VolcanoWatch Weekly [11 Nov 2009]

SI / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report
(4 November – 10 November 2009)

New activity/Unrest:

Batur, Bali (Indonesia);  Galeras, Colombia; Karangetang [Api Siau], Siau I; Mayon, Luzon;  Nevado del Huila, Colombia;  Piton de la Fournaise, Reunion Island; Reventador, Ecuador;  San Vicente, El Salvador

GVP Volcano News:

OVPDLF reported that on 5 November a vent inside the S part of Piton de la Fournaise’s Dolomieu crater opened, following an intense seismic crisis. Within thirty minutes, a fissure on the upper SE flank propagated E and a second fissure opened on the E flank.

PHIVOLCS reported that on 11 November an explosion from Mayon’ssummit crater ejected incandescent rock fragments seen from nearby areas. Cloud cover prevented observations of an ash plume, however fieldinvestigations after the event revealed ashfall to the SW.—GVP

Ongoing Activity:

Chaitén, Southern Chile;  Dukono, Halmahera;  Karymsky, Eastern Kamchatka;  Kilauea, Hawaii;  Kliuchevskoi, Central Kamchatka (Russia); Koryaksky, Eastern Kamchatka;  Rabaul, New Britain;  Sakura-jima, Kyushu;  Santa María, Guatemala;  Shiveluch, Central Kamchatka (Russia); Soufrière Hills, Montserrat; Suwanose-jima, Ryukyu Islands (Japan)

 

Related Links:

• Volcanic Explosions Could Split More Than Africa
• Arabia Shakes
• VolcanoWatch Weekly [28 Oct 2009]
• VolcanoWatch Weekly [26 Oct 2009]

More 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

El Salvador Devastated by New Onslaught of Landslides

El Salvador’s President Mauricio Funes:

The images that we have seen today are of a devastated country

About 130 people have been killed, with at least 60 others missing after days of heavy rain that caused flooding and landslides in El Salvador.

Salvadorans look at their houses that were damaged by heavy rains in San Salvador November 8, 2009. REUTERS/William Bonilla. Image may be subject to copyright.

Map of El Salvador with the worst affected regions San Salvador, the capital, and central San Vicente province marked.

Describing the countrywide devastation as “incalculable,” the El Salvador president declared a national emergency.

San Salvador, the nation’s capital, and central San Vicente province were the hardest-hit regions, officials were reported as saying

According to local reports, San Vicente is virtually cut off by landslides and collapsed bridges, with the worst hit areas being Cuscatlan, La Libertad and La Paz.

Workers seen near a street that was damaged by heavy rain in San Martin on the outskirts of San Salvador, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. Photo: Luis Romero/ AP. Image may be subject to copyright.

What if the rain continued?

A police officer told the AP: “The weather continues to be bad, and we already have a river flowing through the village due to a landslide. We are worried things will get worse if the rains continue.”

Large parts of El Salvador are without power or clean water and remain cut off from government aid because of collapsed bridges and washed-up roads

El Salvador’s relentless downpour that funneled rain from the mountains into populated valleys below, lasting for more than 3 days, were caused by a low pressure system in the Pacific, and did NOT occur directly as a result of Hurricane Ida, according to weather reports.

Ida strengthened to a hurricane-force storm on Thursday for the first time near the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, forcing about than 5,000 people to take shelters from heavy rains.

Related Links:

• Floods, Landslides, Extreme Rain Events
• Ida Became a Hurricane, Again!
• Could Ida Become a Hurricane?

• Mag 7.1 Offshore Quake Rattles Honduras
• Human Enhanced World Disasters: A Quick Scan
• Ethanol Dries You Out
• Food Riots Grip Egypt, Haiti, El Salvador
• Corn for Food, NOT for Fuel