BS: hear the sound of a volcanic eruption

Subject: BS: hear the sound of a volcanic eruption
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 10 Sep 14 - 12:40 AM

On August 29th, a volcano erupted in Papua New Guinea, and a passing boat recorded the first minute. I've never seen this phenomenon before.

If the link doesn't work, it's on Accuweather.com

volcano

Subject: RE: BS: hear the sound of a volcanic eruption
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Sep 14 - 06:43 PM

And on September 4 I was standing on the crater's edge of a real live active volcano, Vulcano in the Aeolian Islands! It was a bit of a stomp, 1300 feet in the heat on deep cinders, but you seriously need to put this on your list of fifty things to do before you die!

Subject: RE: BS: hear the sound of a volcanic eruption
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 11 Sep 14 - 09:03 AM

I've been there too, to Stromboli. We visited the crater, but not the summit.

Did you look at the video I linked? Notice the 'clouds' which form instantly and ripple across the sky because of the shock wave.

Subject: RE: BS: hear the sound of a volcanic eruption
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Sep 14 - 05:17 PM

We took a boat trip round Stromboli after dark a week last Sunday. The lava flows were a-flowing and lava bombs were raining down, but, alas, no real fireworks. I haven't the legs any more to get to the crater's edge of a 3000-foot hulk. Well done!

Subject: RE: BS: hear the sound of a volcanic eruption
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Sep 14 - 05:20 PM

Yes, I saw your video. Cheers!

Subject: RE: BS: hear the sound of a volcanic eruption
From: Mrrzy
Date: 11 Sep 14 - 09:34 PM

We went past the Stromboli on a Turkish ship in the 70's on our way from Istambul to Naples...

Never take a turkish ship.

Subject: RE: BS: hear the sound of a volcanic eruption
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 12 Sep 14 - 11:12 AM

Steve, I'm glad you saw the video.

I thought that on a music site, there would be a number of people interested in a rare and powerful sound, but no.

I found it remarkable that it sounded so much like a powerful gun going off. I had never imagined that a volcanic eruption would start so quickly. It's BOOM!!-crack. And surprisingly, the water seems totally unaffected.

Subject: RE: BS: hear the sound of a volcanic eruption
From: gnu
Date: 12 Sep 14 - 11:36 AM

Check this out at 4:30 in. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP2dreOI8gI

Subject: RE: BS: hear the sound of a volcanic eruption
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 12 Sep 14 - 05:34 PM

Thanks for the link, gnu. Looking at that cloud of ash, it's hard to believe that it was once molten and was on its way to becoming rock.

I remember when the eruption occurred. Our sky was yellowwish gray from the ash, even hundreds of miles from the volcano. The following winter was brutally cold, because the ash cut off sunlight.

Subject: RE: BS: hear the sound of a volcanic eruption
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 12 Sep 14 - 05:38 PM

Actually, it's about 1500 miles. 2412 kilometers.

Subject: RE: BS: hear the sound of a volcanic eruption
From: GUEST,John P
Date: 12 Sep 14 - 07:03 PM

I remember when Mount St. Helens exploded. I was a couple of hundred miles away and it still sounded like canons being fired right next to me.

I'm going to Hawai'i in a couple of weeks and will be staying in a cabin on the slopes of a volcano that just started spewing lava. I won't be in the path of the lava, but it should still be exciting.

Subject: RE: BS: hear the sound of a volcanic eruption
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 12 Sep 14 - 09:27 PM

Yes, it should be! I envy you.

That's amazing about you being 200 miles away and still hearing Mount St. Helens.

I was very close to a volcano in Costa Rica recently, and there was a sound like a jet coming over and then exploding. Fortunately, it was only the volcano.

Subject: RE: BS: hear the sound of a volcanic eruption
From: Don Firth
Date: 13 Sep 14 - 04:15 PM

I was working for Ma Bell as an operator (one of a number of miscellaneous day jobs I held from time to time) on Sunday, May 18th, 1982. I had just plugged in (8:30 a.m.) and two minutes later, Mount Saint Helens, a couple hundred miles south of Seattle, blew. It had been gurgling and rumbling for some time, and geologists had been watching it pretty carefully. Mt. Baker, in northern Washington, had done the same thing not that long before (triggering bumper stickers in Bellingham, not that far from the mountain, saying "Vote NO on Mt. Baker eruption!"). Baker finally stopped rumbling and venting steam, so it was expected (hoped) that St. Helens would do the same.

But no. At 8:32 a.m. on May 18th, she blew. There came what sounded like a loud rumble of distant thunder that made itself heard inside a relatively soundproof building, and all the operators looked up from their boards. The day was pretty clear outside, no sign of a thunderstorm. But within a couple of minutes, the entire telephone system was jammed. Despite the fact that bulletins and emergency advisories were going out over the radio and television telling people to stay off the telephones in the hope that emergency calls could get through.

The vast majority of calls were in the nature of "Wow! I'm watching it on TV! Isn't that something!?" and "How is it out your way, Aunt Martha?" People kept dialing operators, wanting emergency interrupts because they were getting what they thought were busy signals, when actually it was a similar signal, but much faster, which meant "busy circuits." Too many calls for the system to handle. Not even the operators can do anything about that, so even if it had been an emergency call, nothing could be done.

Which meant, of course, that real emergency calls couldn't get through either!

Operators are supposed to be polite to customers, but on that day, just plain rude was about the only way one could handle some people. "Look! Even if Aunt Martha is in trouble, there's nothing you can do about it anyway. So do what the emergency agencies are telling you to do and stay off the phone!"

Helluva day at Ma Bell's Skunk Works!

The following day, when I went out to my car, parked on the street in front of my apartment house, my car and all the others were covered with a light dusting of greyish ash. Upon close examination it looked like a myriad of tiny crystals. One of the bits of news earlier that morning mentioned that most of the ash-fall had gone East (Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon really got dumped on, literally), but that some ash had blown north. The news item warned that the ash (looking like mere dust) was extremely abrasive and said not to try to wipe it off because it would scratch the finish of your car. Just go ahead and drive it and let it blow off.

Pretty interesting couple of weeks. It took St. Helens a while to simmer down. Still burps and gurgles from time to time, but nothing like that Sunday.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: hear the sound of a volcanic eruption
From: maeve
Date: 13 Sep 14 - 05:47 PM

I'm enjoying this thread. Thanks, leeneia and other posters.

Maeve