The winter celebrations are upon on us and I do not know about you, but I am really looking forward to sitting around the Christmas tree, sharing moments with loved ones and eating so much turkey and stuffing that I will end up cradling a food baby. Before we become cosy in front of a fire with a nice mug of hot chocolate (or apple cider or mulled wine, whatever your preference ;) ) I wanted to bring a couple of stories to light from this month: the devastating eruption of the White Island volcano in New Zealand and the spreading bushfires in Australia. We will be taking a turn away from the happy and joyous mood of the winter celebrations, but these stories have been on my mind all month and I wanted to share my thoughts with you guys.
I wanted to start with New Zealand. At 2:11 pm (local time) on the 9th of December 2019, the andesitic stratovolcano on White Island, off the coast of the northernmost island of New Zealand, erupted with little warning. The eruption produced a column of ash that rose 12,000 feet into the atmosphere, covering the island in fall ash deposits, volcanic rocks and cinder. About 50 tourists were present on the island when the eruption took place, and to date, the police have confirmed 15 people were killed. Most of the tourists were rescued by helicopter recovery teams during and after the eruption. If it was not for the courage effort of these helicopter pilots, the death toll would have been a lot higher. A quote from New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardren: "In the immediate aftermath of the eruption, a number of helicopter pilots made the conscious decision to fly to the island to try to rescue people. I want to acknowledge their courage. In their immediate efforts to get people off the island, those pilots made an incredibly brave decision under extremely dangerous circumstances." I also want to take a moment to personally acknowledge the bravely, courage and hard work of the New Zealand emergency helicopter pilots and rescue personnel putting their lives on the line to rescue the tourists that were still stranded on the island after the eruption occurred. If you ever see a rescue team in your town, city or local coffee shop stop and say thank you so much for what you do. Not many people can do what they do on a regular basis. ​​
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Image of the aftermath of the White Island volcano eruption. The ash cloud at the start reached 12,000 feet into the atmosphere! Image credit: CNN
The reason the eruption was so devastating is because no one was able to get any warning. Scientists from Sydney University, University College London and the University of East Anglia say the eruption was a disaster waiting to happen for many years now. The volcano has many active geothermal systems (hot fluids travelling through fractures and cracks beneath the ground and in the volcanic vent) with many steam vents and large crater filled lakes within a huge volcanic crater shaped as an amphitheatre (photo below is a Roman amphitheatre from Arles, France)! With water being present, the chances of it interacting with hot magma in the vent becomes very likely, and this causes explosive eruptions to occur. This is what made the White Island volcano so devastating. It is very difficult to predict these kinds of eruptions. Before the eruption, numerous minor earthquakes and large amounts of volcanic gases were recorded, which increased the alert level for the island. It is just a bit surprising that despite the alert level being set to high, tourists were still able to view the volcano at a dangerously close distance. ​​
Image Credit: worldtourisminfo.com
Part of the reason might be because the volcano has been active in the past with little to no casualties, so the thought of an eruption from occurring was not expected, until now. The eruption was described as being relatively minor, in comparison to other explosive eruptions in the past such as Vesuvius in 79 AD (death toll unclear but the remains of 1,500 people have been found) and Mount Mayon in 1814 in the Philippines (1,200 death toll). A quote from associate professor Derek Wyman, a geoscientists at Sydney University, "Usually people don't die from these kinds of eruptions, but that is likely because they are not usually inappropriately close." Even though the eruption was small, the questions still stand, why were the tourists so close? Were the tourists not given any warning about the dangers of volcanoes and that sometimes their eruptions are unpredictable? I really think volcanic hazards is a topic that should be made aware to the entire population of a country. Especially one situated on the Pacific "Ring-of-Fire", the most tectonically and volcanically active zone in the world.
Location of the Pacific Ring-of-Fire. The ring of fire is a ring of volcanically and tectonically active zones along the western coast of North and South America, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia and New Zealand. The White Island volcano is marked on the image. Modified from USGS.
The White Island eruption was a tragic event and again if it was not for the brave efforts of the New Zealand rescue teams and helicopter pilots the death toll would have been a lot higher. As far as I am aware, the government is doing everything it can to ensure tourists are not subjected to this kind of hazard. There should be new restrictions on how close you are allowed to approach the volcano, or the island for that matter, depending on the alert level set. Getting the opportunity to view one of Earth's most beautiful but destructive geologic features should not be taken for granted. It is like seeing a tiger, it is beautiful from a distance but up close you could become witness to its ferocity.
I do study volcanoes and lava flows for my PhD but I do not focus on the geohazards or geophysical aspect. If you are interested in learning more about the dangers of volcanic eruptions and how governments are trying to mitigate the damages inflicted by them, I recommend the following sources: These tow website courses talk about the types of volcanic eruptions and deposits and what their hazards are to the public. · http://geohazards.massey.ac.nz/volcanoes/hazards2_v.html · https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vhp/hazards.html
The following scientific papers are great sources for more details on how volcanologists monitor volcanic eruptions and understand the hazards they pose to humans.
Assessing qualitative long-term volcanic hazards at Lanzarote Island (Canary Islands). Becerril et a. (2017).
Understanding the environmental impacts of large fissure eruptions: Aerosol and gas emissions from the 2014–2015 Holuhraun eruption (Iceland). Ilyinskaya et al. (2017).
Volcanic risk ranking for Auckland, New Zealand. I: Methodology and hazard investigation. Magill and Blong (2004).
Volcanic risk ranking for Auckland, New Zealand. II: Hazard consequences and risk calculation. Magill and Blong (2004).
Volcanic eruption at a New Zealand ski resort prompts re-evaluation of hazards. Ruapehu Surveillance Group.
If you are more of a podcast listener, then I would recommend Ologies episode Volcanoes. The first episode of the series interviews Jess Phoenix who in my opinion is so cooool! Click on her name and follow her! I always enjoy her posts on Twitter :D