March 2, 1856 Eruption of Awu

Reference #9675

1856, March 2. 2806 deaths. 8 villages partly destroyed.

Reference #414

1856, March 2, between 19:00 and 20:00 [local time]. On Sangihe Is, after a sudden "unbearable" roar, the Awu Volcano began to erupt. Incandescent lava rushed down the slopes of the mountain with irresistible force, destroying everything in its path. Where the lava reached the shore, the sea water began to boil. Strong hot springs gushed up and the abundant surging boiling water destroyed and carried away everything that the fire had spared.

The sea surged onto the shore cliffs as during an underwater earthquake, and with a terrifying noise, it flooded the coast and "snatched its victims from the fire."

An hour later, thunderous blows were heard, shaking the earth. A black column of ash and stones was ejected from the peak of the mountain. The column rose to the "heavens" and fell in a rain of fire on the slopes of the volcano, which were lit up by the red hot lava. Total darkness

fell, in which one could not make out the closest objects; it was interrupted from time to time by outbreaks of light. Large bombs fell to the earth. The settlements and field s not destroyed by the lava were buried under a layer of ash and rocks. The flows rushed down from the mountain, and, encountering obstacles, spread out in lakes, which then became a new source of destruction.

All this took several hours. By midnight, all had quieted down, although the eruption began with new force the next noon. The ashfall continued all day and was so intensive that no light could penetrate, and almost total darkness set in.

A hurricane southeastern wind blew since the beginning of the eruption, and the ashes were carried as far as Mindanao Island. Later the wind blew from the north.

On March 17, there was a new eruption, in which fields and trees on the coast at Tabukan were destroyed. After this, the volcano quieted down, except that steam continuously rose from the numerous cracks and fractures. However, the lava flows were still so hot that one could not approach them. According to residents, the top of the volcano did not change noticeably in appearance.

At the main village of the island, Tahuna, several people were injured and homes were destroyed during the fall of ash and stones. Obstacles in the form of hills made the lava flow deviate from the village and turn to the sea in another place.

Along the flat slope between Tahuna and Kandhar, seven large lava flows descended to the sea, devastating this agricultural region. One of the flows passed through Kalongan village; only a few burned posts were left. Between Kalongan and Kandhar, a large area of the coast subsided below sea level. The mountain side had previously sloped gently to the very water line; after the eruption, it broke off as a steep wall about 60 m (200 feet) high.

The settlement of Kandhar, protected by this "rib," suffered little: it was affected only by the fall of ashes and stones and the streams of hot water. In addition, before the eruption, the residents, fearing pirates, had hidden with their belongings in the thickets above the settlement, and did not suffer from the flooding.

The devastation was even greater on the coast from Kandhar to the northern tip of the island. Two tongues of lava thrust far into the sea to previous bottom marks of several metres (fathoms).

The number of victims was considerable: at Tahuna 722, at Kandhar 22, at Tabukan 2,039; total 2,806. For the most part, the people died in the gardens where they sought relief from the heat. Those who attempted to run, were overtaken by flows of lava and water, perished under collapsing trees, were suffocated or were burned in the ashfall and the fires. At Kalongan and Tariang, the residents who took refuge in their houses died in the debris. Finally, those who took to the sea shore "fell prey to vicious waves".