溶岩流を靴で踏んでみたら...(動画)
ハワイ島(ビッグアイランド)の溶岩が中心街のショッピングセンターとガソリンスタンドに近づいている。クリスマス前後には到達する見込みだが、私たちはしてはいけないことを思い返すために、この動画を取り上げた。
2010年に撮影され、最近になってYouTubeに投稿されたこの動画は、命知らずの人がキラウエア火山から流れ出る溶岩の先端を靴で踏みつけている。当たり前だが、間もなく彼の靴に火がついた。
ハワイ大学活火山研究センターの専門家、ダーシー・ベヴェンス氏はハフポストUS版の取材に対し、溶岩の熱は華氏2000°F(摂氏1093℃)あるからこのブーツに火がついたと語った。
ブーツは素早く溶岩から離され、そこに残った足跡はゆっくりと消え、元の溶岩のふっくらとした形に戻った。べヴェン氏は、「溶岩は比較的冷たい外気と地面に触れた外側に固い『皮』を作ります」とはこの特性について語った。「しかし溶岩の皮は、さらに冷えてガラス性岩石の殻のようになるまでしばらくの間柔軟性を保ちます」。
キラウエア火山は1983年から断続的に噴火を続け、世界で最も活動的な火山の一つに数えられている。溶岩流は何カ月間もハワイ島の地方の街を流れ続け、溶岩流が伸びるたびにすこしづつ避難をしている。
危険にさらされているガソリンスタンドのオーナーは、残っている全てのガソリンを抜き出し、そこに水や消化剤を注入する計画だ。
ありふれた靴が引き起こすリアクションを見るにつけ、ハワイ島の人たちは準備万端で喜ばしい限りだ。
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Lava surrounds an outer fence to the Pahoa transfer station in Pahoa, Hawaii. The county says the breakouts don't pose an immediate threat to area residents. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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Lava bursting from a tumulus, or domed hill, in Pahoa, Hawaii. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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A breakout downslope of the house that burned on Monday, Nov. 10. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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A stream of lava set a home on fire Monday in Pahoa, a rural Hawaii town that has been watching the slow-moving flow approach for months. The molten rock hit the house just before noon. The home's renters already had left the residence in Pahoa, the largest town in the Big Island's isolated and mostly agricultural Puna district. (AP Photo/County of Hawaii)
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Lava flow burning a residential structure. (AP Photo/County of Hawaii)
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The lava flow from the Kilauea Volcano that began on June 27 pours from an active breakout near the Pahoa transfer station on the Big Island of Hawaii. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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An unidentified geologist standing atop the lava flow near the Pahoa cemetery looking northeast toward houses on Pahoa Village Road. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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The lava flow approaches a new steel power pole that is surrounded by a cinder barrier. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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The lava flow as it burns along Cemetery Road. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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A tree lies where it has fallen after lava flow burned through its lower trunk. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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A breakout, or area where lava oozes to the side of a flow upslope of the stalled leading edge. Lava is creeping out at several spots upslope of the leading edge. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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Lava from the Kilauea Volcano nears Pahoa. (Photo by Andrew Hara/Getty Images)
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Lava from the Kilauea Volcano flows across the ground in Pahoa, Hawaii. (Photo by Andrew Hara/Getty Images)
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Molten rock from the flow is inching its way towards homes in the town of Pahoa where close to a thousand people live. (Photo by Andrew Hara/Getty Images)
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A time lapse camera that USGS Hawaii Volcano Observatory scientists were using to monitor a lava tube skylight near the town of Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii. The camera was caught in an overflow of lava surrounding the tripod and melted the power cable and the camera's container. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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A time lapse camera that USGS Hawaii Volcano Observatory scientists were using to monitor a lava tube skylight near the town of Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii. The camera was caught in an overflow of lava surrounding the tripod and melted the power cable. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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(Photo by Andrew Hara/Getty Images)
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Lava flows around the town of Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii. The National Guard deployed troops to the rural Hawaii town as lava makes a slow crawl toward a major road and threatens to further isolate the community that got its start during the lumber- and sugar-plantation heyday. (AP Photo/Pete Stachowicz, Paradise Helicopters)
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A breakout from an inflated lobe of the June 27 lava flow. Overnight rain reduced the lava's smoke. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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Small breakouts from an inflating Pahoehoe lava lobe in a privately owned orchard near the town of Pahoa, Hawaii. The tip of the flow that remains halted in a Pahoa farmer's yard is now cool to the touch, but a few hundred yards upstream an active stretch of lava is "inflating," or filling with fresh lava. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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A "toe" of Pahoehoe lava oozing out of the edge of the main flow, about 328 yards upslope of the leading edge of the flow, near the town of Pahoa, Hawaii. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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Lava from an upstream lobe overcoming a fence marking a private property line near the town of Pahoa, Hawaii. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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A hole left behind by a large tree that was surrounded by lava, burned through at its base and collapsed onto the solidified flow surface. The end of the tree trunk is glowing, and flames from burning wood are emanating from the hole. Geologists say this represents an under-appreciated hazard of the lava flow field, as trees that were surrounded by lava can fall long after the leading edge has passed by. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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Lava flow burning vegetation near the town of Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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A lava breakout around 110 yards behind the leading edge of the flow near the town of Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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Nearly 30 years ago, the small Hawaii town of Kalapana (which is ten miles from Pahoa) was held hostage by a slowly oozing stream of lava from Kilauea volcano. People are now rebuilding on land that was almost entirely swallowed by molten rock. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
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A house sits among recent lava flow in Kalapana, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
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A breakout of lava. These breakouts are located about 100 meters (110 yards) behind the leading edge of the flow. Lava from a vent at Kilauea volcano has been sliding northeast toward the ocean since June. Pahoa residents say the lava will reshape the community yard by yard as it creeps toward the ocean. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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Lava flow has come into contact and inflated against an artificial berm, to a level much higher than that of the berm, on private property near the town of Pahoa. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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Lava near the leading edge of the flow oozing over a concrete slab and towards a tangerine tree before solidifying. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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Police block traffic where officials expect lava to flow across the main road in Pahoa, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
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An aerial view of the lava flow over Cemetery Road and Apa'a Street near the town of Pahoa. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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A chiropractor's office vows to stay open for business in Pahoa. Lava threatens to bisect the town's main road. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
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Lava that has pushed through a fence marking a property boundary above the town of Pahoa. Residents of Pahoa Village, the commercial center of the island's rural Puna district south of Hilo, have had weeks to prepare for what's been described as a slow-motion disaster. Most have either already left or are prepared to go. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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Lava that has pushed through a fence marking a property boundary above the town of Pahoa. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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Denise Lagrimas, right, and her brother Beatle Rodriguez pack dishes at their home in Pahoa as they prepare to move to another town away from the threat of lava. The family's single-story home is just across the street from properties where lava from Kilauea volcano is expected to slither past on its way to the ocean. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
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Lava burning vegetation as it approaches a property boundary above the town of Pahoa. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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The flow was 510 meters (560 yards) upslope from Pahoa Village Road and the flow width was about 50 meters (55 yards) at the leading edge. (Photo by Andrew Hara/Getty Images)
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The Sato family headstone still standing in a sea of black lava in a cemetery in Pahoa. As the slow-moving lava got closer to the Pahoa Japanese Cemetery, officials provided Aiko Sato an opportunity to visit. When she placed flowers at the headstone last week, she thought it would be the last time she would see it. But after lava flowed over the cemetery, Sato's aunt was given a photograph taken by a geologist documenting the lava's advancement, showing the Sato headstone still standing in a sea of black lava. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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Apa'a St., pictured at bottom, and Pahoa Village Road at upper left near the town of Pahoa. Residents of the small town have had weeks to prepare for what's been described as a slow-motion disaster. County officials are making arrangements for those living in the lava's path to be able to watch the lava destroy their homes as a means of closure. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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A Hawaii Volcano Observatory geologist mapping the margin of the June 27 lava flow in the open field below Cemetery Road. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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A HVO geologist walks across the surface of the lava flow. (Photo by USGS via Getty Images)
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A portion of the front of the June 27th lava flow burns through thick vegetation and a fence in Pahoa, Hawaii. (Photo by USGS via Getty Images)
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The June 27th lava flow crossed Apa'a Street. (Photo by USGS via Getty Images)
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A Hawaii Volcano Observatory geologist standing on a partly cooled section of lava flow near the town of Pahoa. Note the thin red horizontal line of molten lava visible along the bottom third of the photo. The flow here is about one meter (three feet) thick, but slightly farther upslope where the lava has had more time to inflate the thickness was closer to two meters. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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Lava flow advancing across the pasture between the Pahoa cemetery and Apaa Street, engulfing a barbed wire fence. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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A small shed being consumed by lava in a pasture between the Pahoa cemetery and Apa'a Street. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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The lava flow from Kilauea Volcano that began June 27 is seen as it crossed Apa'a Street. The flow was about 160 to 230 feet (50 to 70 meters) wide and moving northeast at about 10 yards (nine meters) per hour. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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Lava flow slowly moving through thick vegetation and creating thick plumes of smoke. Frequent methane explosions occur, resulting from cooked vegetation releasing methane which then ignites. The explosions can range from small puffs to loud cannon-like blasts, and are an additional hazard in the immediate area of the flow margin. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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An aerial view of the lava flow near the town of Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii. (AP Photo/University of Hawaii at Hilo)
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A comparison of a normal photograph of the lava flow front, left, with a thermal image of the flow that is threatening the town of Pahoa. The white box shows the approximate extent of the thermal image. The thermal image shows that active breakouts (white and yellow areas) are focused along the narrow lobe at the leading edge of the flow, but are also scattered for about 2 km (1.2 miles) behind the flow front. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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Lava flow near the town of Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii. (AP Photo/University of Hawaii at Hilo)
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Surface activity from lava flow that began on June 27, 2014 from the Kilauea volcano in Pahoa, on the Big Island of Hawaii. Residents on Hawaii's southernmost island have already dealt with one tropical storm this year and are currently coping with the threat of slowly encroaching lava. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey, File)
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Surface flows cut a swath through thick forest. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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Fluid lava streams from the June 27 lava flow from the Kilauea volcano. The June 27 lava flow is named for the date it began erupting from a new vent. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
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A fluid lava stream within the main tube of the June 27 lava flow from the Kilauea volcano. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
この記事はハフポストUS版に掲載されたものを翻訳しました。
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