colombia
eklemetti | June 17, 2009Your weekly dose of volcano news brought you by the Smithsonian Institute GVP and the USGS.
This week's highlights (not counting Sarychev Peak and Turrialba) include:
13,000 foot / 4 km ash plumes from Rinjani in Indonesia. This is part of the continuing eruption there.
The alert level was lowered at Galeras, Colombia to "Orange" after intense eruptions last week.
The current lava dome at Redoubt is 1 km long, 460 m wide, and 200 m high according to the latest images from the Alaskan volcano.
18,000-23,000 foot / 4.8-7.7 km ash plumes from Shiveluch in Kamchatka, along with thermal anomalies…
eklemetti | June 3, 2009This week's edition of Wednesday Whatzits could have been called "Miércoles Materia" as all the updates are for South American volcano. Enjoy!
Tungurahua in Ecuador
(Note: all links in spanish)
INGEOMINAS in Colombia is reporting that Nevado del Huila experienced 343 earthquakes over the past week, suggesting that something is brewing at the volcano. This has been accompanied by gas emissions and ash from the fractured dome. The Volcano Observatory in Popayán mentions that more than half of the earthquakes are related to magma moving into the system. Huila remains at Level III (Yellow)…
eklemetti | May 28, 2009Here's some news bits for all you volcanophiles. Enjoy the weekend!
Ubinas in Peru steaming away in June 2007. Image courtesy of Eruptions reader Mike Lyvers.
There has been a lot of press lately on the theory that a large eruption from an ancient volcanic field in China (the 260-million-year-old Emeishan volcanic province of southwest China) could be the culprit in the grand Permian extinction. I have to admit, I've only skimmed the surface of this study, but the work lead by Dr. Paul Wignall (a paleontologist, not a volcanologist - not that there is anything wrong with that) seems to…
eklemetti | May 13, 2009Here's the latest news from the USGS and SI Global Volcanism Program. It might not record every little volcanic noise in the world each week, but nothing like getting all the major volcanic events summarized on a weekly basis.
Highlights this week (not including Nyiragongo, Redoubt and Galeras):
The eruption at Rinjani in Indonesia continues, with elevated seismicity and 300-600 meter plumes.
Sporadic strombolian eruptions from the Crater C at Arenal, Costa Rica (since late April)
High seismicity, 100 meter domes and continued dome collapses continue at the two domes growing at Chaiten,…
eklemetti | May 12, 2009
Redoubt emitting a large steam plume in April 2009. Image courtesy of Calvin Hall.
A few snippets from the world of volcanoes:
The current eruptive cycle at Galeras continues to go strong. Officials with INGEOMINAS, the Colombian Geology Survey, believe the volcano will erupt again in the next few "days to weeks". The volcano last erupted a few weeks ago (in spanish) and caused quite a bit of panic in the city of Pasto at the foot of the volcano. An Orange Alert has been issued (in spanish) for the volcano.
Another volcano have is on the verge of a larger eruption is Nyiragongo in the DR of…
eklemetti | May 6, 2009All the eruptions fit to print from the Smithsonsian/USGS GVP Weekly Report.
A few highlights (not including Redoubt, Rinjani and Slamet):
Multiple ash plumes from Galeras (Colombia), some producing noticeable ash fall up to 35 km from the vent.
The Alert Level at Anak Krakatau, Indonesia was raised to 3 (out of 4) after a sharp increase in the number of explosions.
The Alert Level at Cleveland in Alaska was lowered from Yellow to "Unassigned" (no Green for Cleveland as there is no real-time seismic network for the volcano, thus no "background levels" to compare.)
Ebeko in Russia continues…
eklemetti | April 22, 2009Has a week gone by already? It is time for another USGS/Smithsonian GVP Weekly Volcano Activity Report.
Highlights (beyond Fernandina, Pagan and Redoubt) include:
A new underwater eruption at NW-Rota 1 in the Mariana Islands.
Increasing seismicity and incandescence from the rhyolite domes forming at Chaiten, Chile.
A spike in sulfur dioxide emissions from Kilauea, Hawai'i to 700 tonnes/day (up from a 2003-07 average of 150 tonnes/day).
4.5-7.5 km / 15-26,000 foot ash columns produced at Shiveluch in Kamchatka from new lava dome.
Continued dome growth and ~6 km / 26,000 foot ash columns from…
eklemetti | March 25, 2009Its been a busy week for volcanoes between the headline capturing Tongan and Alaska eruptions. Catch up on what you might have missed with the latest SI/USGS Weekly Volcano Report (for 3/18-3/24). Highlights (beyond Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai and Redoubt) include:
Galeras, Colombia has settled down a bit
More block-and-ash flows from the two dome complexes growing at Chaiten, Chile
Strombolian eruptions at Mt. Etna, Italy
Plumes of steam and minor ash were reported from Popocatépetl, Mexico
A small lahar was seen at Tungurahua, Ecuador
Ash plumes and incandescent tephra explosions were…
eklemetti | March 14, 2009
Photo: The north flank of Mount Redoubt in early February 2009. Credit: Chris Waythomas / Alaska Volcano Observatory/U.S. Geological Survey
I've been following the waxing and waning of activity at Mt. Redoubt in Alaska for the past two months like many of you have. For a time there, the volcano had the nation's attention, both from the threat of a eruption near major shipping and oil hubs and from some questionable comments made by a certain Republican governor. However, nature sometimes doesn't play well with others, so after weeks of the Alaska Volcano Observatory's warnings that the…
eklemetti | March 13, 2009
2009 has been a busy year for Volcan Galeras in Colombia. The volcano has erupted at least twice this year already vigorously enough to prompt evacuations of the area. Galeras does tend to see cycles of eruptive activity, the last one started in 2000 after seven years of quiet. Many times, the eruptions are more visually impressive than hazardous (see the picture above from January 2008 from INGEOMINAS).
Luckily, Galeras is also once of the most watched volcanoes in South America. The INGEOMINAS (Colombian Geological Survey) staffs the Pasto Volcano Observatory (OVSP) to monitor the volcano…
sb admin | March 12, 2009
Welcome to version 2.0 of Eruptions, the blog on volcanic eruptions and volcano research in general. I've been writing this blog (starting over on Wordpress) over the last year or so, but now it has found a new home here at ScienceBlogs. If you're wondering what to expect if you're new to Eruptions, I'll be bringing news of volcanoes that are erupting worldwide, distilling the scientific jargon, dispelling the misinformation and commenting on what the effects of the eruption(s) might be. I'll also try to bring in any volcanoes in the popular media that gets my attention (alas, it has been…
eklemetti | February 20, 2009
Galeras, in Colombia, appears to have entered a new cycle of activity as it has erupted for the second time in a week. A large explosion occurred this morning that was accompanied by falling ash and rocks (ballistic bombs) from the event. It is unclear how far the volcanic products travelled from the vent, but Colombian officials did raise the alert level back to red and ordered new evacuations.
eklemetti | February 15, 2009
UPDATE 2/15/2009 20:30 PM: Marta Calvache of INGEOMINAS says that seismicity has all but stopped at Galeras after the eruption Saturday night, however the area will be kept on alert for more potential activity. However, even with the eruption, apparently there are very few people in the evacuation centers - never a good sign if something really big were to happen at the restless Colombian volcano. Â
Last night, Galeras, near Pasto in Colombia, erupted, prompting an evacuation of nearly 7,000 people living near the volcano. The first CNN article linked above, for some reason, says that…
eklemetti | February 11, 2009I get a fairly steady stream of emails from Eruptions readers, some of which are very worth a post, but sometimes it takes me a while to get around to posting. This is my second attempt to catch up on these mailbag emails. Remember, feel free to email me questions or comments whether you want.
Reader Aldo Piombino sent me an email last month after my post on potential Antarctic volcanism asking about some more unknown volcanoes. He brings up Mt. Marsili in the Tyrrhenian Sea (including a post of his own, in Italian), a volcano of which I was not aware. It is a submarine volcano (info on…
eklemetti | February 5, 2009
Bored with waiting for Redoubt to erupt? Well, Nevado del Huila in Colombia looks like it is also on the eruption watch list. A fly-over of Huila performed by Colombian officials (unclear from the article if it was done by National Emergency Management or INGEOMINAS) revealed a large lava dome growing in the crater, suggesting that an eruption might follow considering all the lava being extruded. This eruption might come in the form of an explosion caused by the collapse of this lava done - the collapse itself could generate a pyroclastic flow and the release of pressure on the underlying…
bleimanb | February 4, 2009Researchers in a remote Colombian jungle have identified 10 new species of amphibian. Keeping with Zooillogix's official policy, because the creatures are finally known to Western science, now and only now can we all consider them to exist. Scientists from Conservation International and the Ecotropico Foundation explored the mountains in the Tacarcuna area of the Darien near Panama to discover the new species.
Oranged-legged rain frog
Many more below the fold...
Another kind of rain frog
Salamander Bolitoglossa taylori
Poisonous frog of the Dendrobatidae famlily
Glass frog of the…
eklemetti | January 27, 2009
The Colombian government has extended the evacuations near Nevado del Huila, taking 800 families out of the danger zone near the rumbling volcano. Huila has been making a lot of noise as of late, and Colombian officials in Ingeominas and the National System for Emergencies are worried that the volcano will erupt soon, sending avalanches and lahars down the valleys of the Paez and Simbola Rivers as happened in November of 2008 (see above or the link to the Volcanism Blog). They also note that Ingeominas is installing microphones on the volcano to detect explosions in the crater to better…
eklemetti | January 20, 2009
Nevado del Huila continues to cause problems in Colombia. Over 4,000 people had to be evacuated today from the Belalcazar area after the volcano showed new signs of eruption. No description is given to exactly what those signs were/are, however after the lahars in November (2008), it sounds like the Colombian government is not taking chances. Huila has been rumbling for almost two years now after almost 450 years on silence (that we know of) at the volcano.
eklemetti | November 24, 2008
The lahars and mudslides near Nevado del Huila - or, in particular, the threat of more - have prompted more evacuations. Although the known death toll from the eruption and its associated lahars is still officially only in the low double digits, at least 150 people are still missing, so that may change. You can see in the photo from Belalcazar (above) that the mud inundated the town and destroyed roads and buildings easily. This is what to expect whenever lahars are generated, along with the potential for flooding afterwards due to the dewatering of the mudflows and the blockage of drainage…
eklemetti | November 23, 2008
I've found a few more details about the ongoing activity at Huila in Colombia, including a video report from the BBC. It seems that the eruption at Huila is a photocopy of what happened at Nevado del Ruiz in 1985 in its style: hot ash and gasses erupted from the crater melted ice/snow near the summit to create a lahar - a deadly mix of volcanic material and water that ends up like a surging flow of liquid concrete. The lahars travelled down the Rio Paez valley (see linked map - the landslide on the map is not volcanically related).
Beyond the unfortunate victims caught in the mudflows, many…