A public domain image from the United States Geological Service<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Mrs. Beyerinck, who lived with her family about fifteen miles from the island where Krakatoa was located, described (among other things) their difficulty in lighting a fire, which is reminiscent of the report given in 3 Nephi:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Someone burst in shouting \u2018shut the doors, shut the doors.\u2019 \u00a0Suddenly it was pitch dark. \u00a0The last thing I saw was the ash being pushed up through the cracks in the floorboards, like a fountain . . .<\/span><\/p>\nThere was still deep darkness. \u00a0We couldn\u2019t light a fire, as matches went out immediately. \u00a0At last the head boy, the only remaining male servant, managed to start a small fire. \u00a0(179)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Professor Kowallis comments that, although we don\u2019t know how Nephites ordinarily kindled fires, it likely required skill and patience and would not have been easy under tempestuous winds and a heavy fall of ash. \u00a0He further remarks that<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not only will the ashfall extinguish fires, but the gases erupted from a volcano can have the same effect. \u00a0These gases are usually heavier than normal atmospheric gases, are very poor in oxygen, and commonly create acids in the atmosphere. \u00a0These gases would also prevent the lighting of fires, but seldom is anyone alive to make the attempt, as the gases tend to quickly suffocate or poison those who are unfortunate enough to be caught under the blanket. \u00a0In 1986, an unusual release of CO2 from a volcanic lake, Lake Nyos in Cameroon, created a dense near-surface cloud that flowed down and over several villages, asphyxiating 1,746 people and eighty-three hundred livestock. \u00a0In the village of Nyos, less than 1 percent of the villagers survived. \u00a0Asphyxiation was also a common cause of death during the 1911 eruption of the Taal volcano in the Philippines. \u00a0(179)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
And Dr. Kowallis closes his discussion of 3 Nephi\u2019s \u201cthick darkness\u201d with a report from one of the two survivors from the city of St. Pierre on the island of Martinique after the eruption of Mount Pel\u00e9e. \u00a0This witness saw several people suffocate around him.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Here are some of my final notes from\u00a0Bart J. Kowallis, \u201cIn the Thirty and Fourth Year: A Geologist\u2019s View of the Great Destruction in 3 Nephi,\u201d\u00a0BYU Studies\u00a037\/3 (1997-1998): \u00a0 The most detailed accounts of \u201cthick darkness\u201d accompanying an explosive volcanic eruption come from the vicinity of Krakatoa, in August 1883. \u00a0This passage, for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1341,8834,56,8841,8844,8529,8520,1356,1353,8526,8556,1350,4640,8838,1050,1369,8837,8831,1347,3838,8825,8828,3178,8531,8822],"class_list":["post-83573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-3-nephi","tag-bart","tag-book-of-mormon","tag-burial","tag-buried","tag-cataclysm","tag-catastrophe","tag-christ","tag-destruction","tag-devastation","tag-drought","tag-earthquake","tag-fire","tag-flood","tag-geology","tag-jesus","tag-kowallis","tag-lightning","tag-seismology","tag-storm","tag-tempest","tag-thunder","tag-volcanism","tag-volcano","tag-whirlwind"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"Krakatoa](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2020\/03\/Indonesia_Sunda_Straits.jpg\")
<\/a>