Stromboli eruption unleashes tidal wave

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Evacuated islanders told to stay away as more chunks of mountain look ready to fall

Philip Willan in Rome Sunday January 5, 2003 The Observer

Stromboli islanders were eating lunch on Monday when a flank of the volcanic mountain they call home detached itself and plunged into the sea.

Around 10 million cubic metres of volcanic rock and boiling lava slithered into the Mediterranean, producing a cloud of steam and ash, that wreathed the 3,000ft mountain, and a tidal wave that rocked ships in ports more than 100 miles away.

The eruption sucked the sea from the beaches of the Eolian islands and then drove it back at them in a 20ft wave, wrecking houses and hurling small boats more than 50 yards inland.

It was the north-west flank, known as the Sciara del Fuoco, that collapsed on Monday, putting three people in hospital and doing more than £600,000 worth of damage to the infrastructure of the tiny tourist island. The island has around 400 permanent residents, but its population swells to 10,000 in the summer. Last week around 100 remained as most residents sought the safety of neighbouring Lipari.

Civil protection authorities plan to install a network of electronic buoys to give early warning of the next time a piece of the mountain slips into the sea, but they say it is impossible to predict when it will be safe to return.

The Sciara del Fuoco still has rivers of lava running down its steep slopes and cracks that indicate more chunks of moun tain are ready to plunge into the sea. Vulcanologists say the mountain contains a ball of molten lava 300 yards in diameter which could explode with devastating force if more of the crater wall were to fall away, exposing the lava to a sudden rush of cold air or sea water. more

-- Anonymous, January 05, 2003


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