“Ashes were already falling, not as yet very thickly. I looked round: a dense black cloud was coming up behind us, spreading over the earth like a flood.”
Pliny the Younger
The Romans, they say, had no word for volcano at the time Vesuvius erupted in Italy in the year of Our Lord, seventy-nine. Their ignorance arose from the rarity of eruptions in Europe at that time. And yet for all the gifts of modern science, several dozen people - mostly tourists - would have fell very much like the ancient Pompeiians yesterday afternoon when Whakaari/White Island burst into ash clouds.
At the time of writing, five souls are confirmed lost in the disaster. Thirty-one people are in hospital. A further eight have not been recovered. They are presumed to have perished.
This is a "moderate" eruption. It is frightening to think what damage a truly supervolcanic event might bring. The last two most recent of such events, in geologic terms, happened here in New Zealand. No matter where it happens, however, a blast of that nature could have profound implication for human civilisation all over.
Due to the prominence of ecological concerns, we sometimes fall into the trap of seeing the world as something fragile. It is sobering to be reminded that the planet is actually in charge. We are the fragile ones.
As many as thirteen people went on an excursion to a popular tourist site yesterday not knowing it would be the last thing they would ever do. They were all irreplaceable human beings. May perpetual light shine upon them.