from the ??-I-feel-the-earth.-move.-under-my-feet-?? dept.
https://phys.org/news/2020-01-philippine-volcano-spews-lava-half-mile.html
A volcano near the Philippine capital spewed lava into the sky and trembled constantly Tuesday, possibly portending a bigger and more dangerous eruption, as tens of thousands of people fled villages darkened and blanketed by heavy ash.
Government work was suspended and schools were closed in a number of towns and cities, including Manila, because of the health risks from the ash. Hundreds of flights were canceled [or] delayed, affecting tens of thousands of passengers.
The restiveness of the Taal volcano and several new fissures cracking the ground nearby likely means magma is rising and may lead to further eruptive activity, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.
The volcano was spurting fountains of red-hot lava 800 meters (half a mile) into the sky, and the massive column of ash and volcanic debris at times lit up with streaks of lightning.
[...] About 50 volcanic earthquakes were detected over eight hours Tuesday, indicating rising magma, the institute said. It also warned heavy and prolonged ash fall was possible in nearby villages.
"The speed in the rise of magma is important (in determining) when the volcano will have a strong eruption and if it will slow down and freeze," said Renato Solidum, who heads the institute. "As of now, we don't see activities slowing down and the earthquakes still continue."
[...] The picturesque volcano in the middle of a lake in Batangas province south of Manila rumbled to life Sunday in a powerful explosion that blasted a 15-kilometer (9-mile) column of ash, steam and rock into the sky. Clouds of volcanic ash blowing over Manila, 65 kilometers (40 miles) to the north, closed the country's main airport Sunday and part of Monday until the ash fall eased.
More than 500 international and domestic flights were canceled or delayed due to the overnight airport closure, affecting about 80,000 passengers, airport manager Ed Monreal told The Associated Press.
[...] Taal's last disastrous eruption, in 1965, killed hundreds of people. It is the second-most restive of about two dozen active volcanoes in the Philippines, which lies along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," where most of the world's seismic activity occurs.
A long-dormant volcano, Mount Pinatubo[*], blew its top north of Manila in 1991 in one of the biggest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century, killing hundreds of people.
[*] Wikipedia reports this about the Mount Pinatubo eruption on June 15, 1991:
The effects of the eruption were felt worldwide. It ejected roughly 10,000,000,000 tonnes (1.1×1010 short tons) or 10 km3 (2.4 cu mi) of magma, and 20,000,000 tonnes (22,000,000 short tons) of SO2, bringing vast quantities of minerals and toxic metals to the surface environment. It injected more particulate into the stratosphere than any eruption since Krakatoa in 1883. Over the following months, the aerosols formed a global layer of sulfuric acid haze. Global temperatures dropped by about 0.5 °C (0.9 °F) in the years 1991–93, and ozone depletion temporarily saw a substantial increase.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 15 2020, @08:28PM (1 child)
Even Earth is reacting to Ethanol Fueled's increased shit posting. If jmorris logs back in as himself we might just get armageddon.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 15 2020, @11:48PM
You didn't hear the news? Ethanol is the head editor of /. now.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 15 2020, @08:44PM (4 children)
HOW DARE YOU!
(Score: 2) by Bot on Wednesday January 15 2020, @10:57PM
Philippine students did not strike enough. Sad.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Thursday January 16 2020, @01:32AM (2 children)
Taal is an interesting volcano since it's recursive, there's several layers of nested islands/lakes there which change depending on when you look, e.g. the 1960s eruptions and now the 2000s ones.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 16 2020, @05:50PM (1 child)
So you're saying it's Taal recursive.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Friday January 17 2020, @07:28AM
Bailiff, whack his pee-pee.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday January 15 2020, @08:51PM (7 children)
That sounds horrifying.
Wait a sec . . . it is spewing Lava into the sky, not Java. While still bad, it's not as serious as I first thought.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 3, Funny) by BsAtHome on Wednesday January 15 2020, @09:13PM (2 children)
Yes, a volcano spewing copyrighted APIs into the air would be a clear case of willful infringement. In that case, I'm sure Larry would have sent his lawyers already with a cease and desist and an invoice.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 15 2020, @09:27PM
Perhaps this is an uncaught exception?
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday January 16 2020, @02:36AM
Or simply buy it outright [wikipedia.org]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday January 15 2020, @09:27PM (2 children)
Or just a nice pick me up?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/java [merriam-webster.com]
Spoiler: Definition #2 isn't the software language.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday January 15 2020, @10:36PM (1 child)
When Java programmers speak of "dependency injection" [wikipedia.org] they are not referring to caffeine. :-)
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Thursday January 16 2020, @01:06AM
That's a great thing to put on a coffee cup for programmers :)
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by stormwyrm on Friday January 17 2020, @03:19AM
But it did sorta spew Java into the sky. A significant quantity of Philippine coffee, including the famous Batangas Barako, is produced in the region, and quite a lot of the year's crop was destroyed by the volcanic activity, at least a few million dollars' worth so far.
I've still got a bit of ash on my car as I haven't had the time to clean up. There are signs that Taal might erupt yet more violently, judging from the magmatic tremors that are still being observed. A relation of Mrs. Wyrm's has a house in the neighbouring town of Tagaytay, which we used to frequently visit as the view from the town into the crater lake was spectacular. From what I hear though it's now a desolate moonscape.
Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 16 2020, @01:05AM
Pinatubo blew just after the Philippine government threw the U.S. out of the nice big base we had built. So U.S. forces left, leaving thick volcanic ash everywhere. Have the Philippine leaders pulled another such coup?
(Score: 3, Informative) by MostCynical on Thursday January 16 2020, @02:29AM (2 children)
Volcano [forbes.com] fails to compete effectively with fires [theguardian.com]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday January 16 2020, @02:51AM (1 child)
The tiny by comparison 2009's Black Saturday released energy 1500 x Hiroshima bomb [smh.com.au].
Can't get an estimation for this season's ones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 16 2020, @06:40AM
Can you think of anything else that 2009 and 2020 have in common? Hmmm... I wonder if it could have to do that giant irrelevant glowing ball of gas in the sky that has no influence on climate.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday January 16 2020, @02:42AM (1 child)
We should be figuring out how to tap into magma pockets and relieve the pressure in them more safely, so we can prevent eruptions like this. In theory, it shouldn't be that hard, and it would avoid a lot of destruction.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Thursday January 16 2020, @04:47AM
And we might be able to get useful energy from them while we're at it.