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Monday, October 31, 2022

“The Midnight Killer”- 1976 Moro Gulf Earthquake

 “The Midnight Killer”- 1976 Moro Gulf Earthquake 


Summary: 

The August 1976 “Midnight Killer” tsunami took place off the Philippine island of Mindanao (8.4961° N, 123.3034° E) only a few minutes past midnight. The earthquake that initiated the tsunami is recorded as having reached a magnitude of 8.0 at its epicenter in the Moro Gulf. The earthquake and proceeding tsunami were felt all across the central islands of the Philippine Archipelago, as well as in the lower part of Luzon (Philippine Institute, 2018). This event injured an estimated 10,000 people and claimed about 8,000 lives (it is reported that 85% of deaths were the result of tsunami waves). Over 90,000 residents were displaced or homeless. A total of $134 million in damage to land and infrastructure was incurred (NOAA, ND)

The tsunami itself reached wave heights of nine meters and affected more than 700 kilometers of coastline. The places that felt these effects most were Mindanao, the Sulu Archipelago, and the Zamboanga Peninsula (although Zamboanga City was spared from serious damage and casualties due to the surrounding islands that acted as a natural barrier against the tsunami waves). In Cotabato City, Philipines, 1,500 residents died as a result of infrastructure collapses, including a college building and a two-story hotel (Bayce, 2022).


Discussion: 

This event took place minutes after midnight, a time when most were in their beds asleep, completely unaware of the danger headed their way. Many woke up to the chaos confused and unprepared as to how to act. The last major tsunami that had taken place in the Philippines was in 1918, and so this community had no experience with a catastrophe such as this and was generally uneducated on the procedures to follow in the case of a disaster. Due to this inexperience and lack of education/preparedness, a tremendous amount of lives were lost. Many of the providences resided very close to shorelines, which also contributed to the extensive loss of lives and homes (The Associated Press, 2022). Since the catastrophe, many have rebuilt with the possibility of future events similar to the 1976 one in mind. The extent of the damage led the Philippine government to establish a National Disaster Coordinating Council, which would later be called the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). In Bangsamoro, there was a push for local government units, such as the Incident Command System (ICS) and Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence (READi), in order to make communities more prepared and capable of reacting to disasters. Building codes were also updated in order to make them more durable to seismic activity, and siren systems were built to act as warnings. 

Due to the Philippines being in a seismically active location, it is highly vulnerable to various types of natural disasters. Organized response groups like ICE and READi are crucial to mitigation and timely recovery. The “Midnight Killer” was a key event in the process of the Philippine government directing its attention and effort toward natural disaster education, preparedness, and responsiveness (Bangsamoro, 2022). 

Many of those who survived the catastrophe are still around today, making the present population of Minandadao more experienced and prepared to face a similar event than they were before. Some report that warnings and advice are passed through generations in the form of survivors re-telling the horror of the “Midnight Killer” to children and grandchildren. Nearly all of the Mindanao coastal providences were destroyed, making this event one of the deadliest natural disasters the Philipines has ever endured. In an interview with WNYC, Philippine residents related the changes that have taken place as a result of the catastrophe. These changes include yearly drills, familiarizing the community with warnings such as the sound of incoming tsunami waves, siren systems, and the establishment and training of response groups such as ICE and READi. Modern Phillippines is much more prepared to face a catastrophe like that of 1976 than it ever has been in the past (The Associated Press, 2022).



Map of the Philippines showing the epicenter of the 1976 Moro Gulf earthquake that initiated the “Midnight Killer” tsunami and seismic trenches surrounding the Philippine Archipeligo.

Rappler. “Midnight Killer: The 1976 Moro Gulf Tsunami.” RAPPLER, RAPPLER, 17 Aug. 2015, https://www.rappler.com/moveph/102827-1976-moro-gulf-earthquake-tsunami/.  

 


Image 2: Shoreline depicting damage of the 1976 “Midnight Killer” in the Philipines. 

Image from: Rappler. “Midnight Killer: The 1976 Moro Gulf Tsunami.” RAPPLER, RAPPLER, 17 Aug. 2015, https://www.rappler.com/moveph/102827-1976-moro-gulf-earthquake-tsunami/.


Image 3: Mindanao coastline provinces destroyed after the 1976 Moro Gulf tsunami. Image from: Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. "1976 August 17 Mw8.1 Moro Gulf Earthquake." Phivolcs, 2018, www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/index.php/earthquake/destructive-earthquake-of-the-philippines/2-uncategorised/208-1976-august-17-ms7-9-moro-gulf-earthquake


Video: 1976 Moro Gulf Earthquake and tsunami 

Description: A visual review of events taking place in the 1976 Moro Gulf earthquake and tsunami and testimonies from survivors.



Sources:

Bangsamoro. “1976 Midnight Killer: Remembering the Deadly 8-Magnitude Quake in Mindanao.” BARMM Official Website, 17 Aug. 2022, https://bangsamoro.gov.ph/news/latest-news/1976-midnight-killer-remembering-the-deadly-8-magnitude-quake-in-mindanao/.  

Malaya, Blayce. “Looking Back: What Filipinos Learned from the 1976 Moro Gulf Earthquake?” WhatALife!, Whatalife!, 22 Aug. 2022, https://whatalife.ph/looking-back-what-filipinos-learned-from-the-1976-moro-gulf-earthquake/.  

NOAA. “Significant Earthquake Information.” NCEI Global Historical Hazard Database, NOAA, ND https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/earthquake/event-more-info/4739

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. "1976 August 17 Mw8.1 Moro Gulf Earthquake." Phivolcs, 2018, www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/index.php/earthquake/destructive-earthquake-of-the-philippines/2-uncategorised/208-1976-august-17-ms7-9-moro-gulf-earthquake.  

The Associated Press. “More than 100 People Are Dead and Dozens Are Missing in Storm-Ravaged Philippines.” WNYC, WNYC- NPR, 30 Oct. 2022, https://www.wnyc.org/story/philippine-victims-feared-a-tsunami-and-ran-toward-the-mudslide-that-killed-them/.  


2019 White Island Eruption

 The Volcano

White Island is a one of the most active volcanoes in New Zealand. The volcano is classified as a highly active stratovolcano with an activity rating of 3 out of 5 (Volcano Discovery, 2022). The volcano is located around 50km from North Island in the bay of plenty. Since 1826 this volcano has been active erupting a few times a century (Volcano Discovery, 2022). In 1914 there was a collapse of the crater which threw debris across and in the immediate vicinity of the island which resulted in the destruction of a sulfur mine (Volcano Discovery, 2022). There have been six eruptions in the last twenty-two years from this volcano and there were twenty-six eruptions between the year 1900 and 1999. 

                        Figure 1. Showing the crater of the volcano and all of the toxic gases being emitted.

The Eruption

The eruption happened on December 9, 2019, which resulting in rocks and toxic gasses being spewed around the entire island while the smoke and air plume rose to around twelve-hundred meters into the air (USGS, 2020). During the explosion there was 47 people on the island, the majority being tourist, and of those present 20 died due to the eruption while the rest suffered severe injuries (USGS, 2020). The explosion was officially classified as a hydrothermal explosion of a stratovolcano. Weeks prior to the explosion seismic tremors and SO2 gas emissions were the highest they had been in the three years prior (USGS, 2020). This was enough for scientist to warn of a potential explosion but since the island is privately owned and a large tourist attraction it was not closed. The effects of this are currently being reviewed and used to show the danger of the Yellowstone volcano. Tourism around volcanos is extremely dangerous especially when the volcanos are either highly active or have not erupted for extensive amounts of time. 

    

  Figure 2. Shows tourist to the island capturing photos minutes after the explosion.


Aftermath

The aftermath of this eruption was rather minimal in total geographical and economical damage. The island is isolated and over 50 kilometers away from the mainland, so the eruption did not reach New Zealand, but the large smoke plumes and ash did. However, there was twenty lives lost to this eruption with over twenty-five more severely injured. In the hours and immediate day following the eruption it went from being classified as a level two alert to a level four volcano alert level (Wescott, 2019). This means that vulcanologist was predicting that another eruption following the initial was highly likely to happen. Immediately following the disaster, it was announced that the victims of this terrible disaster was twelve Australians, two permanent Australian residents, one American and one new Zealander. The owner of the island was also fined $1.5 million dollars for not closing off tourism (Wescott, 2019).


Discussion

This eruption caught worldwide attention for a few reasons. The main reason was the death toll of such a small island was very large, this resulted in many arguments against allowing tourism on volcanos and other natural hazards. Another reason it caught the world's attention was because among the victims were people of numerous nationalities. Those present are lucky because in the last hundred and fifty years this eruption was one of the smaller ones to happen. Had the eruption been larger there is a high chance there would not have been any survivors left. There are a few major ways that the impacts of this disaster could have been mitigated. First off, and perhaps the most obvious, is to not allow tourism on active volcano sites. Another way this could have been mitigated was if the owner of the island had listened to the warnings of both the government and independent organizations monitoring the island such as GeoNet (USGS, 2020). GeoNet had been monitoring the island and collecting information on potential eruptions while also warning the owner of the island about the incredibly high tremor levels for around two months prior to the explosion (USGS, 2020). 


Figure 3. Showing an aerial view of the eruption a few hours after it had happened, the volcano is was still spouting ash just not as violently. 

Video

This video shows tour guides warning of the eruption and video clips of the eruption minutes after it had happened. 

References

“The December 2019 Hydrothermal Explosion at White Island (Whakaari), New Zealand, and Its Lessons for Yellowstone.” The December 2019 Hydrothermal Explosion at White Island (Whakaari), New Zealand, and Its Lessons for Yellowstone | U.S. Geological Survey, https://www.usgs.gov/news/december-2019-hydrothermal-explosion-white-island-whakaari-new-zealand-and-its-lessons.

Westcott, Ben, et al. “Volcano Eruption on New Zealand's White Island Leaves at Least Five Dead.” CNN, Cable News Network, 9 Dec. 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/08/asia/new-zealand-white-island-eruption-intl-hnk/index.html.

“White Island Volcano: What We Know about the Victims.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 17 Dec. 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/15/white-island-volcano-what-we-know-about-the-victims.

“White Island.” Volcano World, 18 Dec. 2018, https://volcano.oregonstate.edu/white-island.

“White Island.” VolcanoDiscovery, https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/white-island.html.

Mt. Merapi, Indonesia 2010

 Mount Merapi 

   The Volcano

     Mount Merapi is an active volcano just north of the city of Yogyakarta on the island of Java in the Indian oceanwith the city of Yogyakarta having a population of 2.4 million when the eruption occured. Mt. Merapi is a composite volcano standing at approximately 9551 feet (InternetGeography, 2022). The Volcano has been quite active throughout history with smaller eruptions occur every 2-3 years and larger ones occurring every 10-15 years. Within the last100 years there have been 10 eruptions at Mt. Merapi with human casualties. Mt. Merapi's smaller eruptions tend to be effusive with small amounts of pyroclastic flow but when the larger eruptions occur, they tend to be explosive with all sorts of pyroclastic flow, lava flows and landslides involved (InternetGeography, 2022). 

(Mt. Merapi releasing hot clouds provided by NBC news (NBC, 2021))

 The Eruption

    On October 25-30th of 2010 Mt. Merapi erupted a total of 3 times. The evacuation area immediately after the first eruption on October 25th extended approximately 20km around the volcano causing 350,000 people to flee their homes for safety (InternetGeography, 2022). The Eruptions caused smoke to rise out of the volcano approximately 1.5km high (NASA, 2010). After the pyroclastic flow began to subside the evacuation orders remained for the area and through October 29th lava continued to flow. As the Ash fell and lava flowed it traveling down the slopes approximately 3km increasing the death toll from 19 from the initial eruption to 30. Then on October 30th the Volcano seemingly exploded launching a massive fireball 2km vertically in the air. This explosion launched ash more than 30km away and caused some areas to experience light raining of sand up to 10km away. With the combined events across October 25th-30th the death toll reached 353 people (InternetGeography, 2022). 

(Lava and ash spews from the top of Mount Merapi, viewed from Klaten district in Central Java province before dawn on November 6, 2010. (Boston Globe, 2010))

Aftermath

    The Eruptions from Mount Merapi caused lava flows, pyroclastic flows, lahars, and landslides across the city of Yogyakarta and its surrounding areas. The devastation from the eruptions left approximately 200,000 people without homes and displaced ~320,000 people (InternetGeography, 2022). After the Eruptions an earth ensued 50km south-west of the mountain which caused around 5,000 more deaths due to the mass movement of people from the surrounding area (InternetGeography, 2022). On the economic front, ski resorts were destroyed from the lava and ash, farms were made barren due to the pyroclastic flow, ash and lava and planes as far as western Australia were grounded due to the ash in the air reducing travel and tourism. Water supplies were tainted by ash and acidic lava and due to the large column of smoke that erupted from the initial eruption sulfur dioxide was released and blow across south Indonesia and into Australia (NASA, 2010). The ash in the air also caused those with respiratory issues to fall ill with more severe illnesses (InternetGeography, 2022).

(Farmer in his corn field covered in ash from Mount Merapi eruption in Central Java, Indonesia on Monday, Nov. 8, 2010. (Boston Globe, 2010))

Discussion

    Due to the lack of relative wealth in the surrounding areas of Mount Merapi the evacuation and destruction that the eruption caused had a massive impact on the citizens of Yogyakarta as well as the surrounding areas. Most building surrounding the mountain were wooden homes fashioned by farmers to tend the rich volcanic soils which caused them to ignite much easier and burn down destroying a large part of the areas farming infrastructure A lack of medical centers and relief areas for the people of the city, despite living next to one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes was a massive oversight which led to a large death toll and an increased recovery time for the people of this area. Another major oversight was the neglect of the area’s monitoring systems for the volcano which had not been updated at all since the 1970’s. The eruption in 2010 did lead to many new evacuation centers to be made and the monitoring systems the city used to finally be updated to a more standard technological level (InternetGeography, 2022). The city of Yogyakarta as started funds to assists farmers who needed to replace their crops and livestock that were lost in the eruptions (InternetGeography, 2022).


 

(Effects of the Merapi volcano eruption in Indonesia in October/November 2010. Posted by hshdude)

 

References

InternetGeography. (2022, February 4). The 2010 eruption of Mount Merapi. Internet Geography. Retrieved October 31, 2022, from https://www.internetgeography.net/topics/the-2010-eruption-of-mount-merapi/

NBC. (2021, January 7). Hundreds evacuated as Indonesia's Mount Merapi Volcano Spews Hot Clouds. NBCNews.com. Retrieved October 31, 2022, from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/hundreds-evacuated-indonesia-s-mount-merapi-volcano-spews-hot-clouds-n1253330

Boston Globe. (n.d.). Mount Merapi's eruptions. Boston.com. Retrieved October 31, 2022, from http://archive.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/11/mount_merapis_eruptions.html

hshdude. (2012, July 15). Merapi Volcano Eruption 2010. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10zR5KaMVm8

NASA. (2010). Eruption at Mount Merapi, Indonesia. NASA. Retrieved October 31, 2022, from https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/46881/eruption-at-mount-merapi-indonesia