VolcanoWatch Weekly [28 Oct 2009]
Posted by feww on October 29, 2009
VOW: Nevado del Huila
Eight of Colombia’s 15 volcanoes have erupted in the last 100 years, and three of them since 1990: Galeras, Nevado del Huila, and Nevado del Ruiz.
Nevado del Huila emitting ash [October 17, 2009.] As of posting more than a 1,000 tremors have been detected since Huila became restless on October 16, 2009. Photo: INGEOMINAS/Colombian Govt.
Nevado del Huila Emits Ash
Nevado del Huila became active on October 16, 2009. Tremors indicating movement of fluid within the volcano, surface emissions of gas and ash, and other volcanic activity have been reported recently by the Colombian Institute of Geology and Minerals (INGEOMINAS). Towering emissions of volcanic ash have also been reported almost daily. A column of ash reached flight level 11,000 meters (36,000 feet) on October 28, 2009. This natural-color image from the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured the plume at 10:15 a.m. Thick gray ash is visible over the summit of Nevado del Huila, with a diffuse plume stretching northwest (towards the upper left corner of the image). According to the newspaper El Liberal, ashfall in the surrounding areas was a nuisance, but not yet a serious risk to health. INGEOMINAS assigned Huila an alert level of Orange, meaning an eruption is probable within days or weeks. NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response, Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Robert Simmon.
Volcano of the Week Details
Name: Nevado del Huila
Country: Colombia
Region Name: Colombian Andes
Volcano Type: Stratovolcano
Last Known Eruption: 2009
Summit Elevation: 5,364 m (17,598 feet)
Latitude: 2.93°N
Longitude: 76.03°W
Source: GVP
Huila, the highest active volcano in Colombia, is an elongated, N-S-trending snow-capped stratovolcano, constructed inside an old caldera. The 5364-m-high volcano is seen here from the SW, with the northern peak (La Cuesta) on the left and the lower southern peak on the right flanking Pico Central, the volcano’s high point. Two persistent steam columns rise from the southern peak. Photo by Juan Carlos Diago, 1995 (courtesy of Bernardo Pulgarín, INGEOMINAS, Colombia). Caption: GVP
An explosive eruption ruptured the summit of Nevado del Ruiz on November 13, 1985, spewing about 20 million cubic meters of volcanic ash and rocks into the air. Forty-meter thick lahars traveling at velocities of up to 50 kilometers per hour destroyed the town of Armero 74 km away from the explosion crater, killing more than 23,000 people. [Source: USGS]
SI /USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report
(21 October – 27 October 2009)
New activity/Unrest:
- Chaitén, Southern Chile
- Ebeko, Paramushir Island
- Kliuchevskoi, Central Kamchatka (Russia)
- Mayon, Luzon (Philippines)
- Nevado del Huila, Colombia
- Reventador, Ecuador
- Soufrière Hills, Montserrat
GVP Volcano News:
PHIVOLCS reported that on 28 October a minor ash explosion from Mayon produced a brownish ash plume that rose 600 m above the crater and drifted NE.
Based on web camera views, INGEOMINAS reported that on 21 October continuous gas emissions rose from Nevado del Huila and pulses of ash emissions produced plumes that drifted E. Observations during an overflight on 23 October revealed that gas-and-ash emissions originated from two locations.
Ongoing Activity:
- Batu Tara, Komba Island (Indonesia)
- Colima, México
- Dukono, Halmahera
- Fuego, Guatemala
- Karymsky, Eastern Kamchatka
- Kilauea, Hawaii (USA)
- Pacaya, Guatemala
- Rabaul, New Britain
- Sakura-jima, Kyushu
- Santa María, Guatemala
- Shiveluch, Central Kamchatka (Russia)
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Fire Earth 
feww said
Colombia volcano rumbles back to life
(AFP) – 12 hours ago
BOGOTA, Colombia — Officials in southern Colombia have issued a code orange alert for the newly-active Galeras volcano which they said could erupt in a matter of days or weeks, according to the state-run Geological and Mining Institute.
Authorities said they are continuing to monitor the nearby Huila volcano, also on orange alert, where sizeable volcanic activity also has been detected in recent weeks.
The Galeras volcano situated near the southern border with Ecuador is Colombia’s most active volcano, with five eruptions over the past two years. It began rumbling back to life on October 27, officials said.
Some 7,000 people live in the vicinity of the volcano, which rises in the Andes mountain chain to an altitude of 4,270 meters (14,029 feet).
A 1993 eruption of Galeras killed nine people, including six scientists who had descended its crater to take gas samples.
Huila, at some 5,363 meters (17,595 feet), last erupted in November 2008, killing 10 people.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved