All language subtitles for Apocalypse Earth Series 1 Part 1 Volcanoes Fire and Fury 1080p

[explosive noise] It was global
event, it was an exotic event,

and it was a big event.

NARRATOR: From the majestic
beauty of Yellowstone‐‐

We don't know how long
it's going to just sit there

before it decides to go off.

NARRATOR: ‐‐to the tropical
islands of Hawaii‐‐

ROBERT TILLING: The Hawaiian
islands are probably

the best example of
what geologists call

a volcanic trail of a hot spot.

NARRATOR: ‐‐the cataclysmic
eruption of Krakatoa.

STEPHEN SELF: An island
two thirds gone, vanished.

NARRATOR: ‐‐and the notorious
prominence of Vesuvius‐‐

GIUSEPPE MASTROLORENZO: It
could even erupt next year.

is both profound
and apocalyptic.

GERARD FRYER: It
truly is biblical.

NARRATOR: Earth,
air, fire, and water,

essential for human survival.

But in the extreme, destructive
to everything and everyone

in their path.

MAN1: Coming down, right
now, major tornado.

MAN 2: Man, that's a monster.

NARRATOR: These are stories‐‐

MAN 1: Oh, big time black.

MAN 2: Wow.

Whoa, whoa

NARRATOR: ‐‐of
"Apocalypse Earth."

[music playing]

Volcanoes, beautiful and fierce.

These fire mountains are
stunning, majestic, ominous,

and terrifying.

Towering over the landscape,
these volatile giants

have the ability to wreak
untold havoc locally

and around the globe.

In the last century, American
volcanoes, such as Mount St.

Helens and Novarupta have
served to keep the population

on notice that a volcano's
sleep is often not eternal.

[explosion]

On May 18, 1980, Mount
St. Helens erupted.

Not from its peak,
but from its side.

Located in Washington
State, only 50 miles

Northeast of
Portland, Oregon, this

was the first major volcanic
eruption in the lower 48 states

in generations.

And the deadliest‐‐

57 people were killed.

The reawakening of
Mount St. Helens

greatly intensified volcanology
in the United States.

But it's the June 1912 eruption
of Novarupta in Southwest

Alaska that holds the
record as the largest

such event in the 20th century.

It was 10 times more powerful
than Mount St. Helens

and is ranked as the fifth
largest eruption in recorded

history.

The activity continued for three
days, devastating area wildlife

for a decade and
generating a large volume

of pyroclastic flows that
came to rest on the place that

is now known as the
Valley of 10,000 smokes.

But chief among volcanic
wonders in the US

is that breathtaking spectacle
in the heartland, Yellowstone.

It's dance of geysers is one
of nature's greatest displays.

It's why millions of visitors
come each year to America's

oldest national park.

Yellowstone's spectacular beauty
inspired President Ulysses S.

Grant to protect these 2 million
acres of northern Wyoming

wilderness back
in 1872, and it's

been a haven for outdoor
enthusiasts ever since.

It's incredible hot springs,
bubbling pools of mud,

unearthly ponds, and the most
celebrated natural feature,

the Old Faithful geyser, are
some of nature's greatest

wonders.

But beneath this primal beauty
simmers a hidden threat.

Five miles below the
waterfalls and mountain peaks

lies the heart of a
supervolcano, a constantly

moving cauldron of molten rock
the size of Mount Everest.

Over countless million
years it filled with lava

to the breaking point.

Like a bomb with a hidden
timer, it finally explodes.

We don't know how long
it's going to just sit there

before it decides to go off.

NARRATOR: If sometime in
the future it were to erupt,

as it has before, the
Yellowstone volcano

would overwhelm everything
within 100 miles

and disrupt lives across
the globe for years.

There are 1,500 volcanoes
around the world,

but there are fewer than
10 supervolcanoes, the ones

with the potential to not
only destroy the surrounding

area but to create
a global disaster.

And Yellowstone is one
of these supervolcanoes.

Unlike a conventional
volcano, with its crater

atop a mountain,
Yellowstone's crater

is so large it can only
be seen from the air.

This is the rim of a monstrous
crater called a caldera that

collapsed into the magma chamber
during the last supereruption.

It's large enough to hold
the city of Los Angeles.

HANK HEASLER: People drive 35
miles, 45 miles,

commuting to work in that.

Well, that's the distance
across this caldera.

NARRATOR: And this
is only the last

of three monstrous calderas
formed over the past two

million years.

The volcanic
history of Yellowstone

is really marked by these three
giant, cataclysmic eruptions

of the scale that we haven't
seen in the history of man

really.

The first eruption vented
somewhere around

600 cubic miles of material.

And if you took all of
that and you spread it out

over the state of Texas,
you'd have about 12 feet

thick of deposits.

NARRATOR: The second eruption
was hundreds of times

larger than Mount
St. Helens, and it's

the smallest of the
Yellowstone supereruptions.

The most recent one, known
as the Lava Creek eruption

occurred 640,000 years ago.

At the time, early man had
yet to arrive on the scene.

Exotic prehistoric animals
roamed the North American

continent.

Five miles beneath the earth,
however, a magnetic cauldron

three times the size of New
York City was coming to a boil.

There would have been hundreds
to thousands of earthquakes

becoming fairly large.

So there'd be a lot of shaking
as the hot rock was moving up.

NARRATOR: A million tons of
molten rock heated to 1,800

degrees Fahrenheit pressed
its way to the surface.

Jets of superheated
water suddenly burst

through cracks in the Earth's
surface, shooting into the air.

Hundreds of geysers were
erupting over 500 square miles.

We get explosions out
of the hydrothermal system

that put holes in the ground
as big as a mile across.

So they're big events.

Well, after about
a 90‐minute nap,

Old Faithful has
roared back to life.

It wasn't actually
napping, it was recharging.

The temperature of the
water with increasing,

the system was pressurizing.

NARRATOR: But this was just the
overture before the main event.

After days of increasing
earthquake and geyser activity,

under mounting pressure from
magma and superheated gases,

Yellowstone's last
supereruption began.

ROBERT SMITH: The material
may have started to leak out

on one side, perhaps
forming part of the edge

of the fracture zone.

As you start to
decrease the pressure,

it starts to then explode.

NARRATOR: With the power
of a hydrogen bomb,

a monstrous cloud of
searing ash and melted rock

shot into the stratosphere
at supersonic speeds.

The heavier debris fell
back to the ground,

turning into a colossal
pyroclastic flows.

It was sort of like a
hurricane made up of 800‐degree

ash, and pumice, and hot gases‐‐

just wipes things
out completely.

NARRATOR: For miles, these
lethal rivers of ash and gas

cook animals alive in brushed
forests aside like twigs.

ROBERT SMITH: They extend
actually outside of Yellowstone

into Idaho and into
the Teton region.

Some of this material flowed
down actually covered parts

of the floor of Jackson Hole.

So these scenes
extend tens of miles

away from the actual
eruption location.

NARRATOR: For days the
Yellowstone volcano

continued to heave tons of
molten debris into the air

and devastated the
nearby terrain.

Then, across the caldera,
another colossal explosion,

then another.

Eruption after a eruption began
shooting more and more lava

and pulverized
rock into the air.

JACOB LOWENSTERN: Typically,
when these eruptions begin,

they begin at a single event.

And the event may
then get larger,

moving out along some
sort of a fracture system.

NARRATOR: Yellowstone had
turned into a supereruption.

NARRATOR: Yellowstone's
last supereruption

occurred 640,000 years ago.

It started as a single
massive volcano,

but soon turned into
a series of eruptions,

exploding with the full
force of a supervolcano.

The entire sequence of
pyroclastic explosions

that formed the Yellowstone
caldera may have taken as

little as two weeks to happen.

During the eruption
of all this material,

that's when the caldera
would have started forming.

NARRATOR: In a final massive
display of nature's fury,

hundreds of square
miles of mountain

dropped thousands of feet
into the pit of roiling magma.

ROBERT SMITH: The
Gallatin range,

and the Madison range, and
the Mount Washburn range

to the north continued somewhere
into the Yellowstone region.

These mountain ranges
were destroyed.

Now, when I say
destroyed, I don't

mean they're blown
to smithereens

into the atmosphere.

Much of it just then fell back
into the magmatic system‐‐

just fell back into the
cauldron, if you wish,

of the caldera itself.

JACOB LOWENSTERN: We're talking
about mountains that might be

12,000 feet high that
are now the ground

surfaces on the order
of 8 to 9,000 feet high.

So 3,000 foot of mountain
that is no longer there.

NARRATOR: Finally, after perhaps
weeks of constant activity,

the Yellowstone
volcano subsided.

But the devastation
was far from over.

A global disaster
was about to begin.

2 and 1/2 trillion tons
of sterile volcanic ash

drifted with the winds and
buried 2,000 square miles

of the North American
plains, destroying much

of the continent's plant life.

HANK HEASLER: The
volcanic ash that's

ejected high up
into the atmosphere

and then falls many,
many miles away,

that goes as far as Louisiana
and some of the states

along the Mississippi River.

So quite an ash cloud.

NARRATOR: The lighter
particles remained

in the air for more than a year,
forcing temperatures to plunge

across the hemisphere.

It acts as as a veil
and cuts out the sunlight.

And so it cools
the climate below.

I think there was certainly
big climatic changes

do to Yellowstone.

We estimated a 3 to 5
degrees Celsius drop

in temperature, which is quite
severe on a global basis.

NARRATOR: 5 degrees
was enough to kill off

much of the tropical plant
life across the globe.

Over the next year, animals
died from lack of food,

as the ash continued
to block out the sun.

It took years for the
planet to recover,

for sunlight to reach
the Earth's surface,

for plants to push
through the layers of ash,

for animals to
repopulate the continent.

This Yellowstone eruption,
640,000 years ago,

changed the face
of North America.

With a history of multiple
cataclysmic eruptions,

Yellowstone is becoming the
most studied supervolcano

in the world.

And its hundreds of yearly
earthquakes, thousands

of guises, and
massive magma chamber

make it one of the most
geologically active regions.

In fact, in May of
2020, Yellowstone

registered just under
300 earthquakes alone.

As the research
continues, scientists

are realizing how
little they really know

about the Yellowstone volcano.

HANK HEASLER: We know
there's enough magma left.

We know there is enough heat.

We know that there will
be future eruptions

in Yellowstone.

But we don't know
if there ever be

another catastrophic eruption.

JACOB LOWENSTERN: Since humans
haven't seen an eruption

of this magnitude,
we're somewhat

challenged to know exactly
how the systems work.

NARRATOR: One thing
is known for sure,

if Yellowstone erupts
again, pyroclastic flows

will destroy everything
near the volcano,

and its ash cloud would
overwhelm humanity

across the globe.

MICHAEL RAMPINO: This is
one of the rules of geology.

If it happened in
the past, it'll

happen again in the future.

We know that there will be
supereruptions, and probably

one to Yellowstone,
and it's going

to have catastrophic effects.

[explosion and rattling debris]

[waves rolling]

NARRATOR: The beautiful
island chain of Hawaii

is known the world over for
its magnificent scenery.

The eight main islands of
Hawaii are home to 19 volcanoes.

There have been over 75 recorded
eruptions in the last 200

years.

The Hawaiian islands are
probably the best example

of what geologists call a
volcanic trail of a hot spot.

They are formed by the passage
of the Pacific Tectonic Plate

over an exceptionally hot spot
beneath the crust of the earth,

and it's sort of
analogous too if you

had a slab of paraffin wax
passing over a candle flame.

NARRATOR: Except that it's
rock that's melting, not wax.

Over time, this
molten rock, or magma,

rises 20 miles to the
surface, creating and feeding

the volcanoes above.

MICHAEL POLAND: Now, because the
plates on the Earth's surface

are moving, they actually
move over this fixed hot spot.

And that means that new
volcanoes are popping up

all the time.

NARRATOR: Magma that reaches
the surface is called lava.

The lava collects
and forms land.

Each island of the
Hawaiian chain in fact

started as a volcano.

As the path of plate is followed
from northwest to southeast,

the volcanoes are larger, more
densely situated, and far more

active.

The so‐called Big
Island is twice as large

as all of the other
islands combined.

It's not just one, but five
volcanoes growing together‐‐

Kohala, Mauna Kea, Hualalai,
Kilauea, and Mauna Loa.

MICHAEL POLAND: Over
a million years ago,

there was no big
island of Hawaii.

It started as a
very small island,

which was the volcano of Kohala,
which grew out of the ocean.

Over time, more volcanoes
started to grow.

Mauna Kea and Hualalai
came next growing,

into tremendous mountains.

Mauna Loa was the
next volcano to grow.

And Kilauea is the youngest
of the Big Island's volcanoes.

NARRATOR: Kilauea earned the
title World's Safest Volcano

for its stunning lava fountains
and slow‐moving flows that can

be viewed from close proximity.

ROBERT TILLING: The
current eruption of Kilauea

actually began in 1983.

In fact, it's been erupting
virtually continuously

since that time.

And it has now become the
longest‐lasting eruption

in historical time in Hawaii.

NARRATOR: But Kilauea hides
an even more dangerous secret.

It is home to the biggest
explosive eruptions

in Hawaii's history.

FRANK TRUSDELL: In 1790, there
was an explosive eruption which

accounts for most of the
gravel‐like surroundings

that you can see in
the field of view here.

The cloud had to be somewhere
in the vicinity of 28,000

to 30,000 feet, which had put
it up akin to the eruption

column of Mount St. Helens and
looked just as dark and ugly

as that.

NARRATOR: At least 80 Hawaiian
warriors were killed instantly

by asphyxiation and heat in
the 1790 eruption, the highest

death toll from any
American volcano.

What we have to remember
is that we've still

seen only a very small portion
of what Kilauea can do.

Yes, Kilauea can be very
benign, but it can also

be very dangerous under
other circumstances.

NARRATOR: May 3rd,
2018, proved to be one

of those other circumstances.

Kilauea took
scientists by surprise

when it's lava flow invaded
nearby residential areas,

forcing 1,700 people to
evacuate their homes.

The eruptive destruction
did not quiet

down until September 2018,
when volcanic activity subsided

significantly,
remaining at its lowest

since it started
erupting in 1983.

But of greater
concern to officials

is the enormous
volcano to the west.

Its name is Mauna Loa.

Massive earthquakes
have historically

preceded every major
eruption at Mauna Loa.

Feared most is a repeat
of what occurred in 1868.

Little in the way of
photos or illustrations

exists, but early
missionaries recorded well

over 300 earthquakes
in a span of four days.

The largest of these is believed
to have measured magnitude 8.

But this was all just a
preamble to the lava flow

from Mauna Loa.

FRANK TRUSDELL: The eruption
started at about 5,000 feet

and zoomed down to the ocean
in a matter of two hours.

NARRATOR: Lava from a
smaller eruption in 1950

followed the exact
same flow path.

Well, the 1950
eruption of Mount Loa

was probably very,
very spectacular.

There was a fissure system
that propagated and stayed open

over a 15‐kilometer length.

Along the entire length,
there was lava gushing out

of the ground.

NARRATOR: The lava formed
what's called a curtain of fire,

literally a wall of molten
rock 600 feet high and two

miles long.

Well, most eruptions
from Hawaiian volcanoes,

and Mauna Loa included,
usually start out

with fissures that open up.

And you get what we call
just a curtain of fire,

as lava seems to fount along
a long stretch of fissure that

can be miles long.

Over time, this fissure tends
to focus at a single point.

And that's where most of
the fountaining activity

is concentrated.

NARRATOR: 35 minutes later,
the flow entered the ocean.

But it would continue
on for 23 days

and become the most voluminous
eruption ever recorded

in the island's history.

[rumbling and crackling]

The Big Island of
Hawaii has been rocked

by volcanic eruptions
and earthquakes

throughout its history,
and scientific monitoring

shows that these
monsters still have

plenty of life left in them.

With the devastating earthquakes
and eruption of 1868,

Mauna Loa quickly
became recognized

as one of the most dangerous
volcanoes on the island.

Less than a million years old,
an infant in geological terms,

Mauna Loa has grown to almost
14,000 feet above sea level,

making it the tallest active
volcano on the planet.

60 miles wide at
its widest point,

its name translates
as long mountain.

FRANK TRUSDELL: Mauna Loa
covers approximately 51%

of the surface area of
the island of Hawaii,

which makes Mauna
Loa almost larger

than all the other Hawaiian
islands put together

as far as surface area.

NARRATOR: Yet this is only a
fraction of its total size.

What most people
don't appreciate

is that this structure
extends below sea level.

So if you follow
that to the sea floor

and calculate the volume of that
particular volcano, Mauna Loa,

it is indeed, by far, the
largest volcano in the world.

Since a more detailed
record began in 1832,

Mauna Loa has erupted an
astounding 39 more times.

In the last eruption
of Mauna Loa in 1984,

Mauna Loa was putting out one
million cubic meters per hour.

So things happened quickly.

NARRATOR: But the 1984 event
also demonstrated something

just as disconcerting,
that eruptions

could come from more than
one volcano at the same time.

FRANK TRUSDELL: The 1984
eruption of Mauna Loa

was noteworthy in the
sense that, yes, both Mauna

Loa and Kilauea erupted.

NARRATOR: It's proof
that literally anything

can happen on the Big Island.

GEORGE PARARAS‐CARAYANNIS:
It's not completely ridiculous.

You could have a Mauna
Loa, Kilauea, and Hualalai

at the same time.

It's possible.

NARRATOR: When most
people think of volcanoes,

they imagine violent, explosive
eruptions, definitely not

a potential vacation
destination.

Yet the Hawaii Volcanoes
National Park on the Big Island

is the single most
popular tourist attraction

in the state.

MICHAEL POLAND:
Well, a lot of people

come to Hawaii, especially the
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park,

expecting to see a Mount
Rainier or Mount St. Helens‐like

volcano.

And that's a common question‐‐
where is the volcano?

Well, one of them is Kilauea,
which we're standing on now.

And it appears very flat.

We call these volcanoes
shield volcanoes because

of their shape.

You can look in behind
me at Mauna Loa.

It's got these very
smooth, sloping flanks.

It's like a warrior's shield
if it's put on its end.

The sides of the
volcanoes here are gently

sloping, because those
lava flows can just run out

as they need to.

The lava flows at places like
Mount Rainier and Mount St.

Helens, being very sticky,
stay close to the volcano

and build up very
steep‐sided volcanic cones.

NARRATOR: The slow moving yet
voluminous flows help create

the unique shape of the
so‐called shield volcanoes

here.

But the sluggishness also
makes it possible for tourists

to get up close and personal.

Approximately 2
million visitors

come to the park every year.

We figure about 1,000 visit
the active eruption site a day.

ROBERT TILLING: It is
probably one of the few places

in the world where an outsider
can observe an eruption safely

under the right
kinds of conditions.

Another interesting
feature of Kilauea eruption

are these periodic very
high lava fountains‐‐

very dramatic features that are
a great attraction to tourists.

[splashing and gurgling]

[rapid camera shutter]

NARRATOR: And they can even
see new land being formed.

ROBERT TILLING: Some people
call them lava shells.

Other people call them lava
deltas or lava benches.

So a variety of names are
used for these features.

When the lava finally reaches
the ocean, after traveling

for about eight or nine miles
from where it's first erupted,

it forms these shells.

NARRATOR: But the
beauty can be deceptive.

There are countless
earthquakes that

strike the island every year.

Many are too small to be felt,
But some can't be ignored.

And such an occurrence
could be the precursor

to another major event‐‐

a volcanic eruption.

The Hawaii Volcano Observatory
is run by the United States

Geological Survey, or
USGS, to study and attempt

to forecast future activity.

The first sign of unrest that
we might look for at a volcano

is heightened
earthquake activity.

Perhaps something we call
seismic tremor, which

is essentially a constant
earthquake, where

the shaking never really stops.

And seismic tremor has
always been associated

with magma moving.

NARRATOR: As the earthquake
frequency increases,

it becomes easier to determine
when and where an eruption

might occur.

So we start
with a few earthquakes per day,

and then over weeks
to months times,

they may go to 10
earthquakes per day.

And then, finally, just
before the outbreak,

it's not impossible for us
to get even in the thousands

of earthquakes per day.

NARRATOR: But there's more to
volcanoes than earthquakes.

To gather as much
data as possible,

the USGS has literally wired
up the islands volcanoes.

So this is a telemetry mast
for one of our tilt meters,

which is buried in the ground.

NARRATOR: If the ground is
tilting or changing shape,

then there's a good chance
magma is on the move below.

MICHAEL POLAND: We have a couple
of places on the island where

we're actually getting real‐time
camera feeds from cameras that

are positioned out in the field.

You can actually see movies of
the activity that's occurred.

We have five fountaining
of piston events,

where lava levels rise and fall,
of collapses at the coastline,

where whole sections of
land fall into the ocean.

NARRATOR: This data
is used to anticipate

when an eruption might happen.

MICHAEL POLAND: Suddenly,
many of these instruments

would just start going.

The signal would go exponential
or change drastically.

NARRATOR: But forecasting
when a volcano might strike

is only half the equation.

The key to the future
is to look to the past.

And so, so far we've been able
to map over 500 lava flows

on Mauna Loa.

NARRATOR: But no matter
how well the system works,

mother nature always seems
to be one step ahead.

FRANK TRUSDELL: We're
sort of at a disadvantage.

Here we are on the
surface, scratching around,

and a lot about
what we need to know

is occurring miles
below our feet.

NARRATOR: To fix this problem,
the Hawaii Scientific Drilling

Project decided to bring
the depths of the earth up

to ground level.

DONALD THOMAS: So
what you see here

is a conventional drilling rig
that we have modified to allow

us to collect a continuous
sequence of samples of lava

flows that have been
produced by one of Hawaii's

typical volcanoes.

NARRATOR: Mauna Kea was
chosen because of its age

and relative inactivity.

A specialized drill bit has
reached more than 11,000 feet

below.

Ground water,
centuries old, actually

helps to bring up hardened
magma samples like these.

The project began in 1999.

The goal is to someday reach
the Earth's crust, somewhere

between 15 and 19,000 feet.

DONALD THOMAS: This
borehole currently

is the deepest hole that's
ever been drilled into an ocean

island volcano.

And as we have drilled,
even in the first, say,

3,000 or 4,000 feet
of drilling, we

discovered a tremendous
amount of new information

about the history of
Hawaiian volcanoes.

Prior to the start
of the project,

everyone had assumed it was
about a half a million years.

What we've been able to show
is that that's less than half

of the lifecycle of
a Hawaiian volcano.

NARRATOR: It's proof that
volcanoes such as Hualalai

have much more life left in
them than previously thought.

In fact, the more
that's discovered,

the more it's clear
how little we actually

know about hotspot volcanoes.

DONALD THOMAS: We had really
some of the best people

in the world, most knowledgeable
people in the world,

on volcanic processes,
and we debated endlessly

over what we would see when
the borehole was drilled.

Much of what we thought we
knew about Hawaiian volcanoes

turned out to be
incorrect in some way.

NARRATOR: It's going to
be a long time before we

can accurately predict when the
next major eruption will occur.

Life in Hawaii means living
in the shadow of volcanoes,

a choice that can sometimes
lead to a devastating tradeoff.

[dramatic music playing]

Hawaii, America's 50th state.

The pristine beaches, hidden
getaways, and dramatic sunsets

draw millions of vacationers
to the Big Island of Hawaii

each year.

A lucky few actually call
this Polynesian paradise home.

As a young bride in
1980, Julie Beardsley

settled down in Kalapana
Gardens, a growing community

on the island's
remote eastern shore.

JULIE BEARDSLEY:
We fell in love.

It was so beautiful.

It was pretty remote, but
the weather was perfect,

and there was the
Black Sands Beach.

Among her neighbors are Todd
Dressler and his family.

TODD DRESSLER: Everybody was
so close and so friendly.

I never even had
keys to my house.

NARRATOR: But living in
paradise comes with a price.

DAVID OGLESBY: The entire
Hawaiian island chain

is made up of lava flows.

Every single rock you see on
those islands is volcanic.

NARRATOR: One of these
volcanoes is none other

than the previously
mentioned Kilauea.

Wit its caldera looming
above Kalapana Gardens,

it's impossible for the
residents to ignore it.

TODD DRESSLER: There had been a
recent flow a few years before,

but it stopped
far from the town.

So it really didn't
bother me at all.

JULIE BEARDSLEY: Everyone
from the neighborhood

thought, well, it's pretty
inconceivable that it's ever

going to come all
the way down here.

NARRATOR: In early 1990,
magma surfaces through a vent

on a ridge almost two miles
away and collects in a huge lava

lake, directly
upslope from Kalapana.

When that lake level rises
above the rim of the basin,

it overflows and
heads downslope.

On the surface, it
will harden and create

lava tubes, which are completely
enclosed with hardened lava.

So lava flows through
that tube as water flowing

through a pipe.

NARRATOR: Now armed with
a highly efficient tube,

mother nature sends the
flowing magma downhill

towards Kalapana.

JULIE BEARDSLEY: That's
when the level of tension

really ratcheted up.

It came down into
the subdivision

and started burning
houses, one by one.

Are you a resident here?

NARRATOR: Authorities
issue evacuation orders.

The last load.

JOHN OSTERAAS: The lava would
cut off roads and destroy

houses.

Then it would move
somewhere else.

It was a very slow
motion destruction.

You no longer have utilities.

So you don't have
electricity or county water.

JULIE BEARDSLEY: There
was a lot of smoke

from all the plants burning.

It smelled like hell.

And the lava just
kept on coming.

JOHN OSTERAAS: Lava
actually doesn't even

have to touch the building.

Just getting close
to the building,

the radiant heat from the
lava is enough to set a wood

building aflame.

[explosions]

MARY DRESSLER: Sometimes
it just whooshes through,

and rushes up the street,
and you see all this fire.

And then, the next
day, it slows down.

You just never really know.

It's the most unpredictable
thing I've ever experienced

in my whole life.

NARRATOR: Then the volcano sets
its sights on Julie's home.

JULIE BEARDSLEY: All
this red hot lava

poured into the backyard.

I thought my house
was going to be next.

Then it sort of hesitated,
like it was playing with me.

NARRATOR: Instead, the lava
goes after her neighbor

Todd's house.

Should I lock it up?

No.

TODD DRESSLER: It came out of
a crack right next to my house,

oozed on over to
the front porch.

And boy, did it go.

It was incredible fire,
hundreds of feet high.

A lot of memories.

There she goes.

Yeah, it's a lot of memories.

NARRATOR: A few days
later, Julie's dream house

also goes up in flames.

JULIE BEARDSLEY: Lava
came to where it ignited

the side of the house.

And, poof, it went.

[crackling]

NARRATOR: In the
months that follow,

nature lays waste
to the entire city.

The fiery assault
continues until it reaches

the final, untouched jewel
of Kalapana, the black sand

beach Kaimu Bay.

When the lava
came into Kaimu Bay,

people were just openly weeping.

It was one of the most special
places that I've ever been,

and it was gone now.

It was really unimaginable.

NARRATOR: The picturesque
coastline is eventually

buried under 50 feet of lava.

Today, the once vibrant
community of Kalapana

has been wiped off the map,
buried under lava flows that

added 170 acres
to the Big Island.

JULIE BEARDSLEY: The truth
was, all you could do

is get out of the way.

Because there was
stuff going on that

was way bigger than you were.

[bubbling]

NARRATOR: When it comes
to volcanic activity

around the globe, nothing
compares to the Ring of Fire.

The Ring of Fire is one of
the most extensive zones

of volcanic fury on the planet.

It encompasses hundreds of
volcanoes that line the shores

of the Pacific Ocean.

They form an arc which
extends 25,000 miles,

from South America, along
America's Northwest coast,

to Alaska, and then down through
Russia, Japan, and Southeast

Asia, all the way
to New Zealand.

Three quarters of Earth's
volcanoes are situated there,

and 90% of all earthquakes
occur along this line.

One of the most notorious
volcanic eruptions

in the Ring of Fire was also
one of the world's biggest,

Krakatoa.

[explosion]

It was this colossal
phenomenon that

created one of the most
spectacular natural disasters

in history.

[rubble colliding]

Ground zero was one of a
group of volcanic islands

that lies halfway between
Asia and Australia

in present day Indonesia.

They were situated in a narrow
passageway called the Sunda

Strait, between the two main
islands of Java and Sumatra.

Today, the island chain
is called Krakatau.

But history remembers
it as Krakatoa

Krakatoa, suddenly annihilated
itself‐‐ an enormous explosion,

basically.

You were left with a large hole
in the sea f floor, an island

two thirds gone, vanished.

It was a global event,
it was an exotic event,

and it was a big event.

NARRATOR: In 1883,
Krakatoa was 2.5 miles

long and
5.6 miles wide.

It had three large
volcanic vents or cones.

The largest was
called Rakata.

In the middle was
the Danan cone.

And at the far end,
Preboewatan.

Experts agree that the
location of Krakatoa

is the primary reason
that to this day

it is one of the most
dangerous volcanoes on Earth.

It lies in the
center of Indonesia's

volatile volcanic arc.

STEPHEN SPARKS: The
indonesian volcanic arc

is one of the most
active in the world.

It has about 130 volcanoes
spread over about 700 miles.

NARRATOR: The volcanic
arc stretches the length

of Indonesia and
into the Pacific,

along the edge of two,
ever‐shifting continental

plates.

STEPHEN SPARKS: One of the great
tectonic plates of the earth

is pushing underneath another
of the great tectonic plates.

And where there's one plate
pushes underneath the other,

you get volcanoes formed.

NARRATOR: This geophysical
process is known as subduction.

The reason you get volcanoes
is really quite simple.

The floor of the ocean on
one of the tectonic plates

is soaked in water‐‐
the rocks are wet.

And when those wet rocks
are pushed, perhaps 100‐150

kilometers deep into the earth,
that water makes the hot rocks

in the Earth's interior melt.
And those melts then come up,

they rise up, and
they form volcanoes.

NARRATOR: Some of the
biggest volcanoes on Earth

are situated in this hazardous
region, including Toba

and Tambora, which
last erupted in 1815.

Fortunately, both
these mighty mountains

were located in remote and
sparsely populated areas.

That was not the
case with Krakatoa.

The famous volcano lay only
30 miles from the coast

of Java and Sumatra.

In 1883, about 500,000
people lived there.

The first clue of the
impending, massive disaster

came on May 9th, 1883, when
an earthquake was reported

by a lighthouse keeper.

He was at the First
Point lighthouse

on the west end of Java,
approximately 45 miles

southwest of the volcano.

SIMON WINCHESTER: He felt,
in the middle of the night,

the ground shake.

And then there was a brief
what he called an earthquake

in the air.

It was as if a brief sort
of wind, which knocked him

backward briefly.

NARRATOR: After the
first movements in May,

it would take Krakatoa a
month to build enough force

to violently explode.

STEPHEN SPARKS: Now,
it's quite likely

that some very hot molten magma
from even deeper in the earth

started to rise up
underneath the volcano

and actually came into
this magma chamber.

And this magma chamber
then increased in pressure.

This would start to
force the rocks part.

NARRATOR: By August 26th, after
weeks and months of explosions

and ejections, Krakatoa
was ready to rip.

STEPHEN SPARKS: When that
molten rock forces its way close

to the Earth's surface,
it's like taking a cap off

of fizzy drink.

The pressure goes down
and the gas forms bubbles,

but forms bubbles very
violently, so that the magma

essentially explodes itself.

NARRATOR: Just after
1:00 PM, the volcano

let out an almighty bang.

A thick column of black
smoke, steam, ash, and debris

shot 17 miles, more than
twice the height of Everest,

into the sky.

SIMON WINCHESTER: But no one
gave any thought to the idea

that this was merely the
precursor to something truly

massive.

NARRATOR: Krakatoa had just
entered what scientists call

the cataclysmic eruption phase.

The big one was about to hit.

NARRATOR: On the morning
of August 27th, 1883,

the sky was filled with
smoke for 40 or more miles

around Krakatoa.

A cloud of ash blanketed
the Sunda Strait and the sun

was barely visible.

Krakatoa had entered
its death throes.

[explosions]

GERARD FRYER: : There probably
were substantial evacuations,

because people were
scared about the volcano.

But they'd also sort of
been seduced into staying,

because the eruption
grew slowly.

NARRATOR: The eruption
culminated that morning

in a series of huge, very loud,
and cataclysmic explosions.

STEPHEN SELF: When there's a
particularly vigorous explosion

or a particularly
vigorous pulse of magma,

then it sends a great
cloud up in the atmosphere.

And as that cloud gets
into the higher levels

of the atmosphere, it
becomes supersonic,

and it generates
an explosive noise.

[explosion]

NARRATOR: The first mega
blast was recorded by chance.

At the Batavia Gasworks,
90 miles to the east,

it appeared as a pressure
spike on their barometer

at precisely 5:30 AM.

A massive column of volcanic
ash, rocks, and pumice

shot 20 miles into the sky.

Another larger explosion
hit at precisely 6:42 AM.

Then another, an hour
and 38 minutes later.

KEN WOHLETZ: Volcanoes that
have this type of behavior

often are compared to many
nuclear bombs exploding

all at once.

That's their power.

NARRATOR: At exactly 10:02 AM,
the biggest explosion of all

struck.

SIMON WINCHESTER: The sound was
undeniably the loudest noise

ever generated on the surface
of this planet, at least

since humankind has
been around to hear it.

Sailors that were
maybe 10 miles away,

they took the full brunt of
it, and nearly all of them

had their eardrums
punctured and went deaf.

NARRATOR: The sound of
the fourth explosion

traveled a radius of
about 3,000 miles.

SIMON WINCHESTER: It was as if
there was an enormous explosion

in New York, which was
heard with perfect clarity

over in San Francisco.

An unimaginable thought,
but Krakatoa was up big.

NARRATOR: The biggest
explosion ever heard on earth

was measured 100 miles away
to be a record shattering 180

decibels.

Ash from the explosions fell on
Singapore, more than 500 miles

to the north, and the Cocos
Islands, over 700 miles

to the southwest.

At the same time,
through these explosions,

there is an enormous
push into the atmosphere.

It's the atmospheric tsunami.

This is the example
of this pressure wave

that then goes out and
it actually traveled

around the world several times.

NARRATOR: The massive blast blew
dust, debris, and molten rocks

more than 20 miles
into the stratosphere.

GERARD FRYER: Once the eruption
was really going full bore,

you have this immense
amount of material

that's basically suspended,
dynamically in the air,

and forms a big cloud up
at about 30,000 feet or so.

STEPHEN SELF: Parts
of the eruption column

are simply too heavy to be
taken up into the atmosphere,

and it falls out‐‐ it
sort of cascades out

like a fountain collapsing.

And ash and hot gases flow down
the outside of the eruption

column, down the outside of
the volcano, and hit the sea.

STEPHEN SPARKS:
When the pyroclastic

flows into the water, they're
like very rapidly moving

avalanches.

They push the water away, and
these can create waves which

are essentially tsunamis.

HERMANN FRITZ: It's kind of
like on a superheated cushion.

Water is vaporized at the
interface and kind of lifts

the lighter part of
the pyroclastic flow

across the surface.

NARRATOR: An estimated
4,500 were killed

by pyroclastic flows alone.

Experts agree, they probably
perished in seconds.

BILL MCGUIRE: Pyroclastic flows
travel extremely quickly,

so you can't outrun them.

They're also extremely hot‐‐
several degrees centigrade.

So they will, if you're
caught in the middle of one,

incinerate you instantly.

GERARD FRYER: It
truly is biblical.

Out of nowhere comes
these massive great waves,

and no one really
knows what's going on‐‐

just completely terrifying.

BILL MCGUIRE: And most people
die not because of 100% burns,

but because they
inhale the gases, which

are so hot that they just
destroy the air passage

in their lungs instantly.

And so after two
breaths, they're dead.

NARRATOR: Each massive
Krakatoa explosion triggered

bigger and bigger waves.

Some were said to be
over 100 feet tall.

SIMON WINCHESTER: There were
lighthouses where they were

concrete harbors,
all of them wrecked.

A huge masonry
lighthouse, 150 feet tall,

was just ripped
off its foundation.

Locomotives, weighing
scores of tons,

being just tossed off the lines
and smashed into the ocean.

STEPHEN SELF: The waves push
inland, float everything ahead

of them, drown people, and
then suck everything back out

to sea again.

And this happened
four or five times,

with major tsunami
hitting Java and Sumatra.

NARRATOR: The Krakatoa
eruption had a stunning finale,

a fifth enormous explosion
came at 10L55 AM.

In a complex chain of
geophysical events,

known as a caldera collapse,
Krakatoa's three cones

caved in and fell into
the chamber vacated

by the once erupting magma.

SIMON WINCHESTER: The island
essentially disappeared.

And for a few seconds there
was an almighty crater

torn in the sea.

NARRATOR: Two
thirds of the island

collapsed, slid into the ocean,
and triggered more killer

waves.

Less than two hours after
the final explosion, a wall

of black water hit Batavia
on the mainland of Java,

90 miles away.

The giant wave had lost much of
its awesome height and power,

but still caused chaos and
deadly destruction in the city,

and dozens died.

CASPAR AMMANN: These
waves continued far out.

They went through
the Indian Ocean.

They made it around South
Africa and were even measured

all the way up into the North
Atlantic and into Liverpool.

NARRATOR: When Krakatoa
was done erupting,

the toll could be counted.

Some 165 Indonesian
coastal villages and towns

were devastated and at least
36,000 people were killed.

Every village on either
side was destroyed.

NARRATOR: The news of
the cataclysmic eruption

of Krakatoa and
the catastrophe it

caused shocked the whole world.

ALAN ROBOCK: It was the first
large disaster that took place

after telegraphs
had been invented.

And so, instantly, within a
day, everybody around the world

knew about it.

GERARD FRYER: It was the modern
world's first big disaster,

in that it was the
first public disaster.

NARRATOR: The global impact
of the modern world's

first massive disaster
had just begun.

ALAN ROBOCK: A few months
later, red and yellow skies

appeared around the world.

In London, there was this
beautiful volcanic sunset

that appeared.

They said, this came from
the other side of the world.

And they could actually
see, with their eyes,

at sunset, the effect
of this eruption.

NARRATOR: The vast
volcanic clouds

laced with sulfuric acid
caused startling atmospheric

aberrations across the planet.

A pale green moon was
seen in Madras, India,

more than 2,000 miles away,
on September 12th, 1883.

Sun glows reported in
Yuma, Arizona, in October.

But since then, scientists
from all over the world

sifted through the ruins
in the remains of Krakatoa,

as well as the
historical records,

to find clues as to
what happened and why.

What they discovered
about the modern world's

first massive disaster
changed science forever.

STEPHEN SELF: A whole number
of sciences made big leaps,

because they could associate
the phenomena that were observed

in the sea, and the
atmosphere, and on land,

with a natural volcanic event.

NARRATOR: For decades after
the 1883 catastrophic eruption,

the world believed that
Krakatoa would once again sleep

for thousands of years.

But then, on January 26,
1928, a small volcanic mound

emerged from the sea
where Krakatoa once stood.

The most deadly and dangerous
volcano on earth was back.

[wind blowing]

NARRATOR: On June 29th,
1927, Indonesian fishermen

were sailing between
the three islands left

by the fearsome 1883
eruption of Krakatoa.

They were trolling
the fertile waters

around the most famous volcano,
when they noticed gas bubbles

rising from the sea.

SIMON WINCHESTER: Suddenly,
out of the sea itself,

came a huge eruption of
smoke, and steam, and flames.

I mean, the idea of flames
coming out of the sea

is sort of hellish.

This went on for quite a while.

The eruption stopped, and there
was a thin cusp of black land

above the surface of the water.

It was washed away by the
waves and the currents.

NARRATOR: Within six months, an
island measuring 10‐feet high

and 600‐feet long had
appeared above the water.

STEPHEN SELF:
Obviously, a new volcano

had been growing
on the sea flow,

and had taken that long,
from 1883 to the 1920s,

to become first emergent,
and then established itself

as a permanent island in 1929.

And since then, it's erupted
regularly, it's grown,

and it now occupies a good
chunk of the caldera floor.

NARRATOR: In the
intervening years,

volcanologists, mindful
of its violent past,

have closely monitored the
growth of the new island

that the locals call Anak
Krakatau, or Son of Krakatoa.

Quiet periods have
been punctuated

with occasional large
explosions and eruptions.

Fresh and steady lava
flows have contributed

to the relentless growth
of the new volcano,

adding 25 feet to its
height every year.

A lot of the Anak Krakatau
activity that we now witnessed

today is actually
almost a continuation

of the volcanic activity
that took place back in 1883.

We could have another eruption
here on the scale of the 1883

eruption of Krakatoa.

NARRATOR: Experts reason that
a massive eruption of Anak

Krakatau is only
a matter of time.

This is the new Krakatoa.

If ever there is
another event, it

will occur in and around
this extremely dangerous

little volcano.

[traffic sounds]

NARRATOR: December 22ND,
2018 saw a preview of Anak

Krakatau's might, as
an eruption caused

a 158‐acre chunk of the volcano
to slide into the ocean.

The landslide created
a deadly tsunami

that hit coastal Java and
Sumatra, claiming more than 400

lives.

The collapse reduced
the volcanic cone

from 1,100 feet above sea
level to a mere 360 feet.

However, baby Krakatau is
nothing if not ambitious.

Subsequent eruptions
have continued,

helping the young fire
mountain to rapidly form

new land and new height.

Most scientists agree that
it will likely take thousands

of years for Anak
Krakatau to build up

enough volume or repressed magma
to generate a supereruption.

But an eruption
the size of the one

that destroyed Krakatoa
in 1883 is still

a terrifying possibility.

Meanwhile, it was a
different fire mountain

in the region that gave
residents a devastating taste

of its fury not so long ago.

[dramatic music playing]

Java, Indonesia, a densely
populated Pacific island

paradise, forged by one of
nature's most powerful forces,

volcanoes.

Indonesia is the country
but has more active volcanoes

than any other.

And out of all those
active volcanoes,

the most active
one of all is Mt.

Marapi.

NARRATOR: In past
centuries, Marapi

has killed thousands who dare
to live and work on its flanks.

But more recent eruptions
have done little damage,

giving the half million
people living in its shadow

a deadly sense of complacency.

People keep coming back
and colonizing the same area,

despite the death
and destruction,

because volcanic soils are rich.

They're great for agriculture.

So they move right up into
the throat of that volcano,

right into the deadly zone.

NARRATOR: Now, the mighty
giant is stirring once again.

It's Monday morning, over
500 volcanic earthquakes

have been recorded
over the weekend,

alerting authorities that
Marapi is about to blow.

Local officials issue
evacuation orders for anyone

within four miles of the summit.

Convinced of their
own invincibility,

some villagers ignore
those warnings.

[explosions]

That afternoon, Marapi awakens
with a series of explosions,

sending lava down
its southern slope.

JAMES REYNOLDS: It's
Thursday the 28th of October,

and I'm just in the village
of Selo, which is on the north

side of Merapi Volcano.

NARRATOR: Videographer James
Reynolds positions himself

on the back side
of the mountain,

just 2 and 1/2 miles from
the crater, hoping to capture

the smoldering danger up close.

The authorities have
raised the alert level

to four, which is the
maximum level in Indonesia.

It's a volcanic crisis.

NARRATOR: As light
falls, refugees

wait out the coming
volcanic fury

in camps on the edge of
the evacuation radius,

six miles from the peak.

JAMES REYNOLDS: You
think you're safe.

You think you're well
outside the danger zone.

But then, Merapi doesn't
play by the rules.

[thundering explosion]

[sirens]

[non‐english speech]

JAMES REYNOLDS: In the
middle of the night,

just all hell breaks loose.

Merapi Volcano just
undergone a major eruption.

NARRATOR: Merapi unleashes its
most horrifying wake‐up call

in 140 years.

JAMES REYNOLDS: It's a massive,
unprecedented eruption.

One of the most jaw dropping
sites I've ever seen.

[explosions]

[sirens]

There are sirens, horns,
motorbikes, trucks,

just flying in all directions.

Villagers are fleeing
for their lives.

[non‐english speech]

[rumbling explosions]

NARRATOR: Morning brings
Merapi's apocalyptic power

into stark view.

While the village of
Selo has been spared,

everything within
a 19‐mile radius

is smothered in a
choking blanket of ash.

JAMES REYNOLDS: It was total
destruction of villages.

It just made it look
like an apocalypse.

I've never seen
anything like it.

NARRATOR: Unfortunately,
Merapi's deadly tirade has just

begun.

[explosions]

DAVID OGLESBY: Mount
Merapi continues

to erupt for a number of days.

JAMES REYNOLDS: Pyroclastic
flow takes place, which

sweeps 12 kilometers
down a riverbed

and kills 100 people
in a refugee center.

Jogjakarta City, one of
Indonesia's largest cities,

is just blanketed in
choking volcanic ash.

If you breathe it in, it will
just rip your lungs to shreds.

NARRATOR: Making matters worse,
seasonal storms rain down

a whole new round of misery.

KYLE HUNTER: We're just
starting in the rainy season.

The volcanic ash and all
the pyroclastic material

combines with the rain to
produce a lahar‐‐ a mudflow.

NARRATOR: A mixture
of mud, ash, and water

combine to form deadly
lahars, which chased nearly

9,000 people from their homes.

[explosion]

Finally, after 35 days
of hellish eruptions,

Merapi grows weary, and
nature's killing machine finally

goes back to sleep.

This was the largest
eruption since 1872

of this stratovolcano.

Luckily, it was
very well forecast.

Scientists did a superb job of
almost predicting exactly when,

down to the minute, when this
thing was going to erupt.

PATRICK ABBOTT: In this
series of eruptions of Mt.

Merapi, 341 people died.

Were it not for the
warnings, the death toll

would have been
in the thousands.

JAMES REYNOLDS: We
humans, we may think,

you know, we're
grand and mighty,

but coming face to
face with nature,

we don't stand a chance.

[rumbling explosion]

This was the biggest
eruption for that volcano

since modern
volcanology has existed,

and Merapi just showed a
real display of who's boss.

on to the Mediterranean, where,

Italy is home to a number of the
world's most active volcanoes,

including the deadly and
notorious Mount Vesuvius.

[traffic sounds and chatter]

[horns honking]

Every day, thousands of tourists
crowd the streets of Naples,

basking in the history of this
centuries old Italian city.

But just down the road
lies a sleeping monster.

At nearly 4,200 feet, Mt.

Vesuvius dominates
the landscape.

It has erupted at least 100
times in the past 10,000 years.

FREDERICK SCATENA: The whole
area, the whole Bay of Naples,

is very volcanically active,
and it will remain so

for a long time.

The oldest rocks in the area
immediately around Vesuvius

are 300,000 years old.

And there's been a continuous
sequence of volcanoes

and activity since that time.

NARRATOR: 2,000 years
ago, Vesuvius destroyed

a city whose name has become
synonymous with disaster,

Pompeii.

Vesuvius is part of the
Campanian Volcanic Arc, which

includes other famous Italian
volcanoes, such as Stromboli

and Etna.

They were formed as
the result of Earth's

constant tectonic activity.

MICHAEL SHERIDAN: In the area
between the African continent

and the European continent, two
plates are squeezing together.

And these plates have caused the
formation of the Mediterranean

Sea on one side, the
Adriatic Sea and the other,

and the Italian
peninsula is squeezed up.

NARRATOR: In a process
known as subduction,

the African plate
is actually sliding

under the European plate.

The friction causes
crust material

to turn into magma
or molten rock.

This magma rises, finding weak
points on the Earth's surface

to break through
and form volcanoes.

Vesuvius began life inside of
another volcano called Somma.

But Somma collapsed
18,000 years ago,

making Vesuvius the
dominant structure.

Together, they're known as
the Somma‐Vesuvius Complex.

GEORGE MYER: The end result is
that this makes this volcano

terrain really quite
complex to study,

because you've got the older
events that are in the vicinity

of the newer events.

[explosion]

NARRATOR: In predicting what may
be brewing beneath the surface

of Vesuvius, scientists have
an important ally, history.

The firsthand accounts
of activity at Vesuvius

are some of the planet's
oldest and most extensive.

In fact, volcanolgy,
the study of volcanoes,

began with a description
of the eruption in 79 AD

by the Roman statesman and
philosopher, Pliny the Younger.

The city of Pompeii was
considered large for the time

and even more
cosmopolitan than Rome.

Vesuvius had been
silent for 800 years,

and residents thought little
of its potential danger.

GEORGE MYER: The
remarkable thing

about the volcanic eruption
in 79 AD, which we refer to

as the Pompeii
eruption, is that we

had a witness for this event.

And Pliny the Younger
literally wrote down everything

that he could see
during this eruption,

because it was so fierce,
it was so frightening.

NARRATOR: The eruption
was foreshadowed

by a series of
earthquakes that hit

the area in June and
through the next few months.

And then, on August 24th, the
mountain suddenly came to life.

Pliny, a naturalist, produced
the first scientific recording

of a complete volcanic sequence.

He writes, "A cloud was forming.

Its appearance and
shape would best

be expressed as being
that of an umbrella pine."

Similar to this large
tree I have behind me.

"Synched, stretched upward
like an extremely tall trunk,

it then spread out
like branches."

FREDERICK SCATENA: By
midday on the 24th,

the volcano has ejected this
large column of debris that

went up almost 20 kilometers
into the atmosphere, spread

out, and started
to rain volcanic

ash and material, mostly of
the size of up to about a

centimeter in diameter.

This episode lasted
for about eight hours,

and the deposit was
about 10‐feet thick.

[screams of panic]

NARRATOR: The ash column
shooting up from Mount Vesuvius

gradually increased in
weight, until the atmosphere

around the volcano could
no longer support it.

The plume cloud
collapsed suddenly,

triggering several
deadly avalanches called

pyroclastic surges.

This flood of searing hot
ash, toxic gas, and rock

raced down the mountain
at 150 miles per hour,

with temperatures more than
1,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

It incinerated everything and
everyone in its path instantly.

DOUGAL JERRAM: At the early
stages of the eruption here at

Herculaneum, you'd have seen a
big, eruptive cloud coming out

of Vesuvius, heading off up into
the atmosphere.

Just imagine how scared
you would have been,

watching this cloud
suddenly turn around,

and the black cloud starts
heading towards Herculaneum.

This cloud of hot material‐‐

hot, boiling, bubbling
pyroclastic material‐‐ starts

to enter the city
streets, starts

enveloping you, and heading
off down towards the port.

And that was it.

The pyroclastic flows
had hit Herculaneum.

NARRATOR: A second
pyroclastic surge

followed a few hours
later, burying what

was left in 20 feet of ash.

In just 18 hours, Vesuvius
spewed out more than 10 billion

tons of rock.

[explosions]

Pompeii was literally
erased from the map

until it was accidentally
rediscovered in 1594

at a construction site.

The final surge of ash had
turned Pompeii into a time

capsule, preserving temples,
shops, and houses exactly

as they were in 79 AD.

Although only fragmentary
skeletal remains

were found there, hollow spaces
within the hardened volcanic

debris defined the shapes of
many bodies frozen in death.

Plaster casts made
from these forms

reveal the final
moments of their lives.

We see a picture of people
struggling to breathe,

like this body here, which
is curled up with their hands

close to their face,
essentially recording

the last final
breaths of the people

as they filled up with
ash and hot fiery dust

from the volcano.

MICHAEL SHERIDAN: When the
pyroclastic flow started

to come down, they were choked.

And we can see then, in the
archeological sites, the casts

of people that were
preserved in this ash that

resulted from the
pyroclastic flow and surge.

NARRATOR: The disaster of 79 AD
covered areas eight miles away.

But Pompeii is only part of
a long, destructive history.

Far from extinct, Vesuvius
has continued to have

deadly eruptions ever since.

s]

Vesuvius has erupted
30 times since 79 AD.

Sometimes the mountain has
been explosive, other times

it has peacefully effused lava.

The volcano's erratic
behavior makes

it difficult to forecast
what the next eruption might

be like.

FREDERICK SCATENA:
Understanding the past

is a key to the future, but
it's not necessarily the future.

But if you don't
understand the past

and understand what
the sequences are, how

the volcanoes
change through time,

there's no way that you can
actually predict the future.

NARRATOR: Each subsequent
outbreaks in 79 AD

has had its own unique
characteristics.

An eruption in the third century
created a blast that could

be easily heard 25 miles away.

Eruptions in 472 and 512 turned
day to night and spread dust

over many parts of Europe.

And three separate explosions
at the end of the 10th century

spewed out heavy lava flow.

At Vesuvius there are actually
three types of behavior.

I relate this to
human personality.

So Vesuvius has three
sorts of personalities.

NARRATOR: The first
and most destructive

type was named for the man who
gave such a detailed account

of the eruption that
destroyed Pompeii.

The documentation
that Pliny produced

was so impressive, that
literally it allowed us,

in terms of the
volcanology community,

to name this type of eruption
a Plinian eruption, in honor

of Pliny the Younger.

In a Plinian
eruption, generally it

starts with a big explosion
that produces a column that

goes into the stratosphere,
maybe 10 miles or 15 miles

above the volcano.

But if the eruption
continues for a long time,

this column can collapse
due to its weight

and travel down the sides
of the volcano, producing

pyroclastic flows and
pyroclastic surges, which

are very, very dangerous.

NARRATOR: The second type of
eruption is called sub‐Plinian.

It is very similar to a
Plinian eruption, but only

a tenth of the size.

It may be mildly explosive,
such as an eruption that

occurred in 1631.

We call it mildly
explosive, but it destroyed

most of their cities in
the area around Vesuvius

that exist today.

NARRATOR: The blast
was still strong enough

to kill more than 3,000
people from pyroclastic flows.

Following that
event, the volcano

underwent 300 years of
persistent activity,

with numerous eruptions, none
more than seven years apart.

MICHAEL SHERIDAN: There are
small but frequent eruptions,

such as those that occurred
between 1631 and 1944,

and those types are
called Strombolian.

In this case, there's a
sort of fire fountaining.

It forms a cone of
cinders above the event,

and then lavas appear.

NARRATOR: The 1944 eruption
was recorded on film.

The eruption of 1944 was
really a very small eruption.

It occurred during
the Second World War.

But the eruption
produced a lot of slow

and destroyed a local town
called San Sebastiano.

NARRATOR: Since then,
Vesuvius has been silent.

But by no means is
the volcano extinct.

GEORGE MYER: In terms of
the inactivity of volcanoes,

they may be quiet for
thousands of years.

NARRATOR: If Vesuvius
behaves like most volcanoes,

it will reawaken and have at
least another 200,000 years

of deadly eruptions.

Vesuvius has averaged an
eruption every 64 years

since 79 AD.

That means we could be due for
another eruption any day now.

MICHAEL SHERIDAN:
It's very difficult

to forecast when the
next eruption of Vesuvius

will occur.

But what most people agree on
is the longer the period of time

since the last
eruption, the larger we

expect the next eruption to be.

NARRATOR: Why?

Because of the
geology of Vesuvius.

In the years following
1944, hardened lava and rock

sealed the conduit that
leads from the magma chambers

to the volcano's mouth.

The effect is similar to what
happens when a bottle of soda

is shaken.

And if it ends up with
a lot of pressurized gases

in this liquid, the bubbles will
stay in the carbonated beverage

as long as the lids on.

And so now this becomes the
real issue with the volcano.

The container, if it's also
getting squeezed and jostled

a little bit by the way
the plates are behaving,

you're getting it ready for
something more cataclysmic.

And the image that you could
get today is the‐‐ pshew!

Out comes this
explosion, instantly.

That's why we're
concerned about Vesuvius,

We're not really measuring
the behavior of Vesuvius

today from 1944.

We're looking at it back
to when did it really

behave as it did in 79 AD.

And it has been throwing
out explosive volcanism,

over 1,000 to 3,000‐year
cycle, a number of times.

In terms of the
geologic history,

we know that it
does repeat itself.

NARRATOR: The next eruption
could not only be explosive,

it could be devastating.

FLAVIO DOBRAN: Large,
Plinian eruptions

occur every few thousand
years, and it is now past

more than 2,000 years since
we had a major eruption.

MICHAEL SHERIDAN: I think
there's general agreement

that the next
eruption of Vesuvius

is going to be of a
Plinian or something

little bit less than a Plinian
type of event, one that may be

similar to what happened
in 1631 at the volcano.

NARRATOR: That's 1631
eruption occurred

after 130 years of quiet.

At the time, large trees
had grown over the cone,

and locals didn't remember
it being a volcano.

Today, Naples may be
facing a similar fate.

FLAVIO DOBRAN: It has
been more than 50 years

since the eruption or 1944, and
the grand majority of people

do not remember this eruption.

They do not perceive the volcano
as being something menacing,

but they perceive it rather
as a mountain, a very tranquil

mountain.

And this has produced a
false sense of security

that essentially lets
the population sleep.

But they're essentially
sleeping on a time bomb,

and eventually this
time bomb will go off.

MICHAEL SHERIDAN: When
volcanic eruptions

are less frequent than
a generation, which

will be 20 to 40 years, people
living on volcanoes generally

feel that they're safe and it's
not going to happen to them.

NARRATOR: The longer
Vesuvius slumbers,

the more danger it poses
for the Bay of Naples.

And the past indicates
the threat may be

worse than previously thought.

NARRATOR: Though volcanology
has made great strides

in recent years, scientists
can't predict the exact day

when Vesuvius might
next wreak havoc.

The forecast of a future
eruption, of the next eruption,

of Vesuvius is very hard to do.

It could remain in this
condition for centuries

or even erupt next year.

NARRATOR: But volcanoes
do give warning signs

called precursors.

Scientists at the
Vesuvius Observatory

use an array of high tech tools
to keep watch for any trouble.

Vesuvius is one of the
best‐monitored volcanoes

in the world.

So we have about all
the types of instruments

on the volcano, which provide
monitoring 24 hours a day.

NARRATOR: The most noticeable
precursors of an eruption

are earthquakes.

Another warning sign is a
buildup of volcanic gas.

Some of this can be gauged by
looking at the many fumaroles

or steam‐releasing holes
that surround the volcano.

The more steam that
appears, the more that's

brewing beneath the surface.

GIUSEPPE MASTROLORENZO: So by
using our monitoring system

at the Vesuvius
Observatory, we are

sure that we will
be able to detect

the sudden change of the
volcano before an eruption.

NARRATOR: While still far
from an exact science,

volcanology can help
predict some eruptions weeks

beforehand.

FREDERICK SCATENA: The
devil's always in the details.

We've gotten much
better in our ability

to predict when
eruptions will occur,

but predicting exactly
where the damage will occur

and how big that damage will
occur is much more difficult.

NARRATOR: To get an idea of how
much damage the next eruption

may cause, volcanologists
look at worst‐case scenarios.

The importance of using
worst‐case scenario is to take

what has happened in the
past and its worst incidents

and projected it‐‐ if
that would happen today,

what kind of situation
would we have to deal with?

NARRATOR: A group of
geologists from Italy

and the University at Buffalo in
New York focused on an eruption

that happened more than 1,800
years before the famous Pompeii

disaster.

It occurred during the Bronze
Age in approximately 1780 BC.

MICHAEL SHERIDAN: If we
compare the 1879 eruption

and the Bronze Age eruption,
both of these eruptions

produced about the same amount
of new material on the surface.

[explosion]

The big difference was the
direction of dispersal.

NARRATOR: In the 79 AD eruption,
winds pushed most the damage

to the south.

A similar event today would
threaten more than 1 million

people who live directly
around Vesuvius.

But a repeat of the
Bronze Age eruption

could be far more deadly.

In that blast, winds
forced most the damage

to go a different direction.

MICHAEL SHERIDAN: The
pyroclastic flows and surges

were mainly dispersed
towards the northwest.

In other words, in the
direction of Naples.

NARRATOR: In fact,
pyroclastic surges

reached as far as 15 miles,
completely covering what is now

the city.

When we actually traced
the thickness of the deposits

produced by the pyroclastic
surges and flows

from the Bronze Age eruption,
we found that the thickest

deposits were directed
more towards the Northwest,

and a significant
deposit existed

within the city of Naples.

Meaning that people
in the Bronze Age

would not have survived
an eruption of this scale.

NARRATOR: The ash deposits
from this earlier bronze age

eruption are as much as 10‐feet
deep in some parts of Naples.

MICHAEL SHERIDAN: Finding a
deposit right in the center

of Naples has changed the way
people think about their safety

from eruptions at Vesuvius,
and people are now considering

that Vesuvius may
truly represent

a risk to their safety.

CHRISTIAN RENSCHLER: We
don't want to scare people,

but we want to make them aware.

As scientists, we
have got an obligation

to facilitate this communication
that has to take place

in a dangerous situation,
like living around a volcano.

And it's important that the
general public understands

these dangers and
also acts responsibly

and try to do the best that
they can to prevent being harmed

in such a situation.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Vesuvius, Krakatoa,
Yellowstone, and the islands

of Hawaii, these volcanoes are
still active and dangerous.

And scientists warn that
the devastating potential

within these fiery
giants could prove to be

nothing less than apocalyptic.

DONALD THOMAS: I think
everyone needs to recognize

that everything we've seen up to
now is not the complete story,

that these systems can behave
in ways that we've never seen

before and, clearly, in some
ways that could potentially

be very dangerous.

My money would be on you've
got to hope that you're wrong,

but you're expecting the worst.

To be alert is to be
ahead of the game.

MICHAEL RAMPINO: Nothing
you can do about a volcano.

If it's going to go off,
it's going to go off.

And the effects on civilization
are going to be drastic.

[rumbling explosions]