Tinakula

Tinakula is an uninhabited volcanic island in the northern part of the Santa Cruz Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Politically it belongs to the province Temotu of the island nation of the Solomon Islands.

Geography

Tinakula is approximately 20 km north of Nendo, the largest island of the archipelago. The nearly circular island has a diameter of about 3.5 km, an area of ​​8 square kilometers and reaches a height of 851 meters above the sea. It is made of the same andesitic stratovolcano, the 3000-4000 m from the sea floor rises. The volcano was already at its discovery in 1595 by the Spaniard Alvaro de Mendaña de Neyra active and to this day there are further volcanic activity. So found in 1951 as well as 1965-1966 volcanic eruptions with a thickness 3 after Vulkanexplosivitätsindex instead. Since a tsunami in 1971, the island is no longer permanently inhabited. In the late 1980s, however, there was a re- colonization attempt, when two families (less than 10 people ) from Nupani tried to defy the unpredictability of the volcano, to benefit from the fertility of the volcanic soil.

The only village on the island was on the southeast coast, and called Temateneni. It originated in the early 1950s during a volcanic rest period. By 1971 the population reached its highest level of 160, and Polynesians of Nupani Nukapu. The volcanic eruption on September 6, 1971 required a rapid evacuation of the entire population. Since 2002 Tinakula is almost constantly active; on a satellite image from the February 2012 steam and ash clouds over the island were recognizable.

History

Tinakula was inhabited even before 1840. After the volcanic eruption of 1840, the island was more than 100 years uninhabited.