OUTBREAK OF A VOLCANO IN RUSSIA.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1525, 5 April 1887, Page 3

OUTBREAK OF A VOLCANO IN RUSSIA.

A volcano of ei>rth and hot mud has broken out abont 10 mileß from B*ku on the I ?k Batan, close to tbe Ponta railway atatlon, Bußila, and on tbe nlyht of the 15th of January the inhabitants were alarmed by a shock like that of an exfrtoslbn, which made all their window panel tremble violently, while towords the south-west the sky was illuminated by •n Intense light, as of some terrific conflagration. A similar phenomenon <>c carted on the following night. It was aoon discovered that nn eruption from Lok Batan bad taken place, and the following information was fornlnhed by the railway officlnls of P<>nta station :— Quite luddenly, at 11 o'clock at niuhc, tbe noise of m explosion was heard, and the summit of Lok Batan shot up an enormous column of fire some 350 ft hiuh, The whole country was instantly lit up brighter than day, and the heat could be felt at nearly S milt) from the crater. There w<b scarcely any wind, so that tho column continued to ascend quito vertically, cartybg with it, as could be eeeD, large dark aobstances/ whioh appeared to fall •gain Into the volcano. This lasted with •Sort intervals of subsidence all through the night and the fol 'owing 24 hour* ; bat luckily the matters ejected did not reaob the railw«y b tit ion. The volume of icudSy liquid thrown out is estimated tt half a million cubic sojenes- the Bus■lan apjene equalling 7ft snd has spread tielf over more than a square mile £o a deftb of from 7ftto,l|ft,