Saturday, August 27, 2011
THEN
On August 27, 1883, the most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history occurs on Krakatau, a small, uninhabited Indonesian island. The catastrophic eruption results in an enormous tsunami washing away 165 coastal villages on Java and Sumatra, Indonesia, killing approximately 36,000 people. According to the United States Geological Survey, the largest wave reaches a height of 140 feet and tsunamis are recorded as far away as the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, more than 4,349 miles from Krakatau. The August 27 eruption triggers natural disasters felt around the world for years after 1883.
NOW
Last month, while conducting a routine expedition off the coast of Oregon in the United States, Oregon State University geologists discovered evidence of an undetected underwater volcanic eruption that occurred in April. After further investigation, scientist discovered that the volcanic eruption located about 265 miles off the Oregon coast at Axial Seamount, spewed forth a layer of lava more than 12 feet thick in some places, and released a cloudy substance of hot water and microbes from deep within the Earth. Although scientists monitoring the Axial Seamount since 1998 predicted that an underwater volcano would erupt sometime between 2011 and 2014, the recent eruption went undetected for two months following the event.
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