Tinakula facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Tinakula |
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NASA picture of Tinakula spewing ashes (2012)
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 851 m (2,792 ft) |
| Geography | |
 Tinakula
Location in Solomon Islands
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| Geology | |
| Mountain type | Stratovolcano |
| Volcanic arc/belt | Bougainville & Solomon Is. |
| Last eruption | 2021 |
Tinakula is a special kind of volcano called a stratovolcano. It looks like a cone and forms its own island! You can find it north of Nendo in the Solomon Islands. It's part of the Santa Cruz Islands.
Tinakula is about 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) wide. It rises 851 meters (2,792 feet) above sea level. But it's even taller if you measure from the sea floor – about 3 to 4 kilometers (1.9 to 2.5 miles) high! People first wrote about Tinakula erupting in 1595. This was when a sailor named Álvaro de Mendaña sailed by it.
Island Life and Eruptions
Tinakula Island is not lived on today. Around 1840, the volcano erupted strongly. Hot, fast-moving flows of ash and gas, called pyroclastic flows, covered the whole island. This wiped out everyone living there.
Later, in 1951, people from nearby islands like Nukapu and Nupani moved to Tinakula. The island's population grew to 130 people. But in 1971, the volcano erupted again, and everyone had to leave for safety. There was once a village called Temateneni on the southeast coast. In the late 1980s, a few families tried to live there again, but they didn't stay long.
First Sightings and Records
The first time Europeans saw Tinakula was on September 7, 1595. This was during a Spanish trip led by Álvaro de Mendaña. They were sailing towards Nendo Island. They described the volcano as tall, with a nice shape. They thought it was about 6.6 kilometers (4.1 miles) around.
There's also a short note from a newspaper in 1868. It said a ship called the Tycoon passed "Volcano Island" on October 17, 1868. The newspaper reported that the volcano was "active." It was "vomiting forth immense volumes of fire and smoke."
See also
In Spanish: Tinakula para niños
- List of volcanoes in the Solomon Islands
- List of islands
- Desert island
