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Two small explosions at the giant Cotopaxi volcano ejected plumes of ash to a height of about 5km above the crater on Friday, reported Ecuador’s Geophysical Institute.
Volcanic ash from the eruptions covered southern parts of Quito, Ecuador’s capital and its second most populous city [metro pop: ~ 3.2 million, FIRE-EARTH Population Model.]
The events have been described as “very small explosions” that were “almost imperceptible,” by the officials, who insist the volcano, which has been showing signs of unrest since April, with a large increase in seismicity (including harmonic tremors) and SO2 emissions, is not necessarily about to erupt.
One of the world’s highest volcanoes, Cotopaxi is located about 50 km south of Quito, Ecuador. It is the second highest summit in the Andean country, reaching a height of about 5,900m. Some 90 or so eruption have been recorded since 1534.
MAJOR DISASTERS/ SIGNIFICANT EVENTS VOLCANIC ERUPTION RED ALERT (AVIATION) BARDARBUNGA VOLCANO ERUPTING SCENARIOS 023, 09, 08, 07 .
Bardarbunga erupting subglacially
The Icelandic Met Office (IMO) has issued a red alert for aviation, warning that Bardarbunga volcano could spew significant ash emissions.
A small sub-glacial eruption is currently occurring at Bardarbunga, said the Met Office.
“Warning: It is believed that a small subglacial lava-eruption has begun under the Dyngjujökull glacier. The aviation color code for the Bárðarbunga volcano has been changed from orange to red.”
The red alert is Iceland’s highest warning level on their five-point scale.
On Wednesday, authorities evacuated hundreds of people from several areas north of the volcano, fearing that the volcano could erupt and cause significant flooding and mudslides.
Bardarbunga, a part of a large volcanic system, sits under up to 400 meters of ice, the Vatnajokull glacier, in central Iceland.
23rd August 2014 14:10UTC – small eruption Occurring beneath Dyngjujökull
A small lava-eruption has been detected under the Dyngjujökull glacier.
An estimated 150-400 meters of ice covers the area.
The aviation color code for the Bárðarbunga volcano has been changed from orange to red.
At 14:04UTC, an earthquake measuring 4.5Mw occurred near the volcano.
Bardarbunga (Bárðarbunga Icelandic spelling), is a stratovolcano, located under the Vatnajökull glacier. It is the second highest mountain in Iceland, standing 2,010 meters a.s.l. The volcanic system that includes Bardarbunga is more than 200km long and 25km wide.
Vatnajökull
Vatnajökull (Glacier of Lakes), also known as the Vatna Glacier, is Iceland’s largest and most voluminous glacier, located in the south-east of the island. With an area of 13,600 km², Vatnajökull covers more than 8 percent of the country. It is also the largest ice cap in Europe by volume (3,100 km³).
VOLCANIC HAZARD STATE OF EMERGENCY MASS EVACUATIONS .
Ubinas Volcano spews 3.2km-high plumes of toxic ash
Some 4,000 residents and more than 40,000 animals are being evacuated to a “safety zone” about 20km from Peru’s most active volcano.
Villagers are concerned for the health of their livestock, a major source of income. “In the district of Ubinas alone, there are an estimated 40,000 llamas and alpacas.” A significant percentage of these animals could be seriously affected by the silica ash, which contaminates their grazing areas after each significant eruption, local sources have said.
The silica ash from the eruption damages crops, polluting water sources, and threatening villagers and their livestock.
“The Ollanta Humala’s administration declared a state of emergency in nearby provinces, which will provide financial assistance for those affected by eruption of the Ubinas volcano, in southern Peru’s Arequipa region,” reported Andina news agency.
A major eruption in 2006 forced mass evacuations and killed livestock that consumed ash-contaminated fodder, said the report.
Ubinas Volcano erupted multiple times in September 2013 after three years of dormancy. Image credit: ANDINA
The massive 5,670-meter volcano is located about 70 kilometers from the city of Arequipa (metro pop: ~ 1,260,000), and 1,250km south of the capital Lima, close to the country’s Pacific coast, about 230 km east of the Peru-Chile trench and about 150 km above the Benioff-Wadati plane, where the Nazca plate is subducting under the continental part of the South American Plate.
Mount Sinabung Continues to Eject Volcanic Materials into the Air
Some 22,000 people living near Sinabung volcano have been evacuated Since Monday after the volcano erupted in North Sumatra, Indonesia.
The volcano is spewing columns of ash and smoke up to 4.5km above the summit crater, authorities said.
About 22,000 people have been evacuated near Mt Sinabung as the volcano continues to erupt. Mount Sinabung has been ejecting columns of ash and smoke up to 4.5km above the summit crater since Saturday. More than 60 pyroclastic flows extending up to 5 km from the crater have also been recorded. Photo credit: Agung Kuncahya B./Xinhua. More images…
“The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has instructed all relevant ministries, government institutions, local disaster mitigation agencies and the Karo regency administration in North Sumatra to prepare for a worst-case scenario following an increase in Mount Sinabung’s volcanic activity during the past week,” said a report.
The “worst-case scenario” comes into if the exclusion zone is extended from its latest 7km radius, southeast slope of the volcano, to between 7.5 and 10 km from the crater.
More than 60 pyroclastic flows extending up to 5 km from the crater have been recorded with the flow volume increasing every day, said The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).
The volume of volcanic material ejected so far is about a quarter of the total 2,540,000 cubic meters formed in Mt. Sinabung’s crater. “This means that the pyroclastic potential stored in the volcano’s lava dome is still substantial; so if it should all come out, the threat would be devastating,” Jakarta post quoted an official as saying.
Approximate location of Sinabung is marked on the map by FEWW. Mount Sinabung is one of Indonesia’s 130 active volcanoes
Sinabung Volcano: Summary of Details
Country: Indonesia
Region: Sumatra
Volcano Type: Stratovolcano
Volcano Status: Holocene
Last Known Eruption: Unknown [1600?]
Summit Elevation: 2,460m
Latitude: 3.17°N Longitude: 98.392°E
Source: GVP
Sinabung is located in Group K Volcanoes
Map of Volcanoes. Background Map: University of Michigan. Designed and enhanced by Fire Earth Blog.Click image to enlarge.
The PVMBG categorizes Sinabung as a type A volcano, or those that have erupted since 1600. Type B volcanoes have not erupted since 1600 but show signs of activity, and type C are those that have not erupted in recorded history.
Indonesian Volcanoes
Indonesian Volcanoes have been responsible for a number of cataclysmic explosions in modern history.
An 1888 lithograph of the 1883 violent explosion of Krakatau.
Based on their models, our colleagues at EDRO forecast that volcanic activity on the island of Sumatra could cause the collapse of Singapore. However, they have not disclosed any further detail.
Warning issued to Pacific shipping after volcano erupts, forming a new Island
Authorities have warned shipping in the Pacific Ocean to maintain vigilance for airborne volcanic material after a volcano erupted near one of the Ogasawara Islands, some 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo, NHK reported Japan’s Meteorological Agency (JMA) as saying.
Japan Coast Guard has confirmed black smoke spewing out of a new land mass about 500 meters southeast of Nishinoshima island, JMA said
Video footage shows a plume of black and white smoke and steam rising to a height of more than 600 meters above a new landmass measuring about 200 meters across.
Black and white smoke and steam rising to a height of more than 600 meters above a new 200-m long landmass created by volcanic eruption near Nishino shima, Bonin Islands, south of Japan. Screenshot from NHK news video clip.
Screenshot from NHK news video clip.
“The agency says multiple clusters of white smoke overhead suggest intermittent explosions,” said the report.
Volcanic activity created a new island which was fused to the uninhabited Nishinoshima between 1973 and 1974, the last time when eruptions occurred near the island.
Location Map of Volcano Islands, Ogasawara Islands, Japan region. Image credit: Lim Tor
Bonin Islands (aka, Ogasawara Group, in Japan). Click Image to Enlarge.
In 2010, one of the volcanoes in the region erupted, spewing smoke and ash to a height of about about 100 meters above the sea level. The surrounding sea area changed to a greenish-yellow color with nearby areas turning cloudy.
JMA said the volcano, called Fukutokuokanoba, had erupted seven times since 1904, forming ephemeral islands (temporary land masses) on three occasions, all of which later sank below the ocean surface.
The first known ephemeral island called Shin-Iwo-jima (New Sulfur Island) was formed in 1904, and the most recent in 1986.
What the Volcano Islands Look Like
North Iwo Jima Island (Official Japanese name Kita-iōtō, but commonly known as Kita-iōjima, meaning “north sulfur island”) is the northernmost island of the Volcano Islands cluster of the Ogasawara Islands, about 1175 km south of Tokyo. Image Credit: Chisatos
6 to 8 more EQs may yet strike region[This post referred to the number of significant earthquake that was forecast to occur before the 2011 Mega Quake would strike. FIRE-EARTH Editor]
Mt Merapi eruption follows multiple explosions at Mt Sinabung
“Mount Merapi experienced a phreatic eruption. Its status remains normal due to a lack of activity,” said Yogyakarta’s Geological Disaster Technology Development and Research Agency (BPPTKG).
Mt Merapi was placed on “Yellow Alert,” or “Level II” of the country’s 4-level alert system, on August 3, 2013.
Latest Image of Mt Merapi. Credit: Badan Geologi.
“On Monday at 4:52 a.m. before the eruption, BPPTKG detected an earthquake in Ciamis, West Java, at a magnitude of 4.7 on the Richter scale. The tectonic quake is believed to have shaken the magma chamber of Mount Merapi causing it to release gas from below,” said BPPTKG spokesperson.
Merapi ejected volcanic materials about 2 kilometers into the air showering a 60-km radius area east of the volcano with ash, said the report.
The authorities have since imposed 1-kilometer exclusion zone around the volcano base.
The phreatic eruption on Monday was similar to one on July 22, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman. “But today’s was more powerful than the July 22 eruption.”
More than 600 families living in Kalitengah Lor, Kalitengah Kidul and Srune hamlets, in Glagaharjo village, Sleman regency, Yogyakarta, have been evacuated.
Hundreds of other villagers living on the western flank of Mount Merapi also fled their homes.
“The volcanic ash also affected residents in nearby towns. In Surakarta, Central Java, residents were shocked by the sight of volcanic ash covering streets, gardens and roofs. The ash rain continued until around 10 a.m. on Monday.” said the report.
“Surowedanan village in Boyolali, located around 17 km from the peak of Mount Merapi, was also covered by volcanic ash. ‘This morning, when I went out of the house at around 5 a.m., I saw ash everywhere,’ said Veronica Maria Sayektiana, of Surowedanan. According to Veronica, residents were wearing masks when they ventured out of their homes as the ash was still falling along with the drizzle.”
Merapi eruptions have killed hundreds of people in the past couple of decades.
Mount Merapi is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia. The 2010 its eruptions killed more than 300 people dead and forced about 400,000 people to evacuate their towns, while a 1930 eruption left at least 1,300 dead.
Mt Sinabung Update
The Indonesian ministry of transportation has diverted all flights to avoid routes near Mt Sinabung, located in Karo District, North Sumatra, which has erupted multiple times since last week.
The authorities say Mt Sinabung eruption on November 12 ejected volcanic material that covered five districts destroying some 1,893 hectares of citrus plantations in Tanah Karo, which has impacted fruit production, said a report.
The explosive activity follows a series of most recent eruptions exhibited by the 2,460-meter high volcano that began in September 2013, leading to a significant eruption on October 24, which saw the volcano spewing smoke and ash to a height of about 3km above the crater summit, followed by other eruptions, especially the explosive eruption that occurred on Sunday, November 3.
Mt ETNA erupted, shooting up towering columns of ash into the air
The eruption from Europe’s most active volcano ejected towering columns of ash and fountains of molten lava over Sicily Saturday night.
Etna, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, is in an almost constant state of activity. The eruption was the 16th paroxysmal explosion at Etna so far this year, forcing officials at Cantania Airport to close airspace above much of Sicily as a precautionary measure.
Mt Etna is the largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy, covering an area of about 1,200km², with a basal circumference of 140km. More than a quarter of Sicily’s live on the slopes of the 3,330-meter volcano.Volcanic activity first occurred at Etna about 500,000 years ago.
A massive lava flow from an eruption in November 1928 destroyed the village of Mascali. Other major 20th-century eruptions occurred in 1949, 1971, 1981, 1983 and 1991–1993.
5 Indonesian volcanoes remain on the 2nd highest state of alert, “orange,” 17 others on “yellow”
The alerts follow the latest eruption at Mt Sinabung, which saw the volcano ejecting ash to a height of about 7 km above the summit, forcing the authorities to evacuate about 5,600 people in several villages, according to Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMBG).
Indonesian authorities have established a 3-km exclusion zone near the volcano following the Tuesday eruption for the second time in 9 days.
PVMBG had issued a “level three,” or “orange alert,” recommending villagers to stay out of the 3-km danger zone on November 3, 2013, followed by a 7-day state of emergency declared by the local authorities.
The explosive activity follows a series of most recent eruptions exhibited by the 2,460-meter high volcano that began in September 2013, leading to a significant eruption on October 24, which saw the volcano spewing smoke and ash to a height of about 3km above the crater summit, followed by other eruptions, especially the explosive eruption that occurred on Sunday, November 3.
Mt Sinabung is one of 130 or so active volcanoes in the Indonesian archipelago, whose 18,307 islands (922 of the islands are permanently inhabited) straddle the Pacific Ring of Fire (PRF).
PRF, aka the circum-Pacific seismic belt, is home to 452 volcanoes, or more than 75% of the world’s active and dormant volcanoes.
About 90% of the global seismicity and 82% of the largest quakes occur along PRF [FIRE-EARTH data.]
Mt Sinabung erupted explosively again on November 12, 2013 for a second time in 9 days. Image credit: CRIonLine via Xinhua. More images…
Mount Sinabung spewing volcanic ashes as seen from Simpang Empat Village in Karo, North Sumatera (September 15, 2013). Credit: ANTARA/Septianda Perdana.
Mt Sinabung erupted in August 2010 after 410 years of dormancy. The eruption claimed a dozen lives and displaced thousands of others. The eruption which occurred on August 29, 2010 was followed by a more powerful explosion the next day, and much stronger blast on September 7, 2010.
Sinabung spewed ash to a height of about 2km in its second eruption in two days on August 30, 2010.
Mount Sinabung volcano spews smoke in Suka Nalu village in the district of Tanah Karo, in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province August 30, 2010. The Indonesian volcano that erupted for the first time in centuries on Sunday spewed fresh plumes of smoke early on Monday morning, causing panic in nearby villages and delaying local flights, officials said on Monday. Credit: Reuters/Tarmizy Harva. Image may be subject to copyright. More photos …
Approximate location of Sinabung is marked on the map by FEWW. Mount Sinabung is one of Indonesia’s 130 active volcanoes
Sinabung Volcano: Summary of Details
Country: Indonesia
Region: Sumatra
Volcano Type: Stratovolcano
Volcano Status: Holocene
Last Known Eruption: Unknown [1600?]
Summit Elevation: 2,460m
Latitude: 3.17°N Longitude: 98.392°E
Source: GVP
Sinabung is located in Group K Volcanoes
Map of Volcanoes. Background Map: University of Michigan. Designed and enhanced by Fire Earth Blog.Click image to enlarge.
The PVMBG categorizes Sinabung as a type A volcano, or those that have erupted since 1600. Type B volcanoes have not erupted since 1600 but show signs of activity, and type C are those that have not erupted in recorded history.
Mount Sinabung ejected tephra into the air as seen from Tanah Karo, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Friday, Sept. 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Dedy Zulkifli). Image may be subject to copyright.
Indonesian Volcanoes
Indonesian Volcanoes have been responsible for a number of cataclysmic explosions in modern history.
Krakatoa [Krakatau] Cataclysmic Eruption 1883
William Ashcroft painting “On the Banks of the River Thames” in London, November 26, 1883 [Exactly three months after Krakatoa’s cataclysmic 1883 eruption.]
The Krakatoa eruption affected the climate driving the weather patterns wild for the next 5 years. Average global temperatures fell by about 1.2 °C in the following years, returning to normal only in 1888.
An 1888 lithograph of the 1883 violent explosion of Krakatau.
Based on their models, our colleagues at EDRO forecast that the collapse of Singapore may occur as a result of volcanic activity on the island of Sumatra. However, they have not disclosed any further detail.
Indonesia Volcano Alerts
PVMBG has placed five volcanoes on the second highest level of activity “Level III, Orange Alert,” and 17 others on third highest alert level “Level II, Yellow Alert.” Following table shows the alert level designations, as of November 16, 2013.
Indonesia Volcano Alerts as of November 16, 2013. Source: PVMBG. Image enhanced by FIRE-EARTH Blog.
Restive Mount Rokatenda on Palue, Indonesia, finally erupts
Mount Rokatenda, located on the small island of Palue about 2,000km east of Jakarta, erupted spewing ash and rocks more than 2,000 meter into the air.
Hot ash and lava from the eruption fell on a nearby beach, killing at least 6 people including 2 children, officials said.
Rokatenda has been restive since last October, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of villagers.
The eruption started at 04:27 on Saturday (20:27 UTC Friday) and lasted for about 4 hours, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.
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Mount Rokatenda is one of about 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands. Much of the country sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an area crisscrossed by numerous fault lines and prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.
Mount Merapi’s 2010 eruption in central Java left up to 400 people dead and more than 250,000 others displaced.
Map of Volcanoes. Background Map: University of Michigan. Designed and enhanced by Fire Earth Blog.Click image to enlarge.
Current Aviation Color Code: ORANGE
CLEVELAND VOLCANO (52°49’20” N 169°56’42” W; CAVW #1101-24-) – [Group A on the Global Map] Wednesday, March 6, 2013 12:14 PM AKST (Wednesday, March 6, 2013 21:14 UTC)
Summit Elevation: 5676 ft (1,730 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: WATCH
Source: AVO
Cleveland viewed from an Alaska Airlines 737 en route to Adak, Alaska. [Carlisle Volcano, center of image. Mount Cleveland, lower right of image.]
Date: May 31, 2012 12:00 AM
Photographer/Creator: Read, Cyrus. Image courtesy of AVO/USGS.
This GeoEye IKONOS image shows a faint plume issuing from Cleveland Volcano at 2:31 PM on September 14, 2010. Red in this image highlights areas of vegetation detected by the near-infrared channel.
Date: September 14, 2010 10:31 PM UTC
Volcano(es): Cleveland
Photographer/Creator: Wessels, Rick
Image processed by AVO/USGS. Image copyright 2010 – GeoEye
KILAUEA VOLCANO (19°25’16” N 155°17’13” W; CAVW #1302-01-) Wednesday, March 6, 2013 7:43 AM HST (Wednesday, March 6, 2013 17:43 UTC)
Summit Elevation 4091 ft (1,247 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: WATCH
Current Aviation Color Code: ORANGE Source: HVO
Kamchatka Volcanoes on ORANGE Alert [Group J on the Global Map]
PLOSKY TOLBACHIK VOLCANO (55.83 N, 160.39 E; CAVW #1000-24-)
Elevation: 3,085 m (10119 ft )
SHEVELUCH VOLCANO (56.64 N, 161.32 E; CAVW #1000-27-)
Elevation: 3, 283 m [the dome elevation: 2,500 m)
KIZIMEN VOLCANO (55.13 N, 160.32 E; CAVW #1000-23-)
Elevation: 2,485 m (8151 ft)
KARYMSKY VOLCANO (54.05 N, 159.44 E; CAVW #1000-13-)
Elevation 1,486 m (4874 ft)
Other Kamchatka Volcanoes on YELLOW Alert [Group J on the Global Map]
KLYUCHEVSKOY VOLCANO (56.06 N, 160.64 E; CAVW #1000-26-)
Elevation: 4,750 m
BEZYMIANNY VOLCANO (55.97 N, 160.6 E; CAVW #1000-25-)
Elevation: 2,882 m
GORELY VOLCANO (52.56 N, 158.03 E; CAVW #1000-07-)
Elevation: 1,828 m
FIRE-EARTH Volcano Forecast: Major volcanic eruption may occur in Iceland this summer with a probability of 0.7 [P= 72%]
Nabro’s SO2 Rich Plume Rising to a Height of 11 km
Thick, fluffy white volcanic plume spewing from Nabro volcano is mainly composed of sulfur dioxide gas (and steam), according to Toulouse VAAC, Meteo France.
Their analysis is confirmed by the modeled ash concentration charts released by the agency (see below forFL200 – FL350 chart).
Ongoing eruption at Nabro Volcano located along the Eritrea and Ethiopia border. This photo-like image was captured by MODIS aboard the Aqua satellite on June 15, 2011. Source: NASA-EO. Click image to enlarge.Download largest image (1 MB, JPEG)
Volcanic Ash Advisory
Volcanic cloud spewed by Nabro is said to contain mainly SO2. Source: Meteo France. Click image to enlarge.
Nabro volcanic ash cloud concentration chart for FL200 – FL350 (~ 6 to 11km alt.) Source: Toulouse VAAC/Meteo France
Philippines Mt Bulusan volcano erupted again Monday at 01:12UTC showering at least three towns with large quantities of ash.
The ash explosion as seen from the town of Irosin, about 600km SE of Manila, Philippines. Bulusan Volcano is located in Sorsogon province in Bicol region. Credit AP. Image may be subject to copyright.
A massive ash plume from the 1,560-m volcano drifted south covering the town of Irosin (population: 46,000), according to a civil defense operations official.
“There’s zero visibility at Irosin at the moment, and we can’t get in touch with officials there,” he told AFP.
A state volcanologist told AFP that explosion sounds were followed by an ash column that rose by up to 2.5km (1.6 miles) above the crater.
Map of the Philippines Volcanoes. Click image to enlarge.
“The huge plume of grayish smoke shot up to more than a mile (2 kilometers) toward the blue sky, with the ash drifting southwest toward four farming towns in Sorsogon province, where about 1,200 villagers fled to emergency shelters and houses of relatives, said Benito Ramos, who heads the government’s disaster-response agency.” AP reported.
“Volcanic ash has fallen in the towns of Casiguran and Juban, located at the foot of the volcano. Philippine troops will be evacuating some 1,000 residents from these two towns,” Xinhua quoted an official as saying.
The explosion at Bulusan volcano lasted for 19 minutes, starting at 09:12 local time (01:12UTC) and has since affected at least 100,000 people in 3 towns and 41 villages in the surrounding areas, the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council said.
Shinmoedake volcano in southern Japan, which began erupting on Wednesday, ejecting rocks, ash and smoke about 4,600m into the air, was still erupting on Thursday.
Local highways and railroads have become impassable as a result, and at least 4 flights to the area have been canceled as a precaution, reports say.
Shinmoedake volcano continued erupting for a second day on Thursday. Freeze frame from ITN news clip.
Shinmoedake Volcano Erupts
Natural-color satellite image of Shinmoedake volcano captured by MODIS aboard NASA’s Terra satellite on January 26, 2011. Shinmoedake is a volcano in the Kirishima volcanic complex on Japan’s Kyushu island. Source: NASA-EO. Click image to enlarge.
Lightening is photographed using time exposure during an eruption from Mt Shinmoedake in the Kirishima volcanic complex on the border of Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures, southern Japan. Photo: Shuji Uchimura/AP. Image may be subject to copyrights.
An underwater volcano off Sarigan Island, Northern Marianas, about 160km (100 miles) north of the island of Saipan erupted on Saturday sending a plume of steam and ash cloud into the air and showering the ocean surface with volcanic debris, US officials reported on Monday.
“An EMO observer aboard an overflight yesterday reported a large area of debris floating in the sea south of the island, and a stationary area of discoloration in the water, presumably above the vent. The crew on Sarigan reported passage of a small wave (less than 0.5 m) following onset of the eruption yesterday.” USGS said.
However, satellite images show no sign of ongoing activity, USGS said.
“Seismicity at a single nearby station on Sarigan Island declined soon after the eruption of a large steam and ash cloud from a submarine vent 11 km (7 miles) south of Sarigan Volcano early yesterday. Satellite images show no sign of ongoing activity.”
Scientists had initially thought the volcanic cloud came from either of the Anatahan or Sarigan volcano, and later verified the source by the trail of debris and water discoloration close to the vent, a USGS official said.
The Northern Mariana Islands are located about 6100km (3,800 miles) southwest of Hawaii.
Summary of Volcano Details (USGS):
Volcano Location: N 16 deg 42 min E 145 deg 46 min
Area: Mariana Islands
Summit Elevation: 1765 ft (538 m)
Volcanic Activity Summary: Seismicity and subaqueous eruptive activity have declined at Sarigan Volcano prompting reduction of the Aviation Color Code to YELLOW and the Volcanic Activity Level to ADVISORY.
Major Volcanoes of the Mariana Islands (USGS)
Click image to enlarge.
A M6.4 quake (11.119°N, 93.698°E) which struck close to Barren Island Monday, May 31, 2010 at 19:51:48 UTC, may have triggered the Andaman Sea volcano for eruption.
(L to R) Usulután: Formed during Holocene (an ongoing geological epoch that began about 12,000 years ago). El Tigre formed during the Pleistocene Epoch (2.588 million to about 12,000 years ago), probably the oldest of member of the family captured in this astronaut photograph. The summit crater of El Tigre has eroded. Chinameca Volcano (also known as El Pacayal) has a two-kilometer-wide caldera formed after a powerful eruption caused its dome to collapse. San Miguel (also known as Chaparrastique), the youngest member of the family, is situated about 15 km southwest of the city of San Miguel, where it takes its name from. It’s one of the most active volcanoes in el Salvador and last erupted in 2002. (Source of Photo: NASA. Astronaut photograph ISS023-E-22411 was acquired on March 31, 2010).
Usulután volcano rises above the Pacific coastal plain at the SE end of a cluster of stratovolcanoes between San Vicente and San Miguel volcanoes. The flanks of the forested Usulután volcano are dissected, but youthful lava flows are present on its southern flanks. The younger summit rocks of 1449-m-high Usulután and Cerro Nanzal pyroclastic cone on the lower SE flank were mapped as Holocene (Weber and Wiesemann, 1978). A broad 1.3-km-wide crater is breached to the east from the summit of Usulután to its lower flank. Several large erosional craters cut the flanks of Usulután, including the valley seen in this view cutting the SW flank. The rounded peak at the left is the young cone of Cerro Oromontique on the margin of El Tigre volcano. Photo by Lee Siebert, 1999 (Smithsonian Institution). Caption Global Volcanism Program (GVP).
The dissected Pleistocene volcano El Tigre is seen here from the NW on the flanks of Tecapa volcano with the town of Santiago de María at the left center. Two Holocene cones, symmetrical Cerro Oromontique in the center of the photo and Cerro la Manita, the small peak on the right horizon, were erupted along a NW-SE-trending fissure cutting the flanks of El Tigre volcano. Photo by Kristal Dorion, 1994 (U.S. Geological Survey). Caption: GVP.
Chinameca stratovolcano is seen here from the SE near the summit of neighboring San Miguel volcano. A 2-km-wide, steep-sided caldera, Laguna Seca el Pacayal (right-center), truncates the summit of Chinameca volcano. The Holocene cone of Cerro el Limbo (in the partial shade left of the caldera) on the western flank rises to a point above the level of the caldera rim. A group of fumarole fields is located on the north flank of the volcano near the town of Chinameca, and the volcano has been the site of a geothermal exploration program. Photo by Lee Siebert, 1999 (Smithsonian Institution). Caption: GVP.
Symmetrical San Miguel volcano towers 2000 m above a barren basaltic lava flow erupted from a SE-flank vent in 1819. The conical volcano is not the highest volcano in El Salvador, but is one of the most prominent, since it rises from near sea level on the Pacific coastal plain. San Miguel (also known as Chaparrastique) is one of the most active volcanoes of El Salvador, with more than two dozen eruptions recorded since the beginning of the Spanish era. Photo by Carlos Pullinger, 1996 (Servicio Nacional de Estudios Territoriales, El Salvador). Caption: GVP
Serial No 1,626. Starting April 2010, each entry on this blog has a unique serial number. If any of the numbers are missing, it may mean that the corresponding entry has been blocked by Google/the authorities in your country. Please drop us a line if you detect any anomaly/missing number(s). No 1,627.
If indeed an asteroid impact killed off the dinosaurs, the intelligent rock performed brilliantly, wiping off only those ugly species, thus selecting what was to evolve as homo sapiens x2 and all other wonderful species, which we now are committing to extinction, to survive and thrive. —Fire-Earth
Unfortunately, the scientists have not yet explained how the intelligent asteroid’s selection criteria worked!
University of California – San Diego: Public Release
30 years later, what killed the dinosaurs is revisited
Scripps researcher among dozens making the case with new evidence that an asteroid impact caused a mass extinction 65.5 million years ago
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, paleoceanographer Richard Norris is one of 41 scientists presenting evidence that an asteroid impact really did kill off dinosaurs and myriad other organisms 30 years after the theory was first proposed.
An asteroid impact 65.5 million years ago left a clear band between light colored Cretaceous sediment (left) and dark-colored, Paleocene sediment (right) recovered from the seafloor off South America. The abrupt shift in sediment color that reflects the instantaneous drop in ocean biological productivity, fossil numbers, and species. Credit: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego
The 15km wide asteroid is said to have struck the planet with a force of more than 100 trillion tons of TNT (6.6 billion times more powerful than the atomic bomb at Hiroshima about 65 million years ago), resulting in the famous Chicxulub crater, which is buried underneath the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
The researchers are authors of a review paper being released Friday in the journal Science that represents a new salvo in an ongoing controversy over the cause of the mass extinction. Norris’ contribution to the paper was evidence in seafloor sediment records that indicate how deep-sea life was profoundly reshaped by the impact.
“The story is a lot stronger now than 30 years ago, when it was admittedly a little more speculative,” said Norris. “Since 1980, we have accumulated an overwhelming amount of evidence that there was an impact. We also think the evidence is overwhelming that there was a mass extinction as a direct result of this event.”
In that year, father and son researchers Luis and Walter Alvarez first proposed the notion that an asteroid impact killed off the dinosaurs. They had discovered that high levels of iridium, an element rare on Earth but common on extraterrestrial objects like meteors, were uniformly present in sedimentary samples that could be dated back to the extinction event, which marked the transition between two geologic periods.
At the time, they did not know where on Earth that impact might have taken place. It would be another 11 years before researchers Alan Hildebrand and Glen Penfield suggested that a crater left behind by an asteroid impact was buried on the Yucatan peninsula. With the crater nearly 200 kilometers (125 miles) in diameter, the impact was one large enough to have caused the mass extinction in agreement with the Alvarez hypothesis.
The force of the impact itself — there is evidence of giant earthquakes and tsunami waves more than 1,000 feet tall being generated in the immediate aftermath — and the following profound atmospheric changes combined to make the planet uninhabitable for between 40 and 70 percent of all life forms on Earth.
But rival explanations, though outside the mainstream, have continued to proliferate in high-profile fashion. One theory that has gained widespread attention attributes the mass extinction to a volcanic event in India that took place at roughly the same time as the impact. Another faction of researchers acknowledges that the asteroid did strike but that its effects were not enough to cause the mass extinction.
The sizes of deep sea foraminifera fossils from just after the impact (a) and immediately before the impact. The scale bar in both pictures is 500 microns (half a millimeter). Credit: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego
Norris notes that an inspection of ancient layers of seafloor sediment around the world show a clear record of the event contained in a red or green band composed of materials ejected from the blast. These include pieces of rock like those on the Yucatan, glassy droplets that represent melted rock, microscopic diamonds made under the very high pressures produced by the impact and meteoric debris.
“There are also monster submarine landslides along the entire East Coast of the U.S. from the massive earthquake triggered by the impact,” he said.
Norris points to several pieces of evidence from the deep sea that support a tight link between the impact and the mass extinction. In most places in the deep ocean, the impact debris layer is associated with an abrupt decrease in the size of fossils — the appearance of a dwarfed “disaster” fauna. Abrupt environmental changes throughout history such as the impact tend to favor smaller organisms that have more rapid lifecycles and fewer resource needs than larger organisms. Biological productivity plummets in many parts of the oceans immediately after the impact. The drop in productivity is partly reflected by a change in the color of deep-sea sediments — from creamy white to brown or grey — as light-colored fossil shells abruptly decreased in number.
Individually, the decrease in fossil size, the appearance of a “disaster fauna” and the plummet in ocean productivity are unusual, and together with an impact debris layer, are unique in the deep-sea sediment record.
“This is not a ‘smoking gun,'” said Norris, “it’s a ‘smoking cannon.'”
A smoking cannon that fires selectively—Fire-Earth
Fire Earth 
