Vikings Volcanic Activity Thread

[Guest Shetland Coastie]

UPDATE - AMERICAS

MASAYA (Nicaragua)

Washington VAAC reports that a diffuse ash plume was observed from Masaya on 24 Dec that drifted SW. This was confirmed by corresponding seismic activity. Masaya is an unusual volcano and has been frquently active since the time of the Spanish Conquistadors. At that time the volcano had an active lava lake, which the Spanish thought was "liquid gold" and tried to harvest it!

COLIMA (Mexico)

Colima continues to grumble, with steam and ash plumes rising to approx 15,500ft during the period 20-25 Dec.

CONCEPCION (Nicaragua)

According to INETER (Instituto Nicaraguense de Estudios Territoriales) an explosion occured at Concepcion on 20 Dec which emitted gas and ash plumes. Ashfall was subsequently reported in surrounding communities.

FUEGO (Guatemala)

The alert state at this volcano remains at yellow, following further activity over the last week. Multiple ash plumes were observed from the volcano on 21, 23 & 24 dec which rose to altitdues of 17,000ft and drifted W & SW.

PACAYA (Guatemala)

Due to changes in the behaviour of Pacaya, CONRED has raised the alert state at this volcano to Yellow. White and blue smoke plumes have been noted rising to altitudes of over 9,000ft over the last week.

SANTA MARIA (Guatemala)

Growth of the lava dome in the Santiaguto complex continues. Washington VAAC reports ash plumes rising from this lava dome to heights of 17,000ft on 21 Dec which drifted SW of the volcano.

TUNGURAHUA (Ecuador)

Activity continues with ash plumes, "roaring noises" and "cannon shots" being heard from this volcano on an almost daily basis and windows and doors in nearby villages being vibrated. Incandescent blocks have been seen rolling hundreds of metres down the flanks and ashfall has been reported in areas SW,W, NW & N of the volcano. The 1,200 occupants of the village of Penipe were evacuated at night for their safety and various villages around the volcano remain on Orange alert.

[Louby]

Any news on Mount St Helen SC?

[Guest Shetland Coastie]

Any news on Mount St Helen SC?

Hi Loubs!

The new lava dome at Mt St Helens, which has grown up in the crater created by the massive blast in 1980, continues to grow and there is no doubt that at some time in the future St Helens will erupt violently again, question is when? At the moment the lava dome building goes along at a steady pace, accompanied by Mag 1.5-2.5 earthquakes and occasionally the odd bigger one, without anything very spectacular happening.

St Helens, as we have seen in the past, is very unpredictable and could literally blow at any time so its a case of just "watch this space."

UPDATE - ASIA/PACIFIC

ULAWUN (Papua New Guinea)

Darwin VAAC reports an ash and steam plume rose from Ulawun on Christmas Day and drifted W of the volcano. Ulawun is the highest volcano in the Bismarck arc and one of Papua New Guineas most active. Historical eruptions have been noted from the 18th Century, which tended to be mildly explosive, however, eruptions since 1967 have tended to be more violent, producing lava flows and pyroclastic flows.

ANATAHAN (Marianas Islands)

Activitiy continues at this volcano with low-level tremors and Washington VAAC reported that a steam plume was visible on satellite data. The alert state remains at Yellow.

BAGANA (Papua New Guinea)

RVO (Rabaul Volcano Observatory) reports an ash plume rose to an altitude of 10,000ft from Bagana on 21 Dec and another ash and steam plume was visible on 26 Dec. Bagana is a relatively young volcano, one of the youngest in Melanesia. It is a massive lava cone which lies on the island of Bougainville, and at its current rate of lava production the entire cone will have been constructed in the last 300 years.

BARREN ISLAND (Andaman Islands - India)

Darwin VAAC reports an ash plume rose from Barren Island to an altitude of 5,000ft on 23 Dec which drifted SW. Barren Island is 354m high island which is in fact the emergent summit of a submarine volcano which rises some 2250m from the sea floor.

SAKURA-JIMA (Japan)

Tokyo VAAC reports an eruption plume rising from Sakura-jima on 23-24 Dec which rose to an altitude of 9000ft and drifted S.

[0000]

Clever lad- fascinating thread...love volcanos thank you!Will visit often!

Edited December 30, 2007 by hannegan

[Louby]

Thanks SC :lol: :smiliz19: I always finds your posts very interesting and a great read, keep up the good work :lol:

[Guest Shetland Coastie]

Thanks Loubs & Hanne, much appreciated.

HAPPY NEW YEAR VOLCANO WATCHERS!

[Rustynailer]

Happy New year to you SC.

An eruption in Chile from the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_71...s=1&bbcws=1

You are probably busy enough keeping an eye out in case there are any fast moving German container ships in your area atm

Regards,

Russ

Edited January 2, 2008 by Rustynailer

[Guest Shetland Coastie]

Cheers for that Rusty!

ERUPTION - LLAIMA (CHILE)

Llaima, in Chile has erupted. The Eruption began yesterday and continues. See the story in the BBC link below.

Llaima

The eruption began when a large plume of ash rose to an altidtue of 41,000ft on Jan 1st according to the Buenos Aires VAAC. Lava was then seen on the E flank and fumarolic activity was noted at the summit. The alert state was immediately raised to Yellow and this resulted in the evacuation of approx 150 tourists and National Forest Service employees.

Llaima is one of Chiles largest and most active volcanos and has two active craters, one at the summit and one to the SE. Llaima is 3125m high and its top is covered by a glacier. Frequent, moderately explosive eruptions have been noted since the 17th century. The volcano last erupted in 2003.

[Guest Shetland Coastie]

UPDATE

In addition to the 150 tourists evacuated from the vicinity of the volcano, 53 more had to be plucked from the slopes of the volcano when the eruption began by Army troops. A fleet of 12 vehicles was used and they had to use an alternate route in and out of the national park as the main entrance had been blocked when the river which runs nearby burst its banks due to the melting snow from the glacier on the volcanos summit.

Head of the National Parks for the region, Mario Acuna, said: "there is now absolutely no-one in the park." Llaima volcano lies within the Conguillio National Park, 400 miles south of the capital Santiago. Residents of a nearby town, Melipeuco, are still in their homes waiting to see if the National Emergency Office roders their evacuation, along with the 53 evauees who were said to be receiving food and water after a terrfying night on the volcano.

Prior to the eruption, local residents said they heard loud noises from underground and a large amount of ashfall has been reported within the National Park. The NEO states that it is unclear at this time if this will be a brief or sustained eruption.

The eruption pictured yesterday. Photo courtesy Reuters/Hector Andrade

Latest news is that helicopters from the State Police and the Puerto Montt Air Force Base are expected to arrive today to evacuate the remaining residents of Melipeuco and nearby villages.

Edited January 2, 2008 by Shetland Coastie

[Guest Shetland Coastie]

LLAIMA

Follow the link below to see video footage of the early stages of the eruption.

Edited January 2, 2008 by Shetland Coastie

[pottyprof]

Super footage there SC..

I can't believe there were that many people stuck on the slopes. I suppose it goes to show how each eruption can have it's own characteristics..

Were there any warning signs at all?

[Cookie]

thanks for the link mate

[Wintergoose]

Yes thanks for the link on this one SC.

[Guest Shetland Coastie]

Super footage there SC..

I can't believe there were that many people stuck on the slopes. I suppose it goes to show how each eruption can have it's own characteristics..

Were there any warning signs at all?

Apart from the rumbling sounds underground just prior to the eruption it appears not Potty. You are right in saying that each volcano has its own characteristics. Some will grumble for months before finally letting rip, others are highly dangerous and can blow with little or no warning. Its why many volcanos around the world are constantly on yellow or orange alert even though there appears, on the face of it, to be little happening.

[Guest Shetland Coastie]

UPDATE - LLAIMA

Whilst Llaima continues to spew lava and ash, Chilean authorities feel the activity of the volcano is slowing and are now not looking to order a wider evacuation from around the volcano.

Photo of Llaima courtesy AFP/Getty Images

[Guest Shetland Coastie]

Hi all. Now that the festive period is over I hope to start regularly updating again starting with a global round-up later today. Hope you all had a good festive period and are ready for another years volcano watching.

Cheers

SC

:lol:

[Cookie]

I look forward very much to an update, great pic of LLAIMA

[Guest Shetland Coastie]

UPDATE - AMERICAS

As well as the recent eruption at Llaima in Chile, many volcanos in the Americas have been quite active recently.

Sangay (Ecuador)

Sangay is an isolated volcano which lies east of the main Andean crest. It is the southernmost and most active of Ecuadors volcanos and has been in frequent eruption for the past several centuries. The modern edifice of this volcano is approximately 14,000 years old and at 5230m high, the volcano towers above the tropical jungle to the east, whilst on the other side there are flat plains of ash from the volcano which have been carved into steep canyons up to 600m deep.

On 26 December, Washington VAAC reports an ash column from Sangay reached an altitude of 20,000ft. Satellite imagery also revealed a thermal anomaly in the crater during 26-27 December.

Tungurahua (Ecuador)

Our old friend Tungurahua still grumbles away! Tungurahua is steep-sided stratovolcano (classical cone shape) which lies some 140m south of the capital Quito. All Tungurahuas major eruptions have been strongly explosive, with pyroclastic flows and lava flows which have reached populated areas at the volcanos base.

During the last week, activity has continued with ash and steam plumes rising to over 26,000ft and ashfall reported in areas downwind to the SW and N. Roaring noises and "cannon shots" were heard on a daily basis. Incandescent blocks were seen rolling up to 1200m down the flanks.

Colima (Mexico)

According to local newspaper reports Volcan Colima (also known locally as Volcan Fuego) has seen an increase in activity recently. An ash plume was visible from 29 December rising to 14,000ft and incandescent material was ejected from the summit. Local authorities have warned people to stay away from valleys surrounding the volcano. The last major eruption of Colima was in 1913 which was violently explosive to the extent that the summit was destroyed, leaving a steep sides crater which has subsequently been refilled by lava dome growth.

Popocatapetl (Mexico)

Popocatapetl (which is Aztec for "smoking mountian") or Popo, as she is know locally, is also active at the moment. Emissions of stema and gas were visible during 30 Dec-1 Jan and a 13 minute long high frequency tremor on 31 Dec was followed by the emission of a plume with low ash content, to an altitude of over 24,000ft.

Fuego (Guatemala)

Fuego is one of three stratovolcanos (the others being Meseta & Acatenango) which overlook the former cpaital of Guatemala, Antigua. Fuego has been frquently active since the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadores in 1524 and some of these eruptions have been violently explosive, notably in 1974, which produced major pyroclastic flows which were visible from Antigua.

Washington VAAC reports an ash plume emanating from Fuego on 26 Dec which drifted North.

Galeras (Colombia)

Galeras is an extremely dangerous, explosive volcano, which can and does erupt violently with little or no warning. The volcano lies west of the city of Pasto and has been active for over 1 million years.

According to INGEOMINAS, on 31 Dec an episdoe of spasmodic tremor caused an ash plume to rise to an altitude of 16,000ft which drfited NW. Another plume on the same day rose to an altitude 0f nearly 15,000ft abnd drifted S.

Kilauea (Hawaii)

Activity from the 21 July fissure eruption, which followed a period of quiesence, continues. This appears to be concentrated at a breakout flow called Thanksgiving Eve Breakout (TEB) and two satellite shields to the SE. During the Christmas period short lava flows were noted to the SE and N of the TEB along with bursts of high-frequency tremors. Tremor activity remians low below the Pu'u O'o crater and the summit crater.

Edited January 6, 2008 by Shetland Coastie

[Guest Shetland Coastie]

UPDATE - PACIFIC/ASIA

Anatahan (Marianas Islands)

Low-level tremor activity during the last week and the Washington VAAC also reports an ash plume which drifted NW on 31 Dec, the Aviation Concern Colour Code remains at yellow for the time being but this current burst of activity is being closely monitored.

Bagana (Papua New Guinea)

Bagana, which lies on Bougainville Island, continues to grumble away with the Darwin VAAC reporting an ash and steam plume drifting WSW from Bagana on Boxing Day and another the following day which rose to approx 10,000 ft and drifted W. RVO reports that intermittent activity continues.

Manam (Papua New Guinea)

Manam is a 10km wide island which lies 13km off the northern coast of mainland PNG. Its eruptions are frequent and of mild to moderate intensity.

RVO & Darwin VAAC report that an ash plume rose 10,000ft on 27 Dec and drifted N.

Picture is of Manam - courtesy Australian Bureau of Mineral Resources

[Louby]

Thank SC top notch as usual still waiting for Mt St Helens to crop up though, can you not arrange it please

[Guest Shetland Coastie]

UPDATE - KAMCHATKA/KURILES

Sheveluch

The Aviaton Concern Colour Code remains at Orange for Sheveluch and activity continues. Seismic activity remains at above background levels and many shallow volcanic tremors continue to occur. Ash plumes rising to heights of 19,000ft for most of the last week and fumarloci activity was also noted on 30 dec and 2nd Jan. A large thermal anomaly was also noted all last week.

Bezymianniy

Colour Concern Code Yllow for this one, although seismic activity went above background levels on 2nd Jan. Fumarolic activity has also been noted and a weak thermal anomaly was detected on satellite imagery.

Gorely/Mutnovsky

Seismic activity at these nearby volcanos remains at elevated levels. Gas and steam plumes were noted at Mutnovsky on 30 Dec and 2nd Jan and at Gorely on 28 Dec.

Thank SC top notch as usual still waiting for Mt St Helens to crop up though, can you not arrange it please

Ta muchly Loubs! Activity at St helens continues in much the same vein as before with continuing growth of the lava dome and occasional mag 1.5-2.5 volcanic earthquakes.

Edited January 6, 2008 by Shetland Coastie

[Guest Shetland Coastie]

ERUPTION! - TUNGURAHUA (ECUADOR)

Tungurahua has burst into life and over 1000 people from villages at the foot of the volcano have been evacuated. It is believed that the volcano will become more active over the next few days and a major eruption could be on the cards.

More to follow.

[Cookie]

thanks for the udpates mate a very gud and informative read.

TUNGURAHUA - try saying that after a drunk night out.

[Guest Shetland Coastie]

LIST OF ACRONYMS

Those of you who have been follwing this thread for a while will by now be quite familiar with some of the acronyms I use but newcomers may not and some of you may have forgotten! So, to help matters along I have posted below some of the most common acronyms so at least you have some idea what I'm waffling on about

AVO - Alaskan Volcanos Observatory (USA)

CENAPRED - Centro Nacionale de Prevencion de Desastres (Mexico)

CVGHM - Centre of Vulcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (Indonesia)

HVO - Hawaiian Volcanos Observatory (USA)

IG-EPN - Instituto Geofisico - Esquela Politechnica Nacional (Ecuador)

INETER - Instituto Nicaraguense de Estudios Territoriales (Nicaragua)

INGEOMINAS - Instituto Colombiano de Geologica y Mineria (Colombia)

INGV-CT - Instituto Nazionale de Geofisica e Vulcanologica - Sezione di Catania (Italy)

INSIVUMEH - Instituto Nacional de Sismologica, Vulcanologia, Meteorologia e Hidrologia (Guatemala)

KVERT - Kamchtkan Volcanos Emergency response Team (Russia)

MVO - Montserrat Volcano Observatry (Montserrat)

OVPDLF - Observatoire Volcanologique du Piton de la Fournaise (Reunion Is)

PHIVOLCS - Philippine Institute of Vulcanology and Seismology (Philippines)

RVO - Rabaul Volcano Observatory (Papua New Guinea)

USGS - United States Geological Survey (USA)

VAAC - Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (Various)

Hope you find this useful.

Edited January 7, 2008 by Shetland Coastie

[Cookie]

thanks mate very usefull.

they USGS a lot in films.