总是很难理解作者的意图。但对我来说,“雨热灰”听起来不像一个火山碎屑流,而是像一个* *火山灰落* *,这是一个不同的火山灾害。“火缓慢的河流”似乎更明显,可能是指* *熔岩流* *。“烟雾和气体”可以解释为* * * *的火山气体。这爆发似乎现在至少有三个主要的火山灾害。火山灾害的完整列表,请参阅例如(USGS的海报)[1](公共领域):[![在这里输入图像描述][2]][2]和其他火山灾害相比,火山灰落,熔岩流和火山气体很少杀死。看到例如*火山灾害和事件:一个新的数据库* ([Witham 2005] [3])。278341年有一个编译volcano-related死于1600年,按火山灾害(表15)。摘录:|死亡风险| | % | |:- - - - - | - - - - - -:| - - - - - -:| |熔岩| 1564 | 0.56 | |火山灰/弹道13 | 981 | 5.02 | |气体和酸性降雨| 2018 | 0.73 | * *熔岩流* *很少杀死,因为他们是缓慢的。 There are some cases of fast lava, which have been deadly, like the [1977 eruption of Mount Nyiragongo][4]. But Tolkien said the rivers of fire were "slow", so we can rule out this hazard as potentially lethal for the protagonists. **Tephra falls** mostly kill by roof collapse: when a thick layer of tephra accumulate on a roof, it will eventually collapse, killing the people inside. This is what killed most victims during the [1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo][5]. So, as long as the protagonists stay outside, they should also be safe from this hazard. **Volcanic gases** rarely kill. Most of the deaths listed in this database are the 1746 victims of the [Lake Nyos disaster][6]. Other than this exceptional event, you'd have to stay very close to the gas source to get asphyxiated. So, what are the hazards that do kill lots of people? Here is the top 4: | Hazard | Deaths | % | |:---- |------:|-----:| | Disease, starvation etc | 97 330 | 34.97 | | Pyroclastic flows/debris avalanches | 63 877 | 22.95 | | Tsunami | 44 610 | 16.03 | | Lahar/jokulhlaups | 39 042 | 14.03 | Let's skip the first one, as it is considered as an indirect hazard and needs time to be "efficient". That leaves three hazards that could kill the protagonists: pyroclastic flows, tsunamis and lahars. In the passage you quoted, nothing evokes the first two. The "torrent of black rain", on the other hand, could very well trigger a lahar. **Lahars** tends to be confined to valleys (as shown on the USGS diagram), so the protagonists would be at risk of dying if they were running in a valley. **Pyroclastic flows** do not necessarily occur; they occur only if part of the ash plume collapses. But even in that case, it does not have a 360° impact. For instance, this map shows the area impacted by the pyroclastic flow (black outline) that killed ~28,000 people during the [1902 eruption of Mount Pelee][7] (Alfred Lacroix, public domain): [![enter image description here][8]][8] The impacted area covers only ~50° to the SW of the volcano. If the protagonists were anywhere outside this area, they would have been perfectly safe. People in towns outside this outline, like Le Morne-Rouge, actually survived (only to be killed later that year during subsequent volcanic activity, but that's another story). In summary, even if a "deadly inescapable pyroclastic flow" follows (which is not granted given the description), the protagonists would have a chance to survive if they were on the "good" side of the volcano! [1]: https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/geologic-hazards-volcanoes-download-full-poster-click-here [2]: https://i.stack.imgur.com/41OCa.jpg [3]: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2005.04.017 [4]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Nyiragongo#1977_eruption [5]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_eruption_of_Mount_Pinatubo#Death_toll [6]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Nyos_disaster [7]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1902_eruption_of_Mount_Pel%C3%A9e [8]: https://i.stack.imgur.com/KvSoE.jpg