Volcanic eruption today...

[John Hill]

White Island which is off the coast of NZ and a popular tourist site erupted today, some loss of life is reported.

[4mastacker]

Can't have been pleasant for the folks close to the eruption - in fact I think I would have been scared ****less by the power of nature. The BBC is reporting one person has lost their life - let's hope there's no more - one is too many.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Some detail here from the Guardian...

One person has been killed, and that figure is expected to rise, after a volcanic eruption on New Zealand’s Whakaari / White Island.

Up to 27 people are still unaccounted for and the island is too dangerous for police and rescue to access. Police deputy commissioner John Tims said there “are likely to be more” casualties.

Fewer than 50 people were on the island at the time of the eruption, and 23 have been taken off.

30 to 38 of those people were passengers on the cruise ship Ovation of the Seas, as confirmed by the CEO of the New Zealand Cruise Association.
Seven people, of the 23 taken off the island, are critically injured.

The eruption occurred about 2:11pm local time, 48km off the coast of the Bay of Plenty, on the north island.

Whakaari / White Island is New Zealand’s most active cone volcano, and is a popular tourist destination and scientific research site. It last experienced a short-lived eruption in 2016.

Seven helicopters have been dispatched to the island.

https://www.ops-normal.org/viewtopic.ph ... 48#p205848

[TheGreenGoblin]

[barkingmad]

Allegedly there were reports from the beginning of this month about increased activity by this volcano and yet the visits continued.

If so, what price the phrase “homo sapiens”?

Maybe discussion belongs in the “Darwin” thread, sad though it is for the casualties and traumatised survivors.

And do we have to brace ourselves for the tabloid newspaper headline describing “ashen-faced tourists flee erupting volcano” ? !

[Slasher]

Bloody hell!

[TheGreenGoblin]

Allegedly there were reports from the beginning of this month about increased activity by this volcano and yet the visits continued.

If so, what price the phrase “homo sapiens”?

Maybe discussion belongs in the “Darwin” thread, sad though it is for the casualties and traumatised survivors.

And do we have to brace ourselves for the tabloid newspaper headline describing “ashen-faced tourists flee erupting volcano” ? !

The lawyers are going to have a field day with this one. Negligence written all over this tragedy...

[John Hill]

The lawyers are going to have a field day with this one. Negligence written all over this tragedy...

Residents and visitors to NZ are protected by a no fault insurance scheme, ACC, so I do not know if the lawyers will even get a look in.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Residents and visitors to NZ are protected by a no fault insurance scheme, ACC, so I do not know if the lawyers will even get a look in.

Most interesting legal situation indeed!

[barkingmad]

After visiting NZ February this year, the power of nature was brought home to me by seeing close-up the devastation caused by the 7.8 ‘quake which devastated the Kaikoura area.
‘Only’ 2 fatalities as opposed to the Christchurch ‘quake and therefore not well known but significant in severity and damage.
Incredible read for those who’d like to be educated as to the effect on locals and tourists;

https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/10853777 ... -the-coast

After 3 winters based on Iceland I can appreciate the sense of living atop an unexploded bomb. But the Icelanders have a more sensible attitude towards such phenomena and I’d be surprised if they’d have allowed visitors onto the unpronouncable one which pooped off in 2010.
Local NZ volcanologist being interviewed as I write this stating there was significant activity with possibility of an “any time now” eruption.
Also reports of a helo downed by the event.

[Slasher]

Allegedly there were reports from the beginning of this month about increased activity by this volcano and yet the visits continued.

Question is were tourists and visitors well aware and informed that Whakaari was getting angry?

If yes it’s a Darwin Award. If not then heads will rightfully roll.

Still I’d rather wait for the body count to finish before starting to point fingers. It’s still an ongoing ‘Bloody hell!’ thing IMO.

[Pontius Navigator]

Many insurance policies will exclude events such as this. They will also exclude . . . 'against advice ' events. The most likely target for litigation will be the shipping company.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Helicopter down

https://www.ops-normal.org/viewtopic.ph ... 61#p205861

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Basic vulcanology is part of the physics syllabus occasionally.
Vulcanology 101: Eruptions are not predictable, and there are enough dead vulcanologists to prove that.

Short version: You chuck your life into the lottery bin when you visit a volcano. Pick a ticket.

transatlantic IIi 091.jpg (103.32 KiB) Viewed 510 times

My closest encounter with a volcano: Monserrat.
Turned the boat around and went somewhere else. Questions?

[TheGreenGoblin]

Always worth a trip to Pompeii or Herculaneum to see the agony twisted pumice and ash casts of bodies of the unfortunates that were killed by the pyroclastic cloud to know that death by volcano is a pretty awful way to depart this earth.

https://www.seeker.com/pompeii-victims- ... 34701.html

[TheGreenGoblin]

“White Island has been a disaster waiting to happen for many years,” said Ray Cas, a professor emeritus at Monash University, in comments published by the Australian Science Media Centre.

“Having visited it twice, I have always felt that it was too dangerous to allow the daily tour groups that visit the uninhabited island volcano by boat and helicopter.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 38836.html

There are apparently no more survivors and the death toll will rise from the 5 people noted so far.

Apparently up to 24 people are still missing and of those rescued 7 are in a critical condition!

[Ex-Ascot]

The lawyers are going to have a field day with this one. Negligence written all over this tragedy...

Residents and visitors to NZ are protected by a no fault insurance scheme, ACC, so I do not know if the lawyers will even get a look in.

As a lawyer in corporate law and involved in activity holidays I would suggest that the company 'White Island Tours' is guilty of negligence. I cannot see how any New Zealand law can get them out of this. Proving negligence is very difficult. You have to prove that you took your clients into a dangerous situation. Someone falls on a walk and gets killed is not a case. Taking them into an active volcano which has eruption warnings is. I see that their website is down due to an emergency!

[Stoneboat]

Has Ms. Thunberg shrieked a comment yet?

[Ex-Ascot]

Has Ms. Thunberg shrieked a comment yet?

Pity she wasn't there.

[TheGreenGoblin]

As a lawyer in corporate law and involved in activity holidays I would suggest that the company 'White Island Tours' is guilty of negligence. I cannot see how any New Zealand law can get them out of this. Proving negligence is very difficult. You have to prove that you took your clients into a dangerous situation. Someone falls on a walk and gets killed is not a case. Taking them into an active volcano which has eruption warnings is. I see that their website is down due to an emergency!

+1

The risk level was raised in the last week in the light of tremors and release of sulphur dioxide gas on the island.


https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/arti ... d=12292364