A Volcano 10 Times More Forceful than Mount St. Helens

Alaska's southern coast lies in what's called the Ring of Fire a line of volcanic activity that arcs from the shores of Chile up and across southern Alaska and down to the Philippines there are 50 active volcanoes in Alaska and two of them blow their top every year this puts many Alaskans on a constant vigil for the next eruption including those who live here in the coastal town of Sitka on the state's southeastern panhead just across the bay stands Mount Edgecumbe a now dormant volcano on April 1st 1974 when residents of Sitka saw black smoke pouring from the volcano they panicked assuming Edgecumbe was rumbling to life little did they know it was an April Fool's joke done by a local prankster he'd hauled 70 tires into the crater and set them on fire funny for some but not for others especially those who live through the most powerful volcanic eruption of the 20th century which happened right here in Alaska's Valley of ten thousand smokes a group of hikers is finishing a 12 mile trek they've come for a chance to experience one of the most amazing landscapes in Alaska if not the world these primitive cabins where they'll stay were first built by the University of Alaska geophysical Institute as a research station to study the aftermath of the biggest volcanic eruption of the 20th century it happened here in the early summer of 1912 in late May a series of earthquake started to rattle this once lush Valley the Native Alaskan people who had lived here for hundreds of years since something was terribly wrong gathering their belongings they fled just in time on June 6th a volcano named novarupta suddenly exploded with cataclysmic force a force ten times greater than that of the Mount st. Helens eruption of 1980 great geysers of magma shot into the sky rivers of superheated lava flowed into the valley the sheer volume of what was ejected from novarupta is still mind-boggling 15 cubic kilometers of magma alone rivers of superheated gas and ash raced into this valley 12 miles away flattening lush forests and vaporizing trees transforming it into the wide desolate plain it is today

Channel: Smithsonian Channel

Views: 1,363,344

Keywords: alaska, free tv, Southern coast, Facts, america, free videos, Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, watch, video, volcano, Sitka, ring of fire, TV online, smithsonian, Novarupta, channel, stream TV, Episodes, Documentary

Id: iHqrhNwP50o

Length: 3min 10sec (190 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 23 2014