No Apparent Danger: The True Story of A Volcano's Deadly Power

Bruce, Victoria

ISBN 10: 0694525316 ISBN 13: 9780694525317

Publisher: HarperAudio, 2001

Synopsis

In 1993, a team of scientist descended into the crater of Galeras, a volcano on Colombia, for a day of research. As the group slowly moved across the rocky moonscape, Galeras erupted in a barrage of burning rocks and glowing shrapnel. Nine men died instantly, their bodies torn apart by the blast.

While others watched helplessly, Colombian geologist Marta Calvache raced into the rumbling crater, praying to find survivors. Eight years before, Calvache was one of several scientists who worked to prepare for an eruption at Colombia's Nevado del Ruiz volcano, but the group lacked the resources and muscle to implement a plan of action or sway public opinion. When it erupted suddenly, Navado del Ruiz wiped the city of Armero off the face of the earth and killed more than twenty-three thousand people in one of the worst natural disasters of the twentieth century.

Linking the characters and events of these two eruptions to tell a riveting story of scientific tragedy and human heroism, Victoria Bruce weaves together the stories of heroes, victims, and survivors, evoking with great sensitivity what is means to live a hair's-breath away from unthinkable natural clamity. No Apparent Danger shows how clashing cultures and scientific arrogance resulted in tragic and unnecessary loss of life.

About this title

About the Author:

Victoria Bruce holds a master's degree in geology from the University of California at Riverside. A former science writer for NASA and science reporter for the Portland Oregonian, she splits her time between Annapolis and Miami Beach.

From AudioFile:

Packed full of scientific detail and human intrigue, Victoria Bruce's narrative tells the story of two tragic volcanic eruptions in Colombia. While both claimed lives, Bruce focuses on the human error and strong egos that led to the deaths of nine men in the second eruption. Bruce, a trained geologist and former science writer, expertly weaves the story's human and natural elements to depict a careless scientific community driven by arrogance and greed. While Bruce occasionally reads as though lecturing to a class, her steady pace and intricate knowledge of volcanology and the personalities involved in the Colombian disasters mesh for a true story stranger than fiction. H.L.S. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0694525316
• ISBN 13: 9780694525317
• Binding: Audio Cassette