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I think I would just utter an f bomb or two...

I would imagine it's the same thing as hitting a patch of black ice and KNOWING you are going to crash. Nothing you can do so stop it, you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

That's an awesome picture. I can't help to think that the guy on the beach may have had a better chance of surviving than someone who was near the buildings on the beach.

Holy cow, 8.5 on the Richter scale is no joke.

What was the rating of the previous one?

Leland wrote:Holy cow, 8.5 on the Richter scale is no joke.

What was the rating of the previous one?

I want to say 9.0 but I could be wrong.

Leland wrote:Holy cow, 8.5 on the Richter scale is no joke.

What was the rating of the previous one?

As I recall, it was a 9, which is massive--nearly three times the power of 8.5.

They have been talking about additional adjustments in the subduction zone as a result of the big earthquake, and this is one of them. It may take a while before the region has settled down again.

But it won't ever be stable. At least two of the five largest vocanic explosions in recorded history have occurred in this zone. One of them created world-wide winter for the entire following year. The other one bounced shock waves through the atmosphere that circles the globe 7 times, created a sound that was heard 3000 miles away, a tsunami that destroyed the lower levels of what is now Jakarta, and was noticeable in tide fluctuations even in England.

This place is a little puff of ash by comparison:



Rick "who took this picture before recent eruptions" Denney

Rick Denney wrote:As I recall, it was a 9, which is massive--nearly three times the power of 8.5.

Yeah, 9's don't happen often at all. Back in grade school, I went to a geekfest at the university that had science-oriented classes & activities. One of them was plotting earthquake epicenters, mainly around the Pacific Rim. Among the group of us, I remember two 9+'s among what was probably a couple hundred plots.

Krakatoa was crazy. Anybody running an office pool on the next big island-destroying eruption?

Leland wrote:Krakatoa was crazy. Anybody running an office pool on the next big island-destroying eruption?

Not all subduction-zone volcanoes are on islands. Krakatoa has recreated itself to approximately have the size it was when it blew up in 1883. It could go again at any old time.

My personal pick is Rainier. Big slabs of igneous rock tilted on each other, with wet mud holding them in place. A good jiggle could trigger an epic event even without an eruption. I was there two years ago and the hair stood on the back of my neck when I thought about it.

Two days later, I was at the observation center at Johnston Ridge at St. Helens (where I took the above picture). That little puff of smoke folded over 12-foot-diameter trees like so many matchsticks, with an explosion that moved so slowly that its rate of expansion was less than the speed of sound. In other words, it was No Big Deal by subduction-zone event standards.

Rick "fascinated--from a healthy distance--by volcanoes" Denney

Rick Denney wrote:My personal pick is Rainier. Big slabs of igneous rock tilted on each other, with wet mud holding them in place. A good jiggle could trigger an epic event even without an eruption.

I wondering when Vesuvius is goning to blow again. It's due for that 2000 year blast.

What if Old Faithful were to go? I imagine that'd catch a lot of people off guard!

(I don't know if that's even possible, but apparently there's a SciFi movie with this scenario).

schlepporello wrote:Yeah, if I understand this correctly, almost all of the Yellowstone national park area (primarily where the thermal events are) is supposed to be part of an enormous crater. I think what will happen if it goes is that the effect will be much like letting the air out of an inflated balloon, except on a global scale.

What, a giant geothermal fart?


I wonder, though, if its constant venting will help stave off an eruption. But, then again, blowing off steam doesn't really do anything to keep magma underground, either.

chris combest wrote:Bigger than Vesuvius unfortunately. Closer to Krakatoa.

http://www.solcomhouse.com/yellowstone.htm

Wow -- guess I won't be driving my car much for the few weeks afterwards. Don't want all that dust to muck up the engine, ya know.

I'll vote for Rainier

It's a very active andesitic range and Rainer has been showing all of the signs for almost 10 years now.
Might want to stay away from Mariners in your 2005 fantasy teams



jon

chris combest wrote:Bigger than Vesuvius unfortunately. Closer to Krakatoa.

http://www.solcomhouse.com/yellowstone.htm

scary!