E PRESS Contents
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Fire Mountains of the Islands A History of Volcanic Eruptions and Disaster Management in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands R. Wally Johnson Australian National University E PRESS Contents Tables ix Illustrations xi Foreword xvii Acknowledgements and Sources xxi Volcano Names and Totals xxiii 1. Burning Islands and Dampier's Voyage: 1700 1 Track of the Roebuck 1 Near Oceania, Melanesia and Melanesians 9 Early Ideas about Volcanic Activity 14 Preview 17 2. Volcano Sightings by European Navigators: 1528-1870 21 Saavedra, Retes and Mendana 21 Schouten, Le Maire and Tasman 24 Carteret, Hunter, D'Entrecasteaux and Parker Wilson 26 European and Melanesian Viewpoints 33 3. European Intruders and the 1878 Rabaul Eruption: 1870-1883 39 Blanche Bay and the Tolai 39 Miklouho-Maclay 43 Traders, Missionaries and a Gentleman Explorer 46 1878 Eruption at Rabaul 50 Powell's Voyage and a Possible Eruption 'Pulse' 54 Volcanological Events Elsewhere 59 4. Volcanic Events of the German Era: 1884-1914 63 Colonial Partitioning 63 Ritter Island Disaster 65 Hahl and Sapper 71 Time Cluster of Eruptions 77 5. Australian Colonists and the Volcanoes of Mainland New Guinea: 1849-1938 85 First Impressions 85 British New Guinea and Victory Volcano 87 Evan R. Stanley in Papua 90 Australians in the Territory of New Guinea after 1920 93 Australians in the Territory of Papua before 1938 97 6. Calderas, Ignimbrites and the 1937 Eruption at Rabaul: i 1914-1940 103 Garrison Life and Volcanoes 103 Australian Expedition along the Bismarck Volcanic Arc 106 Calderas and Ignimbrites 109 Eruption at Rabaul in 1 937 112 Subsequent Investigations at Rabaul 119 7. Eruptions during the Pacific War and Postwar Recovery: 1941-1950 129 Fisher and Renewed Activity from Tavurvur 129 Kizawa and the Sulphur Creek Observatory 131 Eruptions at Goropu Volcano, Papua 136 Hiroshima, Surges and Postwar Recovery 140 Changing the Volcanological Leadership 143 8. Disaster at Lamington: 1951-1952 149 Higaturu and the Orokaiva 149 Build-up to Catastrophe 151 Relief and Recovery 156 Seeking Explanation and Meaning 167 Aftermath 171 9. Tony Taylor and an Eruption Time Cluster: 1951-1966 179 Eruptions of 1951-1957 179 Experiments in Prediction 182 Long Island Evacuation of 1953-1954 183 vi Bam Tragedy of 1 954-1 955 187 Evacuation of Manam and the 1956-1966 Eruptions 193 Tuluman 1953-1957 and the Obsidian Miners of Lou 199 10. Plate Tectonics and False Alarms: 1960-1972 207 Advances in Science and Technology 207 Gas Emissions from Two Highlands Volcanoes 212 Volcanic-Disaster Preparations at Wau Township in 1967 214 Evacuation from Dawson Strait in 1969 217 Origin of the Dawson Strait Earthquakes and a Note on Volcanic False Alarms 221 Tectonic Earthquakes and the End of the Taylor Era 224 11. Cooke-Ravian and a Volcanic Resurgence: 1971-1979 231 New Eruption Time Cluster 231 Ulawun and the Threat of Cone Collapse 235 Long Island Disaster and Tibito Tephra 239 Yomba and Cook: Two 'Mystery' Volcanoes 245 Fatal Eruption on Karkar in 1979 246 12. Eruption Alert at Rabaul Caldera: 1971-1994 255 Crisis Build-up and Stage-2 Alert 255 Scientific Responses to the Caldera Unrest 263 Worldwide Volcanic Crises and Developments in Risk Awareness .... 267 Costs, Benefits and Crisis Decline: 1985-1994 273 Volcanic Alert on Simbo Island 277 13. Eruptions at Rabaul: 1994-1999 283 First Three Weeks 283 Physical Damage 289 Post Mortem and New Directions for RVO 293 Ongoing Eruptions and New Insights 298 Restoring the North-eastern Gazelle Peninsula 303 14. Eruptions of the Early Twenty-first Century: 1998-2008 311 International Developments and Modern Near Oceania 311 Ulawun: A Decade Volcano 313 Ulawun 2000: A Short-lived, Powerful Eruption 316 Pago 2002-2003: An Unexpected Eruption 319 Threat of a Caldera-Forming Eruption at Pago-Witori 322 Manam 2004-2005: Abandoning a Volcanic Island? 326 Rabaul 2006 and other Volcanic Crises in 1999-2007 330 15. Reassessing Volcanic Risk in the North-eastern Gazelle Peninsula: 2000-2012 341 Restructuring a Society 341 Volcanic Hazards 344 Early Warnings and a New Model for Rabaul Volcano 348 Determining Risk Today 351- 16. Historical Analysis and Volcanic Disaster-Risk Reduction 359 Patterns in the Historical Record 359 Evacuations, Early Warnings and False Alarms 363 Artefacts and Oral Traditions 367 International Disaster-Risk Reduction 372 Observatories and Volcanic Disaster-Risk Reduction 373 Strengthening At-Risk Communities in Near Oceania 376 An Epilogue 381 Appendix: Acronyms and Glossaries 383 Index 387 .