GLOBAL VOLCANISM: The Latest Report Of Volcanic Eruptions, Activity, Unrest And Awakenings – February 6, 2016! [PHOTOS + VIDEOS]

Popocatepetl volcano.

February 3, 2016 - EARTH - The following constitutes the new activity, unrest and ongoing reports of volcanoes across the globe.


Popocatepetl (Mexico): In the last 24 hours the Popocatepetl had nine explosions and 35 exhalations of low intensity, according to the monitoring system of the volcano, reported Cenapred.

In its latest report, the body of the Ministry of the Interior explained that four of the nine explosions occurred yesterday at 15:33, 20:19, 21:22 22:48 hours and five on Tuesday.

Also said that since Tuesday morning has been a slight emission of water vapor and gas that winds have scattered to the east-northeast.

Photo: CENAPRED.

He recalled that the light of volcanic alert remains at yellow phase two level at which it is contemplated that the explosive activity continues at a low level, falling ash and even possibility of pyroclastic flows and mudflows.

So the Cenapred urged people not to approach the volcano by the danger of falling ballistic fragments and suggested the public be alert to warnings authorities disseminate Civil Protection.

WATCH: Live streaming Popocatepetl volcano.

Copahue (Chile): Ash plume from Copahue yesterday During the past weeks, the El Agrio crater has continued to emit weak, but near-continuous emissions of fine gray ash.

Incandescence remains visible at night.

Ash plume from Copahue

According to SERNAGEOMIN, this current activity, mainly phreatic, is caused by interaction of a small body of new magma interacting with the hydrothermal system at shallow depth.

Seismic activity, although above background, is relatively low as are other monitored parameters (e.g. deformation, SO2 output etc). No larger eruption is expected for the near future.


Barren Island (India):  Minor eruptive activity (possibly strombolian) seems to continue on the remote island, at least intermittently.

Steam / ash plume and thermal hot spot at Barren Island on February 1, 2016 (MODIS / VIIRS NASA imagery)

Yesterday and the day before, a weak steam and possibly ash plume was visible on satellite imagery as well as a thermal hot spot.


Turrialba (Costa Rica): Weak, passive ash venting occurred yesterday at the western pit crater, showing that volcanic unrest continues.

Ash plume from Costa Rica's Turrialba volcano yesterday

Karymsky (Kamchatka): Several ash plumes reaching estimated 13-16,000 ft (4-5 km) altitude have been reported by Tokyo VAAC during the past days, suggesting that the volcano's intermittent explosions are currently more frequent and relatively intense.


Masaya (Nicaragua): INETER reported ongoing strong seismic and surface activity.

There here are currently two small lava lakes active contained in two pits inside the Santiago crater. Access to Masaya's crater rim, a very popular tourist destination, was closed to the public on Saturday.

An earthquake of magnitude 3 on Friday, felt by many residents, probably accompanied the opening of the second vent in the NE section of the crater.

A third vent is in the process of forming in the SE section of the crater, the latest INETER report stated.



Nevados de Chillán (Central Chile): A series of new explosions with small to moderate ash emissions occurred at the volcano during the end of last week.

This activity formed a second new crater, approx. 25x30 m wide and located 50 m beneath the northeast flank of Arrau crater, as SERNAGEOMIN staff observed on an overflight on 30 January.

Aerial view of Nevados de Chillán volcano's Arrau crater on January 30, 2016 (SERNAGEOMIN)

According to Chilean scientists, the activity is caused by phreatic (steam-driven) explosions in the shallow hydrotermal disturbances, not by fresh magma.

Temperatures in the crater areas were found to be relatively low (approx 120 deg C), which supports this interpretation as well.

It is likely that more explosions occur in the near future and an exclusion zone of 2 km around the crater was put in place.


Heard (Australia, Southern Indian Ocean): An eruption was observed by crew on board the CSIRO research vessel Investigator in late January.


WATCH: A lava flow was seen descending the NW flank of Mawson Peak.

Weak thermal anomalies were also detected on satellite data at the end of January. Whether the activity is still going on or not is impossible to determine - most of the days, the volcano is hidden beneath thick clouds preventing satellite observations.

- Volcano Discovery | El Universal [Translated].

GLOBAL VOLCANISM: The Latest Report Of Volcanic Eruptions, Activity, Unrest And Awakenings – November 23-28, 2015!

Eruption of Telica volcano on November 22, 2015 (INETER webcam / annotated by Culture Volcan)

November 29, 2015 - EARTH - The following constitutes the new activity, unrest and ongoing reports of volcanoes across the globe, courtesy of Volcano Discovery.


Telica (Nicaragua): After its powerful explosion on the 22nd of November, the volcano has mainly been calm, but weaker, sporadic ash emissions resumed during the past days.

Ash emission from Telica this morning

Ash emission yesterday

Ash plume from the eruption seen from Léon (Image: Canal 15 Nicaragua)

It is still thought that the recent activity is only caused by over-pressurized fluids in the upper conduit, and doesn't involve new magma, but comparing with the past episodes of explosive activity in May and September this year, it is almost likely that new, potentially strong and very dangerous explosions (in particular if you climb the volcano) could follow in the near future with no or little warning.


Batu Tara (Flores Sea, Indonesia):  We just returned from a 3-days expedition to the island during November 23-26: the volcano's activity was overall at similar levels as during the previous visits between 2012-June this year, but highly variable from day to day:

Phases lasting several hours, or even few days, with mild, ash-rich strombolian eruptions at intervals between 10-30 minutes alternated / were interrupted by much more powerful vulcanian-type explosions that produced shock waves and ejected dense columns of tephra (ash, blocks and incandescent lava bombs) in a single, cannon-shot like explosion. They sent ballistics to several hundred meters of height all over the upper half of the volcano. During the first two observation days, these explosions occurred at intervals between 3-10 hours, but became the dominant type of activity during the last 24 hours of our stay, when they occurred at shorter intervals of 1-2 hours typically.

Ash plumes from some of these explosions rose more than 1 km from the crater.


Copahue (Chile): Small to moderately strong ash emissions and explosions have been near continuous during the past days, creating steam/ash plumes that rise up to approx. 1 km. Overall, the volcano's activity seems to be gradually increasing.

Eruption plume from Copahue

Location of a landslide on the eastern flank yesterday (comparison by Lynne Gulley)

A larger landslide occurred yesterday from the eastern flank


Etna (Sicily, Italy): Since this afternoon there is a change visible in Etna's activity. Weak strombolian activity has started from the New SE crater. The activity probably started earlier today, but due to bad weather it was not observed before.

Thermal anomaly on the eastern side of the New SE crater (INGV Monte Cagliato thermal webcam)

Weak strombolian activity continues also from the vent inside the Voragine crater.

Tremor remains low at the moment.


Kanlaon (Negros Isl., Philippines): PHIVOLCS raised the alert level of the volcano following an increase in activity. Starting from 21:55 local time on November 24, a series of phreatic explosions occurred from the summit crater, producing ash plumes that rose up to approx. 1 km.

Ash emission from Canlaon volcano on November 24, 2015 (Image: Jigz Santiago)

According to PHILVOLCS, this explosive activity was followed by increased seismicity and volcanic tremor probably caused by degassing.

An exclusion zone of 4 km radius around the crater was put in place, to prevent similar accidents as when 3 climbers were killed by a sudden explosion in the 1990s.




Shiveluch (Kamchatka): The extrusive activity of viscous lava into the active dome continues with little significant change, but seems to have picked up a bit recently. Incandescent avalanches occur to both the southeast and southwest corridor.

Small pyroclastic flow into the southwestern corridor of the active lava dome of Shiveluch

Occasional larger collapses cause small to medium sized pyroclastic flows, such as one yesterday morning

Barren Island (India):  With all likelihood, the volcano continues to be in eruption. It is very remote and rarely directly observed, but satellite imagery regularly show albeit weak thermal signals - again present more or less continuously since August and more frequent since October this year.

Ash and steam plume from Barren Island on November 16 (Landsat 8 image, annotated by Culture Volcan)

MODIS thermal signal from Barren Island (MIROVA)

A satellite image from November 16 shows a volcanic plume stretching several tens of kilometers from the volcano.

GLOBAL VOLCANISM: The Latest Report Of Volcanic Eruptions, Activity, Unrest And Awakenings – April 27, 2015!

April 28, 2015 - EARTH - The following constitutes the new activity, unrest and ongoing reports of volcanoes across the globe, courtesy of Volcano Discovery.

Karymsky (Kamchatka): An explosion occurred this morning that was strong enough to produce an ash plume to approx. 10,000 ft (3 km) altitude (VAAC Tokyo).

Sakurajima (Kyushu, Japan): Strong activity continues from the volcano. This morning (14:24 local time), an explosion at the Showa crater sent a plume to 15,000 ft (4.5 km) altitude that drifted north.

Manam (Papua New Guinea): Eruptive activity is taking place at the volcano. VAAC Darwin reported an ash plume to 8,000 ft from the volcano this morning. A pronounced SO2 plume can be seen on satellite data as well.

Dukono (Halmahera): The volcano continues to produce significant ash emissions - a plume extending 20 nautical miles E was observed Saturday (Darwin VAAC).

Barren Island (Indian Ocean): A pilot reported an ash plume rising to 10,000 ft from the volcano. Likely, eruptive activity which had produced a new lava flow in March is still going on or has resumed.

GLOBAL VOLCANISM: The Latest Report Of Volcanic Eruptions, Activity, Unrest And Awakenings – February 7, 2015!

February 7, 2015 - EARTH - The following constitutes the new activity, unrest and ongoing reports of volcanoes across the globe.

Etna (Sicily, Italy): Stunning visuals out of YouTube show Italy's Mount Etna erupting in grand fashion earlier this month.

The Sicily volcano started erupting on January 31 and  proceeded to spew a mixture of lava and ice, along with large plumes of smoke for two days.

WATCH: Italy's Mount Etna volcano erupts in a spectacular display.

 

The video above depicts the eruption between January 31 and February 2 of this year.


Sakurajima (Japan): A mysterious 'milky' rain has been falling over the Pacific Northwest that is baffling meteorologists.

The volcano has been particularly active this month. Last week it sent a 5km ash plume billowing into the sky

Residents of Washington, Oregon and Idaho have been filling up glasses of the unusual substance trying to determine what it could be.

One strong possibility is that the weather system has been infected by eruptions from Japan's Sakurajima volcano.

The volcano has been particularly active over the past month.

WATCH: Massive eruption at Sakurajima.

Last week it sent an ash plume of three miles billowing into the sky.

It is the most active Sakurajima has been all year, with up to three or four explosions a day, according to Volcano Discovery.

Following a particularly violent eruption on Thursday, some speculated that Russia's Shiveluch volcano could have sent ash into the sky that was blown across the Pacific Ocean, as well.

In the past two weeks, eight eruptions have been recorded.

The Walla Walla County office in Washington corroborated those suggestions in a Facebook post.

'We have received reports of "white stuff" on vehicles,' officials wrote.

'The ash is more than likely from Volcano Shiveluch in Kamchatka Krai, Russia, which spewed an ash plume to about the 22,000-foot level in late January. 

'It has been deposited in a wide spread area, including Washington and Oregon.' 

But the National Weather Service of Spokane, Washington, is still investigating.


WATCH: Above the clouds, ash bellows from volcano erupting in Japan.

'The truth is that we really don't know where it came from!' the NWS Spokane said on Facebook.

'We are continuing to investigate and have reached out to other offices for assistance in recreating atmospheric flows from the past several days. We've also reached out to other agencies that may have collected samples appropriate for testing.'


Soputan (North Sulawesi, Indonesia): The eruption continues at the volcano. It feeds a viscous lava flow about 500 m long on the volcano's upper western flank.

Active lava flow at Soputan volcano (image: newzulu.com)

Intermittent explosions and incandescent rockfalls accompany this activity.


Fuego volcano (Guatemala): Explosions remain frequent and often strong, producing ash plumes that rise 1-1.3 km above the crater and are accompanied by shock waves that rattle roof and windows in nearby villages.


Suwanose-jima volcano (Ryukyu Islands, Japan): An eruption from the volcano was reported this morning by Tokyo VAAC.


Pacaya volcano (Guatemala):  Small ash emissions continue, probably from mild, deep-seated strombolian activity in the new pit inside Mackenney crater described a week ago.


Villarrica (Central Chile): Magma has reached the surface of the inner summit crater. Strombolian activity has formed a new small cone containing a small lava lake in its open vent. This followed a strong increase in volcanic tremor to about 20 times background level starting since Thursday. Glow from the volcano's top has become visible at night.

A new cone has formed around the vent in Villarrica's summit crater seen during an overflight yesterday (image: metalesrojos valpo @met_valpo / twitter)

An overflight confirmed the presence of lava inside the deep pit at the summit crater. SERNAGEOMIN raised the alert level of the volcano to yellow.

So far, this activity represents a very typical state of the volcano. If it remains like this, it does not pose significant threats to the surroundings unless activity strongly increases, which could result in the generation of lahars (mud flows due to meltwater from the summit) in particular. These could threaten the areas of the towns of Villarrica, Pucón, Curarrehue and Panguipulli. Chile's civil protection ONEMI has issued a pre-alert, still coded as green, as a precaution.


Barren Island (Indian Ocean): As the Culture Volcan blog pointed out, a weak thermal anomaly was detected on satellite data above the volcano yesterday. The hot spot is weak, but could indicate some sort of activity occurring at the volcano. What could be a plume is visible on other satellite imagery, but for now, there is no confirmation of volcanic activity.

Hot spot detected at Barren Island via MIROVA

Piton de la Fournaise (La Réunion): A new eruption has started at the volcano, following a brief seismic crisis that started early this morning.

View of the eruption (OVPF webcam)

Lava flow from Piton de la Fournaise

According to OVPF, the new (fissure) vent should be located between Bory, Dolomieu and Rivals craters on the upper flank of the Dolomieu main cone. A lava flow is descending SSW and has already reached the base of the Dolomieu crater, i.e. the floor of the enclos. Its length is more than 1 km.


Kliuchevskoi (Kamchatka): Strombolian explosions of small to moderate size and an active lava flow on the volcano's upper flank continue.

Klyuchevskoy's lava flow last night on KVERT's webcam

Zhupanovsky (Kamchatka, Russia): Moderate intermittent explosive activity continues at the volcano. Satellite images detected ash plumes drifting 160 km SW and SE at altitudes of 5-6 km (16,400-19,700 ft) a.s.l. during 22 and 25-26 January, and a thermal anomaly over the volcano during 23 and 25-27 January. The Aviation Color Code remained at Orange. (Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report 28 January-3 February 2015)


Chirpoi (Kurile Islands, Russia): A weak thermal anomaly at the summit of Snow volcano continues to be detected on satellite data.


Chirinkotan (Northern Kuriles): SVERT reported that weak steam-and-gas emissions from Chirinkotan were detected in satellite images on 31 January.

Cloud cover obscured views on the other days during 26 January-2 February. The Aviation Color Code remained at Yellow. (Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report 28 January-3 February 2015)


Aso (Kyushu): No significant changes have occurred at the ongoing strombolian eruption from Asosan's Nakadake Crater althugh its intensity seems to have decreased.

Stronger strombolian eruption at Aso on 3 Feb (Kyoto Univ. crater webcam)

Incandescent material from intermittent explosions is sometimes ejected onto the crater rim, and plumes rise up to approx. 1 km above the crater.


Manam (Papua New Guinea): RVO reported that activity at both Manam's Southern Crater and Main Crater was low during 1-31 January; diffuse white vapor emissions were observed rising from both craters during brief clear views.

Incandescence from Main Crater fluctuated from weak to bright during 19 and 23-27 January. (Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report 28 January-3 February 2015)


Karangetang (Siau Island, Sangihe Islands, Indonesia): Since 10 Jan 2015, the volcano has been active again. A lava dome is growing at the summit, producing incandescent avalanches.

Glowing avalanches from Karangetang volcano yesterday (photo: Andi Rosadi / VolcanoDiscovery Indonesia)

Our correspondent Andi who visited the volcano during the pst days wrote: "Mt Karangetang spews lava flows and the status has been raised again into level 3. According to the seismic recordings from the observatory post, there are harmonic tremor and volcanic quakes, indicating the ongoing dome building. A warning was issued to the local population to prepare for possible evacuations."


Ruapehu (North Island): The crater lake temperature has been increasing since early December 2014, rising from 15 to over 40 deg C. This is not seen as a sign that an eruption is to be expected in the near futures and the alert level remains at level 1, meaning minor unrest only.

The volcano's lake undergoes frequent cycles of cooling and heating. It seems that the lake is now at the peak of the current cycle. Similar temperatures were recorded in March 2011 and April 2014, before the lake cooled again.
 

Colima (Western Mexico): After being a bit lower during the past week, activity has picked up again today.

Explosion at Colima

The volcano had a series of small to moderate explosions ejecting ash plumes reaching up to 2-3 km above the crater:

WATCH: Colima volcanic activity.

 
Reventador (Ecuador): Activity with sporadic small explosions from the active dome continues. Seismic activity is at moderate levels.


 - Volcano Discovery | Daily Mail | The Weather Network.

GLOBAL VOLCANISM: Global Volcano Report For February 4, 2014 - Major Updates On Etna, Barren Island, Tungurahua, Sinabung, And Nishino-Shima! [PHOTOS + VIDEO]

February 05, 2014 - WORLDWIDE VOLCANOES - The following constitutes the new activity, unrest and ongoing reports of volcanoes across the globe, courtesy of the Volcano Discovery.

Sinabung (Sumatra, Indonesia): The eruption of the volcano continues with little changes. During the past 2 days (see video below), there have been a number of smaller and occasional medium-sized explosions/dome collapse events that produced pyroclastic flows that reach up to 2-3 km length (at 13:50 yesterday and 07:50 this morning (local times).

Explosion and pyroclastic flow this morning.

Pyroclastic flow at Sinabung yesterday afternoon.

According to local news, a total of 170 search and rescue personnel had been employed during the past days, but still could not find one of the still missing victims of Saturday's fatal pyroclastic flow. The official death toll from the eruption has reached at least 15 (or 16 if the still missing is taken into account), plus two seriously wounded victims. Most of the fatalities were young students and schoolchildren who apparently came as volcano tourists and as part of a Christian class to provide assistance to local people. The other victims were 3 residents of Sukameriah and one from Kabanjahe village.


WATCH: Sinabung volcano activity - February 3-4, 2014.

Rescuers found 8 abandoned (and destroyed) motorcycles, 1 Acer laptop bag, a bag with a handy cam and 2 helmets, an article mentions. Operations in the affected areas with partially still hot deposits, abundant ash and the risk of being in the path of new pyroclastic flows render the rescue operation dangerous and difficult.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) in Jakarta announced that the enforcement of the exclusion zone of 5 km will be tightened. He stressed that the 5 villages most at risk are Sukameriah, Bekerah, Simacem, Sigarang-garang, and Sukanalu. These are all located at only 3-3.5 km distance from the volcano's dome and in the path of (even only moderately-sized) pyroclastic flows on the S-SE slope.


Etna (Sicily, Italy): After a short pause with likely no (or almost no) eruptive activity during 1-2 Feb, the volcano started renewed lava effusion from the fissure vent at the eastern foot of the New SE crater yesterday, followed by the onset of weak explosive activity(ash emissions) from the New SE crater this afternoon.

The new lava flow and an ash emission from the New SE crater

So far, this activity has been very weak and the lava flow progressed only a few 100 m. The tremor signal is low and doesn't show a clear trend at the moment.


Nishino-shima (Volcano Islands): The eruption on the now merged Nishino-Shima and Niishima islands continues. A hot spot is visible on current MODIS data.

A hot spot on Nishino-Shima island and its location in the western Pacific

Hopefully, new imagery will be available from the Japanese Coast guard soon.


Barren Island (Indian Ocean): Intermittent eruptive activity continues on the small remote island next to the Andaman island group. A small steam and ash plume and a thermal hot spot can be seen on today's and yesterday's satellite images.

Gas and ash plume from Barren Island today (MODIS/Terra, NASA)

Without (the rare) direct observations (usually by Indian navy), it is impossible to know exactly what type of activity is going on at the moment. It could be intermittent strombolian-type explosions, and/or lava flows or even the formation of a small temporary lava lake.


Tungurahua (Ecuador): Activity at the volcano continues at similar levels as yesterday with intermittent small to moderately large explosions, producing ash plumes of up to 4 km height.

IGPEN released an illustrated summary of the volcano's activity during the past days including the attached image sequence showing the violent explosion on 1 Feb that generated large pyroclastic flows due to the collapse of the eruption column.

Ash column rising from Tungurahua this morning.

Yesterday, small explosions and ash emissions were recorded. At 10:40 local time, an episode of harmonic tremor with a deep origin was recorded, suggesting that more magma might be rising from depth.

Last night and this morning, there were at least 10 explosions of moderate size which could be heard as heavy gunfire and lasted several minutes. Some were so intense that they could be heard several kilometers away. An ash column rose about 4 km above the summit during the largest explosion and drifted northwards.
IGPEN writes that the most likely scenario for the near future are continuing discrete explosions of similar size as yesterday and today, accompanied with strong ash emissions, causing ash fall and possibly pyroclastic flows.

A second most likely scenario is that activity declines at the surface while internal pressure builds up towards another major explosion.

Image sequence (both thermal and visual) of the main explosion on 1 Feb, showing the collapse
of the eruption column into pyroclastic flows (IGPEN)

Both scenarios involve a high risk for anyone in the areas close to the volcano, in particular low-lying areas in and around valleys draining from the mountain, at several (5-10) kilometers distance.

Potentially heavy ash falls can be expected in areas lying in the main wind direction and is likely to seriously affect agriculture, livestock and of course the health of the people exposed to the ash. Furthermore, ash plumes from the current activity are a serious hazard to air traffic in the area.


Complete Earthquake list (worldwide) for February 5, 2014.

- Volcano Discovery.

GLOBAL VOLCANISM: Global Volcano Report For October 17, 2013 - Updates On Reventador, Klyuchevskoy, Tungurahua, Jebel Zubair And Barren Island!

October 17, 2013 - WORLDWIDE VOLCANOES - The following constitutes the new activity, unrest and ongoing reports of volcanoes across the globe, courtesy of  Volcano Discovery.


Reventador (Ecuador): IGPEN reports no significant change in the currently mild, intermittent explosive activity. During the latest 24 hour observation interval, 12 ash explosions were recorded and observed ash plumes rose to about 1 km above the crater.

Ash explosion at Reventador volcano this morning.

Klyuchevskoy (Kamchatka): VAAC Anchorage sent out a message shortly before midnight (UTC) that the "eruption has ended" based on the absence of ash emissions from satellite imagery and pilot observations. This followed a particularly strong explosive phase that apparently occurred last night, when seismic data suggested strong emissions and an ash plume rose to possibly 33,000 ft (10 km) altitude. Webcam images from last night showed strong glow from lava flows and summit activity, but today the volcano has been hidden in clouds and no direct views have been possible so far.

It is certainly too early to be sure whether the eruption has significantly decreased, has indeed ended surprisingly suddenly, or is simply pausing and could resume any time, as the VAAC report also remarks.


Tungurahua (Ecuador): Activity has been constant and slowly increasing. Strombolian explosions produce a column of gas and ash rising about 1 km, mostly driting west and north. Light ash fall has been reported from Penipe and Choglontus, and to the north, in Runtún. Near the volcano, constant rumbling is heard.


Jebel Zubair (Red Sea): The submarine eruption continues to produce a steam plume visible on the latest satellite images. No evidence of ash is apparent, suggesting that the vent is still relatively deep.

Steam plume from Zubair this morning.

Barren Island (Indian Ocean): Eruptive activity continues. An ash plume was spotted on satellite imagery this morning rising to 12,000 ft (3.6 km) and drifting 15 nautical miles to the NW (VAAC Darwin).


Complete Earthquake list (worldwide) for October 17, 2013.

- Volcano Discovery.

GLOBAL VOLCANISM: Global Volcano Report For October 16, 2013 - Updates On Klyuchevskoy, Galeras, Cumbal, Sotará, Sabancaya, Ubinas And Barren Island!

October 16, 2013 - WORLDWIDE VOLCANOES - The following constitutes the new activity, unrest and ongoing reports of volcanoes across the globe, courtesy of  Volcano Discovery.


Klyuchevskoy (Kamchatka): Strong eruptive activity continues. VAAC Tokyo reports an ash plume rising to estimated 33,000 ft (10 km) altitude, i.e. about 5 km tall above the volcano, and drifting SW.

Klyuchevskoy volcano this morning (KVERT webcam).

Aircraft should avoid the airspace near as well many miles southwest and east of the volcano. VAAC Tokyo publishes regular updates about the observed and predicted extent of the ash plume.


Galeras (Colombia): Surface and seismic activity have been low recently. A 3.8 magnitude earthquake at 5.5 km depth and 7 km NE of the volcano occurred yesterday at 17:13 local time.

The earthquake was felt in Pasto, and the municipalities of Nariño and La Florida. This event was preceded by 14 earthquakes of smaller magnitude (less than 2.6) recorded between 12:56 am and 16:40 pm, located as well on the NE sector of the volcano at depths 1.2 and 7 km.


Cumbal (Colombia): Seismic unrest continues at low levels with little changes over the past weeks and months. GEOMINAS keeps the volcano at yellow alert level.


Sotará (Colombia): Low-level seismic unrest continues with no significant changes to report over the past months.


Sabancaya (Peru): Seismic unrest continued through Sep-Oct including occasional swarms of volcanic-tectonic quakes (such as on 10 Oct), but overall earthquake activity has been showing a slowly decreasing trend. The volcano remains to be closely monitored.


Ubinas (Peru): Surface and seismic activity have calmed down recently and are near background levels.


Barren Island (Indian Ocean): A new eruption occurred this week. This was confirmed by the Indian Navy (via twitter) who reported "smoke" and lava seen on the island from a surveillance plane. A large hot spot is visible on recent MODIS satellite data on the remote volcanic island, located in the Andaman Islands archipelago.

MODIS hot spot data (past 7 days) for Barren Island volcano (ModVolc, Univ. Hawaii).

No details about the nature of the eruption are available at the moment, but the description and distribution of the hot spots suggests that it might be an explosive-effusive eruption with lava flows (possibly reaching the sea.

A satellite image from yesterday shows what likely is a steam/gas plume, but doesn't allow to recognize details.



Complete Earthquake list (worldwide) for October 16, 2013.

- Volcano Discovery.

GLOBAL VOLCANISM: The Volcano Discovery Report For February 17 And 18, 2013 - Updates On Stromboli, Paluweh, Kizimen, Shiveluch, Tolbachik, Taal, Etna,Popocatépetl, Santa María, Santiaguito, Nevado del Ruiz, Reventador, Torfajökull, Barren Island, Fuego, Tungurahua, Tahalra, Little Sitkin And Gorshkova!

February 18, 2013 - WORLDWIDE VOLCANOES - The following constitutes the new activity, unrest and ongoing report from the Volcano Discovery Group.

Thermal webcam image of the crater area of Stromboli (INGV).

Stromboli (Eolian Islands, Italy): The lava overflows have been active on and off and currently stopped. The explosion signals have become weaker, but tremor seems relatively strong. Overall, the volcano remains in a state of elevated activity.

Etna (Sicily, Italy): A strong phase of strombolian activity took place over night at the New SE crater, marked by a peak in tremor. No activity has been observed from Bocca Nuova. Tremor is rising and probably, this means that some strombolian activity is present in either New SE crater or Bocca Nuova, but visibility is poor due to bad weather.

Tremor signal from Etna (INGV).

Kizimen (Kamchatka): The lava dome continues to grow at the summit and produces hot avalanches on the western and eastern flanks. Strong gas-steam activity and moderate seismic activity accompany this process. Satellite data showed a thermal anomaly over the volcano. (KVERT)

Shiveluch (Kamchatka): KVERT reports moderate seismicity and a thermal anomaly over the volcano visible on satellite data, indicating that the lava dome remains active.

Tolbachik (Kamchatka): The eruption continues with little changes. Lava flows are erupting from the southern fissure and tremor levels are moderate.

A gas-steam plume containing small amount of ash raises up to 4 km a.s.l. from the active cinder cone and extends to the north-east of the volcano.

Taal (Luzon, Philippines): Earthquake numbers continue to be elevated. During the past 24 hours, PHILVOLCS detected 14 quakes. Other parameters monitored at the volcano show no alarming signs.

Paluweh (off Flores Island, Indonesia): New ash plumes reaching 13,000 ft (4.3 km) altitude and extending 40 nautical miles to the east were observed today. Most likely, more dome collapses and accompanying explosions have occurred.

Degassing plume from Popocatepetl.

Popocatépetl (Central Mexico): Activity has remained low, with less than 1 weak steam-gas explosion per hour. Weak incandescence remains visible at the summit crater.

Santa María / Santiaguito (Guatemala): Explosive activity remains at moderate levels with explosions reaching up to about 1 km height above the crater. Effusive activity was weak, no activity was observed at the lava flows on the flanks of the lava dome.

Fuego (Guatemala): A stronger phase of continuous ash emissions has been reported. An ash plume reaching 16,000 ft (4.8 km) was observed extending 10 nautical miles to the NW.

The mild effusive activity on the other hand has not changed much. The lava flow towards the Ceniza canyon continues to be active and was 500 m long this morning.

SO2 plume from Nevado del Ruiz (NOAA).

Nevado del Ruiz (Colombia): Activity, both internal and external, has shown an increase over the past days. Strong SO2 emissions visible on the latest satellite data suggest that a new batch of magma has intruded at shallow depth.

This corresponds to also to a seismic swarm visible on today's seismograms.

Current seismic signal from Reventador (CONE station, IG).

Reventador (Ecuador): The eruption at the volcano continues at fluctuating levels, which is reflected by the seismic signal. Yesterday, an ash column rose 2 km above the crater and drifted to the west. No reports of ash fall were received by IG.

Tungurahua (Ecuador): The volcano remains calm. Both internal and external activity have been decreasing, IG reported in its latest special report.

The only surface activity during the past 3 weeks were mild fumarolic activity and small steam emissions from the crater. Meanwhile, the seismic activity has been characterized by an average of 29 long period events and 2 volcano tectonic quakes per day, with numbers diminishing in the recent week. This seismic activity is interpreted as associated with the pressurization and mobilization of fluids and fracturing of rocks within the volcano. No explosions have occurred.

Tahalra Volcanic Field (Algeria): On 14 February, a Magnitude 4.3 earthquake at 2 KM depth occurred near a group of volcanic fields in Algeria (Manzaz, Atakor and Tahalra volcanic field's).

Because the reigon has had no serious tectonic earthquake activity and because the depth of the earthquake is only 2 KM, the EQ is considered to be volcanic in origin.

Barren Island (Indian Ocean): A new eruption seems to have started. An ash plume rising to 20,000 ft (6 km) altitude and drifting 120 nautical miles to the SW was reported last night by VAAC Darwin. The aviation color code was raised to RED.

Map of recent quakes under Torfajökull (Iceland Met Office).

Torfajökull (Iceland): A small earthquake swarm has started today. It includes about 20 quakes of small magnitude at shallow depths of 2-4 km.

Whether the swarm is related to magma movements is unknown.

Seismic signal from Little Sitkin on 16 Feb 2013 (AVO).

Little Sitkin (Western Aleutian Islands): An earthquake swarm occurred yesterday, but it's not strong enough to trigger a raise of alert level.

Photo of the Day: Gorshkova volcano, Kamchatka

Gorshkova volcano, Kamchatka (Photo: Anastasia).