Volcano Watch 2012 !

Colombia cities on alert as smoke, ash rise from volcano

MANIZALES, COLOMBIA (CBS) -- A rising smoke plume from a Colombian volcano put nearby cities and towns on alert as it continued to emit smoke, vapor and ash Monday.

The Nevado del Ruiz volcano, located in central Colombia about 130 kilometers (80 miles) west of Bogota, has been on yellow alert since October 2010 and began spewing ash and smoke last week.

The director of the Manizales seismic observatory, Gloria Cortes, said they are keeping a close eye on the volcano and monitoring seismic activity as they work with local officials to ensure the safety of nearby residents and tourists in the area.

"The local committee leaders, led by the area mayors, and given the current state of activity, have made a decision regarding the level of alert for the different areas and cities," Cortes said. Authorities from cities in the volcano's proximity say they too are carefully watching the situation and have issued green and yellow alerts depending on how close they are to the volcano.

The mayor of Manizales, Jorge Eduardo Rojas, said his city is on green alert for now adding that could change if activity increases

source(www.todaysthv.com...

Santorini: The ground is moving again in paradise

Before you find pictures of the Parthenon or Acropolis, you'll see several beautiful photos of Santorini, the picturesque island in the Aegean Sea.

The British Broadcasting Company named it the world's best island in 2011. Santorini is a tourist magnet, famous for its breathtaking, cliff side views and sunsets. It's also a volcanic island that has been relatively calm since its last eruption in 1950.

Until now. The Santorini caldera is awake again and rapidly deforming at levels never seen before. Georgia Tech Associate Professor Andrew Newman has studied Santorini since setting up more than 20 GPS stations on the island in 2006.

source(esciencenews.com...

Soufrière Hills volcano (Montserrat): small pyroclastic flow from dome with no warning

A small pyroclastic flow occurred from Montserrat's Soufrière Hills volcano on 9 March, MVO reports.

The flow was small, but happened with no warning at around 5:20 pm (local time) from the western flanks of Soufriere Hills Volcano down into Spring Ghaut.
The pyroclastic flow traveled about 1 km to the west towards Plymouth before its ash dissipated to form a small ash cloud rising 1.3 km and drifting towards St. Georges Hill and out to sea.

MVO has published further details and photographs of this event which is significant as it occurred during a quiet phase of the volcano with no current active lava dome growth and illustrates the hazard of sudden pyroclastic flows.

source(www.volcanodiscovery.com... ing.html

Cleveland Volcano Explodes For Third Time

Cleveland Volcano has exploded for the third time in just over a week.

The latest eruption of the Aleutian volcano Tuesday afternoon was relatively small, according to a release from the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

Scientists at the Observatory weren’t able detect an ash cloud associated with this event or either of the other two. There’s no real-time monitoring equipment on Cleveland.

None of the recent eruptions have interrupted air travel in the region. Cleveland’s last major eruption in 2001 sent ash clouds as high as 39,000 feet. The volcano is on uninhabited Island, about 160 miles west of Unalaska.

source(www.alaskapublic.org...

Mexico’s Popocatépetl volcano unleashes 9 low-level emissions

March 15, 2012 – MEXICO – The National Center for Disaster Prevention (Cenapred) reported that in the last hours, the volcano Popocatepetl has expelled nine low-intensity exhalations accompanied by emissions of water vapor and gas, and sometimes small amounts of ash.

The body of the Ministry of the Interior (Interior Ministry) reported that the monitoring parameters remain without important changes.

He explained that at night, a glow was observed in the crater of the volcano and that for now; there has been a constant emission of steam and gas

source(theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com...

Lamongan volcano (East Java, Indonesia): signs of unrest, alert raised to yellow due to increased seismic activity

A new volcano in Indonesia, Lamongan volcano in Eastern Java, is showing signs of unrest: weak steaming from its active crater and increasing earthquakes were reported by Indonesian scientists. The increase in earthquakes started on 23 February and seismicity increased again significantly on 8 March when tremor was recorded continuously the next day. CVGHM raised the Alert Level to 2 (on a scale of 1-4) on 9 March. Residents and tourists were prohibited from going within a 1-km-radius of the active crater.

source(www.volcanodiscovery.com... ncreased-seismic.html

14 more emissions reported at Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano

March 19, 2012 – MEXICO - The Popocatepetl volcano registered 14 exhalations of low intensity accompanied by water vapor, gas and a low amplitude spasmodic tremor, reported the National Center for Disaster Prevention (Cenapred).

In its latest report, the agency of the Ministry of the Interior (Interior Ministry) explained that the exhalations of greater intensity occurred yesterday 13:30 and 22:42 hours. He said that although during the night, a glow was observed in the crater, the other metrics do not show major changes, so the light status of volcanic alert remains at yellow stage two.

Observers should expect more moderate exhalations, some with ash emissions, sporadic explosions are also likely to issue short incandescent fragments and slight glow in the crater can also be observed at night

source(theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com...

Italy's Mount Etna erupts Europe's most active volcano, Mount Etna erupted on Sunday sending a four mile-long plume of smoke and ash into the sky.

The eruption is the fourth of its kind this year sending a lava stream into Sicily's uninhabited valley of Valle del Bove.
Etna, which is 11,000ft high and located 18 miles above the Sicilian town of Catania, often erupts but rarely causes damage. 11,000ft high, sits Nearby airports remained open and continued operations during the eruption athough authorities shut down two nearby flight paths.

source(www.telegraph.co.uk...

Tungurahua Volcano (Ecuador): new eruption and ash fall

Another series of explosions has occurred early today at Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador, the Instituto Geofísico (IG) reports. The eruption was reported to be very noisy and caused minor ash fall in nearby villages, but no damage.

From 23:39 (local time) on March 19, a rapid increase of tremor was detected and observers reported roaring noises from the volcano in up to 14 km distance. About an hour after the onset of tremor reports of ash fall came from El Manzano and Choglontús.

At 00h22 today, there was an loud explosion whose cannon-shot like shock wave was heard in Choglontús, El Manzano and Puntzán. Incandescent lava bombs could be seen ejected from the summit crater and landing up to approx. 200 m distance on the upper slope.

From the 01h08 (local time) tremor decreased and also the noises from the volcano. Cloud cover prevented detailed observations this morning. According to a first analysis, only the south-west sector received ash fall. In the Choglontús area, ash continued to fall until 07:00 (local time) and was measured to have accumulated 383 grams per square meter, corresponding to less than 1 mm of ash.

source(www.volcanodiscovery.com...

Volcanologists Watch Increase of Activity at Mount Iliamna

Iliamna became code yellow at the beginning of March By Heather Hintze Bio | Email Story Created: Mar 19, 2012 at 7:05 PM AKDT Story Updated: Mar 19, 2012 at 7:07 PM AKDT MOUNT ILIAMNA - Mount Iliamna is showing more seismic activity than normal, so scientists from the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) are keeping an eye on it.

upgraded Iliamna to a code yellow at the beginning of March after an increase in earthquakes and gas emissions. It's been about 16 years since Mount Iliamna has shown this kind of activity.

The fumaroles, or gas vents, near the summit usually produce about 100 tons of carbon dioxide per day. Now that's up to 1,000 tons per day.

source(www.ktva.com...

Awakening? 7.4 Mexico earthquake sets off seismic swarm at San Salvador volcano

March 22, 2012 – SAN SALVADOR – The National Service of Territorial Studies, which is known as SNET is reporting that 8 earthquakes have rattled the San Salvador Volcano which is located northwest of the capital city of San Salvador- a population of about 540,000 people.

An emergency declaration has been declared at the volcano as a precautionary measure. The eight tremors felt by the population have reached levels of between 2.2 and 3.3 degrees on the Richter scale, according to the National Service of Territorial Studies (SNET), which has also recorded at least 25 micro-earthquakes

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources in a statement recalled that the last seismic swarm with epicenter in the San Salvador volcano was in 2007, when there were 142 micro-earthquakes, four of them felt by the population.

The volcano last erupted in 1917. The volcano is believed to have sprung to life after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck the Oaxaca region of Mexico. According to the National Seismological Service (SSN), the massive Mexico earthquake unleashed more than 44 aftershocks as of Wednesday.

source(theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com...

Batu Tara volcano in Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia erupts

March 26, 2012 – INDONESIA – According to the regional VAAC, the Batu Tara volcano has erupted and is emitting a dense ash cloud.

The aviation alert-status for the region has been raised to orange. Batu Tara volcano is located 50 km north of Pulau Lembata in the Flores Sea. The crater is in the middle of the island with dimensions of 900 m x 700 m. The uninhabited island of Batu Tara is the steep-sided summit of an active stratovolcano and has a small summit crater which is open to the east.

The base of the island lies about 3,000 meters below sea level. Batu Tara is the northern-most active volcano in the Adonara Pantar sector of the Sunda arc. This is at the boundary of the collision of the north moving Australia tectonic plate, and the Sunda-Banda arc.

Batu Tara volcano is located 230 km above the Benioff zone in a region where the arc crust is relatively young and thin. Rocks from Batu Tara contain crystals that formed in different magmas. Batu Tara last eruption was in 2010

source(theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com...

Intensification of activity at Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano – 33 emission events in 24 hours

March 26, 2012 – MEXICO - The National Center for Disaster Prevention (Cenapred) reported that in the last 24 hours the Popocatepetl volcano registered 33 exhalations of low intensity, accompanied by emissions of water vapor and gas.

The body of the Ministry of the Interior (Interior Ministry) explained that on Saturday one of these incidents occurred at 22:29, 23:21 and 23:56 hours on Sunday while they were at 5:14, 5:41 and 8:32 hours. In a statement, adding that Cenapred at 08:42 hours, an earthquake of low magnitude was followed by 96 minutes of spasmodic tremor segments, while the other parameters concerning the volcano remain unchanged.

On Saturday night, there were numerous reports of incandescence material seen glowing in the mouth of the crater, though clouds made visibility poor for portions of the evening.

The volcanic alert remains at phase two and yellow. Moderate exhalations are likely, some with ash emissions, sporadic bursts of low to moderate probability of emission of incandescent fragments short and a mild glow of the volcano in the crater may also be likely. The Cenapred recommended maintaining the safety radius of 12 kilometers.

source(theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com...

Seismic activity triples at Chile’s Ilaima volcano – yellow alert

March 26, 2012 – Santiago de Chile – Chilean authorities maintain state of alert in the Araucania region, due to increased seismic activity at Llaima volcano, one of the most active in the country and in South America.

The regional governor, Andres Molina, confirmed that a yellow alert continues to be in effect for the communities of Melipeuco, Cunco, Vilcún, Curacautín and Lonquimay, because there are clear signs of “out-gassing in the inner perimeter” of the Llaima.

Molina said that on Monday will meet the emergency committee to assess the status of the volcano, then it is found that in recent weeks the number quakes have tripled within the massif, which is located in the Andes, about 600 kilometers south of this capital. In geology, a massif is a section of a planet’s crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures.

source(theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com...

Guatemalan volcanoes increase activity: 33 explosions at Santiaguito volcano

March 26, 2012 – GUATEMALA - Guatemalan volcanoes Santiaguito and Fuego increased their activity in the last hours and the authorities recommended on Monday took all the necessary precautions with the surrounding air traffic.

The dispersion of ash in various directions and changes in wind pattern led to the National Institute of Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology (Insivumeh) to warn about the civil aviation.

An Insivumeh report that Santiaguito volcano recorded 33 explosions in 24 hours, with a range of up to 800 meters above the crater, leaving ashes scattered in the southwest and southeast. Santiaguito volcano is located in Quetzaltenango district, and its height is 2,550 meters above sea level.

source(theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com...

I've been keeping an eye on the southern end of the Cascades volcanoes. Granted, these are small earthquakes, and 3 does not a swarm make, but considering the sheer volume contained in the Mt Shasta edifice, I thought I would share.

Source link
These all occurred low on the south flank of the volcano.

Unfortunately, the California Integrated seismic network doesn't have the server capacity to allow public access to their real-time data, but you can see 24-hr snapshots of seismicity near Mt. Shasta here. Click the black triangle of the station you're interested in, then click the thumbnail that appears.

Here is a note from the USGS Volcano Hazards program concerning Shasta:

It has been suggested that because it is a long-lived volcanic center and has erupted only relatively small volumes of magma for several thousand years, Mount Shasta is the most likely Cascade Range volcano to produce an explosive eruption of very large volume.

Can anyone say if the level of worldwide volcanic activity in 2012 so far is unusually higher than "normal" levels, in terms of number of volcanoes and events?

reply to post by GLontra

level

47 V. eruptions in three months in 2012

compared for example with 78 in 2008.

Originally posted by diamondsmith
reply to post by GLontra

 

level

47 V. eruptions in three months in 2012

compared for example with 78 in 2008.

Thanks for the answer.

Was 2008 a very active year in number of eruptions?

Turrialba Volcano emits gas and steam

Two large steam and gas emissions were spotted Tuesday morning atop the Turrialba Volcano in the province of Cartago, east of San José, authorities from the National Seismological Network (RSN) at the University of Costa Rica said.

Turrialba residents said the two gas columns measure nearly 1 km in height and are moving towards the north face of the volcano.

“These gases are mostly water vapor, 90 percent, and the rest are volcanic gases,” Raúl Mora Amador, the RSN’s lead volcanologist explained. One of the gas trails comes from the main crater, and the other rises from the east wall of the volcano, he added.

source(www.ticotimes.net...