Volcanoes

Yesterday was the 123rd anniversary of the cataclysmic eruption of Krakatoa. This reminded me of a pet rant I have. Tourists. No, not Festival ones this time. The ones who take day trips in order to peer into active volcanoes. FOR FUN.

“But”, I scream at them (silently of course. I am British) “It’s an active volcano. Are you mad?”. They seem to think that flip-flops and SPF 15 will protect them should the mountain decide to hiccough molten magma all over the vicinity.

I have realised that they’re not (in the main) actual lunatics. They’re just ignorant and/or arrogant. Recently someone said to me. “…but they don’t just explode”. They’re volcanoes. That’s exactly what they do. Ok. To be fair there would probably be some warning. Some smoking, a rumbling quake or two but my understanding is that active volcanoes do these things all the time. Even if there is some warning there’s a good chance there would be insufficient time to get clear. Pyroclastic flow anyone? If you don’t know about this please look here: http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Hazards/What/PF/pcflows.html

I’ve seen, first hand what volcanoes can do. We've all heard of the city of Pompeii. The people there were overwhelmed when pyroclastic flow swept down the mountainside, enveloping them in burning dust and gasses. Death came fairly quickly but with oh, so much pain. And we also know that the city was buried so completely, by falling ash and pumice, that it remained undiscovered for centuries.

I’ve also visited the island of Santorini in Greece. 4,000 years ago the island was known as Strongyli (the round one). It must have had springs or rivers since archaeologists, working on the ruined town of Akrotiri, have found evidence of domestic plumbing. Following a catastrophic eruption this once dome shaped island became the ragged collection of jagged islets we see today. Santorini has no fresh water. Residents must rely on distilled seawater for washing and daily deliveries of bottled drinking water.

You may think my fears irrational, my arguments extreme and out of proportion but it boils down to this. If I have to die, I really, really don’t want it to be death by volcano. Do you?