Mt. Etna has erupted
December 4, 2015 12:18 PM Subscribe
I wonder if Naples' evacuation plans are up to date?
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:32 PM on December 4, 2015
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:32 PM on December 4, 2015
OK, I panicked. That's Vesuvius. Still....
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:34 PM on December 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:34 PM on December 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yeah, Vesuvius is the really scary one.
posted by Bee'sWing at 12:38 PM on December 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Bee'sWing at 12:38 PM on December 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
Etna's the crossword puzzle volcano.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:42 PM on December 4, 2015 [35 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:42 PM on December 4, 2015 [35 favorites]
Etna (Ætna) used to be the insurance company volcano, until it's logo/mascot was changed to a stick figure.
posted by Smart Dalek at 12:49 PM on December 4, 2015
posted by Smart Dalek at 12:49 PM on December 4, 2015
I was just there this summer and aside from being really cool, it was funny how vaguely blase the tourist information was about having to rebuild the facilities every 5 years, so you'd get brochures that said stuff like, "The cable car system was built in 1971. In 1980, lava destroyed it and it had to be rebuilt. In 1987, it was partially destroyed by lava and had to be rebuilt. It was subsequently damaged by lava flows in 1993, 2001, 2007, and 2009. Enjoy your trip to Mount Etna!"
posted by Copronymus at 12:51 PM on December 4, 2015 [21 favorites]
posted by Copronymus at 12:51 PM on December 4, 2015 [21 favorites]
I can never get over how well those lightning-and-lava shots match up to my pop-culture-informed ideas of what hell is supposed to look like. It would be amazing to see an art history overview of that kind of imagery, huh?
posted by Andrhia at 1:02 PM on December 4, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Andrhia at 1:02 PM on December 4, 2015 [4 favorites]
Copronymus, that's sounds like Monty Python and the Holy Grail!
Given the almost constant activity in the Pacific Rim it's easy forget that volcanoes can be found everywhere.
posted by tommasz at 1:02 PM on December 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
Given the almost constant activity in the Pacific Rim it's easy forget that volcanoes can be found everywhere.
posted by tommasz at 1:02 PM on December 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
The lava fountain reached heights of close to a mile."Hmmm... surely they mean that the combined height of the volcano and the lava fountain is a mile. [checks Wikipedia] Nope: 10,922 feet in height, with the uncomfortable proviso 'currently... though this varies with summit eruptions.' Jeezus."
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:33 PM on December 4, 2015 [5 favorites]
I can never get over how well those lightning-and-lava shots match up to my pop-culture-informed ideas of what hell is supposed to look like.
Probably because volcano eruptions in the pre-science era are what made people think that's what hell was.
posted by hwyengr at 2:20 PM on December 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
Probably because volcano eruptions in the pre-science era are what made people think that's what hell was.
posted by hwyengr at 2:20 PM on December 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
This is why I love the ubiquitous digicam. We get to see everything in nearly real time; beautiful images of lightning figures, last night.
posted by Oyéah at 2:21 PM on December 4, 2015
posted by Oyéah at 2:21 PM on December 4, 2015
Hell is other people. This is just a volcano.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 2:33 PM on December 4, 2015 [12 favorites]
posted by Mr. Yuck at 2:33 PM on December 4, 2015 [12 favorites]
I don't see why the height of the lava fountain is surprising. A mile-high column of lava only requires four hundred atmospheres of pressure at the base.
Just kidding. That was also the thing that surprised me most.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 2:59 PM on December 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
Just kidding. That was also the thing that surprised me most.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 2:59 PM on December 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
MetaFilter: Hell is other people.
posted by Fizz at 3:38 PM on December 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Fizz at 3:38 PM on December 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
When I was in high school I went on a family trip to Rome and we took a side trip to Pompeii. It was amazing! If you ever get a chance, do it. But at one point I was looking at some poor soul's remains and happened to look up to see the DEADLY VOLCANO OF DOOM that was just sitting there, being all nonchalant and shit. I mentioned to my mom how unnerving it was and she said not to worry.
"Don't worry. It's dormant."
"That only means it hasn't erupted since the last time it erupted."
posted by brundlefly at 4:45 PM on December 4, 2015 [15 favorites]
"Don't worry. It's dormant."
"That only means it hasn't erupted since the last time it erupted."
posted by brundlefly at 4:45 PM on December 4, 2015 [15 favorites]
MetaFilter: Hell is other people.
And memes propelled by an absence of attribution...
I can't see the lines I used to think I could read between.
-- Brian Eno, Golden Hours, Another Green World
posted by lazycomputerkids at 6:52 PM on December 4, 2015
And memes propelled by an absence of attribution...
I can't see the lines I used to think I could read between.
-- Brian Eno, Golden Hours, Another Green World
posted by lazycomputerkids at 6:52 PM on December 4, 2015
Had to come in to quote the song "Museum Piece," from the musical Barnum:
"Everything about my museum was spectacular, including the price: one dollar!
Now that may seem a but steep, but it was worth it! Look at what I gave 'em:
Quite a lotta Roman terra cotta
Living lava from the flanks of Etna!"
posted by LEGO Damashii at 7:46 PM on December 4, 2015
"Everything about my museum was spectacular, including the price: one dollar!
Now that may seem a but steep, but it was worth it! Look at what I gave 'em:
Quite a lotta Roman terra cotta
Living lava from the flanks of Etna!"
posted by LEGO Damashii at 7:46 PM on December 4, 2015
I don't see why the height of the lava fountain is surprising
Not your wedding.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 7:49 PM on December 4, 2015
Not your wedding.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 7:49 PM on December 4, 2015
"it hasn't erupted since the last time it erupted." like any major chronic pimple.
posted by Oyéah at 8:03 PM on December 4, 2015
posted by Oyéah at 8:03 PM on December 4, 2015
I can never get over how well those lightning-and-lava shots match up to my pop-culture-informed ideas of what hell is supposed to look like.
It almost seems reasonable to think that it eats humans, so we better throw one in to keep it calm.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:07 PM on December 4, 2015
It almost seems reasonable to think that it eats humans, so we better throw one in to keep it calm.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:07 PM on December 4, 2015
Hey Pan, time to feed Typhon some fish.
posted by ridgerunner at 4:13 AM on December 5, 2015
posted by ridgerunner at 4:13 AM on December 5, 2015
I stayed on Etna in 2007. They made no bones about the destruction wrought by past eruptions - there were lots of signs pointing out buried buildings, limits of lava flows, etc. The mountain is huge - it dominates the eastern end of Sicily and eventually fades into the haze, rather than falling below the horizon.
But don't ever confuse it with Vesuvius. Etna erupting is a news story and could become a serious local diaster. Vesuvius erupting would be a national catastrophe, and it's overdue.
posted by Autumn Leaf at 4:37 AM on December 5, 2015
But don't ever confuse it with Vesuvius. Etna erupting is a news story and could become a serious local diaster. Vesuvius erupting would be a national catastrophe, and it's overdue.
posted by Autumn Leaf at 4:37 AM on December 5, 2015
That picture of the volcanic lightning is genuinely awesome, a word I frequently use casually, but this is what that word is for.
posted by theora55 at 6:59 AM on December 5, 2015
posted by theora55 at 6:59 AM on December 5, 2015
Supposedly an earlier eruption was filmed and used in the Mustafar sequence in ROTS because it was cheaper than creating it from scratch, thus proving the one thing George Lucas likes more than CGI is money.
posted by entropicamericana at 8:52 AM on December 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by entropicamericana at 8:52 AM on December 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
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posted by Sophie1 at 12:30 PM on December 4, 2015 [1 favorite]