“No Apparent Danger” by Victoria Bruce
For Monday November 24 be prepared to discuss chapters 7-14 and epilogue. Quiz study questions are
listed below. You don’t need to write out answers but you may get quizzed on questions.
Chapter 7 – Urcunina, the Fire Mountain
1. Has Galeras had a previous history of eruption?
2. How was the first warning of Galeras activity handled differently than Nevado Del Ruiz?
3. In April 1988, Fernando Muñoz (a geophysics professor at the National Institute of Geology)
observed, first-hand, the new activity of Galeras. What did he observe?
4. After making his observations, Muñoz requested assistance from whom? What else did Muñoz do?
5. What was Harlow’s first impression of the seriousness of the situation when he arrived in Pasto?
What did Harlow think when he was taken to see the crater?
Chapter 8 – Dissecting Galeras
1. Who is the organizer of the meeting and what is his relationship with Marta Calvache?
2. What meeting was going to take place in Pasto beginning January 11, 1993?
3. What was the relationship between the Swiss volcanologist, Bruno Martinelli and Calvache?
4. What was the reaction of the Columbian military when Calvache and Martinelli wanted to dynamite a
portion of the route down into the Galeras crater?
5. Had Stanely Williams remained active in the study of Columbian volcanoes since the 1985 eruption
of Ruiz?
6. What does “decade volcano” mean?
7. Describe the argument between French volcanologists Haroun Tazieff and Robert Brousee about the
Soufriere Volcano on the island of Guadeloupe?
8. What did Andy Adams observe about Stan Williams preparation for the field trip into the crater on
Thursday?
9. Who is Bernard Chouet? What are tornillos?
10. Was Stan Williams concerned about the tornillos?
Chapter 9 – To the Mountain
Based on Bruce’s account, describe both the pros and the cons with respect to the safety precautions and
emergency response plan that Stanley Williams and others had in place for the field trip into the Galeras
crater.
Chapter 10 – The Descent into Galeras; Chapter 11 – The Eruption; Chapter 12 – The Rescue
1.
Based on Bruce’s account, describe both the pros and the cons with respect to the safety precautions
and emergency response plan that Stanley Williams and others had in place for the field trip into the
Galeras crater.
2.
How much time had passed between the warning from Pasto that a tornillo event had occurred and
Williams’ first suggestion that some of the scientists should start heading back? How much time had
passed before Williams and others decided to leave? Were there other scientists still working when
Williams was descending the cone?
3.
After the initial eruption, what specific type of volcanic activity were the scientists (in the crater and
on field trips on the flanks of the volcano) most worried about?
4.
Who were the first people into the crater to rescue the survivors? And approximately how much time
had passed since the eruption?
Ch.r 13 – The Aftermath; Chapter 14 – Conflicting Accounts; Epilogue: Winter 1996-Summer 2000
Some thought questions
1. What caused the fatal eruption according to Luis Ruales (a hotel bellhop) and most of the o ther
citizens of Pasto (Pastusos)?
2. After the disaster, Andy Adams (Los Alamos National Lab) inspected the seismic records and
reviewed the earlier predictions of Galeras activity. What did he find?
3. How many days passed after the fatal eruption before scientists entered the crater? What types of
safety precautions did they take?
4. What were some of the things that Stanley Williams told the news media that were upsetting to the
other field trip participants and inaccurate (according to Bruce)?
5. Based on the account of Victoria Bruce, was Stanley Williams responsible for the deaths of his
colleagues? Was he aware of the seismic activity (tornillos), their meaning and all of the potential
dangers before leading the trip into the crater?