Alamagan

Alamagan is a volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean. It belongs geographically to the archipelago of the Marianas and politically to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Geography

Alamagan located 30 kilometers north of the island Guguan, about 60 km south of the island of Pagan and about 250 kilometers north of Saipan, the main island of the Northern Mariana Islands. The slightly elliptical shaped island is 4.8 kilometers long, about 4 kilometers wide and has an area of ​​13 km ².

The climate Alamagans is dominated by the northeast trade winds. Except in the late spring and early summer there are often heavy showers. The annual precipitation is estimated to be 1800 to 2000 millimeters. Particularly between August and December typhoons can occur.

Alamagan is the summit of a largely below the sea stratovolcano, which has a base diameter of 15 kilometers. The volcano crater with a diameter of 700 to 900 meters and a depth of about 370 meters in the eastern part of the island. The highest point of the island, the Bandeera peak with a height of 744 meters, is located on the northwestern edge of the crater. Through volcanic eruptions three smaller cone originated north, northwest and south of the main crater. From historical times, no outbreaks of the volcano are known; by radiocarbon dating were two outbreaks dated about 540 and 870 AD in years. In the main crater and on its western slope fumaroles are active.

To the east of the island, the steepest slopes found with a slope of up to 45 °. This often leads to extensive landslides. In particular, the western slope canyons is characterized by up to 60 meters, are the result of strong showers. The island is surrounded by cliffs that are over 100 meters high in the east.

History

Archaeological finds, among other things, of stone columns (so-called latte stones ) and ceramics, refer to a settlement Alamagans by Chamorros. From a European perspective, the island was discovered in 1669 by the Spanish missionary Diego Luis de Sanvitores. 1695 the islanders were deported to the island of Saipan and from there three years later to Guam.

Previously a Spanish colony, Alamagan was sold as part of the Northern Mariana 1899 to the German Reich and was until 1914 the colony of German New Guinea. During this time the island was leased to the Pagan Society, a society that acted especially with copra. When the German District Officer Georg Fritz visited in May 1901 Alamagan, 10 workers were living in huts in the south of the island. Annually 50 tons of copra were recovered. The end of 1904, in September 1905 in September 1907 and in December 1913 destroyed the severe typhoons coconut plantations almost completely. According to estimates from 1912, 50 acres of coconut plantations were present on Alamagan; lack of capital, however, the Pagan Society was unable to systematically manage the plantations.

Between 1919 and 1944 Alamagan was administered by Japan as part of the South Pacific Mandate. From 1947 the island belonged to the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands of the United States; Since 1978, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The island was inhabited, and continued to be used for the production of copra. There are two settlements on Alamagan, Song Song in the south and Patida camp in the northwest. In 1962, the population had sunk so far that the primary school was closed on Alamagan lack of students. According to the census results were living in 2000, six people on Alamagan, during 2010, the island was said to be uninhabited. Multiple residents were evacuated for fear of volcanic eruptions. In December 1998, five people were evacuated by helicopter. This was due to reports of increased leakage of steam, which was attributed later to meteorological causes.

Alamagan is home to the endangered in its existence Sprosserrohrsängers (Acrocephalus luscinia ).