Earth:Ritter Island
| Ritter Island | |
|---|---|
 Ritter Island in 2004 | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 140 m (460 ft) |
| Prominence | 140 m (460 ft) |
| Coordinates | [ ⚑ ] 5°31′S 148°07′E / 5.517°S 148.117°E |
| Geography | |
| Location | Papua New Guinea |
| Geology | |
| Mountain type | Stratovolcano |
| Last eruption | May 2007 |
Ritter Island is a small, uninhabited, crescent-shaped volcanic island 100 kilometres (62 mi) north-east of New Guinea, in the Bismarck Sea, situated between Umboi Island and Sakar Island in the Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and close to New Britain island.[1]
It is one of many active volcanoes in PNG, which result from a subduction of the Solomon Sea plate beneath the South Bismarck Plate along the New Britain Trench. There were several recorded eruptions of this basaltic-andesitic stratovolcano in 1699 and 1793, prior to a spectacular lateral collapse which took place in 1888. Before that event, it was a circular conical island about 780 metres (2,560 ft) high.[1][2]
History
The earliest known sighting of the island by outsiders was by William Dampier, an English explorer, privateer, navigator, and naturalist. He reported that "we heard a dreadful noise like thunder, and saw a flame of fire after it, the most terrifying that ever I saw". The island is believed to have been named after the German geographer, Carl Ritter, when the area formed part of German New Guinea.[3]
1888 eruption
At about 5:30 am local time on 13 March 1888 a large portion of the island, containing perhaps 5 km3 (1.2 cu mi) of material slid into the sea during a relatively minor, possibly VEI 2,[4] phreatic eruption. Eyewitnesses at Finschhafen, 100 km (62 mi) to the south, heard explosions and observed an almost imperceptible ash fall.[5] Tsunamis 12–15 metres (40–50 ft) high were generated by the collapse and devastated nearby islands and the adjacent New Guinea coast killing around 3,000 people.[6]
The collapse left a 140-metre (460 ft) high, 1,900-metre (6,200 ft) long crescent-shaped island with a steep west-facing escarpment. At least two small eruptions have occurred offshore since 1888, one in 1972 and another in 1974, which have resulted in the construction of a small submarine edifice within the collapse scar.[5]
See also
- List of volcanic eruption deaths
- List of volcanoes in Papua New Guinea
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "1888 Ritter Island Tsunami". https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/32229.
- ↑ "Ritter Island". Smithsonian Institution. https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=251070.
- ↑ "Perished in Style – Ritter Island, PNG.". https://volcanohotspot.wordpress.com/2015/12/29/perished-in-style-ritter-island-p-n-g/#:~:text=Summary%20of%20direct%20eyewitness%20reports,Saunders%20and%20Kuduon%20(2009)..
- ↑ "Ritter Island: Eruptive History". Smithsonian Institution. https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=251070.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ward, S.N.; Day, S. (2003). "Ritter Island Volcano—lateral collapse and the tsunami of 1888". Geophysical Journal International 154 (3): 891–902. doi:10.1046/j.1365-246X.2003.02016.x. Bibcode: 2003GeoJI.154..891W. http://www.es.ucsc.edu/~ward/papers/gji_Ritter_final.pdf. Retrieved 2007-06-11.
- ↑ Ritter Island at Volcano World
Template:Islands of Papua New Guinea
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