Huila

A new Weekly Volcanic Activity Report from the Smithsonian and USGS Global Volcanism Program! Highlights from this week's report include: Things are getting a little noisy in Colombia. I mentioned a few weeks ago about a possible explosion at Nevado del Ruiz. Now we have reports of increased seismicity under nearby Cerro MachÃn and ash plumes from Nevado del Huila. After a few centuries of relative quiet, it looks like the volcanoes of the Colombian Andes are looking more lively. Also in South America, a gas plume was spotted at Chile's Planchon-Peteroa. This is the second time this year…

The latest news from the world of volcanoes, brought to us by the Global Volcanism Program, USGS and the Smithsonian Institution. They are also brought to us by Sally Kuhn Sennert - and if you have a question for her about her job at the GVP preparing the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report and all things volcanic (and hopefully it won't end like another recent volcanically-mitigated interview). Some highlights (not including Gorely and Sakurajima): Ioto (aka Iwojima) in the Volcano Islands of Japan produced an ash plume of unknown height. The volcano has frequent phreatic eruptions and abundant…

Here 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…

Before it gets lost in the mists of time/finals, here is the weekly volcano report brought to us by the USGS and the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program. Highlights (not including Mayon, Soufriere Hills or Piton de La Fournaise): Fuego in Guatemala produced ash plumes that reached 4.1-4.7 km / 13,500-15,400 ft along with avalanches of volcaniclastic debris. Also in Guatemala, lava flows erupted from Pacaya, traveling hundreds of meters from the main vent area. Manam in PNG produced an 3 km / 10,000 foot ash plume as part of its renewed activity this year. The lava dome on Nevado del Huila…

Back from Iowa, time for some volcano news. Look for the answers to your questions for Dr. Boris Behncke to get posted later this week. (And thanks for all the comments and kind words in the Open Thread. I'll start thinking about how to implement a lot of these in the next few weeks). Undated photo of Volcan Galeras in Colombia. Galeras stopped traffic near Pasto, Colombia and prompted the evacuation of 1,000 people over the weekend when it erupted. The volcano apparently produced ash that covered towns near the volcano, including Pashto, and the highway connected that town with Pasto was…

All the news to start the week: Galeras with a grey ash-and-steam plume behind Pasto, Colombia. Well, after my article on Friday about Colombian volcanoes, Galeras must have decided it was left out. The volcano has been placed back at alert level Orange/II (eruption in days to weeks). An increase in seismicity and sulfur dioxide emissions (in spanish) prompted INGEOMINAS to put Galeras back on higher alert, but now the country has two volcanoes (Galeras and Huila) that could be erupting in the near future. Back in the Philippines, there is new evidence that Mayon has a new dome forming at…

There has been news over the last few days of a number of volcanoes in Colombia, so I thought I'd try to gather it up here: The steaming summit of Nevado del Huila in Colombia Nevado del Huila has been ramping up its ash emissions, potentially pointing towards new eruptions from the crater dome. The NASA Earth Observatory posted a new image of the grey ash plume from the volcano poking its way up through the clouds. This plume made it all the way to ~11 km / 36,000 feet, so it definitely isn't insignificant. This comes after an increase in seismicity (up to 1,000 earthquakes in the last…

The SI/USGS GVP site is back up and running - and they've posted a new weekly volcano activity report. Enjoy! Highlights include: Nevado del Huila in Colombia has been showing signs that a new eruption might be starting. Seismicity has increased and minor ash fall has been reported, leading to an increase in the alert level at the volcano to "orange" (high). Ebeko in the Kuril Islands off Russia and Japan produced a ~8.8 km / 29,000 foot ash plume. Thermal images of the crater at El Reventador in Ecuador show that hot material is filling in the dome complex - this followed ash-and-steam…

We've made it to Ohio! Tomorrow I'll hopefully be returning to regularly scheduled updates, but until then, enjoy this week's SI/USGS Weekly Volcano Report. Highlights include: KVERT mentions that seismicity has increased recently at both Kizimen and Kliuchevskoi on the Kamchatka Peninsula. ~4 km / ~13,500 foot steam-and-ash plumes spotted at Colima in Mexico. Rumbling noises, incandescent ejecta and ~4.3 km / 14,000 foot ash plumes at Fuego in Guatemala. Explosions were increasing as the August began. It was a busy week in Guatemala, as ash/gas plumes were spotted at Santiaguito and Pacaya…

This is likely my last update until the end of next week sometime, so feel free to use it for any new volcano news you might see. Look for the Erebus Volcano Profile to be posted on Friday sometime, followed by the vote for the next Profile. Next time I post I'll be (back) in the eastern time zone! With that, I leave you with the latest USGS/SI Weekly Volcano Report. Highlights (not counting Shiveluch) include: Small ash plumes were spotted several times from Batu Tara in Indonesia. Explosions, ashfall and earthquakes were reported at Nevado del Huila in Colombia. There were reports of…

This 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)…

Here'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…

Here'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,…

Has 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…

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…

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…

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.

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…

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…

I have been out of town for the past few days, but we do have some big (and unfortunate) news from Colombia. Nevado del Huila in southwestern Colombia erupted today and the ensuing lahar (or volcaniclastic debris flow - it is hard to tell from the reports) killed at least 4 people, and possibly as many as 10*. We know that Huila has been showing signs of activity, but now it seems like it might have had real eruption, at least to the point that a lahar was produced and possible the creation of a new summit crater. Evacuations are under way and several towns have been cut off as the lahars…