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Airlines cancel flights after volcanic eruptions. An aviation expert explains why that’s a good thing

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/patrick-murray-2027113">Patrick Murray</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-southern-queensland-1069">University of Southern Queensland</a> At least three airlines <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-13/flights-to-and-from-bali-cancelled-due-to-volcanic-ash/104593698">cancelled flights between Australia and Bali</a> this week after a volcano eruption in eastern Indonesia spewed a vast plume of volcanic ash into the air. But while would-be holiday makers are naturally <a href="https://7news.com.au/sunrise/volcanic-eruption-in-indonesia-forces-airlines-to-cancel-flights-to-bali-stranding-frustrated-passengers-c-16732486">upset</a> at having their plans disrupted, it’s worth remembering it’s not safe to fly planes through volcanic ash. So, how do airlines decide it’s not safe to fly when a volcano erupts? And why is volcanic ash so dangerous for aircraft, anyway? <h2>What does volcanic ash do to a plane?</h2> Volcanic ash particles are very, very abrasive. They can cause permanent damage to windscreens in the aircraft and can even make windscreens look opaque – like someone has gone over them with sandpaper. Imagine getting spectacles and scraping them over and over with sandpaper – that’s what you’d see if you were sitting in the cockpit. Volcanic ash can also clog or damage external sensors, leading to erroneous readings, and can infiltrate an aircraft’s ventilation system. This can affect cabin air quality and lead to potential respiratory issues. But the main issue, in fact, is the impact volcanic ash has on engines. A jet engine works by drawing in air, compressing it, mixing it with fuel and igniting it. This creates high-pressure exhaust gases that are expelled backward, which pushes the engine (and the aircraft) forward. The correct balance of fuel and airflow is crucial. When you disrupt airflow, it can cause the engine to stall. Ash particles that get inside the engines will melt and build up, causing disruption of the airflow. This could cause the engine to “flame out” or stall. Volcanic ash has a lot of silica in it, so when it melts it turns into something similar to glass. It won’t melt unless exposed to very high temperatures – but inside a jet engine, you do get very high temperatures. There was a famous incident in 1982 where a <a href="https://theaviationgeekclub.com/the-story-of-british-airways-flight-9-the-boeing-747-that-lost-all-four-engines-due-to-volcanic-ash-yet-it-landed-safely/">British Airways Boeing 747 plane</a> was flying in the vicinity of Indonesia and lost all four engines after it encountered volcanic ash spewing from Java’s Mount Galunggung. Fortunately, the pilot was able to <a href="https://simpleflying.com/gallunggung-glider-the-story-of-british-airways-flight-9/">restart the engines and land safely</a>, although the pilots were unable to see through the front windscreens. <h2>How do airlines decide it’s not safe to fly when a volcano erupts?</h2> The decision is made by each airline’s operational staff. Each airline’s operational team would be looking at the situation in real time today and making the decision based on their risk assessment. Every airline has a process of risk management, which is required by Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority. Different airlines may tackle risk management in slightly different ways; you might have some cancelling flights earlier than others. But, in broad terms, the more sophisticated airlines would come to similar conclusions and they are likely all communicating with each other. Mostly, they make the call based on the extent of the plume – how big the cloud of ash is and where it’s going, bearing in mind that winds vary with altitude. As you get stronger winds with altitude, the ash can drift quite far from the source. There is also a United Nations agency called the <a href="https://www.icao.int/Pages/default.aspx">International Civil Aviation Organization</a>, which issues guidance on volcanic ash hazards. Various meteorological agencies around the world work together and liaise with aviation authorities to spread the word quickly if there is an eruption. For airlines to resume flights, the ash needs to clear and there needs to be a low probability of further eruptions. <h2>Passenger safety is the priority</h2> The underpinning reason behind these flight cancellations is safety. If you lose engines and you can’t see out the window, the risk to passenger safety is obvious. Naturally, people are upset about their holiday plans being held up. But it’s actually in passengers’ best interests to not fly through volcanic ash.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/243576/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/patrick-murray-2027113">Patrick Murray</a>, Emeritus Professor of Aviation, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-southern-queensland-1069">University of Southern Queensland</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/airlines-cancel-flights-after-volcanic-eruptions-an-aviation-expert-explains-why-thats-a-good-thing-243576">original article</a>.

Travel Trouble

Deadly Colombian volcano could be about to erupt, warn scientists

<div class="copy"> On March 30, Colombia’s Geological Service raised its alert level on the volcano from yellow to orange. They warn that the volcano could erupt with a strength unseen in the last 10 years within “weeks or days”. President of Colombia Gustavo Petro on April 5 ordered the voluntary evacuation of about 2,500 families living near the volcano. Many locals have been unwilling to leave their belongings and livelihoods behind. Geologists monitoring the volcano have recorded thousands of tremors every day – an unprecedented number. Nevado del Ruiz, one of Colombia’s tallest peaks at 5,321 metres high, is located in a populated farming region. It is only 129 km west of the country’s capital city Bogotá. In 1985, the volcano erupted with tragic consequences. It triggered mudslides that nearly completely buried the town of Armero. More than 23,000 of the town’s 30,000 residents were killed. Despite humanity’s long history of living under the shadow of volcanoes and trying to understand them, geologists, seismologists and vulcanologists remain largely baffled by the lava-spewing behemoths. The last time the threat level of Nevado del Ruiz was raised, for example, was in 2012. For over a month in April of that year, residents were under orange alert. This was increased to red alert for two days in June. But no major eruption occurred. Recently, new methods for assessing the risk of volcanic eruption have been trialled from studying the <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/volcano-breath-test-predict-eruptions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">chemical composition of the atmosphere</a> above active volcanoes to <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/ai-volcano-eruptions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">utilising artificial intelligence</a> to try and make sense of the pattern of eruptions. University of Miami professor in marine geosciences Falk Amelung believes the threat should not be taken lightly. “This is a high-risk and well-monitored volcano, and right now, all the ingredients for a new eruption are there,” Amelung says in a university <a href="https://www.newswise.com/articles/is-colombia-s-deadly-nevado-del-ruiz-on-the-verge-of-a-major-eruption#!" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">press release</a> on Newswise. “A significant seismic swarm occurred on March 30, and this [low-magnitude] earthquake sequence strongly suggests that magma is on the move.” Like Mount St Helens in Washington state, US which famously erupted in 1980, killing 57 people, Nevado del Ruiz is a glacier-covered volcano. Amelung says that this places local residents under extra peril. “Even a relatively small eruption would melt the glacier,” Amelung explains. “Volcanic ash combined with the meltwater would form mudflows, known as lahars, that can travel fast and for several miles.” <div class="in-content-area content-third content-right"> </div> Amelung admits it is impossible to say with certainty what will happen. “This increased period of activity could well die down and nothing happens,” he says. Ironically, global warming over the last 38 years since the eruption which saw the inundation of Armero, means the glaciers that cover the volcano’s summit are smaller, lessening lahar hazards. “But it is also bad news in terms of eruption hazards because there is less pressure from the overburden to keep the magma at depth,” Amelung adds. <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=246260&title=Deadly+Colombian+volcano+could+be+about+to+erupt%2C+warn+scientists" width="1" height="1" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" /></div> <div id="contributors"> This article was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/colombian-volcano-erupt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Evrim Yazgin. Images: Getty </div>

Travel Trouble

World’s largest active volcano erupts

The world’s largest active volcano has begun to erupt for the first time in 38 years, with officials warning locals to prepare in the event of a worst-case scenario. Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, located inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, began to erupt on Sunday night local time at Moku'āweoweo, the volcano’s summit caldera (a hollow that forms beneath the summit after an eruption). While the lava has been mostly contained within the summit, US officials said the situation could change rapidly and have urged Big Island’s 200,000 residents to prepare to evacuate if lava begins to flow towards populated areas. A warning about ashfall was previously issued to residents, given that falling ash can contaminate water supplies, kill vegetation and irritate the lungs, but the advisory has since been lifted. "Based on past events, the early stages of a Mauna Loa eruption can be very dynamic and the location and advance of lava flows can change rapidly," the US Geological Service (USGS) said. The public has also been urged to stay away from Mauna Loa, given the threat caused by lava that has been shooting 30 to 60 metres into the air, as well as the emission of harmful volcanic gases such as sulfur dioxide. The eruption - Moana Loa’s 33rd since 1843 - comes after a series of recent earthquakes hit the region, with more than a dozen reported on Sunday. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/11/mauna-lua1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" />Aerial photos show the first time Mauna Loa has erupted in the past 38 years. Image: USGS Bobby Camara, a lifelong resident who lives in Big Island’s Volcano Village, told The Guardian that he had seen the volcano erupt three times in his life and warned that everyone on the island should be vigilant. “I think everybody should be a little bit concerned,” he said. “We don’t know where the flow is going, we don’t know how long it’s going to last.” Gunner Mench, an art gallery owner in Kamuela, told the outlet that he saw the eruption alert on his phone shortly after midnight on Sunday before venturing out to film the red glow over the island and lava spilling down the side of the volcano. “You could see it spurting up into the air, over the edge of this depression,” Mench said. “Right now it’s just entertainment, but the concern is (it could reach populated areas).” Dr Jessica Johnson, a volcano geophysicist who has worked at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, told the BBC that although the lava poses “little risk” to people, it could be a threat for infrastructure. She warned that lava flows could pose a threat to Hilo and Kona, two nearby population centres, and that the volcanic gases could cause breathing problems. While the USGS has noted there is no indication the lava will spill out of the summit, the agency has opened evacuation shelters due to reports of locals self-evacuating along the South Kona coast. Mauna Loa is the world’s largest active volcano and one of five that make up Hawaii’s Big Island, the southernmost island in the archipelago. Image: H24 NET (Twitter)

International Travel

Volcano breath test helps scientists predict deadly eruptions

Humanity has a long history of living in the shadows of active volcanoes. Prized for their rich, fertile soils – ideal for cultivating crops – and their local topography, it isn’t hard to see why living in active volcanic regions remains a worthwhile gamble. Volcanic eruptions, however, are notoriously difficult to predict but improving our diagnostic abilities is crucial for developing early warning procedures and evading disaster. External indicators such as earthquakes and deformation of the Earth’s crust are traditional methods of identifying an imminent eruption, however, not all eruptions give these early warning signs. But now a research team from the University of Tokyo has gained better insight into the relationship between changes in the magma composition and eruption, by studying the ratio of specific chemical isotopes in gas and steam emitted from fumaroles — holes and cracks in the earth’s surface. “When you compare a volcano with a human body, the conventional geophysical methods represented by observations of earthquakes and crustal deformation are similar to listening to the chest and taking body size measurements”, said Professor Hirochika Sumino from the Research Centre for Advanced Science and Technology, who led the study. “In these cases, it is difficult to know what health problem causes some noise in your chest or a sudden increase in your weight, without a detailed medical check. On the other hand, analysing the chemical and isotope composition of elements in fumarolic gases is like a breath or blood test. This means we are looking at actual material directly derived from magma to know precisely what is going on with the magma.” Previous research on gas associated with an eruption from a volcano in the Canary Islands in 2011 showed an increase in the ratio of heavier helium isotopes which are typical of mantle material. “We knew that the helium isotope ratio occasionally changes from a low value, similar to the helium found in the Earth’s crust, to a high value, like that in the Earth’s mantle, when the activity of magma increases,” said Sumino. “But we didn’t know why we had more mantle-derived helium during magmatic unrest.” Sumino and team sought the answers in fumerole gas around Kusatsu-Shirane, an active volcano 150 km northwest of Tokyo. Taking samples of the gas back to the lab every few months between 2014 and 2021, the researchers were able to ascertain precise measurements of the isotopic components, discovering a relationship between the ratio of argon-40 to helium-3 ( a ‘high value’ isotope of helium) and magmatic unrest. “Using computer models, we revealed that the ratio reflects how much the magma underground is foaming, making bubbles of volcanic gases which separate from the liquid magma,” explained Sumino. The extent to which the magma is foaming “controls how much magmatic gas is provided to the hydrothermal system beneath a volcano and how buoyant the magma is. The former is related to a risk of phreatic eruption, in which an increase in water pressure in the hydrothermal system causes the eruption. The latter would increase the rate of magma ascent, resulting in a magmatic eruption.” The research collaboration is now developing a portable type of mass spectrometer which could be used in the field for real time analysis, reducing the need to constantly collect and transport samples back to the lab – a challenging a time-consuming process. “Our next step is to establish a noble gas analysis protocol with this new instrument, to make it a reality that all active volcanoes — at least those which have the potential to cause disaster to local residents — are monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Sumino. This article originally appeared on cosmosmagazine.com and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/volcano-breath-test-predict-eruptions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Clare Kenyon</a>. Image: Getty

Travel Trouble

Is climate change causing more volcanic eruptions?

The Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland began <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-04/iceland-volcano-fagradalsfjall-erupts/101302732" target="_blank" rel="noopener">erupting again</a> on Wednesday after eight months of slumber – so far without any adverse impacts on people or air traffic. The eruption was expected. It’s in a seismically active (uninhabited) area, and came after several days of earthquake activity close to Earth’s surface. It’s hard to say how long it will continue, although an eruption in the same area last year lasted about six months. <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Climate change</a> is causing the widespread warming of our land, oceans and atmosphere. Apart from this, it also has the potential to increase volcanic activity, affect the size of eruptions, and alter the “<a href="https://volcano.oregonstate.edu/climate-cooling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cooling effect</a>” that follows volcanic eruptions. Any of these scenarios could have far-reaching consequences. Yet we don’t fully understand the impact a warming climate could have on volcanic activity. <h2>Cold volcanic regions</h2> First, let’s take a look at volcanic regions covered in ice. There’s a <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/96JB01308" target="_blank" rel="noopener">long-established link</a> between the large-scale melting of ice in active volcanic regions and increased eruptions. Research on Iceland’s volcanic systems has identified a heightened period of activity related to the large-scale ice melt at the end of the last ice age. The average eruption rates were found to be up to <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2001GC000282" target="_blank" rel="noopener">100 times</a> higher after the end of the last glacial period, compared to the earlier colder glacial period. Eruptions were also smaller when ice cover was thicker. But why is this the case? Well, as glaciers and ice sheets melt, pressure is taken off Earth’s surface and there are changes in the forces (stress) acting on rocks within the crust and upper mantle. This can lead to more molten rock, or “magma”, being produced in the mantle – which can feed more eruptions. The changes can also affect where and how magma is stored in the crust, and can make it easier for magma to reach the surface. Magma generation beneath Iceland is already <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jgrb.50273" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increasing</a> due to a warming climate and melting glaciers. The intense ash-producing eruption of Iceland’s <a href="https://ncas.ac.uk/eyjafjallajokull-2010-how-an-icelandic-volcano-eruption-closed-european-skies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eyjafjallajökull</a> volcano in 2010 was the result of an explosive interaction between hot magma and cold glacial melt water. Based on what we know from the past, an increase in Iceland’s melting ice could lead to larger and more frequent volcanic eruptions. <h2>Weather-triggered eruptions</h2> But what about volcanic regions that aren’t covered in ice – could these also be affected by global warming? Possibly. We know climate change is increasing the severity of storms and other weather events in many parts of the world. These weather events may trigger more volcanic eruptions. On December 6 2021, an eruption at one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes, Mount Semeru, caused ashfall, <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/programs/VHP/pyroclastic-flows-move-fast-and-destroy-everything-their-path" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pyroclastic flows</a> and volcanic mudflows (called “lahars”) that claimed the lives of at least 50 people. Local authorities hadn’t expected the scale of the eruption. As for the cause, they said several days of heavy rain had destabilised the dome of lava in the volcano’s summit crater. This led to the dome collapsing, which reduced pressure on the magma below and triggered an eruption. Signals of volcanic unrest are usually obtained from changes in volcanic systems (such as earthquake activity), changes in gas emissions from the volcano, or small changes in the shape of the volcano (which can be detected by ground-based or satellite monitoring). Predicting eruptions is already an incredibly complex task. It will become even more difficult as we begin to factor in risk posed by severe weather which could destabilise parts of a volcano. Some scientists <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2172-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suspect</a> increased rainfall led to the damaging 2018 Kīlauea eruption in Hawaii. This was preceded by months of heavy rainfall, which infiltrated the earth and increased underground water pressure within the <a href="https://earthresources.vic.gov.au/projects/victorian-gas-program/onshore-conventional-gas/porosity-permeability" target="_blank" rel="noopener">porous</a> rock. They believe this could have weakened and fractured the rock, facilitating the movement of magma and triggering the eruption. But other <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/publications/rainfall-unlikely-trigger-kilaueas-2018-rift-eruption" target="_blank" rel="noopener">experts</a> disagree, and say there’s no substantial link between rainfall events and eruptions at Kīlauea volcano. Rain-influenced volcanism has also been proposed at other volcanoes around the world, such as the Soufrière Hills <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0377027309002261" target="_blank" rel="noopener">volcano</a> in the Caribbean, and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1046/j.1365-3121.2001.00297.x" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Piton de la Fournaise</a> on Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean. <h2>Changes to the ‘cooling effect’</h2> There’s another layer we can’t ignore when it comes to assessing the potential link between climate change and volcanic activity. That is: volcanoes themselves can influence the climate. An eruption can lead to <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/programs/VHP/volcanoes-can-affect-climate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cooling or warming</a>, depending on the volcano’s geographical location, the amount and composition of ash and gas erupted, and how high the plume reaches into the atmosphere. Volcanic injections that were rich in sulphur dioxide gas have had the strongest climatic impact recorded in historic times. Sulphur dioxide eventually condenses to form sulfate aerosols in the stratosphere – and these aerosols reduce how much heat reaches Earth’s surface, causing cooling. As the climate warms, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-24943-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">research</a> shows this will change how volcanic gases interact with the atmosphere. Importantly, the outcome won’t be the same for all eruptions. Some scenarios show that, in a warmer atmosphere, small to medium-sized eruptions could reduce the cooling effect of volcanic plumes by up to 75%. These scenarios assume the “tropopause” (the boundary between the troposphere and stratosphere) will increase in height as the atmosphere warms. But since the volcano’s eruption column will stay the same, the plume carrying sulphur dioxide will be less likely to reach the upper atmosphere – where it would have the largest impact on the climate. On the other hand, more powerful but less frequent volcanic eruptions could lead to a greater cooling effect. That’s because as the atmosphere gets warmer, plumes of ash and gas emitted from powerful eruptions are predicted to rise higher into the atmosphere, and spread <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2013RG000448" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rapidly</a> from the tropics to higher latitudes. One <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2022GL099381" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent study</a> has suggested the major Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption in January may contribute to global warming, by pumping massive amounts of water vapour (a greenhouse gas) into the stratosphere. This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-volcano-is-erupting-again-in-iceland-is-climate-change-causing-more-eruptions-187858" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Travel Trouble

“It’s emotional and scary”: White Island eruption survivor removes her face mask

A survivor of the 2019 White Island volcano eruption who suffered burns to 70 percent of her body has finally been able to remove her face mask. Stephanie Browitt was visiting New Zealand’s northeastern Bay of Plenty region with her sister and father, who were both among the 22 people who died in the eruption. Her road to recovery has been a long and difficult one, which she has shared on social media with more than 1.6 million followers. Appearing on Nine’s 60 Minutes, Stephanie removed her compression mask for the first time, telling host Sarah Abo that it was a “big deal” and that it felt like “this day would never come”. “It’s emotional and scary. It is actually quite daunting as much as it is exciting,” she said. Looking in the mirror, Stephanie said she saw a woman who was tougher than she ever thought she could be. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/06/steph8.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="721" /> Image: 60 Minutes “I see a person who has gone through so much more than I ever expected to go through in life. I see a very tormented person,” she continued. As much as this is exciting, it has been a long, hard journey to get here. I am tougher than I ever thought I would be. “I have learnt that the fight for survival is a real thing. I was literally fighting every day to survive, to just get back to being myself. I never knew that I had this in me.” <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CedLNM1vrna/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CedLNM1vrna/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Stephanie Coral Browitt (@stephaniecoral96)</a> </div> </blockquote> Sunday’s episode also showed never-before-seen photos of Stephanie’s injuries, revealing the extent of the severe burns that covered almost her whole body. Stephanie told the program that she remembers waking up for the first time since the incident, after she was in a coma for two weeks, in bits and pieces. “I was full of tubes and surrounded by medical equipment and in a very small room with lots of noises. Those things will always stay with me, I don’t think they will ever leave. It’s just things you don’t forget,” the 26-year-old said. She said her recovery had been extremely difficult, especially in the early stages. I had to start from scratch like a baby. Sitting upright, getting out of bed, taking my first few steps, even feeding myself – I had to relearn all of those skills from scratch and they didn’t come easy at all,” she said. “It was incredibly difficult. “There have been plenty of moments where I have wanted to give up, or I have just been in tears not wanting to do anything. But I do feel I have come a long way from day one.” Stephanie is now in the process of suing Royal Caribbean, the company that ran the excursion to the island on the day of the eruption, over the physical and psychological injuries she has suffered. Her lawyer, Peter Gordan, claimed that data from the weeks prior showed that the island was a “ticking time bomb”. “It makes me furious. They let down so many people … So many people died needlessly,” he said. “I think Steph’s injuries are the worst I have ever seen. I don’t think I have ever met quite an exceptional person in the way she has battled on.” Despite the hardship she has - and continues - to overcome, Stephanie is looking to the future, telling 60 Minutes she hopes to “go back to as normal a life as possible” and plans to return to working full-time, travelling and her social life. “I know I have got the support of so many people, and that helps me realise that this isn’t as scary as I feel it is,” she said. Image: @stephaniecoral96 (Instagram)

Caring

“We were never, ever, ever, going to make it”: White Island survivor shares common question she is asked

A survivor of the 2019 Whakaari White Island volcano eruption has spoken about one common question <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/insulting-question-white-island-survivor-stephanie-browitt-is-asked/D37UQKAUVDFZHU7SMUBPQNVSPM/" target="_blank">she still receives</a>, two years after the tragedy that took her father and sister from her. Stephanie Browitt, her 21-year-old sister Krystal, and their dad Paul were on the Ovation of the Seas cruise ship visiting the island when it erupted on December 9. Of the 47 people visiting the island that day, 22 died and 25 - including Stephanie - were severely injured. After spending six months in hospital receiving treatment for burns affecting 70 percent of her body, Stephanie has shared her recovery process openly on social media. In a recent video she <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@stephaniecoral96/video/7051366147697937666?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&lang=en" target="_blank">shared on TikTok</a>, Stephanie reflected on the most common questions she is asked - including why she, her family, and other victims “couldn’t jump in the water if it’s an island” during the eruption. <img style="width: 500px; height: 280.90277777777777px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7846894/edwxuvq4xm2y72lse5zkvymoza.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/437ac5f56d4f4e84a2dd4cb29e1e52e5" /> Stephanie Browitt has taken to TikTok to explain why she and her family couldn’t escape the volcanic eruption that day. Image: TikTok “Well as you can see, that’s us, circled, on the island that day, at 2.10pm. And the walls are extremely high up, and we are surrounded by rock,” she explained, with an image of the scene of where she and her family had been standing. “We’re nowhere near the jetty, and nowhere near the ocean. We are as inland as you can get and under 140 metres from the crater. “So my family and I were at the back of that line, and it was only about a two-minute walk, we had only just started walking back to the jetty.” She then showed what the same spot looked like just seconds later. <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7846893/dlqbmb5zn7eeztsmlxyhuuld3e.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/25d1aa725dbc4f9985ad36c06cd76439" /> Up to a minute after the first photo was taken, Stephanie explains that the island was ‘consumed’ by ash. Image: TikTok “This is the same camera only 40 seconds to a minute apart, and as you can see the island was already engulfed in ash and dust,” she said. “So we were never, ever, ever going to make it to water. There was literally no chance for the group of 21 people I was with.” Browitt <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.oversixty.co.nz/health/caring/they-were-taken-from-us-white-island-survivor-marks-second-anniversary-of-tragedy" target="_blank">marked the second anniversary</a> of the disaster in December last year, writing that she had “very mixed emotions” about the event which had “ripped” her family apart. <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CXPVRu8P8c0/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CXPVRu8P8c0/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Stephanie Coral Browitt (@stephaniecoral96)</a> </div> </blockquote> “Today’s not only the day I survived the unimaginable, it’s the day I lost my dad, Paul and sister, Krystall. It’s the day that they were taken from us,” she wrote in a candid, lengthy post on Instagram. “My accomplishments mean nothing to me knowing they aren’t shared with my sister and dad by my side. Every day I question why we couldn’t have gone through this extremely hard journey together, why they couldn’t be here also.” “Today marks two years of accomplishments but also loss, pain and never ending grief. I miss and yearn for my family every day. “I love you so much dad and Krystal, so much it kills me.” In 2020, 13 parties were charged with failings in relation to the disaster by WorkSafe. All defendants have pleaded not guilty. Image: @stephaniecoral96 (Instagram/TikTok)

Caring

First death of Tonga tsunami tragedy confirmed

An animal welfare charity founder has been confirmed dead after the devastating impact of the Tonga tsunami tragedy. The body of British woman Angela Glover was found on Monday after she was swept away by huge swells that were caused by a massive underwater volcanic eruption. The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano, which erupted on Saturday, is located 65km from where 50-year-old Angela lived with her husband in the Tongan capital of Nuku’alofa. Angela moved to the Pacific islands in 2015, after leaving her life in London's advertising industry behind. Angela's bother Nick, who resides in Sydney, confirmed the news of her death on Monday, saying his sister's body was found "in some bushes" by her husband. “I’ve not even got the words in my vocabulary to describe how we’re feeling at the moment. This is just a terrible shock, that it’s happened to us,” he said. “We’re ordinary people - stuff like this doesn’t happen to people like us, then it does." “I understand this terrible accident came about as they tried to rescue their dogs.” Angela's "deep love" for canines inspired her to create the Tongan Animal Welfare Society to shelter and rehabilitate stray animals, according to her brother. “The uglier the dog, the more she loved it. She just loved them all, she was totally dedicated to it.” In Angela's final social media post, she shared a picture of the fiery Tongan sunset just hours after the eruption of the volcano, saying "everything's fine". <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CYtLkg8PDN4/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CYtLkg8PDN4/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Angela Glover (@ifthegloverfits)</a> </div> </blockquote> She captioned the picture, "I’m not kidding you, this is the sunset today after the volcano exploded last night. We’ve been under tsunami warnings today. Everything’s fine... a few swells ....a few eerie silences...a wind or two...then silence...sudden stillness... electric storms.... everything looked like I was watching thru an Instagram filter." Angela is the first known death of the disaster, as the scale of the destruction is still unknown. Experts say that the volcano, which last erupted in 2014, had been puffing away for about a month before rising magma, superheated to around 1000 degrees Celsius, met with 20-degree seawater, causing an instantaneous and massive explosion. The impact of the eruption was felt as far away as Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Japan. Image credits: Instagram @ifthegloverfits

Caring

Why the volcanic eruption in Tonga was so violent, and what to expect next

The Kingdom of Tonga doesn’t often attract global attention, but a <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/459572/underwater-volcano-hunga-tonga-hunga-ha-apai-erupts-again">violent eruption of an underwater volcano</a> on January 15 has spread shock waves, quite literally, around half the world. The volcano is usually not much to look at. It consists of two small uninhabited islands, Hunga-Ha’apai and Hunga-Tonga, poking about 100m above sea level 65km north of Tonga’s capital Nuku‘alofa. But hiding below the waves is a massive volcano, around 1800m high and 20km wide. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440948/original/file-20220115-27-82tzyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="A map of the massive underwater volcano next to the Hunga-Ha’apai and Hunga-Tonga islands." /> A massive underwater volcano lies next to the Hunga-Ha’apai and Hunga-Tonga islands. Author provided The Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano has erupted regularly over the past few decades. During events in 2009 and 2014/15 hot jets of magma and steam exploded through the waves. But these eruptions were small, dwarfed in scale by the January 2022 events. Our <a href="https://eos.org/science-updates/new-volcanic-island-unveils-explosive-past">research</a> into these earlier eruptions suggests this is one of the massive explosions the volcano is capable of producing roughly every thousand years. Why are the volcano’s eruptions so highly explosive, given that sea water should cool the magma down? If magma rises into sea water slowly, even at temperatures of about 1200℃, a thin film of steam forms between the magma and water. This provides a layer of insulation to allow the outer surface of the magma to cool. But this process doesn’t work when magma is blasted out of the ground full of volcanic gas. When magma enters the water rapidly, any steam layers are quickly disrupted, bringing hot magma in direct contact with cold water. Volcano researchers call this “fuel-coolant interaction” and it is akin to weapons-grade chemical explosions. Extremely violent blasts tear the magma apart. A chain reaction begins, with new magma fragments exposing fresh hot interior surfaces to water, and the explosions repeat, ultimately jetting out volcanic particles and causing blasts with supersonic speeds. <h2>Two scales of Hunga eruptions</h2> The 2014/15 eruption created a volcanic cone, joining the two old Hunga islands to create a combined island about 5km long. We visited in 2016, and discovered these historical eruptions were merely <a href="https://eos.org/science-updates/new-volcanic-island-unveils-explosive-past">curtain raisers to the main event</a>. Mapping the sea floor, we discovered a hidden “caldera” 150m below the waves. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440944/original/file-20220115-19-nplel8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="A map of the seafloor shows the volcanic cones and caldera." /> A map of the seafloor shows the volcanic cones and massive caldera. Author provided The caldera is a crater-like depression around 5km across. Small eruptions (such as in 2009 and 2014/15) occur mainly at the edge of the caldera, but very big ones come from the caldera itself. These big eruptions are so large the top of the erupting magma collapses inward, deepening the caldera. Looking at the chemistry of past eruptions, we now think the small eruptions represent the magma system slowly recharging itself to prepare for a big event. We found evidence of two huge past eruptions from the Hunga caldera in deposits on the old islands. We matched these chemically to volcanic ash deposits on the largest inhabited island of Tongatapu, 65km away, and then used radiocarbon dates to show that big caldera eruptions occur about ever 1000 years, with the last one at AD1100. With this knowledge, the eruption on January 15 seems to be right on schedule for a “big one”. <h2>What we can expect to happen now</h2> We’re still in the middle of this major eruptive sequence and many aspects remain unclear, partly because the island is currently obscured by ash clouds. The two earlier eruptions on December 20 2021 and January 13 2022 were of moderate size. They produced clouds of up to 17km elevation and added new land to the 2014/15 combined island. The latest eruption has stepped up the scale in terms of violence. The ash plume is already about 20km high. Most remarkably, it spread out almost concentrically over a distance of about 130km from the volcano, creating a plume with a 260km diameter, before it was distorted by the wind. <img src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/1920/2022-01_volcano_jan_13_ash%281%29.gif?1642274062" alt="" width="100%" /> This demonstrates a huge explosive power – one that cannot be explained by magma-water interaction alone. It shows instead that large amounts of fresh, gas-charged magma have erupted from the caldera. The eruption also produced a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/15/tonga-tsunami-warning-as-volcano-erupts-at-sea">tsunami throughout Tonga</a> and neighbouring Fiji and Samoa. Shock waves traversed many thousands of kilometres, were seen from space, and recorded in New Zealand some 2000km away. Soon after the eruption started, the sky was blocked out on Tongatapu, with ash beginning to fall. All these signs suggest the large Hunga caldera has awoken. Tsunami are generated by coupled atmospheric and ocean shock waves during an explosions, but they are also readily caused by submarine landslides and caldera collapses. It remains unclear if this is the climax of the eruption. It represents a major magma pressure release, which may settle the system. A warning, however, lies in geological deposits from the volcano’s previous eruptions. These complex sequences show each of the 1000-year major caldera eruption episodes involved many separate explosion events. Hence we could be in for several weeks or even years of major volcanic unrest from the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano. For the sake of the people of Tonga I hope not.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175035/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/shane-cronin-908092">Shane Cronin</a>, Professor of Earth Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-auckland-1305">University of Auckland</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-volcanic-eruption-in-tonga-was-so-violent-and-what-to-expect-next-175035">original article</a>.

International Travel

“They were taken from us”: White Island survivor marks second anniversary of tragedy

Two years after the eruption of New Zealand’s White Island/Whakaari volcano, one survivor has looked back on the incident that “ripped apart” her family. Stephanie Browitt, her 21-year-old sister Krystal, and their father Paul were among 47 people on the Ovation of the Seas cruise ship when it stopped on the privately-owned island on December 9, 2019. The volcanic eruption <a rel="noopener" href="https://7news.com.au/news/new-zealand/white-island-survivor-stephanie-browitt-reflects-on-tragedy-that-ripped-apart-her-family-c-4875885" target="_blank">resulted</a> in the deaths of 22 people, including 14 Australians, and another 25 people who were badly injured. Stephanie was among the survivors, suffering burns to 70 percent of her body and spending six months in hospital. Unfortunately, Krystal and Paul were among those who died that day. <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CXPVRu8P8c0/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CXPVRu8P8c0/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Stephanie Coral Browitt (@stephaniecoral96)</a> </div> </blockquote> In a candid post on Instagram two years on, Stephanie said she had “very mixed emotions”. “Today marks 2 years since the incident my family & I were a part of. The day that ripped us apart,” she wrote, sharing a series of photos of her family and her recovery. “For a lot of burn survivors they call it their “burnversary”, a day where they can celebrate their achievements, accomplishments and the fact they survived such awful tragedy’s (sic) on this very date. “I truly want to celebrate all that I have accomplished since I was severely burnt, just like other burn survivors do. “Unfortunately today’s not only the day I survived the unimaginable, it’s the day I lost my dad, Paul and sister, Krystal. “It’s the day they were taken from us. “My accomplishments mean nothing to me knowing they aren’t shared with my sister and dad by my side.” Stephanie added that she was “grateful” for making it home to her mother, but “heartbroken that only I made it back”. “My heart hurts when I remember what I felt that day, but it hurts more not knowing what my dad and sister felt, that I wasn’t next to them during their last moments,” she continued. “Today marks two years of accomplishments but also loss, pain and never ending grief. I miss and yearn for my family every day. “I love you so much dad and Krystal, so much it kills me.” Image: @stephaniecoral96 (Instagram)

Caring

Italy’s Mount Etna has a new peak

One of the craters on Italy’s Mount Etna has grown in height after six months of activity, making Europe’s tallest active volcano even taller. The southeastern crater, one of the volcano’s youngest and most active, has risen to a new record of 3,357 metres above sea level, according to the National Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) in Catania, Sicily. “Thanks to the analysis and processing of satellite images, the southeast crater is now much higher than its ‘older brother’, the northeast crater, for 40 years the undisputed peak of Etna,” INGV said in a press release. <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CLicTK6nemz/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CLicTK6nemz/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Your Authentic Italian Page (@italian_vacations)</a> </div> </blockquote> The “conspicuous transformation of the volcano’s outline” has come after about 50 episodes of volcanic activity that has seen ash and lava belched from the crater since mid-February. Though the volcano poses little damage to surrounding villages, Sicily’s government estimated in July that 300,00 metric tonnes of ash has been cleaned up so far, after dirtying streets, slowing down traffic, and damaging crops. <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CLZ0KpuAIJ9/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CLZ0KpuAIJ9/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Growing Up Italian™ (@growingupitalian)</a> </div> </blockquote> Living in Catania, a two-hour drive away from Mount Etna, pensioner Tania Cannizzaro told AFP that the volcano was both beautiful and annoying, with ash that sometimes falls “like rain”. “Depending on the wind, the rumblings of the volcano reach Catania and make the windows shake,” she said, adding that the streets and balconies turn black under the ash. “But there is also the spectacle, especially in the evening, when you see this red plume that moves.”

International Travel

White Island volcano survivor’s emotional plea during COVID lockdown

Stephanie Browitt overcame extreme adversity as she lost her father and her sister in the White Island volcano eruption. As she lives in Melbourne, she has also been in lockdown and has shared a message of hope. "As someone who is grieving deeply and has essentially been in lockdown since early December, due to my six months admission in hospital, I truly believe that focusing on what you can’t change is wasted energy that could be used elsewhere," she explained to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/coronavirus/melbourne-strong-white-island-survivors-plea-to-lockeddown-melburnians/news-story/f1753533b79b0936d98763a58bb7ea33" target="_blank" class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtflink">The Herald Sun</a>. She explained that her time in hospital was tough, but she kept sane by focusing on having her "normal day to day life back". As she was released when Melbourne is in lockdown due to COVID-19, she unfortunately hasn't had that experience. However, she doesn't let it get her down. "I’ve learnt one of the hardest lessons in life which is that you never know when you’re going to lose someone you love," she shared. "I lost my dad and sister so suddenly and I would do anything and everything to have them in lockdown with mum and I. "I feel as though people don’t realise how precious time is and that you don’t often get the chance to be with family like this," she said. Stephanie also explained that being in lockdown in Melbourne is something that "everyone is going through together". "It isn’t forever and that’s what I choose to focus on. "I choose to take it one day at a time and enjoy my time with mum. I choose to explore what I can do from home and get creative with my time. I choose to stay home and accept this because everybody deserves to feel safe," she said. She also urged people not to be selfish and be "team players". "We need to be team players to overcome this petrifying pandemic. "We just can’t afford to branch off on our own, at the risk of killing another or perhaps our own family members," she said. Her mum Marie said that Stephanie will require more painful and expensive surgeries as she has amputated fingers and burns to most of her body that require a compression suit and full face mask. “She won’t complain,” Marie said. That’s despite the fact “she’s disfigured and her fingers are chopped and she’s burnt all over … she’s just trying to stay alive”. The loss of family members seems to have hit the pair the hardest. “My youngest daughter passed away on the mountain and my husband suffered to death. My other daughter is horrifically injured … I can tell you, there is nothing more important than family … just having your family alive and healthy,” Marie said. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do — I would live in a gutter and give up anything — to bring my husband and child back.” The loss still impacts them to this day. “We cry daily, which doesn’t have anything to do with isolation, but because of our grief, our great loss, and our empty home which was once full of laughter and food and people,” Marie said. “Every week, I go to the cemetery where my husband and daughter lay, just so I can talk to them. ” Marie has some advice for Melbourne citizens who are struggling, which is to be safe with your loved ones. “There are people out there, ignoring laws designed to protect their own family’s survival. I can’t comprehend it. “If you have your family, and you have your health, you have everything. I just wish people could see that. “But there are people out there putting themselves and their families, and other families, at risk, complaining about being stuck, with their family, at home. “People are complaining about losing their businesses and the economy, and not being able to go shopping or out for a leisurely stroll, but these things don’t matter. “There is no amount of money, no possessions, that I wouldn’t give up to get some of what I had back, just to get a glimpse of my child or hear her voice or laugh again, to smell her smell.” “Material things you can always get back. You cannot get your family back … Death is irreversible.”

Caring

How three White Island volcano survivors dodged almost certain death

Three White Island survivors held their breath underwater for two minutes in a move that saved their lives as a toxic cloud of ash hovered above them. Helicopter pilot Brian Depauw landed his aircraft with a group of German tourists on the volcanic island off the coast of New Zealand shortly before it erupted on December 9 last year. The group had to flee by boat as their chopper’s rotors were destroyed when it was thrown from its launch pad amid the explosion. When he discovered the helicopter won’t be able to fly, Mr Depauw saw plumes of ash coming towards the group and yelled “jump into the water!” He jumped into the sea with two of his clients – tourists from Germany – and took in a gasp of air before plunging below the surface. “This is it,” he thought, as reported by US publication Outside. “There’s no surviving this.” Depauw witnessed a dark cloud roll over the water’s surface before everything went black. After two minutes, his lungs were in pain. Once the trio saw light, they emerged through the darkness to get some air. The water around them had a thick layer of yellow dust that smelled strongly of sulfur. They then swam to the jetty where tourists with blackened limbs began to gather. The two who followed Depauw into the water came out unscathed, but the others weren’t so lucky as they experienced horrific burns. There were 47 people on the island when the volcano erupted. 21 people died.

Travel Trouble

White Island volcano tour guide's miraculous recovery after surviving eruption

<div class="post_body_wrapper"> <div class="post_body"> <div class="body_text "> 19-year-old Jake Milbank, a White Island tour guide, has been seen for the first time since the volcano erupted on December 9. He was leading a group of tourists around the volcano when it erupted, with the blast claiming the lives of 21 people. Milbank suffered burns to 80 percent of his body, but is now enjoying spending time with his family and his beloved family pet. He was allowed to leave the hospital for the first time on March 1 and it was the first time he had been outside in three months. “After more than three long months in hospital things are finally starting to look up as my medical team have cleared me for day leave,” he wrote in an Instagram update. “The first thing on my list was to go and see this little cutie who hasn't seen me in a whopping 1.8 dog years. “Such an awesome feeling to be back out in the real world breathing in some fresh air.” <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B9lZPh6hJID/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B9lZPh6hJID/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">After more than three long months in hospital things are finally starting to look up as my medical team have cleared me for day leave! The first thing on my list was to go and see this little cutie who hasn’t seen me in a whopping 1.8 dog years 😅 Such an awesome feeling to be back out in the real world breathing in some fresh air. I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped me get to this point, I couldn’t have done it without you all ❤️</a> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/jake_milbank/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank"> Jake Milbank</a> (@jake_milbank) on Mar 11, 2020 at 12:03am PDT </div> </blockquote> Milbank also updated his <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/help-support-jakes-recovery" target="_blank">Give a Little</a> page, explaining that he had been able to spend the day celebrating his aunt’s birthday. “I am now fully grafted which means my physio regime has been getting more and more intense as my skin grafts heal,” the Give A Little update said. “From walking on the treadmill to pumping iron we are seeing improvements every day. “I am finally beginning to gain weight and have put on three kilograms in the last three weeks.” Friends and family of Milbank have been making the eight-hour round trip to the hospital to visit, including colleagues from White Island tours. “Words can't even express how amazing my family have been, they have been so supportive, keeping me company and bringing me home cooked meals, I can't thank them enough,” he said. </div> </div> </div>

Caring

"Raw with grief": White Island volcano victim finally wakes from coma to find husband and stepdaughter died

Adelaide mother and engineer Lisa Dallow woke from a coma and received the heartbreaking news that her daughter and husband passed away in the White Island volcano tragedy. Lisa, 48, told relatives how she and other tourists fled for their lives as rocks rained down on them during the eruption on December 9. She woke in Melbourne’s The Alfred Hospital burns unit and was given the news that her daughter Zoe, 15, and Gavin, 53 had passed. Relatives told <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/sa-woman-lisa-dallow-wakes-from-coma-to-hear-her-husband-gavin-and-daughter-zoe-died-in-the-white-island-volcano-tragedy/news-story/81e97399ddf87c0b4006d2a51933bcb9" target="_blank">The Advertiser</a> that she was devastated. “Lisa is awake and has been told about Zoe and Gavin, so she now knows what has happened,” a family spokeswoman said. “It took a while for it to sink in and then she just kept saying she can’t believe they had died.” The family spokesman also said that Lisa had some memories of the volcano erupting. “She remembers it exploding and then telling everyone to run,” she said. “She then recalled how rocks were falling everywhere and hitting her on the back. “She remembers thinking: ‘When are they going to come and rescue us?’ The next thing she knows is she is in hospital wondering where she was.” After Lisa missed Gavin’s funeral at Adelaide Oval last month, her family has delayed Zoe’s memorial in the hopes that Lisa can attend as she undergoes intensive rehab. “She wasn’t able to go to Gavin’s funeral, but we are hoping she could make Zoe’s, so they have delayed it until she is a bit better,” the spokesperson explained. “It will be Lisa’s decision, so we all just have to wait and see. It is so devastating for everyone. We are still raw with grief.” Lisa was critically injured after suffering life-threatening burns to almost 60 percent of her body and is currently receiving high-level care from Australia’s top trauma doctors. “It really is a slow road to recovery, Lisa has been up and down,” the spokesman said. Photo credits: <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/sa-woman-lisa-dallow-wakes-from-coma-to-hear-her-husband-gavin-and-daughter-zoe-died-in-the-white-island-volcano-tragedy/news-story/81e97399ddf87c0b4006d2a51933bcb9" target="_blank">Adelaide Now</a>

Cruising

White Island volcano eruption: Risky recovery operation begins

A New Zealand military team has landed on the volcanic White Island to recover the bodies of eight people killed in Monday’s eruption, the police announced on Friday morning. The eight-member NZ Defence Force team has arrived on Whakaari/White Island to airlift the bodies off to the naval ship HMNZS Wellington. Located about 50 kilometres off the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island, the White Island is still “highly volatile” with 50 to 60 per cent chance of erupting in the next 24 hours, geological agency GNS Science said <a href="https://www.gns.cri.nz/Home/News-and-Events/Media-Releases/GNS-Science-maps-show-risk-levels-at-Whakaari-White-Island-still-high-12-12-2019">on Thursday</a>. “Whakaari/White Island is an active volcano, and the estimated chance of an eruption is increasing every day,” said the agency’s volcanologist Graham Leonard. “This level of volcanic activity is the highest we’ve seen since the eruption in 2016.” Six Australians are believed to be among the victims on the island: Karla Matthews and Richard Elzer from Coffs Harbour; Julie and Jessica Richards from Brisbane; Zoe Hosking from Adelaide; and Krystal Browitt from Melbourne. There were 47 people on the island at the time of eruption. Twenty-four of those were from Australia, nine from the United States, five from New Zealand, four from Germany, two each from China and Britain, and one from Malaysia. Police said on Thursday two people who were hospitalised from injuries sustained during the eruption had died, bringing the official death toll to eight. Police believe a total of 16 people have died. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told ABC Radio National on Friday morning the country’s workplace health and safety regulator WorkSafe was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2019/dec/12/new-zealand-volcano-eruption-white-island-nz-police-victim-recovery-retrieval-operation-whakaari-live-news-latest-updates">investigating the circumstances</a> around the eruption. “I’m passing no judgement,” she said. “I need that job to be done properly and [families and the community] deserve to have their questions answered.”

News

Desperate request from White Island volcano victim’s brother denied by NZ PM

The heartbroken brother of the White Island volcano eruption victim has written to New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern asking if he could stage his own recovery operation of his sibling’s body. Mark Inman’s brother Hayden Marshall-Inman was the first victim named from the horrific eruption that has also killed seven other Australians with ten others missing or feared dead. Hayden worked as a tour guide on the island and was described as an “energetic young man” who would regularly leave $5 at the local shop for those who needed it for groceries. Mark met the New Zealand Prime Minister after the disaster and sent her an email inquiring about staging his own recovery of his brother’s body. New Zealand police currently say that conditions are too dangerous for emergency services to access the island at present. The email that Mark sent to Ardern reads: "We met yesterday concerning my brother Hayden who is still on White Island 44 hours after the explosions," he wrote, in an email shared with New Zealand's version of The Project. "With the current conditions of sunshine baking and decomposing his body, he's going from a situation where we could have an open casket to now more likely not having a body at all – due to your government's red tape and slow decision making." "I am writing to ask for a pardon for my actions of a personal recovery." <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"> Here is Mark Inman's letter to <a href="https://twitter.com/jacindaardern?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jacindaardern</a>, requesting a pardon should he attempt a personal recovery of his brother's body <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheProjectNZ?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TheProjectNZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/jLejGDL2W8">pic.twitter.com/jLejGDL2W8</a> — The Project NZ (@TheProject_NZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheProject_NZ/status/1204648066747224064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2019</a></blockquote> Staff from Ardern’s office said the message was passed onto police minister Stuart Nash and acknowledging that this must be an “incredibly tough time for you”. "It must be an incredibly tough time for you and your whanau (family). We have passed your email to the Minister of Police's office who will be in touch with you about the situation very soon,” the email said. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"> And the response: <a href="https://t.co/8UZ5NGslw8">pic.twitter.com/8UZ5NGslw8</a> — The Project NZ (@TheProject_NZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheProject_NZ/status/1204648083415433217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2019</a></blockquote> Police minister Nash then confirmed that Mark’s request to go to the volcano had been denied. "The last thing we want to do is to have further casualties in what is already a significant tragedy," Nash said without mentioning Mr Inman by name. "We won't give anyone permission to go to the island, we need to understand the risk then we can work to mitigate the chances of anyone else being injured in this. "The last thing we want to do is for people to risk their lives to go out to the island." He also said the request was "foolhardy, but I understand, out of frustration when in fact all they will be doing is putting themselves in greater harm." Mark told the New Zealand version of The Project that a pilot had seen his brother’s body and moved it onto a rise on the island. "We all know health and safety is important, but when health and safety starts to become a barrier to retrieval, that's when you get frustrated," Mr Inman said.

News

Aussie teen presumed dead found alive

A Sydney teenager who was missing and presumed dead after the deadly New Zealand volcano disaster has been found alive after two days. 19-year-old Jesse Langford was among 19 Australians who were unaccounted for on Wednesday afternoon <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/news/news/20-people-injured-after-violent-volcano-eruption-off-new-zealand-coast">when a dormant volcano erupted to life</a> with 47 people on top of it on Monday afternoon. Both he, his sister and parents were on a cruise ship Ovation of the Seas when they decided to take a tour to the volcano on White Island. <img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7833318/health-food-new-zealand-alps-13.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/55240e8e37b0469caaed7f8a00ce792d" /> It has not been made clear as of yet where Jesse was located but it is understood the rest of his family are still currently missing. The news comes as twenty-five people lie in hospital in critical condition. <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/travel/travel-trouble/missing-australians-named-in-white-island-volcano-eruption">Grave fears remain for at least eight Australians.</a> The gruesome task of scouring the ash-covered White Island will continue as worried family members wait for painful phone calls that their loved ones’ bodies have been found. Three Australians are assumed to be among six people that have been confirmed dead in the horrifying eruption off the coast of New Zealand on Monday just after 2pm. The other three victims include White Island tour guide Hayden Marshall-Inman and a Malaysian national. The identity and origin of the sixth victim is not known. What we do know is that there were 47 people on the island when ash spewed from a dormant crater. Of those, 24 were Australians who had been visiting the island.

News

“I’m just livid”: Cruise passengers claim they weren’t told about White Islands active volcano

An Australian cruise passenger is furious and has claimed that tourists weren’t warned about the danger level of the New Zealand volcano White Island was raised just weeks before it erupted. At least six people have died after the volcano erupted when 47 tourists were on or around the volcano crater. Scientists had noted an increase in volcanic activity, which raises questions about why visitors were allowed to tour the volcano in the first place. 'It showed increased activity for the last few weeks and so we raised the alert level,' GeoNet Project Director Dr Ken Gledhill said on Monday afternoon to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/furious-australian-cruise-passenger-says-tourists-werent-warned-new-zealand-volcano-could-erupt-at-any-moment-despite-danger-level-being-raised-weeks-before-deadly-explosion/ar-BBY26rR?li=AAgfYrC" target="_blank">MSN</a>. Venessa Lugo, who is a passenger on Ovation of the Seas, said that the cruise provided information about the White Island day trip but did not detail the raised danger level, according to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/world/new-zealand-white-island-volcanic-eruption-at-least-six-dead-31-injured/news-story/c24e5406b279ff5f40aeb78cd18b6345" target="_blank">The Daily Telegraph</a>. Lugo said that there were printed sheets on the ship as well as details accessible on a Royal Caribbean app about the shore excursion. “In those sheets we weren't advised of any warnings of anything going off,” she said. “It did ask about pre-existing medical conditions, and it was classified as strenuous activity because you would be in a gas mask, but it definitely didn't specify the possibility of (the volcano) going off.” A spokeswoman for Royal Caribbean did not comment on the claims when contacted but <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.cruisehive.com/royal-caribbean-cruise-passengers-impacted-by-island-volcano-eruption/36288" target="_blank">released a statement</a> about the incident. “The news from White Island is devastating. The details that are emerging are heartbreaking. “We are working to help our guests and the authorities in the aftermath of this tragedy in any way we can. “We are communicating with our guests and their families. We're making sure they are taken care of in terms of medical help, counselling, accommodations, and transport. Our hearts go out to them, and we want to be as supportive as we can.” <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"> My god, White Island volcano in New Zealand erupted today for first time since 2001. My family and I had gotten off it 20 minutes before, were waiting at our boat about to leave when we saw it. Boat ride home tending to people our boat rescued was indescribable. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/whiteisland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#whiteisland</a> <a href="https://t.co/QJwWi12Tvt">pic.twitter.com/QJwWi12Tvt</a> — Michael Schade (@sch) <a href="https://twitter.com/sch/status/1203893996566634496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">9 December 2019</a></blockquote> Barbara Barhamn, the mother of Lauren Urey, said that her daughter and her husband Matthew would have “never booked the excursion” had they known about the risks. “I'm just livid,” she said after learning the couple had been rescued with burns. “There's been warnings about it ... my son-in-law never would have booked the excursion if he knew there was any chance of them being injured,” she said. White Islands Tours chairman Paul Quinn said that decisions not to tour the island is determined by the weather. “In the normal course of events, we'd actually make that call the night before, and that principally and invariably is around the weather,” he explained to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/its-big-tragedy-us-white-island-tours-chairman-says-iwi-owned-business-missing-two-employees" target="_blank">TVNZ</a>. Quinn also explained that they work off data sent from the Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS). “They send us reports as to what the activity levels are and if in fact it is deemed safe - which is a level two which it was yesterday - the next step is the weather and then we make our choice from there,” he said. Quinn said that a level two has been deemed safe for tours. Others have said that the eruption was just a matter of time, including Monash University Emeritus Professor Ray Cas. “White Island has been a disaster waiting to happen for many years,” he said to the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-10/a-disaster-waiting-to-happen:-prof-raymond-cas-on-eruption/11786046" target="_blank">ABC</a>. "It's 50 kilometres offshore from New Zealand with no habitation, no emergency services available. "When you actually get onto the island, you walk straight into this amphitheatre-like volcanic crater. "The floor is littered with many gas-emitting vents and also several volcanic crater lakes which are emitting steam at near-boiling temperatures.”

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20 people injured after violent volcano eruption off New Zealand coast

An eruption from a volcano on White Island in New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty has taken course, with unconfirmed reports of up to 20 people injured. <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12292240" target="_blank">The New Zealand Herald</a> reported rescue helicopters are on the way to the island and it is understood up to 100 people may have been on the island at the time of its disastrous eruption. White Island Tours boats were reportedly near the island. A level four alert has been raised – it is the second highest rating meaning there is an eruption hazard on and near the volcano. The island is 48 kilometres from the Bay of Plenty, a bight in the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Whakaari/White Island is erupting. More information soon. <a href="https://t.co/B5m4BSa4bt">pic.twitter.com/B5m4BSa4bt</a> — GeoNet (@geonet) <a href="https://twitter.com/geonet/status/1203851449483984896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2019</a></blockquote> The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) released a national warning statement for a moderate volcanic eruption, describing the environment as “hazardous in the immediate vicinity of the volcano”. “Volcanic hazards may impact areas on and near the volcano. Ashfall may impact areas distant from the volcano. People should stay out of designated restricted zones.” <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fphoto.php%3Ffbid%3D10212478296591803%26set%3Da.10203084101142788%26type%3D3&width=500" width="500" height="612" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allow="encrypted-media"></iframe> Cameras positioned near the volcano was believed to have displayed people hiking near the eruption site shortly before the explosion. Geological hazard trackers GeoNet had noted there had been somewhat of a moderate volcanic unrest on the island for weeks, before Monday afternoon's eruption. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Yup looks like it... Both of the cameras in the crater have changed significantly. <a href="https://t.co/eVEAfm94oo">pic.twitter.com/eVEAfm94oo</a> — Brady Dyer (@BR4DY) <a href="https://twitter.com/BR4DY/status/1203854492917063680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2019</a></blockquote> Dan Harvey, a man fishing approximately 40 km from the island, told <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12292240" target="_blank">The New Zealand Herald</a> a dark plume of smoke projected into the sky about 2.15pm. “I looked over and saw a burst of steam coming up. There was nothing above the island at that time. It was just clear blue sky. It was unusual to see it go from nothing to steam erupting out of it,” he said. MORE TO COME. Image: Instagram @byminke

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20 people injured after violent volcano eruption off New Zealand coast