GLOBAL VOLCANISM: The Latest Report Of Volcanic Eruptions, Activity, Unrest And Awakenings – February 12, 2016! [PHOTOS + VIDEO]

Colima volcano.

February 12, 2016 - EARTH - The following constitutes the new activity, unrest and ongoing reports of volcanoes across the globe.


Colima (Mexico): The volcano continues to produce intermittent explosions, but there might be something new in the making: weak, but continuous glow from the crater has appeared during the last night, something that hasn't been observed since the latest effusive eruptive phase in July last year.

Glow from Colima's summit crater this morning.

Washington VAAC reported that during 3-8 February ash plumes from Colima rose to altitudes of 4.9-6.7 km (16,000-22,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted 75-140 km in multiple directions. (Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report 3-9 February 2016)

It could indicate that a new lava dome is about to appear. The next days or weeks will probably give a better answer.


WATCH: Time-lapse video.

Sakurajima (Kyushu, Japan): The volcano continues to produce small to moderate vulcanian explosions at rates of a few per day, typically.

Ash plume from an eruption at Sakurajima.

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GLOBAL VOLCANISM: The Latest Report Of Volcanic Eruptions, Activity, Unrest And Awakenings – February 10, 2016! [PHOTOS]

Lava fountains at Fuego

February 10, 2016 - EARTH - The following constitutes the new activity, unrest and ongoing reports of volcanoes across the globe.


Fuego (Guatemala): A new paroxysm (the 3rd this year) is occurring at the volcano. Over the past days, strombolian and effusive activity had gradually increased into now pulsating lava fountains and well-alimented lava flows.

The latter are mostly traveling down the southeastern flank into the large Las Lajas canyon where they have reached approx. 2 km length. Another flow seems to be active on the southern slope towards the Trinidad drainage.

MODIS thermal signal from Fuego (MIROVA)

Most likely this activity will result in pyroclastic flows, as parts of the lava flows on the steep slope tend to collapse.


Sakurajima (Japan): It seems that the volcano is back to its typical activity of intermittent explosions at irregular intervals mostly ranging between few hours or even days. Following the explosion on 5 Feb, several others, mostly weaker ones, have occurred during the past days. Ash plumes recorded rose to 5-10,000 ft (1.5-3 km) altitude.

Small explosion at Sakurajima.

JMA published a report (in Japanese) which shows that the decrease of activity which started to be noticeable last summer and led to the apparent pause in explosions Oct - Jan seems to correlate with a change in deformation. Around August, the year-long steady inflation stopped and changed to rapid deflation over a few weeks' period. This trend stopped and inflation began again around October.

Thermal images of Sakurajima's craters (Kita-dake, l, and Showa crater, r) between December 2, 2015 (bottom) and February 6, 2016
(top) showing the presence of elevated temperatures in the Showa crater Feb (JMA)

Deformation plots of several GPS stations (JMA)

A comparison of thermal images of the crater between 2 December 2015 and 6 February show elevated temperatures in the Showa crater, likely because of the presence of magma in the conduit closer to the surface.


Zhupanovsky (Kamchatka): Activity of the volcano has picked up again recently. Several explosions occurred during the past days at the volcano, generating ash plumes that rose to approx. 22,000 ft (7 km) altitude and drifted ESE.

Ash plume (its deposit on snow) from Zhupanovsky.

On a satellite image from this morning, the darker trace of ash from Zhupanovsky (and from nearby Karymsky volcano) is clearly visible on white snow covering Kamchatka at the moment.



Karymsky (Kamchatka): Explosions at the volcano have been relatively frequent recently and often intense enough to be detected on satellite imagery, monitored by Tokyo's VAAC (Volcanic Ash Advisory Center).

Karymsky, the most active volcano of  Kamchatka's eastern volcanic zone, is a symmetrical stratovolcano constructed within a 5-km-wide caldera that formed during the early Holocene.  The caldera cuts the south side of the Pleistocene Dvor volcano and is located outside the north margin of the large mid-Pleistocene Polovinka caldera, which contains the smaller Akademia Nauk and Odnoboky calderas. 

Most seismicity preceding Karymsky eruptions originated beneath Akademia Nauk caldera, which is located immediately south of Karymsky volcano.  The caldera enclosing Karymsky volcano formed about 7600-7700 radiocarbon years ago; construction of the Karymsky stratovolcano began about 2000 years later.  The latest eruptive period began about 500 years ago, following a 2300-year quiescence.  Much of the cone is mantled by lava flows less than 200 years old.  Historical eruptions have been vulcanian or vulcanian-strombolian with moderate explosive activity and occasional lava flows from the summit crater.


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GLOBAL VOLCANISM: The Global Volcano Report For April 29, 2013 - Updates On Stromboli, Batu Tara, Paluweh, Gaua, White Island, Popocatépetl, Fuego, Telica, Tungurahua, And Sakurajima!

April 29, 2013 - WORLDWIDE VOLCANOES - The following constitutes the new activity, unrest and ongoing reports of volcanoes across the globe. 

Stromboli (Eolian Islands, Italy): Spattering and lava effusion have increased from the NE hornito, feeding a new relatively large sustained lava flow on the Sciara del Fuoco.

New lava overflow on the Sciara del Fuoco (INGV thermal webcam).

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

Activity has decreased a bit yesterday, but strong explosions and small lava overflows from the NE crater rim and a vent at the outer flank continued, accompanied by frequent rockfalls on the Sciara. At the moment, activity seems to be increasing again.

Batu Tara (Sunda Islands, Indonesia): New explosions have produced ash plumes rising to 7,000 ft (2.1 km) altitude this morning.

Paluweh (off Flores Island, Indonesia): Activity from the lava dome continues. A larger event (explosion and/or dome collapse) produced a fairly large ash plume rising to 10,000 ft (3 km) altitude that drifted 60 nautical miles NW this morning (VAAC Darwin).

Gaua (Vanuatu): The Wellington VAAC reported on 29 April that a Qantas Airline pilot noticed a possible ash plume from Gaua volcano.

The Vanuatu Geohazards keeps the alert at 1 (on a scale of 0-4)

White Island (New Zealand): Geonet has lowered the alert level of the volcano back to green (normal), following a gradual decline in seismic activity over the past weeks.

Seismic spectrum and amplitude from White Island (GeoNet).

Degassing remains intense, and after heavy rainfall during the recent past, a lake has been re-established at the main crater.

Popocatépetl (Central Mexico): Activity at the volcano has picked up in the past 48 hours. Following an earthquake swarm on Saturday with volcanic-tectonic quakes of magnitudes up to 2.3, which was probably the result of a new magma batch rising, an increase in small emissions occurred yesterday with 71 events registered during 24 hours.

Explosion from Popocatépetl yesterday morning.

The largest emission yesterday (at 10:33 local time) produced a steam and ash plume rising 1.2 km above the crater and drifted NE... [read more]

Fuego (Guatemala): Effusive activity has increased on the expense of weaker explosive activity.

Today's seismic signal from Fuego (FG3 station, INSIVUMEH).

The two lava flows on the SW flank towards the Taniluyà and Ash canyon have reached 900 and 700 m length, respectively, and cause frequent avalanches (visible on the seismograph) that reach the vegetation.

Telica (Nicaragua): Seismic activity has decreased a bit in energy recently.

Current seismogram from Telica volcano (TELN station INETER).

Although the frequency of earthquakes has slowed down, the quakes, still above background levels, are now of higher magnitude.

Tungurahua (Ecuador): Following the initial explosions and ash emissions on Saturday, a significant new eruptive phase has started at the volcano.

Current seismic signal from Tungurahua (RETU station, IG).

From 05h30 yesterday morning (local time), an explosion created a steam-ash column rising 4 km initially, then decreased and remained more or less sustained at 2.5 km height above the crater for 30 minutes. The plume drifted W and SW to more than 100 km and caused light ash falls in areas near and around the volcano, such as Banos, Chacauco, Bilbao, Cusúa, Juive Grande, Pondoa and Pillate... [read more]

Sakurajima (Kyushu, Japan): Over the past days, the volcano has remained at comparably low levels of activity, with on average one vulcanian-type explosion of small to moderate size per day.


Complete Earthquake list (worldwide) for April 29, 2013.


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GLOBAL VOLCANISM: The Global Volcano Report For April 27-28, 2013 - Updates On Etna, Stromboli, Batu Tara, Santa María, Santiaguito, Pacaya And Sangay!

April 28, 2013 - WORLDWIDE VOLCANOES - The following constitutes the new activity, unrest and ongoing reports of volcanoes across the globe.

Etna (Sicily, Italy): Activity is now increasing towards a new paroxysm from the New SE crater. Strong strombolian-type explosions, probably accompanied by effusion of small lava flows continued all night from the New SE crater and produced strong glow visible through the fog around the summit.

Lava fountains from the New SE crater (Etna Trekking webcam).

Rumblings were heard in nearby villages, but fog and clouds have been preventing detailed observations. The tremor has risen to high levels comparable with those during previous paroxysms, then decreased a bit and seems now to increase again. This pattern looks very similar to the 12 April paroxysm, one which was preceded by a long phase of very strong explosions, that culminated in lava fountaining only after the tremor had reached its peak.

View from Schiena dell'Asino (Etra Trekking webcam).

Activity has continued to increase with near continuous strong strombolian explosions from the New SE crater, but it seems that the climax of the paroxysm with sustained lava fountains is yet to come, possibly very soon. The tremor has reached higher levels than during most of the previous paroxysms, but still rises.

Tremor signal (ESLN station, INGV).

Judging from the webcam images, lava fountains have now started, i.e. the main phase of the paroxysm has begun. A denser plume is rising from the New SE crater. Tremor continues to climb steeply. The 13th New SE crater paroxysm is occurring this evening.

Located roughly 25 kilometers (15 miles) north-northwest of Sicily’s second-largest city, Mount Etna is a stratovolcano composed of layers of rocks, lava, and volcanic ash left by earlier eruptions. The summit reaches an altitude of 3,330 meters (10,925 feet) above sea level. People have lived around Etna for millennia, so scientists have one of the longest documented records of activity of any volcano in the world—dating back to 1500 B.C.
Image: NASA Earth Observatory.

Tall lava fountains rise from the central vent of the cone, and a lava flow has rapidly descended the slope into Valle del Bove. A dense tephra plume is rising several kilometers above the volcano and drifting to the NE where ash- and lapilli fall is occurring.


Stromboli (Eolian Islands, Italy): An increase in activity occurred yesterday. Lava started to effuse from one or two vents at the base of and on the outer flank below the NE hornito. It is currently extending on the upper part of the Sciara and produces strong rockfalls that reach the sea.

This morning's seismic signal from Stromboli (ST8 station, INGV).

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

The seismic signal shows increased tremor and continuous rockfalls on the Sciara, as well as large explosion signals at intervals of approx 15-30 minutes.


Batu Tara (Sunda Islands, Indonesia): Ash plumes rising to 7,000 ft (2.1) km elevation from relatively strong strombolian activity were reported both yesterday and today. (VAAC Darwin)

Santa María / Santiaguito (Guatemala): The rate and size of explosions from the lava dome has risen a bit when compared to the previous week.

Eruption plume from Santiaguito yesterday morning.

Some of the explosions, about 1-2 per hour, produce plumes almost 1 km high.

Pacaya (Guatemala): Weak strombolian activity from the Mackenney crater, well visible at night, continues and has been showing a gradual increase over the past days.

Current seismogram from Pacaya (PCG station, INSIVUMEH).

This is also evident from the seismic recording. Some explosions can be heard in up to 3 km distance.

Fuego (Guatemala): The effusive eruptive activity continues to increase slowly. Two branches of the lava flow advanced to 500 m length towards the Ceniza and 400 m length to the Taniluyá canyon. Rockfalls from the flow fronts produce incandescent avalanches that reach the vegetation line.

At the summit, strombolian activity has been weaker today, but continues with infrequent small explosion that eject bombs to 100 m height and produce small ash plumes.

View of fire yesterday morning.

Activity has been increasing. Continuous stronger tremor today suggests an increase in effusion rate today. In INSIVUMEH's report from yesterday, the new lava flow was 400 m long and produced small avalanches towards the Ash Canyon. The number of explosions rose to 17, producing gray ash plumes rising 600 m above the crater and drifting 8-10 km to the west and SW. They were accompanied by weak rumblings and locomotive-like degassing sounds. Incandescent material was seen rising 100-200 m at night.

Sangay (Ecuador): Brief ash emissions were reported observed through satellite yesterday around noon. Ash plumes rose to about 25,000 ft (7.6 km) altitude or about 2 km above the volcano.

There is no ground monitoring, and only rarely direct observations become available from the very remote and difficult-to-access volcano. It is likely that usually small strombolian-type activity has been going on in the summit crater for some time. This activity usually goes unnoticed, unless explosions occasionally increase and produce more significant ash plumes such as yesterday.


Complete Earthquake list (worldwide) for April 27, 2013.


- Volcano Discovery.

GLOBAL VOLCANISM: The Volcano Discovery Report For March 24, 2013 - Updates On El Hierro, Bagana And Ulawun!

March 24, 2013 - WORLDWIDE VOLCANOES - The following constitutes the new activity, unrest and ongoing report from the Volcano Discovery Group.

Current seismic signal (IGN).

El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain): The earthquake swarm continues with little changes. Most epicenters have remained in an area at about 15-17 km depth a few km NW off the western tip of the island. Volcanic tremor, suggesting magma movements, is continuous with strong pulses every few hours.
Earthquake count today (only magnitudes greater than 2): 111

A strong pulse of volcanic tremor has started, accompanied by a 3.2 magnitude quake at 15 km depth at 09:40 GMT.

Current tremor amplitude (IGN).

It seems that magma is continuing to move, and the scenario of a possible new eruption is becoming more and more likely... [read more]

SO2 plume from Bagana today (NOAA).

Bagana (Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea):  A strong SO2 plume today suggests increased activity at the volcano.

Ulawun (New Britain, Papua New Guinea):  Increased SO2 emissions from Ulawun and Bagana volcanoes are visible today on satellite data.

Complete Earthquake list (worldwide) for March 24, 2013.

- Volcano Discovery.

GLOBAL VOLCANISM: The Volcano Discovery Report For March 22, 2013 - Updates On El Hierro, Batu Tara, Ambrym, Popocatépetl, Santa María, Santiaguito, Fuego, Telica And Nyiragongo

March 22, 2013 - WORLDWIDE VOLCANOES - The following constitutes the new activity, unrest and ongoing report from the Volcano Discovery Group.

Map of recent earthquakes at El Hierro.

El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain): Earthquakes and tremor have continued through the day, and continued to migrate a bit to the NW off the NW tip of the island. So far, 62 quakes above magnitude 2 have been recorded today.

 Map of today's earthquakes at El Hierro.

In addition, the average depth of the latest earthquakes has become a bit shallower and is now around 13 km (compared to 17-20 km before). This suggests that magma is still moving and has risen a bit closer to the surface, and, thus, a possible eruption

Current tremor signal (IGN).

A third, intense pulse of quakes and harmonic tremor started late last night and is going on at the moment. A magnitude 3.8 quake early today marks the so far largest event. The location of the latest quakes moved again a bit further to the west, and is now clustered at about 15-17 km depth beneath the western tip of the island... [read more]

Batu Tara (Sunda Islands, Indonesia): Activity remains elevated. Another explosion today produced an ash plume rising to 10,000 ft (3 km) altitude, VAAC Darwin reported.

SO2 from Ambrym today (NOAA).

Ambrym (Vanuatu): Elevated SO2 emissions remain elevated, suggesting that the lava lakes remain active.

Small steam explosion at Popo yesterday.

Popocatépetl (Central Mexico): The volcano's activity has stayed rather calm and not changed much. Yesterday, the rate of emissions was down to less than 1 per hour, but seems to have increased a bit today, as the current seismic signal suggests.

Santa María / Santiaguito (Guatemala): Activity at the dome has decreased compared to last week. INSIVUMEH reported only weak explosions with ash rising 400 m, and few and small avalanches from the lava flows today.

Today's seismic signal from Fuego (FG3 station, INSIVUMEH).

Fuego (Guatemala): The volcano has been considerably calmer today, with only 5 mostly weak explosions detected, which produced ash plumes rising 400-800 m above the craters. The (mostly now cooling) lava flow erupted two days ago still produces frequent rock falls and small avalanches.

Map of the earthquake near Telica volcano.

Telica (Nicaragua): The seismic swarm at the volcano continues, with many small tremors registered beneath the eastern sector of the volcano. There has not been any apparent surface activity reported (so far).

SO2 plume from Nyiragongo (NOAA).

Nyiragongo (DRCongo): A strong SO2 plume is drifting westwards from Nyiragongo volcano, which contains the world's largest active lava lake.

Complete Earthquake list (worldwide) for March 22, 2013.

Photo of the Day:

Sunset at the slopes of Mauna Kea volcano, Big Island, Hawaii (Photo: Janka)

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GLOBAL VOLCANISM: The Volcano Discovery Report For March 13, 2013 - Updates On Stromboli, Rabaul, Santa María, Santiaguito, Pacaya And Fuego!

March 14, 2013 - WORLDWIDE VOLCANOES - The following constitutes the new activity, unrest and ongoing report from the Volcano Discovery Group.

Stromboli (Eolian Islands, Italy): A new lava flow has started from the NE crater and is descending the Sciara del Fuoco. The activity is accompanied by continuous spattering from the northern hornito and strong tremor.

The new lava flow on Stromboli's Sciara del Fuoco this evening.

Rabaul (Tavurvur) (New Britain, Papua New Guinea): Intermittent mild explosive activity at the Tavurvur vent continues. A small eruption yesterday produced an ash plume rising several 100 m.

Santa María / Santiaguito (Guatemala): The dome has been becoming more active, INSIVUMEH details in its latest report. 40-60 small to moderate explosions have been occurring daily, producing a fine ash plume rising about 500-1000 m above the dome.

4 lava flows are active on the flanks of the dome, and produce near-constant avalanches and sometimes small pyroclastic flows.

Pacaya (Guatemala): Occasional weak gas and ash emissions have been reported by INSIVUMEH who believes that a return to magmatic, likely strombolian activity from the Mackenney crater is a probable scenario for the near future (weeks).

Fuego (Guatemala): Weak to moderate explosions accompanied by rumbling sounds audible in up to 6 km distance produce a fine ash plume drifting about 10 km to the west, and causing light ash fall in the areas of Panimache and Morelia.

INSIVUMEH mentions in its latest, unusually predictive daily report, that the sound of the explosions indicates that in the coming days a new lava flow will be visible again.


Complete Earthquake list (worldwide) for March 13, 2013.

Complete Earthquake list (worldwide) for March 14, 2013.


Photo of the Day: Advancing of lava flow on fresh snow at the Etna volcano.

(Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

Photo of the Day: Diego de la Haya Crater Lagoon of Irazu Volcano, near Cartago, highest active volcano in Costa Rica

Diego de la Haya Crater Lagoon of Irazu Volcano, near Cartago, highest active volcano in Costa Rica
(Photo: WNomad)

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GLOBAL VOLCANISM: The Volcano Discovery Report For February 27 - 28, 2013 - Updates On Stromboli, Etna, Santa Maria, Pacaya, Fuego, Nevado del Ruiz, And Sabancaya!

March 01, 2013 - WORLDWIDE VOLCANOES - The following constitutes the new activity, unrest and ongoing report from the Volcano Discovery Group.

Stromboli (Eolian Islands, Italy): The seismic signal signal has increased and probably shows both increased tremor and continuous rockfalls on the Sciara del Fuoco. Activity has increased significantly, judging from visible and seismic data.

Small overflows of lava are again occurring from the NE crater and tremor is at comparably high levels. A new lava flow has started to descend the Sciara del Fuoco. Judging from webcam images, it has probably reached about 500 m elevation, but seems to be relatively well alimented. 

Webcam image of Stromboli (INGV).

Etna (Sicily, Italy): Today, we observed an eruptive episode char.acterized by strombolian explosions and ash emissions took place from a new "player", the Voragine summit crater (NOT Bocca Nuova). The New SE crater has stayed calm, but now at night, an incandescent fumarole and some glow from its crater are visible (although the latter could still be from the Voragine).

Etna's New SE crater.

Powerful explosions from the vent east of the summit produce impressive shock waves and throw bombs into all directions, up to a km distance. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)

The 6th paroxysm from the New SE crater occurred this morning, February 28th. It was characterized by very strong explosions and tall lava fountains 3-600m tall from vents on the fissure cutting through the New SE crater. Lava flows from the eruption traveled south and SE from the cone onto Belvedere, where they destroyed the seismic station and telecamera, and into Valle del Bove..

PHOTOS: Etna new southeast crater paroxysm on February 28th, 2013.

Santa María / Santiaguito (Guatemala): No changes in activity occurred at the volcano, which continues to produce small to moderate ash explosions from the dome and weakly alimented block lava flows on its flanks.

Pacaya (Guatemala): INSIVUMEH reports that the small explosions have ceased for now, but expects strombolian activity to resume soon, as the seismicity remains elevated.

Fuego (Guatemala): Weak to moderate strombolian explosions with ash plumes rising about 600 m and drifting for 10 km were reported today.

SO2 plume from Nevado del Ruiz (NOAA).

Nevado del Ruiz (Colombia): Increased SO2 emissions are visible today.

Sabancaya (Peru): (26 Feb) A strong seismic swarm and increased fumarolic activity triggered an eruption warning for Sabancaya volcano (Arequipa, Peru) and the Civil Defense of the Regional Government of Arequipa raised the alert level to yellow, which involves implementing actions to prepare for a probable volcanic eruption.

On 24 Feb INGEMMET reported a seismic swarm with 536 earthquakes between 22 and 23 February (more than 20 per hour) and continuous fumarolic emissions from the volcano... [read more]

Sabancaya volcano (Peru): Seismic swarm triggers eruption warning
A strong seismic swarm and increased fumarolic activity triggered an eruption warning for Sabancaya volcano (Arequipa, Peru) and the Civil Defense of the Regional Government of Arequipa raised the alert level to yellow, which involves implementing actions to prepare for a probable volcanic eruption.

Sabancaya, active volcano in Southern Peru.

On 24 Feb INGEMMET reported a seismic swarm with 536 earthquakes between 22 and 23 February (more than 20 per hour) and continuous fumarolic emissions from the volcano. INGEMMET is intensifying the monitoring of seismic and degassing activity as well as condicuting GPS deformation monitoring, and visual surveillance with cameras and monitors, and has started to set up an observation camp near the volcano. In the coming days, the acquisition of satellite imagery using InSAR technique is expected to contribute to deformation monitoring.

Photo of the Day: Overview of of Erta Ales north crater with nice lavaflows.

Overview of of Erta Ales north crater with nice lavaflows - January 2013 (Photo: Tom222)

Complete Earthquake list (worldwide) for the 28th of February, 2013

Complete Earthquake list (worldwide) for the 27th of February, 2013


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GLOBAL VOLCANISM: The Volcano Discovery Report For February 15, 2013 - Updates On Stromboli And Pacaya!

February 15, 2013 - WORLDWIDE VOLCANOES - The following constitutes the new activity, unrest and ongoing report from the Volcano Discovery Group.

Stromboli (Eolian Islands, Italy): Lava continues to overflow from the NE crater, which also sometimes produces quite strong explosions.

Webcam image of Stromboli's NE crater with an overflow and an explosion (INGV).

Pacaya (Guatemala): Residents of San Francisco de Sales (San Vincente) village at the foot of the volcano reported having heard explosion sounds overnight.

INSIVUMEH has not found other evidence of new surface activity and concludes that the sounds came from internal activity.

Photo of the Day: Volcanic stone field next to Zula at the historical site of Adulis , Gulf of Zula, Afar Triangle, Eritrea

Volcanic stone field next to Zula at the historical site of Adulis , Gulf of Zula, Afar Triangle, Eritrea.

Complete Earthquake list (worldwide) for yesterday, Friday, 15 Feb 2013

Complete Earthquake list (worldwide) for today, Saturday, 16 Feb 2013