Some of the articles you might have missed this week ...
A lava flow from Kilauea breaks local traffic laws in the Royal Gardens subdivision, Hawai'i
- The Mayon Watch continues in the Philippines. No eruption yet, but some of the local newspapers are printing stories talking about "odd animal behavior" and other local "myths" about predicting the volcano, such as the wells drying up. Now, this is not to say that these things might have some predictive value (especially changes in the water table near the volcano as it inflates/deflates), but so far there are no robust scientific studies that I know of that can directly correlate animal behavior and volcanism (at least before an eruption). One possibility mentioned in the article is that the animals are noticing subtle increases in sulfur dioxide or hydrogen sulfide emissions. However, the best point made by Eduardo Laguerta of PHIVOLCS is more or less this: if animals are evacuating, maybe humans should take the hint (as opposed to doing the opposite). Local authorities are doing "dry runs" for potential evacuations. The volcano currently sits at Alert Level 2.
- The NASA Earth Observatory had a nice image this week of activity in the Pu'u O'o crater on Kilauea. The extent of the lava flows from this flank vent eruption is evident, with the dark black flows heading all the way down to the Pacific Ocean (~10 km / 4 miles). Plumes from the active Pu'u O'o vent and an small ocean entry are visible as well. Lava flows from Kilauea destroyed another building in the Royal Gardens subdivision this week as well. Most of the damage in the subdivision is being caused by a small breakout from the lava tube system that feeds the Kupapa'u ocean entry.
- The NASA EO hit us with another great image of an erupting volcano this week, this time at Anak Krakatau (who was popular this week). This image, taken on July 7, 2009, shows the active cone on Anak Krakatau, which some nice detail on the lava / scoria flows that cut through the small bits of vegetation on the east side of the island. The Indonesian volcano currently sits at Alert Level 3
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The headline for this entry sounds more dramatic than it is, but one of the last structures in the ill-fated Royal Gardens subdivision on the big island of Hawai'i finally met its fiery demise over the weekend. For those of you unfamiliar with the plight of the subdivision, Royal Gardens is part…
Not to feel left out from all the action going on in Alaska, Kilauea in Hawai'i has a new lava flow issuing from the Thankgiving Eve Breakout (TEB)Â vent area. It sounds like a fairly small flow and none of the flows have reached the ocean. The TEB was the November 21, 2007 event where activity…
The latest of volcano news from around the world, brought to you by the USGS and Smithsonian Institute Global Volcanism Program (and especially Sally Kuhn Sennert!)
Highlights this week include:
Karangetang in Indonesia produced a couple 3 km/10,000 foot steam-and-ash plumes according to reports…
Sally Sennert from the Smithsonian Institution sent me an email to say that this week's USGS/Smithsonian Institute Weekly Volcanic Report will be delayed due to the inclement weather in the Washington DC area. She can't connect with the server, so the report can't be updated on the Smithsonian…
that must be the Hawaiian mile at 2.5 km/mile