Alaskans Prepare For Volcanic Eruption

An anonymous reader writes "Mount Redoubt, or Redoubt Volcano, is an active stratovolcano in the largely volcanic Aleutian Range of Alaska. The once quiet volcano has begun to roar once again. Its last eruption was in 1989 and geologists suggest that the next one is upon us. Alaskans who lived through the earlier eruption are stocking up on breathing masks and goggles. Starting on Friday, January 23 2009, the level of seismic activity increased markedly, and on Sunday AVO raised the Aviation Color Code to ORANGE and the Volcano Alert Level to WATCH. On the basis of all available monitoring data AVO regards that an eruption similar to or smaller than the one that occurred in 1989-90 is the most probable outcome. We expect such an eruption to occur within days to weeks." From the AP article: "Alaska's volcanoes are not like Hawaii's. 'Most of them don't put out the red river of lava,' said the observatory's John Power. Instead, they typically explode and shoot ash 30,000 to 50,000 feet high — more than nine miles — into the jet stream. 'It's a very abrasive kind of rock fragment,' Power said. The particulate has jagged edges and has been used as an industrial abrasive. 'They use this to polish all kinds of metals,' he said." The server for the Alaska Volcano Observatory appears to be overloaded and is unresponsive.

Comments

Really?

[egcagrac0]

Perpare?

Re:Really?

[$RANDOMLUSER]

Perpare?

Yup, that's the way we say it in Chicago. Just ask the mare.

Re:Really?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yse, perpare! Seh's gnona bolw!

Re:Really?

[Dystopian Rebel]

You betcha! (winks)

Re:Really?

[MartinSchou]

*shakes head* Why overdo it, when a single mistake would have been a lot smarter:

"Yes, perpare! She's gonna bowl!"

Bah!

[elrous0]

My grandpappy stayed on this mountain, and I'll be damned if I'm going to leave it! I'm staying righ#@$#@%$NO CARRIER

Re:Bah!

[Shakrai]

My grandpappy stayed on this mountain, and I'll be damned if I'm going to leave it! I'm staying righ#@$#@%$NO CARRIER

Ok, so we've got someone who is unwilling to evacuate. Check. Now all we need is a fairly attractive MILF who may sire the future leader of the human resistance^W^W^W^W^W^W^W^W^Wis the mayor of a small town. Oh and Pierce Brosnan too. Can't forget him. Add those two things in and I think we've got ourselves a movie ;)

(Bonus points for adding in a family dog that will survive all manner of bad situations even as the humans around him are dropping like flies)

Re:Bah!

[Daswolfen]

Better than Tommy Lee Jones stopping lava with concrete and fire hoses.... ... oh and a building.

Re:Bah!

[Shakrai]

Ah, I'd forgotten about that one. Yeah that was pretty cheesy. They did actually manage such a feat in Iceland once upon a time. Of course it took millions of gallons of water (far more then you'd get from fire trucks) and they didn't stop the lava flow -- all they did was divert it from a harbor that they were trying to save.

Ocol

[Talisman]

Fi Noly Ilnux ahd a psellchecker.

adding fuel to the (server) fire

[Red Flayer]

The server for the Alaska Volcano Observatory appears to be overloaded and is unresponsive.

And so you post a direct link to it on the slashdot front page?

Way to go, kdawson, way to go. You've ensured the Alaska Volcano Observatory site is going to be down even longer.

Why would you do that? Did that site molest you when you were young or something?

Re:adding fuel to the (server) fire

[Rasit]

I have to admit that the first thing I did upon reading that was to click the link to see if the server really was down. *hangs head in shame*

Re:adding fuel to the (server) fire

[Anonymous Coward]

I did the same, but for another reason: when it goes down, you have to make sure it /stays/ down.

Re:adding fuel to the (server) fire

[nonewmsgs]

i just checked it to try to see if it is back up and it is, so we don't have to worry. you can always see for yourselves if you don't believe me.

Re:adding fuel to the (server) fire

[Hoi Polloi]

I'll just set up a batch job to keep pinging it until it comes up...

I have a vague memory of St. Helens

[txoof]

I find this to be pretty exciting. I was just a little kid when St. Helens blew her top. I remember the ash coating our cars in Colorado. I thought it was so cool that it was snowing dirt.

Then again, I don't live right under the thing and my home, livelihood, health and property aren't currently being threatened by microscopic airborne razor blades.

Have any slashdot readers been close to an erupting volcano? Especially the subduction zone variety? Can you give us an account of what it's like?

These ring-o-fire volcanoes usually explode rather than ooze due to the composition of their magma. There's lots of dissolved gasses that like to become undissolved in massive bangs.

Re:I have a vague memory of St. Helens

[indi0144]

Have you ever being in an earthquake? those in which you can listen the earth "roaring"? A volcano it's a bit more frightening since earth roars, smells like the Erebus should smell and the sight of a 5 mile high gray cloud makes it apocalyptic.

Re:I have a vague memory of St. Helens

[drinkypoo]

Then again, I don't live right under the thing and my home, livelihood, health and property aren't currently being threatened by microscopic airborne razor blades.

Those microscopic airborne razor blades will probably be distributed across much of the US due to the jet stream.

On the plus side, a dust mask is probably sufficient protection for those without beards.

Re:I have a vague memory of St. Helens

[Daswolfen]

Call me crazy, but I think a volcanic plume is beautiful. I love the pattern in the the clouds of the pyroclastic flows.

And this is a good time for us to observe a volcano fairly close to a major population center, so we can be ready when Yellowstone erupts on 12/21/12 at 11:11 GMT.

Re:I have a vague memory of St. Helens

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps your hearing is limited in the low frequencies, or you haven't been in enough earthquakes, or you need to be in one away from buildings?

I have been in countless minor but very local earthquakes and some major ones, and have often noticed a deep rumbling or "roaring" sound before the first bit of obvious shaking arrives. The local ones were the loudest, sometimes consisting of a rumble and then one sharp bang which sounded like something crashed into my house.

Re:I have a vague memory of St. Helens

[Bastard of Subhumani]

Will Russians be able to see it from their house?

Re:I have a vague memory of St. Helens

[onkelonkel]

He must be a kernel dev. Bow down in awe.

Poor Observatory

[gakguk]

> The server for the Alaska Volcano Observatory appears to be overloaded and is unresponsive.

And we're helping the poor sysadm by linking from /. homepage, right? kdawson, you're da man :)

Sarah Palin

[arkham6]

So I guess Sarah Palin is not the only thing from Alaska that emits a lot of gas and hot air.

Re:Sarah Palin

[elrous0]

Bad comparison. When a volcano wants your attention, it spits. When Sarah Palin wants something, she swallows.

Sarah Palin an expert in geology and vulcanology

[MasterOfMagic]

Given her foreign policy credentials, are the Republican talking heads going to advance this event as proof of her experience with geology and vulconalogy?

And with all that ash in the air...

[Ellis D. Tripp]

she won't be able to see Russia from her backyard anymore!

Re:And with all that ash in the air...

[Cally]

Actually,

PALIN:And, Charlie, you're in Alaska. We have that very narrow maritime border between the United States, and the 49th state, Alaska, and Russia. They are our next door neighbors.We need to have a good relationship with them. They're very, very important to us and they are our next door neighbor.

GIBSON: What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?

PALIN: They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.

Let's work to avoid another "Katrina"

[bogaboga]

My prayer to all those concerned is to work hard in order to avoid another "Katrina." Just like Katrina, we know this natural disaster is probably coming, like Katrina, we know its likely to be big and therefore affect many folks.

So let us prepare and not screw up everything. Events that transpired during and after Katrina were no less than events that would have transpired in a 3rd world country. Now that's shameful and we should avoid it.

Re:Let's work to avoid another "Katrina"

[wurble]

It can't be as bad as Katrina. There are currently over 1,000,000 people in the New Orleans metro area. That's AFTER Katrina; the population of new Orleans literally dropped in half since 2000. And Katrina affected a heck of a lot larger area than just the New Orleans metro.

The entire state of Alaska has around 680,000 people.

So while this has the potential to be a major disaster, it will never be anything as bad as Katrina in scale and number of people affected.

Re:Let's work to avoid another "Katrina"

[BobMcD]

I have to admit I'm a bit torn by this sentiment. On the one hand, yes, this is shaping up to be rather tragic. On the other, isn't this sort of thing rather avoidable by just not living there?

To be fair, Katrina (specifically as it pertains to New Orleans) is only about 50/50 on the whole 'just dont live there' thing for me - hurricanes can hit the entire coast, but perhaps you should consider allowing the below-sea-level areas to flood at some point. Or fill it in somehow, or use a system of tubes, or stilts, or whatever engineering marvel amounts to a better idea than 'build a wall and pray'. It isn't like water is some kind of super-intelligent villain. It just sort of flows downhill until it hits the ocean...

This Alaskan situation, on the other hand, is a volcano. It doesn't move around much. It also erupts in a fairly predicable way, and makes a lot of noise letting you know its about to happen.

It just reminds me of the security guard on Austin Powers, I guess.

Re:Let's work to avoid another "Katrina"

[will_die]

Doubtful that it will be another Katrina for three reasons
1) the People in he nearby cities are preparing for it. Buying emergencies suppies, food, flashlights,etc.
2) The mayors in nearby cities are informing the people, have emergency procedures already in place and plan to follow them.
3) the governor is working with the mayors, has plans aready in place for when emergencies happen, and is prepared to activate emergency personnel as needed.

Re:Let's work to avoid another "Katrina"

[NinthAgendaDotCom]

4) Michael "heck of a job" Brown no longer at FEMA

Re:Let's work to avoid another "Katrina"

[argStyopa]

"Just like Katrina, we know this natural disaster is probably coming, like Katrina, we know its likely to be big and therefore affect many folks."

And just like Katrina, anyone too stupid to look after their own behinds and expect the government to come save them is an idiot who probably is due for a Darwinistic culling.

Be intelligent. Prepare yourself. Evacuate as YOUR judgement suggests is reasonable, and understand that the consequences for being wrong could be severe, so you might want to err on the side of caution.

What shamed me as an American during Katrina wasn't the much-publicized "failure" of Bush and co. No, what disgusted me was that in a society with free public education to age 18, widespread information-distribution technology, and AMPLE transportation resources, we have apparently bred a new generation of sheep, er, Americans with no interest in helping their fellow-man, so dependent and with so little motivation that even self-preservation can't get them to lift a finger in their own interest.

Re:Let's work to avoid another "Katrina"

[ari_j]

Also, Alaskans are, in general, more prepared to go without power, heat, water, transportation, and the like for months at a time. They call it "winter."

Re:Let's work to avoid another "Katrina"

[Daswolfen]

Ok... you know what.. stop beating the horse, because its dead.

Lay the blame on Ray 'Chocolate Town' Nagin and Governor Blanco. They waited less than 24 hours for a mandatory evacuation. How many city and school buses could have been used to get those out of the affected area if the evacuation would have been called at the proper time 48+ hours before? Instead the sit there and the city floods. The media, already with an intense hatred of Bush, lays blame on him. Reality is, FEMA was there

"New Orleans's emergency operations chief Terry Ebbert blamed the inadequate response on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). "This is not a FEMA operation. I haven't seen a single FEMA guy", he said. "FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control. We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans."[9] At the time, the main staging area was only 6 miles away along the adjoining I-10 at the Causeway intersection, and FEMA had apparently been at the Superdome three days earlier."

Was there dropped balls on all sides? Yes. But if Nagin would have done his job, then the loss of life would have been significantly lessened.

Re:Let's work to avoid another "Katrina"

[Anonymous Coward]

Also, Alaskans are, in general, more prepared to go without power, heat, water, transportation, and the like for months at a time. They call it "winter."

It's also known as "self-sufficiency", and it works a lot better than "government dependence", which was what was expected by too many people after Hurricane Katrina.

Re:Let's work to avoid another "Katrina"

[Waffle Iron]

No. There are not enough safe areas on Earth to hold all or even the majority of the population

Sure there are. They're just not generally close enough to the trendy seashores for most people's tastes.

Today, people are actually packed tightest into the relatively small high risk areas because they have the most attractive geological features and climate.

Re:Let's work to avoid another "Katrina"

[khallow]

Three things. First, the metro area of Anchorage is about a third the size of the metro area of New Orleans. So it is comparable in size. Second, most of the metropolitan area of New Orleans wasn't significantly affected by Hurricane Katrina. The real damage was caused by two or three collapsed dikes in downtown New Orleans. If they hadn't failed, then Katrina would have been just another relatively destructive hurricane. In comparison, my impression is that most of the Anchorage metro area is at risk from a tsunami. There are parts that are at high elevation, but I gather most of the city (and much of the surrounding area) is near sea level. Third, any tsunami causing event is going to give maybe a few tens of seconds of warning.

If Anchorage gets hit directly by a big tsunami, it'll probably rank among the worst volcanic disasters of history and far greater than that of Hurricane Katrina. This is something which I believe Mount Redoubt is capable of. The mountain is 9000 feet high. If a major chunk of that volcano blows north, it'll run down a valley all the way to Cook Inlet with the force directed towards Anchorage.

Re:Let's work to avoid another "Katrina"

[Darby]

It's also known as "self-sufficiency", and it works a lot better than "government dependence", which was what was expected by too many people after Hurricane Katrina.

LOL,

that's why Alaska is the queen of the welfare states. How about you start being a little bit self-sufficient and stop taking 2 dollars from me for every dollar you pay in taxes ya god damned welfare leech.

Re:Let's work to avoid another "Katrina"

[element-o.p.]

In comparison, my impression is that most of the Anchorage metro area is at risk from a tsunami.

Negative. I've never seen it actually documented (or else I'd provide a link), but the urban legend (at least) in Anchorage is that Cook Inlet isn't conducive to tsunamis reaching the Anchorage area. Most of the water near Anchorage is pretty shallow, which you can verify for yourself by looking at Cook Inlet, Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at low tide -- especially this time of year, when the glacial-fed rivers that empty into Knik and Turnagain arms are just barely trickling. Therefore, most of the energy of a tsunami would be dissipated before reaching Anchorage. Also, Anchorage sits on a ~100 foot high bluff. The airport elevation at Merrill Field is ~130 feet above sea level. While there are parts of Anchorage that are lower (the port and some of the area near the Coastal Trail), I suspect it would take a really large wall of water (which I already showed isn't likely) to flood most of Anchorage.

Re:Simpsons?

[Rasit]

I'm pretty sure the goggles tag is a reference to the simpsons. I'm wondering if that episode is famous enough to warrant a meme or if its just because it was the one they showed last night.

The googles, they do nothing! = 239,000 results.
The goggles do nothing = 325,000 results.

I think that it qualifies to be called a internet meme.

Re:Unresponsive web page

[Anonymous Coward]

They were not perpared.

Re:Damn globe

[indi0144]

one would say.. "it's like the earth wants to get rid of us" but thats crazy talk. It's more like the underground Molemen are pissed off by all the media coverage for things like tsunamis and fires. Maybe Dr. Evil allied with the Molemen and tried to blow the inners of the earth again but Austin Powers could not do anythings since he converted to some kind of guru. I blame religion for this.

Re:Sarah Palin an expert in geology and vulcanolog

[MadMidnightBomber]

Score 2, Flamebait? Boy is someone still sore about the election.

Re:and Mr. Present, the Messiah

[MasterOfMagic]

Wow, is that the best the dittoheads can come up with? I think Rush was much more comical and insightful on drugs.

Yellowstone

[Anonymous Coward]

The biggest problem with the Yellowstone supervolcano would be the large amounts of ash ejected REALLY high into the atmosphere and across large portions of the US as well due to the high pressure eruption.

The prudent thing would be to place tactical nuclear warheads in deep wells around the entire perimeter of the magma chamber, and if it begins erupting, to crack the whole top at once. The area around Yellowstone will be destroyed, but the outlet for the pressure will be so large, far less ash is going to be ejected far lower in the atmosphere. We may even be able to avoid a massive drop in global temperatures, and crop failures that would otherwise kill a billion people.

P.S. Had to post as Anon as I moderated some totally unrelated posts.

Meuge

Sitting here in Anchorage right now 'preparing'

[lukej]

If you mean by preparing, drinking some morning tea, and playing with my iPhone.

OBLG: BSG

[powerlord]

And its overdue. And it is moving.

... and it has a plan.

Unnecesary link

[stm2]

This is not Microsoft website in the day of the "slammer", this is a public service in an emergency, I think it would be wise to remove the link.

That's what a "government" is for

[Moraelin]

Sad to break this to you, but humans usually _organize_ for this kind of thing, so it doesn't become a matter of individual people helping individual people. There are a lot of things which just don't scale if done that way.

E.g.,

- It's more efficient and a better use of everyone's resources to have a tiny fraction of the population as cops, than to have each person stand guard with a shotgun on their own property 27/7. The former lets you actually, say, go to work and leave that home unattended.

- It's more efficient to have a few doctors, than have everyone learn to treat their own wounds and illnesses,

- It's more efficient to have an insurance spread the risk and cost, than have everyone save for the freak case that an airplane falls on their roof, they run their car into a tree, _and_ get a MRSA infection in the resulting fractures

- It's more efficient to have some consumer laws and organizations, than have everyone spend countless hours and effort running the EULA for every single pencil, second-hand car, and party hat by a lawyer to be sure they haven't sold their firstborn into slavery in clause 255 on page 100 of the small print,

Etc.

Just like making shoes for a hundred million people ends up cheaper and more efficient that each of those people each raising their own pig/cow/whatever, personally tanning its hide, and sewing their own shoes.

People organize so a centralized group can do some things cheaper and more efficient than in an every-man-for-himself world. _That's why we have governments (local, federal, whatever), agencies like the FEMA, etc. That's their job.

And the fact that you're so quick to dismiss their responsibility and blame it on the victims... well, maybe _that_ idiocy is proof of what's wrong with education.

One chance to stop the eruption!

[kheldan]

Volcano God unhappy! Bind and gag Sarah Palin and throw her in, then everything will be OK!
..seriously, it's a win-win situation for everyone. ;-)

Re:One chance to stop the eruption!

[Cally]

...except the volcono! The poor thing...

Re:Think of the Airlines as Well.

[srussia]

I wonder what kind of plans or route diversions they are making for military and commercial flights right now?

The particulate has jagged edges and has been used as an industrial abrasive. 'They use this to polish all kinds of metals,'

So I'm guessing American Airlines will be routing their whole fleet right over it for a free polish!

Re:MOD PARENT DOWN.

[elrous0]

I bet your friends just love it when you come to the comedy club with them.

Re:Damn globe

[INT_QRK]

I'd say more like Global Cooling. Stratospheric volcanic clouds are more likely to reflect sunlight back into space, thus are more likely to cause cooling than contribute significantly to greenhouse effect. See http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/volcanoes/vclimate.html

Re:MOD PARENT DOWN.

[Captain Splendid]

Wow. Someone got piss instead of milk in their cornflakes this morning.

pansys...

[akboss]

I live across from Redoubt.

There are another 12 active volcanos in the area.

There is the valley of ten thousand smokes which is a super volcano (Katmia)there also.

I have been through several of these since '75. Augustine (three times) Redoubt (now the third time) Spurr, so it isnt anything special.

It does however give me a chance to sit on the beach and video tape the event hopefully.

So nothing to see here, go back to your wimpy ice storms and snow while we Alaskans handle the real manly stuff ...ok...

There there now nothing to be frightened of...just a little volcano farting....

Re:pansys...

[MarkvW]

Good luck to you. I hope that your risk assessment, based on 'human time,' isn't overridden by a powerful volcanic incident, occurring in geologic time.

Re:pansys...

[TFloore]

Okay, you are

real manly

But perhaps not terribly consistent.

Why would you

video tape the event

if there is

nothing to see here

.

Aside from a cool volcanic eruption, what am I missing?

Re:Stopping lava

[OVDoobie]

Video is not available in my country, wtf Youtube...

Re:Damn globe

[meringuoid]

Actually I'd love to see a comparison of supposed man made climate changing gasses verses natural.

Human activity typically puts out some 130 times more carbon dioxide than all the world's volcanoes combined. Neither come close to the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by rotting foliage in the autumn - but that is cancelled out by the carbon dioxide absorbed by growing foliage in the spring. That's why the concentration in the atmosphere oscillates up and down, but maintains a continuous upward trend.