Mount Tongariro Erupts

Disaster Calendar – 7 August 2012

SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,317 Days Left

[August 7, 2012] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,317 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History…

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Selected Global Disasters/ Significant Events

New Zealand

Mega eruptions could follow in and around New Zealand Islands, as forecast

Mount Tongariro, located in the center of NZ’s North Island, spewed ash and debris more than 6,000 meters into the air at 23:50 on Monday local time.

The force of eruption sent a cloud of ash about 110 km southeast of the volcano, and catapulted volcanic rocks at least a kilometer away, reports said.

• NZ’s Civil Defense said the volcanic activity could pose a threat to  Waikato, Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne, Manawatu, Wanganui, Bay of Plenty and Taranaki.
• Mount Tongariro last erupted in 1897.

see also:

• Worst Case Condition for New Zealand Islands

Large boulders landed on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing track. Photo: NZ Police.

Volcanic rocks ejected from Mount Tongariro damage Ketetahi Hut in Tongariro National Park. Photo: NZ police

USA

• Montana. Gov Schweitzer declared a state of emergency across half the state as strong winds fanned wildfires that have already scorched about 300,000 acres since last week.
  • “The spate of new fires in recent days has pushed Montana above 900 square miles burned so far in 2012. That’s well over the state’s 10-year average and more than three times the amount of land that burned last year,” said a report.

• Florida.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 23 counties in Florida as agricultural disaster areas due to the combined effects of Tropical Storm Debby, excessive rain and flooding that occurred June 1-29, 2012.
  • Georgia. Five counties in Georgia were also declared as disaster areas because they’re contiguous.

• California.  USDA has designated 13 counties in California as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by losses caused by hail, rain and cold temperatures that occurred April 11-13, 2012.
  • Primary disaster areas: Kings and Merced counties.
  • Contiguous disaster areas: Fresno, Kern, Madera, Mariposa, Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, Tulare and Tuolumne counties.

• South Carolina.  USDA has designated six counties in South Carolina as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by frost, freezes, and a hailstorm that occurred April 5-13, 2012.
  • North Carolina.  Three counties in NC were also declared as disaster areas because they’re contiguous.

Philippines

• Manila.  Extreme rain events have submerged more than half of the Philippine capital, triggering a deadly landslide that killed at least a dozen people.
  • Most parts of the country were already saturated following Typhoon Saola, which left up to 60 people dead and forced more than quarter of a million people to flee their homes last week.
  • The authorities have reportedly evacuated hundreds of thousands of residents along the Marikina River banks, after excess water La Mesa dam spilled into the rivers flowing into Manila’s suburban Quezon City and several other areas.
  • Many others have climbed to rooftops waiting to be rescued.
  • “It’s like a water world,” the chief of  disaster response agency was reported as saying.
  • At least ten provincial areas and cities around Manila have declared states of calamity.
  • Price of basic commodities in areas under states of calamity have skyrocketed by up to 300 percent since last week, reports said.

Flooding in Marikina City, Metro Manila (Photo: Dave Llavanes)

Related Links

• Survivors of the NEXT NZ DISASTER won’t have a chance!
• Powerful Quake Strikes Christchurch, NZ

• New Round of Geo-Assualt at Kermadec Trench
• Strong Quake Strikes Off Coast of NI, NZ
• Mt Ruapehu Eruption Alert
• Mag 5.3 Earthquake Rattles North Island, NZ
• Magnitude 7 Earthquake Hits Kermadec Islands

• Magnitude 6.8 Quake strikes Kermadec Isls Region
• Powerful 7.8 M Quake Strikes New Zealand Region
• http://newzeelend.wordpress.com/2009/05/09/a-warning-to-new-zealand-visitors/

• FEWW Earthquake Links

Shinmoedake Saying Something?

Volcanic Ash Affecting Japan’s Air

Shinmoedake Volcano Continues to Erupt on Japan’s Kyushu Island

FIRE-EARTH is advised that volcanic ash from Shinmoedake has traveled to at least as far as the Osaka region, some 500km northeast of the volcano, affecting air “quality.”

A combination of volcanic ash and dust from China has created a haze in the atmosphere, reducing solar power generation in the region by up to 20 percent in the last 48 hours, local sources told the blog.

The 1,421-meter (4,660 feet) volcano in the Kirishima volcanic complex erupted today at about 9:40JST following three eruptions yesterday, ejecting a plume of ash and smoke up to 3,000m into the air, local reports say.

University of Tokyo’s Earthquake Research Institute professor Setsuya Nakada says a much larger eruption is possible.

“Following the first major eruption on Jan. 26, the second and the third eruptions occurred at one to three-day intervals. After the fourth eruption shortly before 8 a.m. on Feb. 1, however, a total of five eruptions, including the latest at around 8 a.m. on Feb. 3, occurred at shorter intervals of five to 15 hours.” Japan’s Mainichi Daily News said.

A lava dome created by the eruption covers the volcano’s crater, which is 700m wide and 200m deep.   The dome has reached a height of about 110m above the crater rim, a Geospatial Information Authority of Japan announcement on Feb. 2 said.

• Mt Kirishima Live
• Shinmoedake photos by Earthquake Research Institute, Univ.Tokyo

Sakurajima Volcano

Japan’s Meteorological Agency (JMA) has raised the alert level to 3 for Sakurajima volcano, located about 45 kilometers (28 miles) to the southwest. The volcano is one of Japan’s most active, accounting for more than 1,000 episodes  in 2010, the most activity recorded since 1982, JMA reported.

“Most worrying is the enormous damage that could be caused by volcanic rock spewed out of the mountain, as well as by pyroclastic flows. In fact, a volcanic rock about 50 centimeters in diameter was found about four kilometers from the crater, and in a forest about three kilometers from the crater, there is a hole 5 meters wide and more than 2 meters deep that was created when volcanic rocks struck the spot.” Said  a report.

Ash plume from Shinmoedake, Kirishima volcanic complex, Japan

A photo-like satellite image of Shinmoedake shows an ash plume from the volcano captured by MODIS on the Terra satellite on February 4, 2011. The volcanic ash has forced flight cancellations, stopped trains, made roads impassible and closed all nearby schoolsn. Source: NASA-EO. Click image to enlarge. Download larger image (511 KB, JPEG)

Shinmoe-dake Volcano continues to erupt violently. MODIS on Aqua satellite captured this photo-like image at 1:30 pm local time on February 3, 2011. “The image also shows a faint plume of ash and steam rising from Sakurajima, one of Japan’s most active volcanoes.” Source: NASA-EO. Click image to enlarge. Download larger image (926 KB, JPEG)

After a week of violent activity, the eruption of Japan’s Shinmoe-dake Volcano shows no signs of slowing down. This natural-color satellite image shows Shinmoe-dake on the morning of February 3, 2011. The image was acquired by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) aboard Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) at about 10:30 a.m. local time, between an early-morning eruption at 3 a.m. and an early-afternoon eruption at 12:17 p.m. Image and caption: NASA-EO. Click image to enlarge. Download larger image (2 MB, JPEG)

Related Links:

• Japan’s Shinomoedake volcano erupts for a 2nd day
• FEWW Volcano Links
• Volcanoes
• FEWW Earthquake Links

A New Era of Intense Volcanic Unrest May Have Begun

2008/9 May be the Start of a New Period of Intense Global Volcanic Unrest

[SHIVELUCH: Central Kamchatka (Russia) 56.653°N, 161.360°E; summit elev. 3,283 m]

Shiveluch Volcano in Kamchatka peninsula erupted at 08:00 local time on Friday (23:00 Moscow time, September 25) discharging a column of ash to an altitude of about 4.5km above sea level, Kamchatka office of the Geophysics Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences told Itar-Tass.  Shiveluch is one of the most active volcanoes on the Kamchatka peninsula.

KVERT had previously reported above background levels seismic activity at Shiveluch during 12-19 September. Seismic data analysis, video camera and visual observations indicated that “a small hot avalanche descended the SE side of the lava dome, producing an ash plume that rose to an altitude of 6.5 km, and drifted 100 km NE”, GVP reported.

Holocene Volcanoes in Kamchatka

Source of map:Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Kamchatka, Russia

[KARYMSKY Eastern Kamchatka 54.05°N, 159.45°E; summit elev. 1,536 m]

Karymsky, another of Kamchatka’s volcanoes, also discharged ash to an altitude of about 3km Friday, possibly due to an explosion. This followed KVERT report for enhanced seismic activity at Karymsky during 12-19 September.

Kliuchevskoi

Klyuchevskaya Sopka [Kliuchevskoi,] Eurasia’s highest volcano (elevation of 4,700 m a.s.l.) was also reported as showing seismic activity that “considerably exceeded” the background level, with a total of 196 local quakes recorded during the previous 24 hours. Despite heightened thermal anomaly, no eruption was reported.

Kliuchevskoi is Kamchatka’s highest and most active volcano. Since its origin about 6000 years ago, the beautifully symmetrical, 4835-m-high basaltic stratovolcano has produced frequent moderate-volume explosive and effusive eruptions without major periods of inactivity. More than 100 flank eruptions have occurred during the past roughly 3000 years, with most lateral craters and cones occurring on the NE (seen here) and SE flanks of the conical volcano at altitudes of 500-3600 m. Photo by E.Y. Zhdanova (courtesy of Oleg Volynets, Institute of Volcanology, Petropavlovsk). Source and Caption: GVP)

Related News Links:

• Volcano on Kamchatka spews 4,5-km ash plume; no threat to nearby residential areas (Sept 26, 2008 –  Itar-Tass)

Related Links:

• Volcano Watch [No. 38]
• Volcanoes