eruptions fell to the lot of local residents, giving rise to a 29-kilometer column of ash. The number of victims again reached a thousand people.
The consequences of the eruption affected the climate of the country. A huge cloud of ash covered 240 square kilometers, in the capital, visibility was only a few meters. Due to the ash particles hanging in the layers of the stratosphere, a noticeable cooling set in.
In addition, the natural balance was disturbed. Many birds and animals were destroyed. Some species of insects began to grow rapidly, which led to the destruction of most of the crop.
LUCKY
The shield volcano Laki is located in the south of Iceland in the Skaftafell Park (since 2008 it has been part of the Vatnajökull National Park). The volcano is also called the Laki crater, because. it is part of a mountain system consisting of 115 craters.
In 1783, one of the most powerful eruptions occurred, which set a world record in terms of the number of human casualties! In Iceland alone, almost 20,000 lives were cut short - that's one-third of the population. However, the volcano carried its destructive impact beyond the borders of its country - death even reached Africa. There are many destructive, deadly volcanoes on Earth, but Lucky is the only one of his kind who killed slowly, gradually, in various ways.
The most interesting thing is that the volcano warned the inhabitants of the impending danger as best he could. Seismic displacements, uplifting of land, raging geysers, explosions of pillars upwards, whirlpools, boiling of the sea - signs of early eruption there was plenty. For several weeks in a row, the land literally shook under the feet of the Icelanders, which, of course, frightened them, but no one attempted to escape. People were sure that their dwellings were strong enough to protect them from the eruption. They sat at home, tightly locking the windows and doors.
In January, the formidable neighbor made itself felt. He raged flesh until June. During these six months of eruptions, Mount Skaptar-Yekul split and a huge 24-meter crevice formed. Harmful gases came out and formed a powerful lava flow. Imagine how many such streams there were - hundreds of craters erupted! When the streams reached the sea, the lava solidified, but the water boiled, all the fish within a radius of several kilometers from the coast died.
Sulfur dioxide covered the entire territory of Iceland, which led to acid rain, destruction of vegetation. As a result Agriculture significantly affected, hunger and disease hit the surviving residents.
Soon the "Hungry Haze" reached all of Europe, and a few years later to China. The climate has changed, the dust particles do not let the rays of the sun through, the summer has not come. Temperatures dropped by 1.3 ºC, leading to cold-related deaths, crop failures and famine in many European countries. The eruption left its mark even on Africa. Due to abnormal cold weather, the temperature contrast was minimal, which led to a decrease in monsoon activity, drought, shallowing of the Nile, and crop failure. Africans were starving en masse.
ETNA
Mount Etna is the highest active volcano in Europe and one of the largest volcanoes in the world. It is located on the east coast of Sicily, not far from the cities of Messina and Catania. Its circumference is 140 km and covers an area of approximately 1.4 thousand square meters. km.
Approximately 140 powerful eruptions of this volcano have been counted in modern times. In 1669 Catania was destroyed. In 1893, the Silvestri crater arose. In 1911 the northeast crater formed. In 1992 a huge lava flow stopped near Zafferana Etnea. The last time the volcano splashed out lava in 2001, destroying the cable car leading to the crater.
Currently, the volcano is a popular place for hiking and skiing. Several half-empty towns are located at the foot of the fire-breathing mountain, but few dare to risk living there. Here and there gases escape from the bowels of the earth, it is impossible to predict when, where and with what power the next eruption will occur.
MERAPI
Marapi is the most active active volcano in Indonesia. It is located on the island of Java near the city of Yogyakarta. Its height is 2914 meters. This is a relatively young but rather restless volcano: it has erupted 68 times since 1548!
Close proximity to such an active fire-breathing mountain is very dangerous. But, as is usually the case in economically underdeveloped countries, the locals, without thinking about the risk, appreciate the benefit that mineral-rich soil gives them - abundant harvests. So, about 1.5 million people currently live near Marapi.
Strong eruptions occur every 7 years, smaller ones every couple of years, the volcano smokes almost daily. Catastrophe of 1006 the Javanese-Indian kingdom of Mataram was completely destroyed. In 1673 one of the most powerful eruptions occurred, as a result of which several cities and villages were wiped off the face of the Earth. There were nine eruptions in the 19th century, 13 in the last century.
