GLOBAL VOLCANISM: Indonesia's Mount Bromo Volcano In East Java Continues Eruption - Intermittent Ash-Rich Explosions, Ash Venting!

Ash-rich strombolian eruption at Bromo yesterday

February 9, 2016 - INDONESIA - The eruption continues in the form of intermittent small to moderate strombolian-type explosions and minutes-long phases of more or less vigorous ash venting alternating with strong degassing.

Only few incandescent ejecta are being seen at night, but ash emissions are comparably intense and aviation color code of the volcano remains at orange.

Crater glow from Bromo at night

Our friend Øystein Lund Andersen visited the volcano yesterday and reported:

"Heavy degassing was observed during arrival in the afternoon, accompanied by a irregular but periodically heavy rumbling sound. ...

After these periods of calm, larger degassing plumes tend to appear, accompanied by large rumbling sounds and in one case an eruption at 14:14.

The eruption was accompanied by a shock wave, and seconds after an ash plume appeared that reached around 800m in height.

Sounds of falling rocks or blocks was heard seconds after the appearance of the eruption plume. The ash content decreased within 30min after the eruption.
...
Next eruption happened at 15:45, and the ash-plume was sustained for around 45minutes. ...The next eruption started at 16:50. ... Late evening, intense crater-glow was seen minutes before a small eruption (23:41)...

Mt. Bromo volcano in East Java is the active cone inside the giant Tengger caldera, one of Indonesia's most scenic locations destination in East Java, famous for its magnificient sunrise views and the panorama over the caldera with Semeru volcano in the background.

Eruption of Bromo on June 8, 2004.

Background:

The 16-km-wide Tengger caldera is located at the northern end of a volcanic massif extending from Semeru volcano. The massive Tengger volcanic complex dates back to about 820,000 years ago and consists of five overlapping stratovolcanoes, each truncated by a caldera. Lava domes, pyroclastic cones, and a maar occupy the flanks of the massif. The Ngadisari caldera at the NE end of the complex formed about 150,000 years ago and is now drained through the Sapikerep Valley. The most recent of the Tengger calderas is the 9 x 10 km wide Sandsea Caldera at the SW end of the complex, which formed incrementally during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. An overlapping cluster of post-caldera cones was constructed on the floor of the Sandsea Caldera within the last several thousand years. The youngest of these is Bromo, one of Java's most active and most frequently visited volcanoes.

- Volcano Discovery.

GLOBAL VOLCANISM: Indonesia's Mount Soputan Volcano Erupts - Spew Column Of Hot Ash Up To 2.5km High! [VIDEO]

Mount Soputan has erupted 39 times in the last 600 years

February 8, 2016 - INDONESIA - Mount Soputan volcano in North Sulawesi province of Indonesia erupted several times on Sunday, spewing a column of hot ash by up to 2.5 km high, official of disaster management agency said.

Mount Soputan, located some 60 km from Manado, capital of the province, has high potential for further big eruption which is indicated by persistent tremors with amplitude of 41 mm, Spokesman of National Disaster Management Agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho disclosed.

Several subdistricts in Minahasa Tenggara district were hit by rains of ash and volcanic materials that the local disaster agency distributes masks to protect local residents from the impact, he told Xinhua via phone.

The authorities have banned villagers or visitors from entering the area of 4 km from the crater, but at the southwest of the crater the evacuation zone is at 6. 5 km, Mr. Sutopo said.

The 1,874- meter high Mount Soputan is one of Indonesia's active volcanoes whose number is about 129, according to the National Volcanology Agency.


WATCH: Soputan volcano erupts.

- Xinhua.

GLOBAL VOLCANISM: Indonesia's Mount Bromo Volcano In East Java Continues Eruption - Spewing Column Of Ash Up To 1.5km!

© Economic Times India

December 18, 2015 - INDONESIA - Mount Bromo volcano in East Java, Indonesia erupted Tuesday spewing column of ash by up to 1.5 km. to the sky, a disaster management agency official here said.

Powerful bursts of hot ash and gravel erupted from the rumbling volcano at 06:00 a.m. local time, heading west to northwest as far as 2.5 km from the crater, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of the national disaster management agency said.

Tourist and visitors are banned from entering the slope by up to 2.5 km from the crater, he said.

"Residences are warned to keep vigilant over continuation of the eruption and possible greater eruption," he told Xinhua via phone.

The agency and local community have prepared for any emergency to counter possible risks of greater eruption, Sutopo said.

The 3,829-meter-high Mount Bromo last erupted in January 2011, forcing airlines to ground their planes.

Mount Bromo is one of Indonesia's 129 active volcanoes.


WATCH: Mount Bromo erupts, spews ash high into the sky.

- Manila Bulletin.

GLOBAL VOLCANISM: "Very Intense" - Seismic Vibration And "Booming Noise" Detected Under El Salvador's Chaparrastique Volcano!

June 16, 2014 - EL SALVADOR - The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) reports seismic vibration under Chaparrastique volcano has been very intense in the last days.

The Chaparrastique volcano in eastern El Salvador.

Local observers reported hearing a booming noise about this day at 2:00 am. There have been very little vapor or gas emissions so far.

This indicates that the duct system of the volcano is partially obstructed, withstanding the pressure of magmatic fluids, so there is a high probability of eruptive activity, either through the central crater or on its flanks. Eruptions in the last 500 years have been in the VEI-1 to VEI-2 range.

Volcanic tremor under Chaparrastique volcano now reached similar to the
pre-eruption of December 2013 measured values.

In the last few days the vibration of the volcano reached similar to the pre-eruption of December 29, 2013 measured values. Since February 2014 several hundred microearthquakes have been recorded under the northern flank of the volcano.

MARN informs about the tremor status every hour and new reports here on twitter. - Volcano Cafe. 

GLOBAL VOLCANISM: San Miguel (Chaparrastique) Volcano In El Salvador Erupts - Alert Declared For The Region; At Least 1,000 Evacuated!

May 20, 2014 - EL SALVADOR - El Salvador's San Miguel volcano, also known as Chaparrastique, erupted Monday, spewing reddish ash and prompting authorities to evacuate at least 1,000 as a precautionary measure.

Chaparrastique volcano spews ashes and smoke in San Miguel, El Salvador, on Dec. 29, 2013. (Getty Images)

The volcano is 90 miles from the country's capital of San Salvador.

The Civil Protection Department said in a statement that an alert had been declared for the municipality of San Miguel, where the volcano is located.

The city of San Miguel is 30 miles from the volcano. It is one of the largest cities in the Central American country.

The volcano erupted twice in December. Recently it has been experiencing higher levels of activity than those previous eruptions, El Salvador Environment Minister Hernan Rosa Chavez told Reuters.

The 7,025-foot volcano's last significant eruption was in 1976. - The Weather Channel.

GLOBAL VOLCANISM: Increasing Volcanic Arrest At El Salvador's Chaparrastique Volcano - Small Explosions!

February 13, 2014 - EL SALVADOR - A small ash explosion occurred yesterday afternoon at the volcano, at 16:44 (local time).

Sequence of the small explosion at San Miguel yesterday (MARN)

Tremor amplitude at San Miguel volcano over the past weeks (MARN)

Location of recent earthquakes at San Miguel (MARN)

It only lasted about 10 minutes and produced a small ash plume rising approx. 500 m. It is the first eruptive activity since the larger explosion on 29 Dec past year, and is likely only a precursor of more violent activity to come.

Seismic activity has been increasing constantly over the past weeks, and clusters of earthquakes have been taking place at shallow (1 km) depth beneath the northern flank, MARN scientists measured. Tremor, indication of internal fluid (magma) movements and/or pressure, has been rising in intensity. As well, increasing values of sulfur dioxide (SO2) degassing suggest that new magma is rising within the volcanic edifice. - Volcano Discovery.

GLOBAL VOLCANISM: El Salvador's Chaparrastique Volcano Erupts With Powerful Explosion - Thousands Flee Their Homes In San Miguel!

December 30, 2013 - EL SALVADOR -  Thousands of people in eastern El Salvador are leaving their homes after a volcano erupted on Sunday morning.

Cameras filmed clouds of black smoke billowing from the volcano. 

Residents in the coffee-producing region said they had heard a powerful explosion before the Chaparrastique volcano began spewing hot ash and smoke into the air.

No one has been hurt, say the authorities. Anyone living in a 3km (2 mile) radius will be evacuated.

Some 300 communities live around the volcano.

Temporary shelters are being set up in the area.

Civil protection authorities say that some 5,000 people live in the area, in San Miguel province.

The eruption began at 10:30 local time (16:30 GMT).


WATCH:  El Salvador's Chaparrastique Volcano Erupts.

The Salvadoran government says it had been monitoring the situation since 13 December, when they detected increased activity inside the volcano.

There are more than 20 volcanoes in the small Central American nation.

At 2,129 metres (7,000 ft) above sea level, Chaparrastique is the third highest volcano in the country.

It spewed lava in 1976 and caused a strong tremor in the area in 2010. - BBC.

GLOBAL VOLCANISM: Indonesia Warns Of Rising Volcanic Activity In East Province!

August 22, 2013 - INDONESIA - Indonesian authorities have been warning local villagers in East Nusa Tenggara Province about increasing volcanic activities in the area in recent days.

“The people around the areas should continue to practice caution” despite there not having been fresh volcanic activity on Wednesday, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.

Mount Rokatenda volcano, shown here on Aug. 12, killed six people on Palue island two days earlier.
Authorities are now watching two other volcanoes, subsea Mount Hobalt and and
Mount Ili Werung, in the same eastern province.

The agency reported on Tuesday two volcanoes in the East Nusa Tenggara Province have shown “increasing activities.” The volcanoes are subsea Mount Hobalt and and Mount Ili Werung.

It noted Mount Hobalt erupted Tuesday morning, spewing cloud as high as 6,560 feet above the sea level for around two minutes.

“Visually, the water near the volcano turned yellow and bubbly,” the agency said.

Meanwhile, Mount Ili Werung, located on the southern part of Lembata Island, started rumbling just before dusk Tuesday for about an hour and a half.

But the agency said, at least so far, it isn’t necessary for the villagers to evacuate their villages.

Six people were killed in the small Palue Island in the province when Mount Rokatenda erupted on Aug. 10, spewing hot ash and smoke up to 6,560 feet into the air. Nearly 3,000 people were evacuated from the area in the island since it first rumbled in October 2012.

East Nusa Tenggara is about 1,297 miles east of Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta. Just west to the province is West Nusa Tenggara Province, famous for the Mount Tambora, whose eruption in April 1815 is cited as the largest volcanic eruption in the world in recorded history. The precise death toll from the eruption remains unclear, but it is believed to be at least 71,000.

The eruption caused a “volcanic winter,” a reduction in temperature cause by volcanic ash and droplets of sulfuric acid. It made 1816 known as the year without summer due to the effects of the weather in North America and Europe. - WSJ.

GLOBAL VOLCANISM: Indonesia's Mount Rokatenda Volcano Erupts Violently - Kills 6; Some 2,000 People Evacuate The Island Of Palue!

August 10, 2013 - INDONESIA - A volcano eruption in central Indonesia has spewed hot ash into the sky and unleashed torrents of molten lava that engulfed and killed six people sleeping on a beach, officials say.

The Mount Rokatenda volcano is spewing a huge column of hot ash into the air.

Mount Rokatenda, on the island of Palue, sent huge clouds of red-hot ash and rocks two kilometres into the air on Saturday, vulcanology centre head Surono said.

"There are six victims who were engulfed in hot lava," Johanes Berchmans, head of the disaster management agency in Sikka district, said.

"They were swept away by hot lava when they were asleep on Punge beach."

Three adults aged between 58 and 69 were found dead while three children aged between five and eight were also killed, though their bodies had not yet been recovered, he said.

Surono said rescue efforts were difficult "because the area is still very hot".

Rokatenda has been showing signs of increased volcanic activity since October, with authorities banning people from any activities within three kilometres of its crater.

Some 2,000 people had previously been evacuated from the island due to the volcanic activity leaving around 8,000 before Saturday's eruption, Mr Berchmans said.

"Tomorrow our staff will go from area to area to pick up anyone willing to leave the island."

The volcano began erupting at 4:27am (local time) on Saturday and it continued for nearly four hours, Surono said.

Palue is part of Sikka district, which is part of East Nusa Tenggara province. It is just north of Flores island in the sprawling Indonesian archipelago which is made up of more than 17,000 islands.

Indonesia has dozens of active volcanoes and straddles major tectonic fault lines known as the Ring of Fire between the Pacific and Indian oceans.

The country's most active volcano, Mount Merapi in central Java, killed more than 350 people in a series of violent eruptions in 2010. - ABC News Australia.