Word: volcano
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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After two days of scientific talks in a Pasto hotel, the geologists interrupted their meeting for morning field trips around and into the volcano. By early afternoon, geologists taking measurements and samples were scattered across the floor and steep rim of the volcano's crater when the mountain blew...
...Stanley Williams now tells it, he knew there was danger in leading an expedition of scientists into the throat of the Colombian volcano known as Galeras. After all, it was one of the most active in South America, with a history of violent eruptions dating back to the Spanish conquistadores. But the mountain seemed calm that fateful morning in January 1993 when Williams and 11 other volcanologists hiked over Galeras' rim to take its pulse--measuring tiny fluctuations in tilt, gravity, gas emissions and other signs of volcanic life. The scientists and a handful of tourists were spread out across...
...story starts in 1988 when, after 40 years of quiescence, Galeras began a fresh round of unrest that brought Williams and other scientists running to southern Colombia. Because Galeras hovered just a few miles above the city of Pasto (pop. 300,000), the U.N. put the volcano on its list of natural hazards in need of urgent attention. After shaking and coughing small eruptions for months, Galeras squeezed a plug of lava onto the surface that it blew apart in a dramatic eruption on July 16, 1992. Given the mounting activity, Williams had no problem enticing volcano experts from...
...wasn't the Big One experts say is still to come. While geologists predict a mega-quake still lies in Seattle's future, they are also looking at a different, equally dangerous big one that is literally looming on the city's horizon: MOUNT RAINIER, the snowcapped volcano that lies 50 miles to the southeast. Though slumbering, Rainier is still active, and last week's quake might have loosened deep rocks that hold molten magma and hot gases in check. This could send up the volatile mix and cause an eruption. Several towns are built on top of Rainier...
...altogether miss it. I don't think I would nominate a year from the '50s. Nor would I give the honor to one from the gaudy, dysfunctional, hero-slaying '60s. They were the volcano. My personal worst year was 1968, when my younger brother and my best friend died, and America flew off the tracks. I don't miss...