Ritter Island
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Ritter Island is a small crescent-shaped volcanic island 100 kilometres northeast of New Guinea, situated between Umboi Island and Sakar Island.
There are several recorded eruptions of this basaltic-andesitic stratovolcano prior to the spectacular collapse which took place in 1888. Prior to that lateral collapse, it was a circular conical island about 700 meters high.[1] Tsunamis 12-15 metres high were generated by the collapse and devastated nearby islands and the adjacent New Guinea coast killing around 3000 people.[2]
The collapse left a 140 metre high 1900 metre long crescent-shaped island with a steep west-facing enscarpment. 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.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program - Ritter Island
- ^ Ritter Island at Volcano World
- ^ Ward, S.N. and Day, S. Ritter Island Volcano—lateral collapse and the tsunami of 1888, Geophysical Journal International, v. 154, p. 891
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