Have you ever actually seen a volcano erupt? And was it exiting, or
did you get frightened?
Philip (and Dianne)
Philip (and Dianne) -
I have been lucky enough to witness eruptions from
5 different volcanoes. All have been relatively small, routine eruptions,
but even so, one (Galeras in Colombia) killed 9 people.
Eruptions at Kilauea volcano in Hawaii include quiet flows of lava
and sometimes wonderful shooting of gas-rich lava into fire-fountains. I
saw similar activity at Erta Ale (Ethiopia) where a constantly active
lava lake swirled within a crater. At Etna and Stromboli (both in Italy)
the small pyroclastic eruptions against the evening sky were spell-binding.
All eruptions are exciting because we normally don't see rock hot enough
to flow like a liquid or shoot into the air like endless fireworks. The
awesome power of an eruption is unlike any natural phenomenon I've
witnessed except for the relentless waves of the ocean.
Being afraid at an eruption site is prudent if it causes you to be careful.
Even though you may feel safe as you watch a slow lava flow move, a change
of conditions may make a gush of lava suddenly lurch toward you. Once
when I was camping in between a slowly advancing lava flow and sea cliffs
in Hawaii, I frequently watched the flow to make sure it wasn't going to
get too close to me. I was surprised the next morning to discover that a
new lobe of unseen flows had flowed down past me on my right - the
direction of my escape route if the first flow had advanced too rapidly.
Charles A. Wood, Space Studies, Univ. of North Dakota
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