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