What is left of Kuwai forms part of the modern island of Epi. In all cultures there are legends of great cataclysms, of Gods angry and the world as man knows it turned into a hellish nightmare beyond human comprehension. Vanuatu has known many such eruptions, one poignantly described by missionaries.

But two or three times every 10,000 years a volcano erupts with such profound violence as to make the awesome disasters of Tambourine and Krakatoa seem like mere sneezes in comparison. Such were the famed eruptions of Santorini in Greece and that which formed Crater Lake in the U.S.

And such an eruption, little known because it took place in a small South Pacific archipelago, was Kuwai.

Once upon a time, sometime between the years 1420 and 1430 AD, a magnificent tropical island called Kuwai formed part of the Vanuatu group of islands. It was a big island, of towering peaks and cascading jungles. On its summit, a volcano steamed. Then one day, no doubt preceded by days or even weeks of increasing earthquake activity and ash eruptions, Kuwai blew itself off the face of the planet, taking a significant chunk of the island with it. An estimated 32 cubic kilometers of magma - a volume simply too large to fully comprehend - shot into the atmosphere, cooling the planet and creating magnificent sunsets during the next few years.

The impact of the eruption was profound. Those inhabitants who somehow survived, were left scattered on the remnants of Kuwai. Some remained on the larger fragment - Epi Island while others were left scattered across the fragments of southern Kuwai, now called the Shepherd Islands.

The largest of these islands is called Tongoa. Yet still more left their island home forever and made the journey by canoe to the northern parts of Efate Island.

Today, those settlers of almost six hundred years ago still pay an annual ceremonial tribute to the traditional landowners of North Efate from whom they leased land, generations before. The settlers retained their language and unique aspects of their culture. On a few, very clear days, they can look north and glimpse what once remained of their ancestral home.

This eruption of Kuwai was dated in many ways. In a society where written language does not exists, oral traditions are important - and accurate. The legend of Kuwai is based solidly in fact. Arctic ice cores* have dated the eruption to within 10 years of what has traditionally been estimated.

Being submerged has not quenched Kuwai's fire. It has erupted at least 12 times since 1452, most recently 'officially' in 1974. In fact it has also erupted in 1977, 79 and 1980 on a moderate (VE1=0-2) scale, with aircraft pilots reporting steam and bubbling and on one occasion a small land mass above the surface of the water.

The 1897-1901 eruption built an island 1km long by 15m high, however the ocean eroded it within 6 months.

The collapsed underwater Calera (see previous page) is 12 kilometers wide and 6 kilometers long. The eruption that cause the Calera in the fifteen century probably began as a hydromagmatic eruption over the course of a year or more, with two major pyroclastic flows (see Tanna volcano for an explanation of terms) followed by the collapse of the Calera.

Kuwai is monitored regularly for it is still considered a very active and potentially dangerous volcano. However it is today becoming more famous as a world class dive site. the legendary Tongoa Wall, a dive site off the south western side of the Calera, is famous for it's extraordinary diversity of life and colour. Upwelling warmth from the heart of the active vents have resulted in a veritable underwater garden of Eden. Like all volcanoes, Kuwai, as destructive as it has and will be again, is also the harbinger of life.

*Dating With Arctic Core Samples

All volcanoes have individual 'signatures' for they are composed of a unique combination of elements that can pinpoint them as accurately as any finger print. When a volcano erupts, it shoots tons (or in the case of Kuwai, cubic kilometers) of earth into the atmosphere. This circles the globe and eventually falls to the earth, including places like the Arctic, as dust. Over time, more ice covers this dust, keeping it locked in, rather than mixed up with other direct, or eroded away.

Arctic core samples are obtained when scientists drill deep into the accumulated layers ice, removing a 'core' of ice that a its base, can be hundreds of thousands of years old. By dating small fragments found in these ice cores, using radiocarbon and potassium-argon methods, it is possibly to accurately date when particular events occurred.

Knowing a date and knowing that certain kinds of volcanic ash belong to specific volcanoes, means prehistoric volcanic eruptions can be dated very accurately.

Next: Ambae (Bali Hai) Island Volcanoes