Pompeii Scenario
The eruption at Chaitén volcano is causing authorities to worry that a collapse could trigger ash depths similar to Pompeii.
There is precedent for such concern, according to SERNAGEOMIN (Chile’s National Geologic and Mining Service) official who pointed out that similar volcanoes (in Mexico and the Philippines, for example) have collapsed on the seventh or eight day of continuous eruption.Another worry: the amount of animals that have been abandoned near the volcano;“Pompeii is in some ways similar,” added Lara, referring to the Roman city famously destroyed in AD 79 by Mount Vesuvius. “There was a pyroclastic flow that resulted in the consequences we all know. That’s exactly the worst case scenario that we’ve defined here”.
About 600 animals, mostly horses, dogs and cats, are thought to be in Chaiten, with another 600 in Futaleufu, 45 miles south of the volcano.The agriculture ministry has been moving animals from Futaleufu. There are 7,000 head of cattle there, 6,000 in Chaiten and 10,000 in Palena, the ministry said. There also are 28,000 sheep in the region.
Posted by movermike on
Saturday May 10, 2008 at 10:27am
