Great Sitkin reported activity

Event Name : Great Sitkin 1767

Start:

1767

Observed

Tephrafall:
Tephra plume:

Eruption Type:	Explosive
Duration:	2 days

Description: In Juergen Kienle's files, Lydia Black has translated a portion of Divin (1979). The passage is a synopsis of data from not later than 1774, written by Captain T. I. Shmalev, "From the report of Captain T.I. Shmalev about Russian merchant expeditions and of that of the promyshlenniki to the Kurile and Aleutian Islands about the sea otter enterprise," pages 320-321. Lydia Black's translation is as follows: "There is on the Island of Chetkhina (Great Sitkin) a peak. In 1767 it burned so strongly that form its interior earth/dust has been carried for a distance of over 30 versts. The Tolbol'sk merchant Ushenin said that on the islands nearby the dust covered the grass knee-deep (he dug to the grasslayer). The Aleuts who lived on that island and their chief Ula spoke that when the dust was emitted, it was preceded and accompanied by great noise, and there were great tremors. Two twenty-four hour periods one could not see the light of the sun at all. The waters in the sea were much disturbed and from it multitude of fish perished and were cast out, a great number of birds were covered with dust, a great many stifled, and the animals, too, such as sea otters, diminished in numbers. The Aleuts say that not only did they never witness such, but they have not even heard about something like this from their old people. Before this eruption, the mountain just burned with a flame. Nowadays, there is no flame and not even smoke. Where the burned earth landed, grasses do not grow even now. The Aleuts state that this burned earth is burned stones. The Aleuts saved themselves as this burned earth did not cover their village, falling about 2 verst from it. The promyshlenniki thank God for that that the village and people were saved, as the chief of that island is considered a friend of the Russians."