VolcanoWatch Weekly [26 Oct 2009]

FEWW Volcanic Forecast

On April 21, 2009 in Sumatra’s Mt Kerinci Erupts FEWW made the following forecast

FEWW Volcanic Forecast:

1. The Loyalty – New Hebrides  Arc Collision. Intense volcanic activity should be expected throughout 2009 and beyond along the New Hebrides arc, the Vanatu region (also to the north to include Solomon Island and Santa Cruz Island), possibly continued along the New Hebrides Trench (to include Matthew and Hunter Island). Volcanoes that are located in the above-described area include:

• Savo (Solomon Island)
• Tinakula (Santa Cruz Island – SW Pacific)
• Suretamatai
• Motlav
• Gaua
• Mere Lava
• Aoba
• Ambrym
• Lopevi
• Kuwae
• North Vate
• Traitor’s Head
• Yasur
• Eastern Gemini Seamount
• Matthew Island
• Hunter Island

2. Pacific Plate subduction beneath the Okhotsk Plate. Subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Okhotsk Plate continues to create Intense volcanism. Starting 2009, however, a much greaterthan the average number of volcanoes located on the Kuril Islands island arc, Kamchatka volcanic arc and Japan trench to the south may erupt with renewed intensity.

And the following on June 5, 2009, having first introduced Mt Kaba earlier on Weekly Volcano Watch: 16 April 2009

FEWW Volcanic Activity Forecast:

FEWW Moderators forecast  new volcanic activity/ unrest at 50 or more volcanoes throughout the rest of 2009.

List of the volcanoes to watch this year [and in 2010] includes:

Barcena (0.8), Socorro (0.8), Curacoa (0.99), Atitlán (0.65), Vesuvius (>0.6), Bazman (0.6), Mount Shasta (>0.5), Kaba (>0.5), Bandai (>0.5), Eastern Gemini Seamount or Mathew Island volcano (0.65), Fonualei (0.65), Mount Rainier (>0.5), Jan Mayen (>0.6), Thule (0.4), Sibayak (>0.5), Volcán Guallatiri (0.65), Taveuni (>0.4),  two or more volcanoes on the island of Hokkaido (0.65), E-san (0.7), Oshima-Oshima (0.7), Komaga-take (0.65)

SI / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report for 14-20 October 2009 listed both  Kaba and Gaua Volcanoes as erupting:

On 13 October, Vanuatu Geohazards Observatory confirmed that Gaua’s Mount Garat was erupting based on fieldwork done by scientists during 3-7 October. Seismic records showed multiple explosions, and a gas flux measurement of 3,000 metric tons of sulfur dioxide was detected on 3 October. The Alert Level was raised to 2 (on a scale of 0-5).

And

On 20 October, CVGHM reported that seismic activity from Kaba increased in August and remained elevated in September and October. Inflation was also detected. When weather permitted, diffuse white plumes were seen rising 25-50 m above the crater rim and drifting E. Based on the deformation and increased seismicity, CVGHN raised the Alert Level to 2 (on a scale of 1-4).

SI /USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report
(14 October – 20 October 2009)

New activity/Unrest:

• Chaitén, Southern Chile
• Ebeko, Paramushir Island
• Gaua, Banks Islands (SW Pacific)
• Kaba, Sumatra (Indonesia)
• Kizimen, Eastern Kamchatka
• Kliuchevskoi, Central Kamchatka (Russia)
• Nevado del Huila, Colombia
• Piton de la Fournaise, Reunion Island
• Reventador, Ecuador
• Soufrière Hills, Montserrat

Ongoing Activity:

• Bagana, Bougainville
• Batu Tara, Komba Island (Indonesia)
• Cleveland, Chuginadak Island
• Dukono, Halmahera
• Karymsky, Eastern Kamchatka
• Kilauea, Hawaii (USA)
• Rabaul, New Britain
• Sakura-jima, Kyushu
• Sangay, Ecuador
• Shishaldin, Fox Islands
• Shiveluch, Central Kamchatka (Russia)

Related Links:

• Messages From Earth’s Powerhouse
• Weekly Volcano Watch: 19 March 2009

• A New Era of Intense Volcanic Unrest May Have Begun
• Tonga’s Metis Shoal may be erupting
• Rumble III Volcano “blew its top!”
• Volcanoes
• Earthquakes

FEWW Volcanic Activity Forecast

• Sumatra’s Mt Kerinci Erupts

• Sumatra’s Mt Kerinci Erupts
• Volcano Watch Weekly: 23 April 2009

• Weekly Volcano Watch: 16 April 2009
• Weekly Volcano Watch: 2 April 2009

• FEWW Volcano Links
• Volcanoes
• FEWW Earthquake Links

Other Related Links:

• U.S. Volcano Status Map
• Elevated Activity Page
• U.S. Volcano Webcams

Recent Posts on Chaitén:

• Chaitén: A New Phase of Activity?
• Chaitén Still Awake!
• Chaitén: Volcano with a Mission?
• Chaitén: Volcano that Doesn’t Sleep

Galeras Volcano Erupts Twice in 24 Hrs

NO Early Rest for Furious Galeras!

Galeras could erupt continually throughout 2009  and most of 2010 [FEWW]

Colombia’s Galeras volcano erupted twice in 24 hours, covering nearby villages in a blanket of volcanic ash.

Galeras Volcano. Photo source: Colombia Report. Image may be subject  to copyright.

Galeras seen in this aerial photo (Undated). Source: Alaska Earthquake Information center. Image may be subject to copyright.

“An eruption of explosive nature has been registered,” the national geological institute Ingeominas said.

Although the earlier eruption on Sunday caused no damage, the authorities ordered 8,000 residents to evacuate the surrounding villages.

The second explosion on Monday was the 8th eruption one this year to shake the volcano, which is located in the Colombian department of Nariño near the town of  Pasto, and close to the Ecuadorean border.

Currently the most active volcano in Colombia, the 4,276-meter-high volcano’s first historical eruption occurred on December 7, 1580. The volcano resumed activity in 1988 after 10 years of dormancy. It erupted in 1993, killing nine people, three tourists and six scientists who had descended into the volcano’s crater to conduct tests.

Galeras from Pasto (1993?). Photo by Stan Williams. Image may be subject to copyright.

Galeras activity in 2009

• 14 February 19:11 an eruption spewed ash SO2 and other and volcanic gases. (Red Alert, Level I). [Pasto was covered in ash, 8,000 people evacuated.]

• 20 February 07:05 spewed ashes. (Red Alert,  Level I).

• 12 March 19:30, and 13 March 15:55 explosions were recorded (Orange Alert, Level II ).

• 13 March 15:55, eruption occurred spewing gas and hot ashes at 16:34 further emission was recorded. (Orange Alert, Level II).

• 24 April 07:32, two explosions were recorded. (Orange Alert, Level II).

• 29 April monitors recorded increase in seismic activity. (Orange Alert, Level II).

• 11 May 11:58, tectonic venting. (Orange Alert, Level II).

• 17 May 21:40, seismic activity recorded. (Orange Alert, Level II).

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.

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]

Related Links:

• VolcanoWatch Weekly [20 May 2009]
• Galeras Volcano Erupts Again [April 26, 2009]
  
• FEWW Volcano Links
• Galeras Erupts Again! [February 15, 2009]
  

Volcano Watch No. 46

12 November -18 November 2008

New Activity/Unrest:

• Akan, Hokkaido
• Barren Island, Andaman Is
• Dalaffilla, Northeastern Africa
• Nevado del Huila, Colombia
• Reventador, Ecuador

AKAN

Country:    Japan
Region :    Hokkaido
Volcano Type:    Caldera
Last Known Eruption:    2006
Summit Elevation:    1499 m
Latitude:    43.384°N     43°23’3″N
Longitude:    144.013°E    144°0’46″E

Akan is a 13 x 24 km, elongated caldera that formed more than 31,500 years ago immediately SW of Kutcharo caldera. Growth of four post-caldera stratovolcanoes, three at the SW end of the caldera and the other at the NE side, has restricted the size of the caldera lake. The 1-km-wide Nakamachineshiri crater was formed during a major pumice-and-scoria eruption about 13,500 years ago. Of the Holocene volcanoes of the Akan volcanic complex, only the Me-Akan group, E of Lake Akan, has been historically active, producing mild phreatic eruptions since the beginning of the 19th century. Me-Akan is composed of 9 overlapping cones. The main cone of Me-Akan proper has a triple crater at its summit. Historical eruptions at Me-Akan have consisted of minor phreatic explosions, but four major magmatic eruptions including pyroclastic flows have occurred during the Holocene. (Akan Information from the Global Volcanism Program). Photo: Wataru Hirose, November 23, 1996 (Hokkaido University).

Ongoing Activity:

• Chaitén, Southern Chile
• Karymsky, Eastern Kamchatka (Russia)
• Kilauea, Hawaii
• Kliuchevskoi, Central Kamchatka
• Popocatépetl, México
• Rabaul, New Britain
• Santa María, Guatemala
• Shiveluch, Central Kamchatka
• Soufrière Hills, Montserrat
• Suwanose-jima, Ryukyu Islands (Japan)

This page is updated on Wednesdays, please see the GVP Home Page for news of the latest significant activity.

Week 35 Volcano Watch

27 August-2 September 2008

New Activity/Unrest:

• Kasatochi, Andreanof Islands
• Piton de la Fournaise, Reunion Island
• Soufrière Hills, Montserrat

Deposits from the pyroclastic flow on 25 August 2008. Inset shows image from thermal camera. Source: Montserrat Volcano Observatory’s photostream. Image may be subject to copyright.

Ongoing Activity:

• Batu Tara, Komba Island (Indonesia)
• Chaitén, Southern Chile |
• Chikurachki, Paramushir Island
• Dukono, Halmahera
• Karymsky, Eastern Kamchatka
• Kilauea, Hawaii (USA)
• Llaima, Central Chile
• Nevado del Huila, Colombia
• Nyiragongo, Democratic Republic of Congo
• Okmok, Fox Islands
• Rabaul, New Britain
• Semeru, Eastern Java (Indonesia)
• Shiveluch, Central Kamchatka (Russia)
• Taal, Luzon
• Ubinas, Perú

See the GVP Home Page for news of the latest significant activity.

The Weekly Volcanic Activity Report is a cooperative project between the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program and the US Geological Survey’s Volcano Hazards Program.