Vancouver, this is it.
When I went to school, back in the Paleocene, students memorized a list of phrases spoken by famous Americans.
“Don’t give up the ship.”
“I shall return.”
“Damn the torpedoes.”
In retrospect, I don’t recall a single entry uttered by a famous earth scientist.
Well, if that list still exists and finds anyone’s employ, consider the phrase fault filled.
“Vancouver, this is it.”
Those were the last words of USGS researcher David Johnston, radioed to Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver Washington, seconds prior the blast of
Mt. St. Helens, May 18, 1980.
I blog much about natural disasters --- many just “what ifs” or otherwise far away, long ago. I heartily suggest that everyone who has interest in the subject pilgrimage to Mt. St. Helens, stand on the deck of the Johnston Ridge Memorial Visitor Center, and absorb the scale of one natural disaster that was not a ‘what if’ or so far away.
While scarcely a stand in for the real thing, this movie presents a physics-based computer simulation of the lateral blast and flank collapse of Mt. St. Helens on that fateful day.
Worldwide, many cities cozy to volcanoes. Let’s hope no time soon that that of list of famous phrases includes “Seattle, this is it.”, “Kagoshima, this is it.”, or “Naples, this is it”.
Steven N. Ward Santa Cruz
About OpenHazards Bloggers
Steven Ward is a Research Geophysicist at
the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, UC Santa Cruz. He specializes in the quantification and simulation of
natural hazards. Read Steve's blog.
John Rundle is a Distinguished Professor of Physics
and Geology at UC Davis and
the Executive Director of the APEC Collaboration for Earthquake Simulations. He
chaired the Board of Advisors for the Southern California Earthquake Center from 1994 to 1996. Read John's blog.
Comments
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