eklemetti | January 14, 2010Sometimes it is easy to feel overwhelmed by a disaster like the earthquake in Haiti - I mean, how much can someone sitting in their office thousands of miles away do? It isn't really feasible for most people to pull up stakes and go to give first-hand assistance during the recovery - but you feel like you need to do something. The first step is just trying to offer whatever assistance you can in whatever limited way you can. Many of us might not have a lot of money to spare - but that is the key word, "spare". That means "leftover". That means you have money to begin with - so some sacrifice…
eklemetti | January 13, 2010Somehow I haven't posted a bunch of interesting items collected over the last few weeks, so I need to catch up. A pre-emptive hat tip to everyone who has sent me links or notes that might seem familiar in this post.
Tungurahua in Ecuador erupting in 2000.
First off, those of you looking for information on the Haitian earthquake that devastated the capitol Port Au Prince, Highly Allochthonous has post on the tectonics of the quake. Right now, it is hard for me to come up with a worse location in terms of devastation for a quake to have hit in the Caribbean Basin.
Back in volcano news, a lot of…
eklemetti | January 12, 2010This isn't directly volcano-related, but the USGS (and CNN) are reporting that a 7.0 earthquake just occurred in Haiti. Looking at the map, it seems that it epicentered only 10 miles/15 kilometers from Port Au Prince, the biggest city in Haiti. The earthquake was at 10 km depth - so a fairly shallow earthquake related to the complex transform faulting along the boundary of the Caribbean and Atlantic plates. A Tsunani Watch has been issued for the Caribbean as well - but the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center believes that the only effects will be local (within 100 km) of Hispaniola.
eklemetti | January 11, 2010The streaming crater of Turrialba in an image taken in mid January 2010.
I have a moment to spare here at WMU, so I thought I would pass some of this confusing news along concerning Turrialba. Some of the latest reports refer to a "crack" in the crater of the volcano ... specifically:
Geologists and volcanologists were at least able to confirm that the crack on the wall of the volcano is getting larger, confirmed by flybys by helicopters during a break in the weather. The experts say the constant spewing of gases is causing the crack to get bigger and could collapse the volcano's crater wall…
eklemetti | January 8, 2010The weekend! No updates until next Tuesday - I'll be off to give a talk at Western Michigan University.
Coal-erupting volcanoes defeat the Permian dinosaurs ... according to FOX News.
Anyway...
You know that mainstream media (FOXNews) must have done something appalling when even I can't write about it thanks to my seething rage. I'll let Chris Rowan at Highly Allochthonous and Ralph at the Volcanism Blog sum up how FOX News tried to explain the extinction of the dinosaurs (hint 1: it happened before dinosaurs even existed. hint 2: volcanoes erupt coal now).
After you've read about that…
eklemetti | January 7, 2010
The steam plume from Turrialba on December 26, 2009. Image by Eruptions reader Sahrye Cohen.
Turrialba
Costa Rican officials extended the evacuation zone around Turrialba from 3 to 6 km, raising the alert status at the volcano to Yellow. Vanessa Rosales of the National Emergency Commission described the seismicity as "intense but low," but says the country is prepared to deal with the emergency. As always, the news chooses oddly what is the "news" of an event, and many article on Turrialba focus on Costa Rica's coffee - yes, it is safe, so far. A news report from the Tico Times quotes Raul…
eklemetti | January 6, 2010Two volcanoes down, two volcanoes up!
Fire fountain on Nyamuragira in the Congo, January 2010.
DownMayonActivity at Mayon has continues to drop - although PHIVOLCS warns that an eruption could happen at any moment and without much warning. About a quarter of the evacuated families have no returned home since PHIVOLCS gave the OK to return home on January 2 - but Philippine officials are still on alert in case evacuations have to be reinstated.
Redoubt
The resurgent Redoubt is no long ... er ... resurging? AVO lowered the alert status to Green - meaning normal/background levels of activity.…
eklemetti | January 5, 2010Yet another new eruption for 2010!
Turrialba volcano in Costa Rica in an undated photo.
Turrialba in Costa Rica erupted today, prompting the evacuation of tens of people from the region near the volcano. The eruption appears to be relatively small, producing ash and some pyroclastic material. The area around the volcano is not very populated and isn't near the profitable coffee-growing region of Costa Rica. This eruption is the first at Turrialba since 1866, over 130 years ago. That eruption was a VEI 3, so Turrialba is definitely a volcano to watch if the activity continues.
Also in Costa…
eklemetti | January 4, 2010Gambling and volcanoes go hand-in-hand?
Somehow I didn't pick up on this, but people are gambling on volcanoes now?
I mean, I suppose if they bet on the coin toss at the Super Bowl, people will bet on anything. Now, I'm not one to judge the taste in any of this, but here are the current odds for volcanoes to have a VEI 3 eruption:
3/1 Mt Unzen (Japan)
9/1 Mauna Loa (USA)
10/1 Ulawun (Papua New Guinea)
10/1 Merapi (Indonesia)
10/1 Santorini (Greece)
11/1 Colima (Mexico)
11/1 Rainier (USA)
11/1 Taal (Philippines)
11/1 Teide (Spain, Canary Islands)
12/1 Mt Nyiragongo (DR Congo)
12/1…
eklemetti | January 3, 2010A pile of news for the new week!
The glow of new lava flows from Nyamuragira in the Congo, taken from the Virunga Park Headquarters, January 2, 2010.
MayonPHIVOLCS may lower the alert status at Mayon to Level 2 after almost a week of lower seismicity and no ash explosions since December 29th. Schools that were being used as evacuation centers were also returned to teachers and students for the start of classes after the Christmas holiday. However, the Albay provincial government is now considering a plan to permanently move everyone who lives within the 6-km danger zone around Mayon, even if…
eklemetti | January 2, 2010Undated image of the crater at Galeras in Colombia.
UPDATE 1/3/09 Midnight: I'm bumping this up from the comments, but INGEOMINAS posted some stunning webcam video of the eruption as it happened. Wow is all I say. {Hat tip to Doug C. for the video}
A quick note tonight: Eruptions reader Chance Metz alerted me to an impressive eruption of Galeras in Colombia tonight. The VAAC warning issued for the eruption suggests a 40,000 foot / 12 km ash plume and the reports seem to back it up, with the Red Cross reporting "very high ash cloud". No injuries/fatalities have been reported, but Galeras is…
eklemetti | January 2, 2010It didn't take long in the new year to get started!
Nymuragira erupting in January 2010.
Nyamuragira in the Congo erupted to start off the new year, producing explosions and lava flows. The flow are moving down the southern flank of the volcano. The eruption started with loud, concussive noises at 3:45 AM that startled rangers at the National Park that surround the volcanoes Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo. It appears that there was some part of the eruption that was either fire fountains or strombolian as the rangers describe the early events as "fire with sparks flying". The lava flows from this…
eklemetti | December 31, 20092009 is over! If you missed the Volcanic Year in Review, check out my summary of the volcanic events that captivated many of us over the past year. However, only one event will get the coveted 2009 Pliny for Volcanic Event of the Year. A lot of you wrote in with votes and comments - I thank you - and a number of events stood out in your mind. Here we go:
Honorable mention
A few volcanic events got multiple votes:
- Soufriere Hills on Montserrat.
- Mando Hararo in Ethiopia.
- Chaiten, Chile and the new research on the eruption.
- The earthquakes in western Saudi Arabia under the Harrat…
eklemetti | December 31, 2009Here it is, my attempt to recap a year's worth of volcanic events. By no means is this supposed to capture every event, but rather the highlight/lowlights and what most captivated me during 2009. I'll be announcing the winner of the 2009 Pliny for Volcanic Event of the Year tomorrow.
Waimangu Geothermal Valley in New Zealand, taken in January 2009 by Erik Klemetti.
January
The year started out with a trip to New Zealand (well, for me at least) and vistas of the Waimangu Valley, formed in the 1886 eruption of Tarawera on the North Island. We were also still thinking about the late 2008…
eklemetti | December 29, 2009Soufriere Hills on Montserrat in an undated image from the Royal Navy.
Just wanted to pass along this bit of news: the current eruptions at Soufriere Hills on Montserrat are prompting cancellations of over 40 flights today from Puerto Rico. This is due to the ash plumes from the current dome eruptions - the NASA Earth Observatory posted images of the recent activity showing the large, grey plume drifting to the west. What is impressive is that Puerto Rico is over 250 miles / 400 km to the west of Montserrat, so this ash must be significant enough to prompt these flight cancellations. The ash…
eklemetti | December 29, 2009Not much new to report today, so I'll just add some notes to the two volcanoes in the news right now: Mayon and Redoubt.
Mt. Redoubt in Alaska, taken on September 23, 2009. Image courtesy of AVO/USGS, taken by Game McGimsey.
Mayon:
The volcano continues to show signs that a major eruption is in the works, but nothing new occurred over the last 24 hours. 2 km / ~5,000 foot ash plumes were produced from the new dome/flow complex, causing a potential aviation hazard, and the lava flows continued to be erupted. In evacuation news, animals are now being evacuated from the hazard zone around the…
eklemetti | December 28, 2009The most recent image on the AVO website of the dome at Redoubt, taken in November 2009. Image courtesy of AVO/USGS, by Cyrus Read.
Not much information on this, but AVO just raised the alert status at Redoubt in Alaska to Yellow for the first time since late September. A series of small earthquakes were detected near the summit dome starting at 10 A.M. today, prompting the change of status.
The link to the complete text of the change in status doesn't seem to work on the AVO site, so here it is:
2009-12-28 09:53:11 - VAN/VONA
AVO is raising the Aviation Color Code to YELLOW and the Volcano…
eklemetti | December 28, 2009I've gotten a lot of emails over the last few weeks and have done a terrible job at replying. No fear - I will get to them, most likely this week or next. Feel free to send me questions/comments/stories whenever you find them -
!
eklemetti | December 28, 2009Lava flows from Mayon, taken December 23, 2009.
Volcano news over the holidays this year is still focused on Mayon in the Philippines. We're reaching almost a month since the volcano starting showing signs of a major eruption, but no "big one" yet. Lava flows, ash and block-and-ash flows are continuing to be issued from the new dome at the summit, but earthquakes are down some - which is leading to the problem that people are thinking the volcano is "safe". Many evacuees are returning home already, even with the threat-level at Mayon is unchanged.
This danger of people losing faith/not…
eklemetti | December 28, 2009I'm back from my Christmas Eruptions break ... time to play a little catch up!
Popocatepetl in Mexico.
Thanks to everyone for voting/commenting for the Volcanic Event of the Year - The Pliny. It sounds like I have my work cut out for me in determining the winner, but there is still time to vote! Leave your choice for the the Pliny here or email me at
. Look for my year-end review of volcanic events coming in the next few days.
As for the Christmas Day Mystery Volcano Photo, Eruptions reader Don Crain did get it on the first try - they are, in fact, Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl from the…