Major Eruption from Ruang; Tsunami Watch, Stones Fall from Sky

[Valin]

Apr 17, 2024

The strongest volcanic eruption in more than a year just originated from the Ruang volcano, resulting in tsunami watches being posted. The volcano's lava dome exploded at approximately 7:40 pm local time, sending a plume of ash to an altitude of 21 kilometers or 69,000 feet. Two kilometer high lava fountains were subsequently generated alongside numerous pyroclastic flows, and now there is a chance that the nearby Tagulandang Island will be evacuated. Today's video discusses the ongoing eruption and the rapid escalation which occurred in the last 18 hours.

Thumbnail Photo Credit: Photo Credit: McGimsey, R. G., Alaska Volcano Observatory / U.S. Geological Survey, https://avo.alaska.edu/image/view/66321. This image was cropped, overlaid with text, and then overlaid with GeologyHub made graphics (the GeologyHub logo and the image border).

[Valin]

Apr 17, 2024

What you are looking at is a rare plinian eruption of the Ruang volcano on April 17th, 2024, which generated a 2 kilometer or 6,600 foot tall lava fountain. This plinian eruption lasted between 8:05 pm and 10:15 pm local time, sending large volumes of ash, tephra, pumice, and gasses to a height of 21 kilometers or 69,000 feet. Plinian eruptions are so named because they look like the stone pine tree (species Pinus pinea) as described by Pliny the Elder when witnessing Mount Vesuvius's infamous eruption in 79 CE. Ruang's eruption had an estimated volcanic explosivity index of a 4, and was the largest eruption it produced in recorded history.

I would like to give a special thanks to the village head of Bahoi (Tagulandang Island in Indonesia) for granting me permission to upload his video clip. In tomorrow's video, I will analyze this clip in detail as part of a longer video.

This video's thumbnail was spliced from two separate frames (one on left, one on right) of the footage shown in this video.