VOLCANO EXPERT SEES PLUSES, MINUSES IN `DANTE'S PEAK' FILM.

Byline: Scott Lindlaw Associated Press 

A seismologist who narrowly escaped the disastrous 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines says a new film about a menacing volcano takes ``a lot of liberties.''

But, Jim Mori allowed: ``There's some parts that are actually very good in conveying the power and energy one of these big eruptions can have.''

Mori, now scientist in charge of the Pasadena office of the U.S. Geological Survey, was among about 20 scientists who stayed on to study Mount Pinatubo despite an evacuation just before it erupted in June 1991.

By the time he fled, the volcano was raining down small rocks and heavy dust, and static electricity along with an incoming typhoon had brought thunder and lightning.

``There were a few moments there where I really was scared,'' Mori recalled Thursday. ``It really was one of these end-of-the world scenarios.''

Pinatubo's eruption in June 1991 killed at least 800 people and spewed ash that altered weather worldwide.

Wednesday night, Mori viewed a volcanic catastrophe from the safety of Universal Amphitheatre, where the premiere of ``Dante's Peak'' was shown.

``It was, um, entertaining,'' Mori said, pointing out that the film does not claim to be a documentary. ``There's a lot of liberties in the special effects that I think are exaggerated a bit.''

Yet he praised two aspects of volcanoes portrayed in the film.

One, he said, was ``pyroclastic flow.''

``It's just kind of a mixture of hot gas and rock and debris that comes flying down the mountain at 50 or 100 mph. It's a destructive force at many of these volcanic eruptions, and those were very graphically portrayed in the movie,'' he said.

``Lahars,'' huge flows of mud, also were accurately represented, he said.

Among the distortions and inaccuracies, he said, were quakes that rocked the town in ``Dante's Peak.'' Generally, strong quakes aren't associated with such blowups, Mori said.

And the volcano in ``Dante's Peak'' oozed lava. According to Mori, eruptions usually spew lava or debris - not both.

``They picked every kind of hazard and threw them together,'' he said.

Several other USGS scientists served as consultants to the filmmakers, Mori said.

The USGS examines natural occurrences such as earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides and studies how to minimize damage from them.

The premiere Wednesday experienced a small disaster of its own when a projector broke, leaving Mori and the film's stars cooling their heels for more than an hour.

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Photo

Photo: Seismologist Jim Mori of the U.S. Geological Survey says ``Dante's Peak'' took some liberties.

Associated Press