Krakatoa has erupted and now Mt. Etna is letting it fly. Time for Vesuvius to join the party. It has not erupted since 1944. My father was there with the 5th Army and said it was the most terrifying thing he ever saw.
Quote from: Minimalist on December 24, 2018, 03:42:24 PM
Krakatoa has erupted and now Mt. Etna is letting it fly. Time for Vesuvius to join the party. It has not erupted since 1944. My father was there with the 5th Army and said it was the most terrifying thing he ever saw.
The gates of Hades, just W of Naples, is the biggest threat to Europe, bigger than Vesuvius or Etna. Even bigger than Thera.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campanian_Ignimbrite_eruption
This is where, in the Aeneid, Aeneas descended to Hades to consult with the dead.
The very scary Yellowstone Caldera and the Mt Toba Caldera are even scarier.
Just this weekend, a minor Krakatoa explosion killed over 200 and 1000 are still missing.
Quote from: Minimalist on December 24, 2018, 03:42:24 PM
Krakatoa has erupted and now Mt. Etna is letting it fly. Time for Vesuvius to join the party. It has not erupted since 1944. My father was there with the 5th Army and said it was the most terrifying thing he ever saw.
I lived for three years in Motta Santa Anastasia, Provincia Catania, Sicilia, Italy. I lived on the slopes of Mt. Etna. It erupted several times while I was there, but no major eruptions. However, "major" is relative when you're talking about the largest volcano in Europe.
Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on December 24, 2018, 04:31:08 PM
I lived for three years in Motta Santa Anastasia, Provincia Catania, Sicilia, Italy. I lived on the slopes of Mt. Etna. It erupted several times while I was there, but no major eruptions. However, "major" is relative when you're talking about the largest volcano in Europe.
Unlike Empedocles, you didn't declare yourself a god, and throw yourself into the lava?
Hey! Maybe we can convince Trump to do that?
Quote from: Minimalist on December 24, 2018, 07:12:47 PM
Hey! Maybe we can convince Trump to do that?
Tell him there's a five dollar bill at the bottom of the lava.
Tell him that Nancy Pelosi said he's a pussy if he doesn't try!
Quote from: Minimalist on December 24, 2018, 03:42:24 PM
Krakatoa has erupted and now Mt. Etna is letting it fly. Time for Vesuvius to join the party. It has not erupted since 1944. My father was there with the 5th Army and said it was the most terrifying thing he ever saw.
While there is no specific connection between far-flung volcanoes erupting, it woukldn't surprise me greatly if many volcanoes did. Tectonics are slow to change, but there have been times of greater volcanic activity than others.
I keep wondering about the Yellowstone supervolcano myself. It is overdue and will happen eventually. Fortunately, my lifetime is nothing compared to the "when".
I was in the forum of Pompeii in 1996 - probably standing right about where this photo was taken from...
(https://s3.amazonaws.com/libapps/accounts/6159/images/Forum.jpg)
and thinking - "the poor fuckers never had a chance."
Quote from: Minimalist on December 25, 2018, 10:36:24 PM
I was in the forum of Pompeii in 1996 - probably standing right about where this photo was taken from...
and thinking - "the poor fuckers never had a chance."
Well, they did, actually. The smart ones fled early. The ones we know about are the cavity fillings of the ones who didn't, those who hid under the collapsing roofs, and those who tried to cart out their wealth too slowly.
The town was hammered by an earthquake some 15 years before and a lot of people - basically summer residents from the Roman upper classes - simply never returned. Much as with Hurricane Katrina, the poor had no where else to go.
It's unclear how cognizant the Romans were that Vesuvius WAS a volcano. Certainly, they knew what a volcano was - although they did not have a word for it - as they had taken Sicily in the 3d century BC and had been sailing around Stromboli long before that but the last scientifically attested eruption of Vesuvius was in the Bronze Age c 1500 BC. There was no Rome at that time. It probably pre-dates the Etruscans. So earthquakes were common. Volcanic eruptions? Not so much.
Quote from: Minimalist on December 25, 2018, 10:59:57 PM
The town was hammered by an earthquake some 15 years before and a lot of people - basically summer residents from the Roman upper classes - simply never returned. Much as with Hurricane Katrina, the poor had no where else to go.
It's unclear how cognizant the Romans were that Vesuvius WAS a volcano. Certainly, they knew what a volcano was - although they did not have a word for it - as they had taken Sicily in the 3d century BC and had been sailing around Stromboli long before that but the last scientifically attested eruption of Vesuvius was in the Bronze Age c 1500 BC. There was no Rome at that time. It probably pre-dates the Etruscans. So earthquakes were common. Volcanic eruptions? Not so much.
In pagan understanding, it isn't about plate tectonics. Mt Etna was the place above Tartarus, the deepest part of Hades, where Jupiter confined the Titans. Earthquakes were thought to come from Neptune. It would be hard to connect the wonderful fertility of the area, to the decay of old volcanic ash.
Quote from: Minimalist on December 25, 2018, 10:59:57 PM
The town was hammered by an earthquake some 15 years before and a lot of people - basically summer residents from the Roman upper classes - simply never returned. Much as with Hurricane Katrina, the poor had no where else to go.
It's unclear how cognizant the Romans were that Vesuvius WAS a volcano. Certainly, they knew what a volcano was - although they did not have a word for it - as they had taken Sicily in the 3d century BC and had been sailing around Stromboli long before that but the last scientifically attested eruption of Vesuvius was in the Bronze Age c 1500 BC. There was no Rome at that time. It probably pre-dates the Etruscans. So earthquakes were common. Volcanic eruptions? Not so much.
I understand that most did not know what to expect when Vesuvius began to erupt. But some did have the wit to see things looked bad. That's why we have descriptions of the event from people who lived there.
Sure, the poor generally stayed. But if I understand correctly, even some of them left. The found dead are many fewer than the population was. And some tales about the eruption survive from Pliny the Younger who I think left by ship seeing a threat.
Admittedly, little evidence is available. Even Pliny the Younger is only documented to have written to a friend about it years later. But it does seem that some people left, seeing a threat (even if they did not quite understand what the threat was). Pliny was not alone on his ship after all.
Quote from: Cavebear on December 26, 2018, 01:42:12 AM
I understand that most did not know what to expect when Vesuvius began to erupt. But some did have the wit to see things looked bad. That's why we have descriptions of the event from people who lived there.
Sure, the poor generally stayed. But if I understand correctly, even some of them left. The found dead are many fewer than the population was. And some tales about the eruption survive from Pliny the Younger who I think left by ship seeing a threat.
Admittedly, little evidence is available. Even Pliny the Younger is only documented to have written to a friend about it years later. But it does seem that some people left, seeing a threat (even if they did not quite understand what the threat was). Pliny was not alone on his ship after all.
In a crisis, many people enter a fugue state of disorientation. This is why many people on a sinking cruise ship don't make it to the life boats.
There was a story a while back that Pliny may have gotten the date wrong by a few months.
Oh, BTW, heavy duty earthquake around Mt. Etna today.
Quote from: Minimalist on December 27, 2018, 01:10:06 AM
There was a story a while back that Pliny may have gotten the date wrong by a few months.
True. They found some graffiti that said it was October 79, not August 79. Well Pliny Jr was writing 25 years after the event.
Quote from: Minimalist on December 27, 2018, 01:11:15 AM
Oh, BTW, heavy duty earthquake around Mt. Etna today.
Teen Titan indigestion ;-)
Quote from: Cavebear on December 25, 2018, 10:25:49 PM
While there is no specific connection between far-flung volcanoes erupting, it woukldn't surprise me greatly if many volcanoes did. Tectonics are slow to change, but there have been times of greater volcanic activity than others.
In 1987 there were eleven major earthquakes, each seven days after the prior one. The plot went right around the world. I was intrigued.
I wonder how many christards thought it was the end of the world, G/S?
Quote from: Minimalist on December 27, 2018, 03:15:53 PM
I wonder how many christards thought it was the end of the world, G/S?
My cousins predict the end of the world every year. Then they pray real hard and the Lord relents. For one more year.
Damn, it's a good thing your cousins are on the job! What would we do without them!?
LOL
Reminds me of this old joke
A cop walks down 5th Avenue in New York and sees a guy standing there snapping his fingers.
"What's up, my friend?" he asks jovially.
"I'm keeping the rhinos away," the man answers.
"This is New York. There are no rhinos," he replies.
"Ya see?" the guys says truimphantly.
Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on December 27, 2018, 04:55:07 PM
My cousins predict the end of the world every year. Then they pray real hard and the Lord relents. For one more year.
Not a critical mass of gays yet ... for G-d to destroy some other location unrelated to gays.
When the citizens of Dover Pa threw the creatard morons off the school board Pat Robertson said they better get ready for god to send them a disaster. Shortly thereafter Kansas was ravaged by tornadoes demonstrating once again that god has a shitty aim.
Well, God is so old that his eyesight is probably not as good as it used to be.
Quote from: Unbeliever on December 27, 2018, 07:45:05 PM
Well, God is so old that his eyesight is probably not as good as it used to be.
Japanese are un-ironic, when they display the "kami" was being deaf (due to old age).
QuoteThe 1908 Messina earthquake occurred on 28 December in Sicily and Calabria, southern Italy with a moment magnitude of 7.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI. The cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria were almost completely destroyed and between 75,000 and 200,000 lives were lost.
Shit happens.
Quote from: Minimalist on December 27, 2018, 01:10:06 AM
There was a story a while back that Pliny may have gotten the date wrong by a few months.
When you say "a while back" do you mean last year or a few centuries ago? I mean, are you saying the eruption date was wrong or that he wasn't there?
Not trying to start an argument, just asking for clarification of your post.
Quote from: Cavebear on December 28, 2018, 10:58:51 PM
When you say "a while back" do you mean last year or a few centuries ago? I mean, are you saying the eruption date was wrong or that he wasn't there?
Not trying to start an argument, just asking for clarification of your post.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45874858
Do I have to do everything? Yes, I control the entire Internet, with my Evelyn Wood reading skills and 1000 letters per minute typing speed (sarc).
Thanks, B. Yeah, I'm 69 years old. "A While Back" can mean anything from 1 day to 20 years.
Quote from: Minimalist on December 29, 2018, 12:24:16 AM
Thanks, B. Yeah, I'm 69 years old. "A While Back" can mean anything from 1 day to 20 years.
I am 63 tomorrow. It is sometimes difficult to "Tell" the age of another person on-line. But knowing it helps "Pin" what generation you are a part of ;-)
Quote from: Minimalist on December 27, 2018, 05:23:26 PM
Reminds me of this old joke
A cop walks down 5th Avenue in New York and sees a guy standing there snapping his fingers.
"What's up, my friend?" he asks jovially.
"I'm keeping the rhinos away," the man answers.
"This is New York. There are no rhinos," he replies.
"Ya see?" the guys says truimphantly.
OK, this guy walked into a US lumber camp looking for a job. He was 5' tall and skinny. The boss suggested he didn't have the skills. So the guy said "I worked in the Saharan Forest". And the boss said "There aren't any trees in the Sahara". And the new guy said. "Not now..."
And there was a Far Side cartoon about a guy in a city with an elephant gun. And a dead elephant... BTW, I met Gary Larson once at a book signing (with nearly no one around). He looked as innocent as Radar O'Reilly from M*A*S*H. We talked for 15 minutes before the word got out and people crowded around. I still have 2 signed books...