![]() The "bodies" at left are plaster casts made in 1961 from cavities left in the debris by decomposed bodies that had been sealed in rock and dirt for 19 centuries.Ĭredit Photo: Juhász Péter Laki Starves Thousands to Death, 1783 Iceland’s Laki volcano produced the largest lava flow in historic times when a fissure 16-miles long sent a flow of pahoehoe (fast-moving, smooth or ropy lava) more than 40 miles in 1783. So vast was the layer of volcanic debris left on the three cities that their ruins were not rediscovered until 1748. Among the dead was the Roman historian Pliny the Elder, who – so great was his fascination with observing the event – could not bring himself to flee from the danger. Glassy lava fragments, rocks, crystal and ash fell from the sky for a week, burying the Roman cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae on the Bay of Naples – killing at least 3,360 people, but perhaps as many as 16,000. 79 = description In one of the most famous eruptions in history, Italy’s Mount Vesuvius erupted suddenly in the early afternoon of August 24, A.D. credit Photo: Bettmann/Corbis Vesuvius Buries Pompeii, A.D. the major cause of death from the eruption. Rain from typhoon Yunya made it even heavier, and the accumulated weight, along with the typhoon’s wind and seismic shaking from the summit collapse caused roofs to cave in. Ash deposits 2-inches thick covered 1,500 square miles of land, burying crops and weighing down roofs. The eruption shortened the volcano by 850 feet and created a new collapse caldera, or crater, 1½ miles in diameter. evacuated 18,000 from nearby Clark Air Base. The Philippine government evacuated 60,000 from the most dangerous slopes and valleys, and the U.S. A million people’s lives were at risk, but a good warning system saved thousands. Helens’ 1980 eruption, it was second in the 20th century only to Alaska’s 1912 Katmai eruption. Hoblitt/USGS Pinatubo Kills by Ash and Mud, 1991 = description The Philippines’ Mount Pinatubo ejected about 1.2 cubic miles of magma, sending a giant ash cloud more than 20 miles up into the stratosphere in June 1991. When the ash combined with lake and stream water, the surging volcanic debris, or lahar, stormed down nearby valleys wreaking havoc. That created a massive landslide and released a deadly cloud of pulverized rock that killed Johnston, Truman and 55 others, most of them by asphyxiation. And it didn’t blow straight up: A whole side of the mountain that was made of fissured, rotten rock broke loose. PDT on May 18, 1980, it didn’t just send steam and ash up its existing crater, it blew its top off, 1,300 feet of it. But when the volcano erupted at 8:32 a.m. ![]() Others, like volcanologist David Johnston, were at observation posts deemed sufficiently far from the peak to be relatively safe. Officials closed the surrounding national forest areas to the public, but some people, like resort-owner Harry Truman, said they’d rather stay put. Helens steamed to life in March 1980 and volcanologists knew it was ready to blow they just didn’t know exactly when. We start here with three famous eruptions, modern and ancient, and then show the seven deadliest eruptions of the last 500 years, as listed by the U.S. ![]() A volcano can kill even when it’s not erupting, as happened at Lake Nyos in 1986. Volcanoes inspire awe and terror because they can kill in so many ways – flowing lava, suffocating ash, flood from a released lake, landslides, mudslides, burning gas, shockwaves, earthquakes and tsunamis.
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