Andes
eklemetti | September 2, 2008
Whether this is a coincidence or not, I thought I'd mention a report of an earthquake near the crater of Nevado del Huila in Colombia. The earthquake is reported as a magnitude 4.6Â and at a depth of 20 km (although that is only a rough estimate), indicating that magma might be moving up the conduit system under the volcano - or that it might be just coincidental seismicity in a seismically active area. However, Huila had recently become active for the first time in 500 years, so this could be a sign of new activity to come.
eklemetti | August 14, 2008
I'll be brief (as I'm in the middle of moving), but I did see a report that activity at Chaiten is increasing yet again. This seems like the operating mode for this volcano, with a waxing and waning of intensity, since the volcano started erupting on May 2. The latest report indicates renewed ash emissions producing an ash column that reaches ~20,000 feet (4,000 meters), with ash falling on nearby areas. There is also mention of some increased seismic activity at the Chilean caldera. The picture above shows the extent of the mobilized ash and volcanic debris that has wiped out much of the…
eklemetti | July 30, 2008
I have a few bits of news about one (of the three) volcanoes erupting in Ecuador. Reports from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of Ecuador says the volcano is still erupting ash and there is evidence that lava is erupting from the summit vent. Not surprisingly, there is a travel ban on both Reventador and Tungurahua.
eklemetti | July 27, 2008
There haven't been any major developments volcano-wise over the weekend, just a few updates on some current rumblings:
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Soufriere Hills (Montserrat) coughed up more ash, producing ash columns to "thousands of feet" according to reports from the MVO. The eruptions/explosions were centered at the lava dome on the summit of the volcano, Seismicity has also increased, suggesting that a larger eruption might be in the works.
Chaiten continues to worry Chilean geologists. Although the eruption seems to have reduced in intensity over the weekend, the fear of a blockage that could lead to a…
eklemetti | July 25, 2008
ONEMI, the Emergency Office of Chile, is expressing concerns that Chaiten might be readying an even bigger blast than what we've seen already in the past few months. In particular, ONEMI direction Carmen Fernández is concerned that the volcano might have a major explosion with accompanying ash fall and pyroclastic flows. They are pointing to the increased seismicity at depth under Chaiten as potential evidence that the conduit to the surface is partially blocked, and thus building pressure for a large explosion - think Augustus Gloop in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory if you want a…
eklemetti | July 20, 2008
It has been a while since we've seen a Chaiten update, but today there is a report that LanChile has had to cancel flights to Puerto Montt due to ash from the volcano. Chaiten has been erupting since early May, so now we're almost 2 1/2 months into the eruption - quite a feat for such a large eruption! The report also mentions that some residents of the town of Chaiten have been able to visit their homes to collect belonging and the government might just try to rebuild the town in an entirely new location. The USGS plans to send geologists to the volcano later in 2008 or early 2009 to survey…
eklemetti | July 10, 2008
Llaima (Chile) is experiencing an increased tempo in its current eruption. The National Emergency Office in Chile is reporting that the eruption has begun to take a more explosive character, with pyroclastic material being shot hundreds of meters from the main vent. Although the officials have not changed the current status of the evacuation, which has been limited to 50 people closest to the volcano, they are pondering their next step if the week-old eruption continues to escalate.
eklemetti | July 2, 2008
There are some astounding new pictures of Chaiten in full eruption over at the Smithsonian Website. There pictures were released by the USGS/VDAP team and show a full eruption column coming from the new dome in the Chaiten caldera (see above and below). The dome itself looks giant, filling up a lot of the old caldera (the highlands around the edge of the dome itself). The eruption is almost the antithesis of the 2004-08 Mt. Saint Helens dome eruptions which has produced a minute dome filling the 1980 crater. This rhyolite dome is the first major rhyolite eruption in almost 100 years, so I…
eklemetti | June 19, 2008
Just when you thought it was safe to go outside.
After apparently settling down a bit over the weekend, Chaiten has kicked it back up a notch. The latest reports say that two ash columns are active ... and that is about all we get for more news. Not surprisingly, most of the damage around the volcano has been done by flooding and/or lahars, thanks to the ash and debris-choked rivers like Rio Blanco. It also sounds like the SERNAGEOMIN is digging in for the long-haul, calling for the eruption to go on - to some degree - for months. This isn't too shocking considering the minor dome eruption…
eklemetti | June 16, 2008
The newest reports out of Chile are indicating that the eruption at Chaiten has reached levels of intensity not seen since the eruption first started over six weeks ago. I have to admit, that isn't a good sign in terms of keeping the volcanic edifice in one piece. There have been frequent, small (<M3) earthquakes along with "rumbling noises," which might indicates that the domes are collapsing to form pyroclastic flows. Alternately (and need I remind you, very speculatively) it might be the the edifice itself beginning to show the wear of this long eruption and the emptying of the magma…
eklemetti | June 13, 2008
So, this was a bit of a surprise to me. Six weeks into the Chaiten eruption in Chile, apparently the volcano has picked up the tempo again. Not much in the report except that apparently two new vents/craters have opened, there is an increase in ash emission and seismic activity. What this might be is difficult to ascertain from the report, but it could indicate that the volcano might be heading down the road toward a collapse, such as the one previously alluded to by scientist-in-charge Luis Lara. Another report - albeit almost identical to the first - does mention in the headline that the…
eklemetti | June 6, 2008
Reuters has a short video showing some of the damage inflicted on Chaiten by the volcano of the same name. Looks like the ash, lahars and flooding have wiped out at least a third of the town (according to the voice-over) ... and in a sense, Chaiten (the town) lucked out as the destruction could have been a lot worse.
eklemetti | May 30, 2008
We've been hearing a lot of conflicting reports about the state and future of the Chaiten eruption. Now ending its fourth week of eruption, Chaiten was said to be easing up a bit, but recent reports have Luis Lara from the SERNAGEOMIN still worried about a potential collapse, followed by a devastating eruption. I'll have to take his word for it as the explanations in the article don't really make a lot of sense. It sounds like both Lara and Dr. Petrinovic (Argentina) are worried about dome collapse, but that would just form large pyroclastic flows ... unless the dome collapses enough to…
eklemetti | May 28, 2008
Some news from the Chaiten eruption. Apparently, LanChile has cancelled some flights around the region of southern Chile due to the ash. They likely implies that the eruption column is bigger than reported by the SERNAGEOMIN on Monday, but the report has little in the way of details. Sounds like the volcano is still huffing and puffing away. Definitely one of the more important and interesting eruptions in the last few hundred years and it has the Cascades Volcano Observatory along with the USGS VDAP buzzing (based on some conversations I've had recently), even almost four weeks in.
eklemetti | May 27, 2008Although the mainstream media seems to have lost interest in the Chaiten eruption beyond the "human interest" (or should I say "salmon interest") aspect of the eruption, there is still a lot going on at the volcano. The SERNAGEOMIN recently released this excellent photo of the erupting caldera:
What is pretty clear here is thank a new rhyolite dome is erupting on top of the old dome. (On a side note, when I was visiting the Smithsonian last week, we were all lamenting the fact that no one has come out and said what composition this lava is? I'm 99% convinced it is rhyolite, e.g., high silica…
eklemetti | May 26, 2008
Tungurahua, one of the most active (and harder to pronounce) volcanoes in the Andes, has been experiencing explosions over the last few days. Not much in the report beyond the 125 explosions, increased seismicity and ashfall around the volcano. This is fairly typical behavior of Tungurahua: Strombolian-style eruptions (see the picture above for a great example) with ash and blocks being ejected from the crater. The volcano has been continuously erupting since 1999.
eklemetti | May 19, 2008
It has been rather quiet on the volcano news front over the weekend. A couple tidbits:
- There are some new data showing the sulfur dioxide flux from Mt. Etna (Italy). The image above is an eruption of Etna from 2001 (and it makes a great wallpaper).
- I've heard very little about Chaiten lately, mostly because I don't think much has changed. The last update provided by the SERNAGEOMIN was on 5.16 (in spanish) and pretty much that is exactly what it says: the volcano continues to erupt. Apparently some USGS folks will be arriving on the scene soon as well. Most of the town of Chaiten has…
eklemetti | May 15, 2008
To keep us up to date on the goings-on at Chaiten in southern Chile, well, the volcano is still erupting! Yes, two weeks in and heavy ash is still being erupted from vent. The latest reports are vague, but Chilean officials are saying things like "There's been additional volcanic activity that we're really worried about..." Now, I can only speculate what this means, but this might be an indicate that the SERNAGEOMIN are really beginning to seriously consider that the whole volcano may collapse.
The town of Chaiten, even without a collapse, is pretty much been wiped off the map. 90% of the…
eklemetti | May 15, 2008
If Chaiten, Llaima and Puyehue weren't enough, the Chilean Regional Emergency Office is placing seismometers on Peteroa volcano after its shown signs of increasing activity. The volcano is located out on the border with Chile and Argentina and has a number of glaciers that start from the edifice. Looking at the eruptive history of Peteroa, it seems that it has spasms every 30 years or so, although the last known eruption was ~10 years ago. The eruptions are mostly phreatic explosions (related to magma-water interaction) and the last known eruption that produced significant lava, ash and…
eklemetti | May 14, 2008
A bit busy today, so to borrow from the newest USGS/SI Volcanism Report:
On 12 May, the plume rose to an altitude of 8 km (26,200 ft) a.s.l.
During an overflight conducted by SERNAGEOMIN, four more plumes of a
similar altitude were generated by explosions and drifted NE. Several
hectares of burned vegetation, likely from pyroclastic flows or
lateral explosions, were noted on the N flank of the dome. Small
pyroclastic flows may also have been responsible for completely burned
forest to areas in the NE, and on the W and NW dome flanks. A lahar
caused the banks of the Chaitén River to overflow…