Arenal, safety concerns for tourists, and a request
Belba Grubb
jaunt after finishing work, and I discovered this video at YouTube.
It's put out by some sort of Costa Rican travel-associated entity. It
also has some spectacular shots of lava fountaining, pyroclastic flows
and general volcano beauty, set to music (it's art, not science -- I
would have set it to the Anvil Chorus [BG]).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESBORwT0haU&NR=1&feature=fvwp
Some of those shots of pyroclastic flows seem to have been taken from
a dangerously close distance (even accounting for the telephoto lens -
just count the ridges and look at the size and speed of the flow),
apparently by someone who didn't realize the flows can travel over
ridges, although in one shot you can see the lens briefly drop down
and up again as if the camera operator, suddenly a little afraid, were
calculating the distance from "there" to "here." (Hint: It's measured
in seconds, not feet, yards, or miles.)
Then there's this one, taken by an individual: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEPkUia2vBo
. Yes, it's wonderful (and makes me realize for the first time just
how well the makers of "Dante's Peak" conveyed the majesty of an
erupting stratovolcano), but nobody seems to be looking at that flow
coming down the right-hand side with concern. I would definitely be
wondering about the drainage pattern in relation to the houses there
(though obviously it wasn't a threat...this time).
That all rang a bell--the Volcanism Blog had at least one article on
tourists who were ignoring the Costa Rican authorities' warnings and
getting close to the volcano while it was erupting. That's here:
http://volcanism.wordpress.com/2009/04/17/arenal-activity-continues-tourists-dice-with-death/
Actually, per the original article and the followup link to the Global
Volcanism Program Arenal article (both linked in the VB post), three
people were caught in the August 2000 flow, and two later died. One of
them was an 8-year-old girl. The tourists had gone into a danger zone.
Well, it's made me decide to write an essay about a volcano's deadly
beauty and the dangers tourists face around them (nothing for
purposeful major publication [meaning I wouldn't say no if an editor
happened by and contacted me, but I'm not actively marketing these to
editors anywhere] and certainly not by assignment; I just write such
things on various topics sporadically throughout the year, post them
at scribd.com for free [to me and also to readers], and then round
them up at the end of the year into a nonfiction collection that, with
wild optimism but no success, I then try to sell there--hey, there are
worse hobbies!).
It will draw on and link to the excellent information HVO has up on
its Web page, but because of these Arenal videos and the tragedy there
in 2000, I will also focus on flows and bring in the Redoubt over-the-
ridge discovery AVO mentioned at their Web site, as well as some
information from PhotoVolcanica.com on how flows killed people on
Montserrat who went back in to their homes and/or farms during the
day, even though those were in closed-access danger zones. I'll
mention the Kraffts, too, as well as reference Stanley Williams' book
about Galeras.
People (and travel agencies) need to know about this stuff. Even one
little droplet in the Great Byte Sea might help raise the public and
agency awareness levels a bit.
Anyway, does anybody know of other authoritative online sources of
volcano hazards tourists should know about that I could link to in
this essay?
Thanks in advance.
PS: Poas is steamed that Arenal's getting all the attention:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TpyFe7ADqs
Barb
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgVoa4eE8-Y