Growing Magma Chamber Discovered Under Bay of Plenty, NZ

Significant ground deformation detected in Bay of Plenty due to estimated 200 million m³ of magma buildup 

The discovery is said to be related to thousand of earthquakes that struck the town of Matata, Bay of Plenty  between 2004 and 2011, and caused a 40-cm uplift in a 20km² area around the town.

The Bay of Plenty (BOP) region [area: 12,230 km²] located in North island, New Zealand has a population of about 287,500. Tauranga [pop: 100,000+] the most populous city in BOP, lies about 50 km west of the uplift.

Champagne Pool is a lake in Rotorua, one of New Zealand’s most active volcanic regions.
Credit: Colin Monteath/Minden/NGC [Non-commercial, educational use.]

More information posted at the following links:

• WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW!  Posted by te2ataria on June 4, 2016
• ‘Zombie volcano’ slowly grows beneath New Zealand

 

Sangeang Api Erupts; Ash Grounds Flights

VOLCANIC HAZARD
SCENARIO 07
.

Volcanic ash forces hundreds of flight cancellations over Australia, Indonesia, East Timore, Singapore…

Sangeang Api [“Mountain of Spirits”] began erupting on Friday, after 15 years sending massive plumes of ash into the air, and forcing airport authorities to cancel dozens of lights between Australia and Singapore, East Timore and Bali.

The 20-km high ash cloud is moving in a southeasterly direction, affecting several towns, however there are concerns that the cloud could drift west causing travel chaos in and out of Perth, said the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

“Depending on wind and other weather conditions, the ash has the potential to affect flights to and from other airports, including Brisbane, during coming days. This is currently being fully assessed,” said a senior official.

Sangeang Api [“Mountain of Spirits”] began erupting on Friday ejecting 20-km high columns of ash into the air and forcing hundreds of flight cancellations.

“The volcano is undergoing a sustained, rather significant eruption at the moment, so for the last 10 hours we’ve been observing large masses of volcanic ash being generated,” the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Center told Reuters.

Approximate location of Sangeang Api is marked on the map by FEWW. Mount Sangeang Api is one of Indonesia’s 130 active volcanoes.

“Scores of farmers cultivating the land in the island, 7 km from the crater, have been told to leave the area since this morning. And they have been warned not to reenter the island during the eruption period,” Xinhua quoted an Indonesian official as saying.

Sangeang Api, located off the northeast coast of the Indonesian island of Sumbawa, continues to eject huge volumes of volcanic matter into the air.

M6.2 Quake Strikes Off W. Coast of N. Sumatra

SEISMIC HAZARD
HEIGHTENED GLOBAL SEISMICITY
SCENARIOS 07, 08
.

Significant Quake Strikes N. Sumatra Region

Centered at 4.259°N, 92.747°E, the quake struck at a signature depth of  about 10km.

EQ Details

Event Time: 2014-05-18 01:02:29 UTC
Location: 4.259°N 92.747°E depth=9.8km (6.1mi)
Nearby Cities

• 319km (198mi) WSW of Banda Aceh, Indonesia
• 337km (209mi) WSW of Sabang, Indonesia
• 1000km (621mi) W of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

EQ Location Map

Source: USGS/EHP

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FIRE-EARTH EQ Forecast

The next detailed FIRE-EARTH Earthquake Forecast will be released together with Bulletin NO. 98 later today (May 18, 2014).

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Related Links

• Significant Quakes Strike Philippines, Micronesia, New Caledonia May 16, 2014

Gaua Volcano Eruption Intensifies

Volcanic ash, poisonous gases, mudslide plague the tiny island

Vanuatu government officials may finally evacuate residents of Gaua Island

According to VAAC, Gaua produced volcanic ash plumes on  13 to 16 and again on 19 to 21 April, with most of the plumes rising to an altitudes of 3 km (10,000 ft) a.s.l. The advisories on 14-15 April noted that the plumes were mostly steam.

Vanuatu Geohazards Observatory said: “Field observations reported by the Geohazards officer in Gaua confirmed significant change of activity with ticker and higher emissions of ash columns (see photos in page 4). Since last week (end of march/beginning of April 2010) the ash plumes height dwell between 7000 and 10000 feet every day. Field reports also stated that the explosion sounds could be heard from the villages daily. Moreover, starting from the 3rd of April 2010 the volcanic bombes projections from Gaua volcano could be observed from all the coastal villages from the north to the south of the island with reports of the ashfall.”

The thick, steam-rich plume from Guau Volcano blows directly northeast in this natural-color satellite image acquired on April 24, 2010 by ALI aboard NASA’s EO-1 spacecraft. The thick steam is brighter white than the surrounding lower altitude clouds. Vegetation is green, as is Lake Letas. Vegetation to the south and west of the volcano, damaged by ash and acidic volcanic gases, is dark gray-brown. Image and Caption: NASA [edited by FEWW for brevity.]

OMI Image

Click image to enlarge.

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Serial No 1,636. 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).

Related Links:

• FEWW Volcano Links
• Volcanoes
• FEWW Earthquake Links

The Next Icelandic Volcano Likely to Erupt

A Probability Analysis of the Icelandic Volcano Most Likely to Erupt Next

The pattern of seismicity in Iceland has remained almost unchanged from two days ago, while the eruption at Eyjafjallajökull has become less explosive.

Loads of magma seem to be flowing under the land of Ice and Fire [Iceland,] but where is it all going?

In Iceland’s Bárdarbunga May Be Erupting posted on April 20,2010, Fire Earth Moderators said they believed Iceland’s Bárdarbunga May Be Erupting or is about to Erupt.

Seismic events occurring between Apr 18 – 20,2010

Source: Iceland Met Office. © Veðurstofa Íslands

Seismic events occurring between Apr 20 – 22,2010

Source: Iceland Met Office. © Veðurstofa Íslands

The moderators have now allocated the following probabilities of eruption to each of the volcanoes/volcano groups previously listed:

1. Probability of a second Icelandic volcano erupting this year: > 80 percent
2. Kolbeinsey ridge (Last erupted: 1999) or a new submarine fissure in its vicinity – probability of eruption: 80 percent
   
3. Krafla (1984)/ Theistareykjarbunga (< 1000 BC)/ Tjörnes fracture zone (1868) – probability of eruption: 52percent
4. Askja (1961) – probability of eruption: 66 percent
5. Bárðarbunga (1903) and neighboring Grímsvötn (2004) – probability of eruption: 84 percent
6. Grímsnes (> 3500 BC) – 40 percent
   
7. Reykjanes (1879) – 50 percent
   
8. Eyjafjallajökull – probability that the current round of eruption would last more than 30 days: 34 percent
   
9. Katla – probability of eruption: 64 percent
10. Other Icelandic volcanoes not mentioned on this list: probability of eruption: less than 40 percent

A Map of Iceland Volcanoes. Click image to enlarge.

Bárdarbunga, one of the most active volcanoes in Iceland, is a massive volcano with a  700-m-deep caldera which lies beneath the NW Vatnajökull icecap.  A fissure eruption at Thjorsarhraun produced about 21 km³ of lava, the largest known Holocene lava flow on the planet.

Powerful eruptions may occur among the volcanoes lying along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The plate tectonics could also translate into increased seismicity along the divergent plate boundary and boundaries of neighboring plates.

Related Links

• Iceland’s Bárdarbunga May Be Erupting
• Eyjafjallajökull Eruption – UPDATE 21 April
• Eyjafjallajökull Eruption Links Page

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Serial No 1,607. 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).