I'm struggling to find sympathy for these people

Minusorange · 9 Dec 2019 at 12:15

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/118057679/white-island-volcano-erupts-in-the-bay-of-plenty

Police say anyone who didn't get off White Island has likely perished.

"The police Eagle helicopter, rescue helicopter, and NZDF aircraft have undertaken a number of aerial reconnaissance flights over the island since the eruption. No signs of life have been seen at any point," police said in a release at 12.10am.

Ten hours earlier, at 2.11pm, Whakaari/White Island erupted while nearly 50 people were on it. Police still don't know how many people didn't make it off the volcano, which is a popular tourist experience, but national operation Commander Deputy Commissioner John Tims conceded in a press conference at 9pm that it was in the double digits.

Only 23 people are known to have made it off the island; five were dead and the remaining 18 all had injuries to some degree.

Why would you want to walk inside the crater of an active volcano ? :confused:

Of all the stupid things you can do, surely this is listed pretty high ? I could understand if maybe they were walking round the rim of it, but to walk in the spot which is most likely to go boom just seems stupid of the highest order ?

Ayahuasca · 9 Dec 2019 at 12:17

Well it's all about the experience and the odds of something going wrong isn't it? Why do people still skydive when parachutes have failed?

Probably a difficult concept to grasp on here as most just live their lives through a screen.

VincentHanna · 9 Dec 2019 at 12:28

2.6 milion people visit Mount Vesuvius every year (I'm one of them) and though it hasn't erupted since 1944, it's considered the most dangerous volcano in Europe...

BowdonUK · 9 Dec 2019 at 12:35

People dont appreciate life as much as they used to and now need to go out of there way to have an experience.

I feel sad for the people who died because the media/peers probably tell them there is zero chance of danger.

Minusorange · 9 Dec 2019 at 12:46

VincentHanna said:
2.6 milion people visit Mount Vesuvius every year (I'm one of them) and though it hasn't erupted since 1944, it's considered the most dangerous volcano in Europe...

You're not allowed to walk in the crater of Vesuvius, it has relatively long durations between eruptions, yes it will erupt at some point but it's one of the most monitored volcano's too, so I would imagine if it started getting excited, they would close access to walking the rim

Compared to White Island which last erupted in 2016, before that 2012-2013 and before that 1975-2000 (yes it was erupting for 25 years)

I know which volcano I'd consider "safer" to visit

Scania · 9 Dec 2019 at 12:46

Well, the fact it was a documented active volcano on a presumably uninhabited for a bloody good reason (said active volcano) island then you could say good ol’ Darwinism has struck again here but equally I can understand somebody wanting to see such a thing given the statistically rare chance of anything going wrong but to say you don’t have sympathy for people dying in this incident (and most likely dying a horrific death) is a bit meh tbh.

Terminal_Boy · 9 Dec 2019 at 12:48

White Island does seem to be a bit more active than Vesuvius...

In fact it was in continuous eruption from 1975 to 2000 and has been erupting regularly ever since.

Edit - beaten to it...

CaptainRAVE · 9 Dec 2019 at 12:54

We love to think these things won't happen to us - probably because we're all so protected and not exposed to danger in our modern world. That said, the odds are so very low and we often play them - planes crash, we still get on them etc.

Washout · 9 Dec 2019 at 13:03

New Zealand has loads of geologically active areas, all you can do is monitor and try to minimise risk. Otherwise you'll be roping off half the country's mountains - which are the reason so many people go there.
Incredibly unlucky for it to pop like that while a group down there. I'd think with most semi-active volcanoes it's actually hard to get down into them so it's not very common to get groups walking in the crater. Hardly Darwinism anymore than something going wrong during a bungee jump or sky dive.
It's an amazing country and being able to go out and explore places like that is half its charm.

200sols · 9 Dec 2019 at 13:07

Minusorange said:
Why would you want to walk inside the crater of an active volcano ?

For the experience?

Statistically speaking loads of everyday things we do like driving a car are probably more likely to kill you.

200sols · 9 Dec 2019 at 13:10

VincentHanna said:
it's considered the most dangerous volcano in Europe...

Yeah, because they built a huge city right next to it. Worked out well for the Romans.

Minusorange · 9 Dec 2019 at 13:18

Washout said:
Hardly Darwinism anymore than something going wrong during a bungee jump or sky dive.

I'd say walking in the crater of a volcano that regularly erupts is on par with sticking your head out of the window of a train

neckbeardthethird · 9 Dec 2019 at 13:21

Minusorange said:
I'm struggling to find sympathy

Sounds about right for GD

The BBC reckons it's a popular tourist spot and other news reports suggest there are several tourist trips to it everyday of the year so if that's correct I think it's a bit harsh to judge the people visiting, as mentioned the chance of them having died like this is probably very remote... It's not like they are jumping off cliffs in a wingsuit for thrills, even then id still have sympathy for someone who died in such circumstances.

JBuk · 9 Dec 2019 at 13:41

It’s a popular tourist place and although it’s an active volcano the chances of it erupting are usually slim but lately it has shown increased activity, did the tourists know this? Possibly not, Did the tour operators know? They should have as they’re responsible for their customers safety

it’s a bit sad that some people have no sympathy for the victims

Minusorange · 9 Dec 2019 at 13:58

neckbeardthethird said:
I think it's a bit harsh to judge the people visiting

They're not just visiting though are they, they're walking inside the part of the volcano that turns into an incinerator when it erupts and it has shown to erupt quite regularly, the part that when it does erupt, a human has zero chance of survival if caught inside when it erupts

I'm all for extreme sports and risk taking adrenaline rushes but walking in the crater of a volcano that erupts regularly just seems retarded

Hagar · 9 Dec 2019 at 13:59

JBuk said:
it’s a bit sad that some people have no sympathy for the victims

For their relatives or dependants yes. For them? They won't know.

JBuk · 9 Dec 2019 at 16:17

Minusorange said:
They're not just visiting though are they, they're walking inside the part of the volcano that turns into an incinerator when it erupts and it has shown to erupt quite regularly, the part that when it does erupt, a human has zero chance of survival if caught inside when it erupts

I'm all for extreme sports and risk taking adrenaline rushes but walking in the crater of a volcano that erupts regularly just seems retarded

it does not erupt quite regularly

Rroff · 9 Dec 2019 at 16:21

I'm 50/50 on this as far as the tourist go - personally I would be doing my own homework before going anywhere like that. On the other hand supposedly the tour operator was strongly warned activity was picking up and in a manner that suggested eruptive behaviour - but can only go on other people for that.

EDIT: Even 2 seconds of googling brings up recent reports of magmatic driven seismic activity increasing to levels which should have been a strong indicator to stay away along with increased SO2 emissions. Article from November for instance https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/wh...te-background-activity-increases-further.html

Minusorange · 9 Dec 2019 at 16:23

JBuk said:
it does not erupt quite regularly

But it does geologically speaking

VincentHanna · 9 Dec 2019 at 16:24

If a volcano hadn't erupted for 6 years, I'd probably (naively?) assume it was fairly safe.