All language subtitles for Earthstorm.S01E02.720p.NF.WEBRip.x264-GalaxyTV

I remember it as if it was yesterday.

Because that day,

I realized that in a split second...

you can,

you can die.

Get in now! Let's go!

Go!

Friend, go!

Go!

Go, go!

What about that man?

Oh, no!

Don't stop!

Don't stop!

There are
over 1300 active volcanoes on the planet.

Gateways, to a world beneath our feet.

Explosions of molten rock and lava.

Some erupt continuously,

for hundreds or even thousands of years.

Others explode with little warning...

sending shockwaves
around the world.

This is a journey
into four volcanoes.

Each bigger than the last.

Each more explosive.

Each more deadly.

It's called
the land of ice and fire.

And in March 2021,
Iceland put on a spectacular display.

A crack in the Earth's crust
opened up to produce, fountains of lava.

This was something
I did not expect to see in my lifetime.

So this eruption came as a huge surprise.

Because we haven't seen an
eruption on the peninsula for 800 years.

And thinking about
also this type of eruption,

and all this lava
coming from great depths.

This is also what we haven't
observed for thousands of years.

The Earth's crust
is made up of huge rocky plates.

Most of the world's volcanoes
form along their boundaries.

Iceland sits between two of these plates.

As they pull apart, deep cracks open up

through which
molten rock called magma, can escape.

Propelled by expanding gases,

the magma erupts in the form of lava...

creating a volcano.

Over millennia, the whole island has been
made this way, by thousands of eruptions.

We haven't seen
an eruption so close to Reykjavik.

This is very unusual.

But this means for many people,
they can actually visit the eruption.

So going to the eruption site
of course, it's fascinating.

You think you're gonna
hike up there for one hour

and then you're gonna stay there
30 minutes and then go back.

No. No. No. You always end up
standing there for three hours at least.

The eruption
is just... mesmerizing.

350, 000 people
have visited the volcano.

Almost the entire population of Iceland.

Each eruption is rated
by the Volcanic Explosivity Index,

based on the amount of lava
and the height of the ash cloud.

Fagradalsfjall's
eruption is low on the index.

But being so close to Reykjavik,

it's in the perfect
location for scientists to study it.

They're trying to find out
how long the eruption will last...

and map where the lava might flow.

Every time we go there,
the volcano is different.

So it is exciting for us.

And it's always the same kind
of feeling we get going there.

It's majestic. It's just so beautiful.

I'm a geologist,

and I specialize in close-range
photogrammetry to generate 3D mapping.

We go to the area
and we place targets

visible in the images
that we take from the air.

And we align the images,

stitch them together, and then we can use
them for all kinds of measurements.

Here, we are looking at
a 3D model. Um, so-called mesh model.

And here you see these two valleys
in which lava is flowing into.

We use the models for tracking
changes in the eruption site.

And this will help us predict where
lava will flow across the landscape...

helping to save lives.

We are so small,
compared to these forces of nature.

And yet, there's an attraction to it.

There's something that drags you to it,
even though it's dangerous.

And probably
it's because it's so beautiful.

At over 1000 degrees Celsius,
lava incinerates everything,

creating a landscape devoid of life.

But it's only a matter
of time before new life finds a way,

to take hold and evolve.

Our experiment here today,

we're gonna try
and collect a clean, fresh sample

of lava to be able to figure out what
happens when a pristine landscape

ends up being colonized
for the first time with microbes.

You can see it's still glowing.

So this is basically
as fresh earth as you could possibly have.

Our earliest microbial ancestors
were actually heat loving organisms.

And so, in the beginning,

a volcanic rock won't have
any microbes that are living on it.

But as it cools, then a lot
of the nutrients and different materials

have the same building blocks

that different organisms
can use and begin to colonize.

When you begin to collect samples,

we establish a number
of different locations

that we can then keep coming back to
and identify that magic moment

when the first microbe
ends up being present.

It could be a few weeks to a few months,

but we'll keep trying each week
until we find, find the first ones.

By studying the presence
of microbes in these conditions,

scientists can understand more
about the genesis of life on Earth.

Ancient volcanoes created the
perfect conditions for life to evolve.

Volcanic gases created the atmosphere...

which in turn helped create the oceans.

And deep underwater...
at hydrothermal vents,

volcanic energy powered the chemistry

that created
the first single celled organisms.

And over billions of years,
they, evolved into us.

Volcanoes create life.

But here and now, they seem
only to bring death and destruction.

Since last month, the lava
has covered nearly 900 hectares

and destroyed more than 2000 buildings.
Most of the 83,000 residents are still...

Cumbre Vieja started erupting
unexpectedly in September 2021.

Unlike in Iceland, there are
thousands of people living on its slopes.

Homes,
directly in the path of lava.

On our daily life, we don't realize

the chaos there is
down there beneath our feet.

And how close we are
to that furnace of magma.

Just thousands of degrees,
much more than we can imagine.

Enough to melt almost
everything in a matter of seconds.

That's an anomaly.

The lava is zig-zagging.

When you are measuring
lava flows, people ask a lot of times,

"My house will be destroyed by
the lava flows. Can you tell me that?"

What would you tell them?

Of course it will.
But should I tell them that?

Should I tell the truth?

This is something that even
we as scientists are not prepared for.

Because here we see a level of destruction

and it's really hard to
understand and even hard to believe.

I've seen things here
that I never expected to see because

you are tracing
the lava flows on the streets.

On the crossroads, on the roundabouts.

And that's really strange.

People have lost everything.

This is a dark,
black lava flow all over the place,

and there is no chance
to even blockade your house.

That's really terrible.

And that's what makes
it really like being on a,

on a PlayStation game or in a
video game. You know, this is, unreal.

The ash is a very fine dust.

But when wet, it gets much heavier.

So it can make the roof fall in.

That's why we have to clean it now,

as we are in the rainy season.

It can cause a lot of problems.

At least I have my property.

Others have lost everything.

Houses, farms. At least I have my mine.

So I can't complain.

The ash damages the
bananas and burns them.

So we let them fall to the floor.

We've lost almost the
entire crop this year.

It seems like a dream.
Like, nothing we've lived through before.

Since the beginning of civilization,

humans have tried to dominate the planet...

bypassing the raw power of nature.

And there are few things more powerful...

than a volcanic eruption.

It can be thousands of times
stronger than a nuclear blast.

These are forces,

that cannot be controlled.

But can they be predicted?

That's the challenge
facing the world's volcanologists.

The last major eruption at
Masaya was 1800 years ago.

It spewed out lava flows
over 25 miles long.

But when will it erupt again?

One of the best ways
to know the state of a volcano,

is to measure the gases it emits.

This is best done from inside the volcano.

How do you feel?

Because it's your first descent, isn't it?

Yes, it's the first time.

I'd feel frightened to do it

in heavy rain or storms.

I'm not going to lie to you,

whenever you're dropping
300 meters into an active volcano,

there are always risks.

Okay, be careful.

Therefore you should be careful.

Since I was little,
I've always had a passion for volcanoes.

As a volcanologist,

for me to get so close to the lava lake

is something I've dreamt of,
but haven't had the opportunity to do.

Of all the active volcanoes on Earth,

only eight currently have lava lakes.

Here, the lava is so hot
and liquid, it circulates more easily.

Constantly rising and sinking,

staying within a crater near the surface.

But lava lakes are not always stable.

In the Democratic Republic
of Congo,

following a major eruption, thousands
of people fled their homes as lava...

Sometimes they can erupt
with lethal effect.

At least five people died in
the rush to get away from the lava,

which stopped just
short of the city of Goma.

Masaya volcano
is one of the few

that can erupt very violently.

But it's unpredictable.

When dissolved gases
within the lava reach the surface,

they can explode.

That's why
it's so important to know

what is happening under Masaya.

What worries me
when I am near a volcano,

is not being able to predict an eruption.

Excellent,
go under this cable.

Because the magma
is close to the surface,

it could erupt at any time.

Okay, everything is locked.

Let's do final checks.

- Okay Eveling, come down.
- Lower the ropes here,

and start the engines!

Okay.

...is very important.

Clear!

She's coming down.

Have a good trip, Eveling.

As I was descending
into the crater,

it was such a wonderful experience,

that it's difficult to find the words.

All the eruptions
the volcano has had, all the strata,

throughout its geological history.

Welcome, Eveling.

Welcome to the Gates of Hell.

For me, a volcano is...

is another world.

It's a window to the inside of the earth,

but a volcano for me is
also a huge window in time,

where we see ourselves reflected
our origins.

And where we are headed.

Masaya pumps out
huge amounts of toxic gas.

Producing more sulfur dioxide in one week

than US cars do in a whole year.

Any change in the level of gas
could indicate an eruption is coming.

Measuring the
volcanic gases close to the source

provides us with valuable information

to understand,

how the internal system
of the volcano is working.

Masaya volcano
could be extremely lethal

because there are more
than two million people

who live and work nearby.

That's why it's so important

to understand what is
happening under Masaya.

Masaya's internal plumbing
system is made up of two magma chambers.

The first is a feeder chamber,
two miles beneath the surface.

But the more dangerous one
is another six miles further down.

If the gas pressure here gets too high,

it could create an explosive eruption.

And Masaya is only one part
of the Central American Volcanic Arc,

which includes
another 70 active volcanoes.

In June 2018, one of them erupted,

revealing the power
that Masaya could potentially release.

The Fuego volcano in Guatemala,

produced a huge plume of gas and ash,

which collapsed under its own weight,

creating pyroclastic flows,

the deadliest side effects
of these kind of volcanoes.

Super heated clouds
of gas and ash race down the slopes,

destroying everything
and everyone in their path.

It was around 02:30 pm...

when we saw the first pyroclastic flow.

I started filming because
it was something I'd never seen before.

A huge cloud was coming towards us.

I saw a man running next to the pick-up.

I said to my colleagues,

"Poor man. Stop"!

Keep the people back.

Come on, come on!

Get out, leave!

Get out, leave!

It was an immense cloud.

I was in shock,
not knowing what was happening.

Get in now! Let's go!

Friend, go! Hurry!

Go!

What about that man?

Oh no.

Don't stop!

Let's go!

We drove to an area called El Rodeo,

where we got stopped.

A man approached us and said,

"Help us."

"People are burnt, asking for help."

They were
saying that the lava has arrived.

We decided to get them into the vehicle.

They were shouting that
there are people who need help.

We went back and forth,
searching for more people.

I continued filming.

Watching the magnitude
of the disaster unfold.

Let's go!

There was a moment
when my colleague got out of the car...

And that
was the last time I saw him.

After saying goodbye,
I didn't see him again.

Excuse me.

Hundreds of people
lived around Fuego volcano.

According to official sources,

between 400 and 500 people died.

But there could be more
than 2000 people that died.

The figures aren't exact.

I never imagined the day
would turn out that way.

So dangerous.

What happened in
Fuego could easily be repeated at Masaya,

with worse consequences.

In Nicaragua,
more than 70% of the population

live in areas where volcanoes are active.

We have to monitor
the volcanoes constantly.

Since the beginning of history,

despite the dangers, people have
always been drawn to volcanoes.

Today, millions live in their shadow,

lured by the riches they provide.

Valuable minerals like iron, magnesium
and phosphorus help crops grow.

And they're essential
for the workings of industry.

Geothermal energy powers entire cities.

People have always ignored
the dangers to reap the rewards.

We must remember
that volcanic activity

is fundamental
for the planet, for us, for life.

We have to co-exist with volcanoes.

Of course, eruptions are catastrophic,

but they have contributed to life

and the growth
of civilizations in this area.

Over three million people live in Naples,

beside two powerful volcanoes.

The most famous is Mount Vesuvius,

which overlooks the city
and provides it with such fertile land.

Vesuvius will definitely erupt again.

As far as we know,
an eruption could happen tomorrow.

Most people don't give
much thought to the volcanic risk.

Very few people
remember the 1944 eruption.

I remember.

I was a young girl.

It was crazy.

People started running from their houses

and I was thinking,

What are we going to do?
Are we going to die?

I remember my mother
saying "Pasqualina, come here!"

"Put the plates here and glasses here!"

We put them on the horse's cart,
and we were taken away.

Everyone began to pray and we said

"We are going to die under
the lava, how can we escape?"

If it happened again, heaven forbid,

people would be aware of what can happen.

but back then we didn't understand.

The eruption in 1944 was
small by comparison with the one in 79 AD.

when Vesuvius destroyed the city of
Pompeii, killing 2000 people.

An eruption,
within two days,

less than two days,

produces close
to five cubic kilometers of magma.

Five billion cubic meters of magma,

brought to the surface by one
single eruption, in an explosive manner.

With the gas and ash clouds,

survival is not possible.

It's a very rare phenomenon

that occurs,
for example, in nuclear blasts.

In such a case, the
shutdown of vital functions is so rapid

that people have no time to react.

They are not aware of what is happening.

A clear example is that
of victims found resting on an elbow,

turned to stone

by the pyroclastic flow in this position.

At Pompeii,
over 90% of residents

were able to flee during the eruption.

But today in this area,
there are three million people.

With such a large population,
an eruption today could be catastrophic.

But Vesuvius is not
the most dangerous volcano in Naples.

The western edge of the city is within the
crater of something bigger and deadlier.

A potential super volcano.

Campi Flegrei.

There are six
super volcanoes in the world.

All in rural areas.

Like Yellowstone, in the US.

Mount Toba, in Indonesia.

Taupō, in New Zealand.

Campi Flegrei, hidden
beneath the city, could be the seventh.

The last major eruption
was over 40,000 years ago.

But there are
telltale signs that it's still active.

The town of Baiae,
was a fashionable resort in Roman times.

Baiae,
as soon as it was built, started to drop.

Because the coast drops
two millimeters every year.

This drop built up over the years.

Now the Roman buildings
are four to six meters under sea level.

The Romans didn't
understand why their city was sinking.

The answer, lies in
these bubbles of volcanic gas.

Under the city of Baiae,

six or seven kilometers down
there is a huge magmatic chamber.

As the
gassy magma within the chamber moves,

land above it rises and falls.

This is why the town Baiae,
is now submerged.

A super eruption at Campi Flegrei
could be hundreds of times more powerful

than the one that destroyed Pompeii.

Dwarfing the threat of Vesuvius,
on the other side of the bay.

A super-eruption is difficult to imagine.

An area hundreds
of kilometers around the vent,

would be covered by
a very thick cloud of gas,

at a temperature of hundreds of degrees

that would destroy everything.

It's not a volcano near a city,

but a city inside a volcano.

The consequences
would be dramatic, not only for Italy,

but at a European level,
due to the release of huge amounts of ash

into the stratosphere,
and of gases especially

that would block the sun's light

which might, although less
so than other super-eruptions,

produce a so-called volcanic winter.

By blocking the sun's rays,

global temperatures could drop by
as much as four degrees Celsius,

causing powerful storms,

extreme rainfall,

and severe winters.

Millions of people would be at risk.

The stakes could not be higher.

30 years ago, 500 million
people lived around volcanoes.

Now its 1.1 billion.

Volcanoes can erupt almost anywhere,

So, yeah, 1.1 billion is a number
that makes me quite nervous.

Volcanoes have been on
Earth since before humans...

and will be here long after we're gone,

creating and destroying life
in an epic natural cycle.

We will always be vulnerable
to their destructive powers.

But the more we understand them,

the easier it becomes to
live alongside them.

Subtitle translation by: Antoinette Smit