Mayon alert level lowered from 3 to 2 13 January 2010
Posted by admin in activity reports, Mayon, Philippines.Tags: Mayon, Philippines, volcanic activity reports
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The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has lowered the alert level for Mayon from 3 (‘relatively high unrest’) to 2 (‘moderate unrest’). Mayon bulletin no. 31 for 13 January 2010 gives the details:
Seismic activity: ‘The network continues to record a few low frequency-type volcanic earthquakes associated with degassing of residual magma … The lack of remarkable seismic events, such as harmonic tremors, suggests no active transport of magma to shallow levels’.
Ground deformation: ‘Results of precise leveling surveys (05-10 January) at the northwest and southeast slopes of the volcano showed deflationary trend compared to 27 November – 03 December 2009 survey. The electronic tiltmeter installed at the upper northwest slope of the volcano also indicated deflation. These measurements indicate a return of the volcanic edifice to a deflated state, suggesting that no pressure build-up has taken place and reflect a general static condition of residual magma in the volcanic pipe and beneath the crater’.
Gas measurements: ‘Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) emission rate was measured yesterday at an average of 597 tonnes/day (t/d). Measured SO2 levels have decreased considerably from a high of 2,621 t/d to a low of 597 t/d. The decrease in concentration of SO2 gas emission further indicates that no active magma intrusion is occurring beneath the volcanic edifice’.
Visual observation: ‘Steam emission was most of the time weak to moderate and white in color indicating considerable decrease in energy. Crater glow remained visible to the naked eye at night possibly due to the still-hot residual magma beneath the crater’.
For all our Mayon coverage: Mayon « The Volcanism Blog.
News
Phivolcs lowers Mayon alert level to 2 – GMANews.TV, 13 January 2010
Phivolcs lowers Mayon alert level – Philippine Star, 13 January 2010
Mayon alert level lowered to 2 – Philippine Daily Inquirer, 13 January 2010
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Mayon – summary information for Mayon (0703-03=)
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology – website for Phivolcs
Quick note: more on Hekla 13 January 2010
Posted by admin in Hekla, Iceland.Tags: Hekla, Iceland, volcanic activity reports, volcano webcams
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Last week we reported hints from Iceland that Hekla may be building up to an eruption. No new substantive news on that, but the English-language Iceland Review has caught up with the story and has a report here. And the Hekla webcam seems to be working again.
For an Icelandic artist’s view of Hekla, see Saturday Volcano Art: Thórarinn B. Thorláksson, ‘Hekla from Laugurdalur’ (1922).
News
Iceland’s Hekla could erupt with short notice – Iceland Review, 12 January 2010
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Hekla – summary information for Hekla (1702-07=)
Tungurahua’s restlessness continues 12 January 2010
Posted by admin in activity reports, Ecuador, Tungurahua.Tags: Ecuador, Tungurahua, volcanic activity reports
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Activity at Ecuador’s Tungurahua volcano ‘continues at an activity considered as moderate, with a tendency to increase’, reports the Instituto Geofísico in its bulletin for 11 January 2010 (PDF).
Superficially the activity is characterized by the expulsion of incandescent material in the form of blocks and lava fountains, the constant generation of emission columns with a moderate to low ash content and constant roars of varying intensity, some of which have been audible in the city of Ambato. Reports of moderate falls of ash have been received from villages located to the west and south-west of the volcano. The presence of a thin layer of ash is reported from the city of Riobamba.
The Instituto Geofísico reports that ash columns from Tungurahua have been reaching a maximum altitude of 3 km. Explosions from Tungurahua have been shaking windows and waking local residents 20 km south-west of the volcano, in the canton of Penipe, El Comercio reports. Hugo Yépez, director of the Instituto Geofísico, is reported in El Tiempo to have called Tungurahua’s current activity ‘rising, but not yet at alarming levels’. Instituto Geofísico personnel have been touring villages around the volcano, advising on how local residents should respond if the activity increases, but the process does not seem to have been solely one-way, as the experts seem to have been listening to Tungurahua’s neighbours as well as talking to them: ‘the inhabitants are our best eyes, they are aware of the activity changing, even though we constantly monitor the volcano’, says Yépez. The volcanologists also rely on a network of 15 observers resident in high risk areas around the volcano established by the Comité de Operaciones de Emergencia de Tungurahua. These observers urgently need new communications equipment now that the volcano is active again, according to a report in El Comercio.
For all our Tungurahua coverage: Tungurahua « The Volcanism Blog.
News
Más explosiones en el Tungurahua – El Comercio, 11 January 2010
Vulcanólogo: No se puede precisar actividad del Tungurahua – El Universo, 11 January 2010
Los vigías del Tungurahua necesitan mejores equipos – El Comercio, 11 January 2010
Tungurahua tiene en alerta a pobladores – El Tiempo, 12 January 2010
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Tungurahua – summary information for Tungurahua (1502-80=)
Instituto Geofísico (Escuela Politecnica Nacional) – Geophysical Institute of Ecuador
Redoubt quiet, back to Normal/Advisory 12 January 2010
Posted by admin in activity reports, Alaska, Redoubt, United States.Tags: Alaska, Redoubt, United States, volcanic activity reports
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A bit late catching up with this, but the Alaska Volcano Observatory returned Redoubt to Normal/Advisory status on 5 January 2010: ‘The swarm of small, shallow earthquakes that began Sunday, December 27 has ceased and the degree of seismic activity beneath the volcano has returned to background levels. Aerial observations of the new lava dome on December 31 indicated no obvious changes at the surface and no sign of instability’.
News
AVO lowers Redoubt alert level to green – KTUU.com, 5 January 2010
Alaska volcano back at ‘normal’ status – Seattle Times, 5 January 2010
Mount Redoubt is back to code green – Radio Kenai, 6 January 2010
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Redoubt – summary information for Redoubt (1103-03-)
Alaska Volcano Observatory – Redoubt – AVO information and updates for Redoubt
Alaska Volcano Observatory – main page for the AVO
Nyamuragira activity diminishes – report 12 January 2010
Posted by admin in activity reports, Africa, Congo (Dem. Rep.), eruptions, Nyamuragira.Tags: Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nyamuragira, volcanic activity reports, volcanic eruptions
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The latest information on the eruption of Nyamuragira volcano in the Democratic Republic of Congo comes from Samantha Newport, director of communications for Virunga National Park, who reports in a comment at the gorilla.cd blog dated 11 January 2010 that lava fountains were reaching almost 300 metres in height on Saturday 9 January, but that volcanic activity had since diminished. The decline in activity appears to be confirmed by the fact that no thermal hotspots have been detected by MODIS at Nyamuragira since 8 January 2010 (although that doesn’t mean nothing has been happening).
The image above, from UNOSAT (original PDF document here), shows thermal anomalies on the eastern and southern flanks of Nyamuragira volcano detected by the Aqua satellite’s MODIS on 4 January 2010. Source: Reuters Alertnet.
News
Nyamuragira volcanic eruption – Reuters AlertNet, 8 January 2010
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Nyamuragira – summary information for Nyamuragira (0203-02=)
Mayon still quiet: Phivolcs considers lowering alert level to 2 12 January 2010
Posted by admin in activity reports, Mayon, Philippines, volcano tourism.Tags: Mayon, Philippines, volcanic activity reports, volcano tourism
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Mayon volcano on Luzon remains quiet following its burst of activity last month. The latest Phivolcs bulletin for Mayon, no. 30 of 12 January 2010, reports low seismic activity and ‘weak to moderate emission of white steam’ at the summit crater, with a pale glow visible at the crater overnight. Ground deformation measurements show a deflationary trend compared with early December 2009. Sulphur dioxide emissions have been variable over the past few days: 672 tons/day on 6 January, 1,077 tons/day on 7 January 7, 1,345 tons/day on 8 January, 759 tons/day on 9 January and 820 tons/day on 11 January. The danger of explosions remains, and Phivolcs warns that ‘the 6-km radius Permanent Danger Zone and the 7-km Extended Danger Zone on the southeast flank of the volcano should be free from human activity because of sudden explosions that may generate hazardous volcanic flows’.
The Inquirer reports that Phivolcs ‘could downgrade the alert level of Mayon Volcano from 3 to level 2 within a week’s time should the abnormal condition of the volcano continue to wane’. Meanwhile the United Nations Development Program has praised the response of the Albay Provincial Disaster Co-ordinating Council to the Mayon emergency. ‘I have worked in disaster situations in many countries around the world and, in my own professional opinion, the provincial preparedness and planning is amongst the best that I’ve seen … I believe it could make a good case study for disaster management training’, says the UN’s John English.
The show Mayon has put on over the last month has certainly been good for local tourism, says the Philippine Information Agency. Tourism and hotel occupancy rates surged compared with December 2008 as thousands of people visited Albay province to see the eruption, although that doesn’t mean that the volcanic activity was, overall, a good thing: the ‘benefits of disaster tourism are simply outweighed by the actual destruction on the livelihoods, crops and properties’. Also putting Mayon’s recent restlessness in perspective is Tito Genova Valiente at Vox Bikol, who reflects on perceptions of Mayon from the nineteenth century to the present: ‘Mayon is really part of Nature, invasive and majestic perhaps, but still indicative of the workings of the Earth’.
For all our Mayon coverage: Mayon « The Volcanism Blog.
News
UNDP hails Albay’s Mayon disaster preparedness program – Vox Bikol, 9 January 2010
Re-visiting Mayon – Vox Bikol, 9 January 2010
Mayon still emitting gas – Phivolcs – Philippine Daily Inquirer, 9 January 2010
Mayon eruption brings biggest surge of tourists to Albay – Philippine Information Agency, 11 January 2010
Mayon’s alert level may be lowered to 2 – Philippine Daily Inquirer, 12 January 2010
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Mayon – summary information for Mayon (0703-03=)
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology – website for Phivolcs
New Zealand: disaster management software aims to save lives 12 January 2010
Posted by admin in natural hazards, New Zealand.Tags: Auckland, natural disasters, New Zealand, volcanic hazards
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Yasir Javed, a doctoral student in the application of computer technology to disaster management at Massey University in New Zealand, was in the city of Abbottabad in his homeland of Pakistan when the 2005 Kashmir Earthquake hit, killing thousands. His current research at Massey is inspired by his experience of that disaster and its aftermath, when communication systems collapsed and thousands of people were left unable to discover whether missing relatives were alive or dead.
Javed worked in the relief effort, setting up a computer database of earthquake victims admitted to Abbottabad’s hospitals, helping survivors to trace missing family members. Now transplanted to New Zealand, he is carrying out admirable research on an integrated information management system for emergency services to use following natural disasters:
Yasir Javed’s research involves the design, implementation and evaluation of an internet-based package called Situation Aware Volcanic Eruption Reasoner (SAVER) to help emergency operations have a clear understanding of the disaster and the status of their resources in dealing with it. The package is designed to provide a common platform, giving information to emergency services about the full picture of the disaster and status of emergency resources. Mr Javed began the project after an emergency exercise last year based on the occurrence of a volcanic eruption in Auckland revealed current emergency services do not have an integrated information management system.
The initial focus on volcanic eruptions reflects the fact that Javed is based at the Albany campus of Massey University near Auckland. After his experiences in the Kashmir earthquake, he says, ‘I realised I wanted to work with technology in these disaster scenarios to save lives. ‘New Zealand is quite disaster-prone and it seemed the ideal place to do this kind of research’.
News
Evacuating Auckland after an eruption – Massey University press release, 6 January 2010
Auckland eruption evacuation software developed – 3 News, 6 January 2010
Software tackles Auckland evacuation – Stuff.co.nz, 6 January 2010
Logging on to beat volcanic eruption – New Zealand Herald, 7 January 2010
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Auckland – summary information for the Auckland volcanic field (0401-02=)
Turrialba bulletin, 4-8 January 2010 11 January 2010
Posted by admin in activity reports, Costa Rica, eruptions, Turrialba.Tags: Costa Rica, Turrialba, volcanic activity reports, volcanic eruptions
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The Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica (Ovsicori) has released a bulletin covering activity at Turrialba volcano between 4 and 8 January 2010 (PDF), including the eruption of 5 January 2010, which is described as follows:
Around 14:00 on 5 January 2010 ashfall originating from the western crater of Turrialba volcano was reported in several localities around the volcano (La Central, La Pastora, La Esperanza, among others) and in more distant locations such as the Irazú Volcano National Park, Aguacaliente de Cartago, Tres Ríos, Curridabat and Desamparados. This eruption, which is another manifestation of the degassing of the volcano, consitutes the first eruption of ash from Turrialba in many decades.
The bulletin notes that during 2009 seismic activity at Turrialba was characterized by the ‘almost constant occurrence of LP [long period] type earthquakes’ associated with gas (mainly water vapour) movements within the volcano, and that this activity continued into the first few days of 2010 with an average of 10 earthquakes per day. This pattern of behaviour changed on 4 January 2010:
On 4 January at 10:57 (local time) there was a phreatic explosion (caused by the decompression of steam at high temperatures) of a large scale at the volcano (greater than those occurring during 2009) followed by another three explosions of lesser magnitude at an interval of 10 minutes. These explosions were produced by the opening of ducts for the escape of pressurized gas. The explosions were followed by a tremor of large amplitude that was maintained for more than 45 minutes. The tremors resulted from the movement of fluids through restricted ducts, in this case associated with the expulsion of gas and ash or fine particles swept along by the expelled gas. The tremor persisted but its amplitude decreased towards 15:20 as several smaller explosions took place followed by almost continuous tremor, sometimes spasmodic, reaching large amplitudes at 23:30 on 4 January and 10:45 on 5 January. From 15:30 on 5 January the tremor is recorded continuously and at low amplitudes.
This low-amplitude tremor continued until 16:58 on 8 January; since that time the tremor has ended and the volcano has returned to the same LP type earthquakes that were recorded before 4 January, ‘so it is possible to be sure that activity at the volcano has returned to the levels of before the phreatic eruption’.
Ovsicori scientists carried out a field visit on 6 January to assess ashfall and collect ash samples. They found ‘a very thin layer of ash’, not uniform in distribution, across and area between 8 km and 15 km WSW of the volcano. Analysis of the ash revealed that ‘the ashes erupted by Turrialba volcano between 5 and 6 January are almost [pH] neutral, i.e. of a nature between very slightly acidic (mildly corrosive) and very slightly alkaline (mildly caustic)’. The low acidity of the lava ‘suggests that so far there has been no involvement of lava in the ash eruptions or additional inputs of new magmatic gases’.
The bulletin offers the following interpretation of current activity at Turrialba, and the prospects for the next few days and weeks:
The eruptive activity that began on 5 January represents a process at a superficial level in the volcano, consisting of the rapid heating and vaporization of a body of subterranean water followed by sudden decompression through the fracture system of Turrialba. The discharge of steam and gases through the fumaroles on this occasion has had much more vigorous results than those observed in previous years. The heat source is provided by the intrusion of a magmatic body at depth … The absence of juvenile magmatic material in the recently erupted ash and its pH indicate that the groundwater has not come into contact with the magma intruded at depth but has been mainly heated by the conduction of heat through the rocks within the volcano.
In summary, at present there are no characteristic signs indicating the presence of magma at shallow levels in the volcano, so the occurrence of an eruption of magmatic nature in the near future (the next few days or weeks) can be ruled out. However, it is not possible to rule out the occurrence of new phreatic events (similar to those seen in recent days).
For all our coverage of Turrialba: Turrialba « The Volcanism Blog.
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Turrialba – summary information for Turrialba (1405-07=)
Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica – Ovsicori website
Volcán Turrialba – information from Ovsicori
Monitoreo Volcanico (Red Sismológica Nacional) – volcano monitoring updates from the Costa Rican national seismological network
SI/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report 30 December 2009-5 January 2010 9 January 2010
Posted by admin in activity reports, Africa, Barren Island, Caribbean, Chaitén, Chile, Colombia, Congo (Dem. Rep.), Costa Rica, Ecuador, eruptions, Galeras, Guatemala, Hawaii, India, Indian Ocean, Indonesia, Japan, Kamchatka, Karymsky, Kilauea, Kliuchevskoi, Mayon, Nevado del Huila, Nyamuragira, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Piton de la Fournaise, Rabaul, Rinjani, Russia, Sakura-jima, Sangay, Santa María, Shiveluch, Soufrière Hills, Suwanose-jima, Tungurahua, Turrialba, United States, Weekly Volcanic Activity Reports.Tags: Global Volcanism Program, volcanic activity reports, volcanic eruptions
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Click on the map for a larger version (1280 x 898 pixels). The map title gives the end of the period covered as 6 January 2010, it should be 5 January 2010. Sorry about that.
The Smithsonian Institution/United States Geological Survey Weekly Volcanic Activity Report for 30 December 2009 – 5 January 2010 is available on the Global Volcanism Program website. The following is a summary and not a substitute for the full report.
- The current report: Weekly Volcanic Activity Report.
- Previous reports: Weekly Reports Archive.
- The SI/USGS map of volcanoes discussed this week.
New activity/unrest: Galeras (Colombia), Mayon (Philippines), Nyamuragira (Democratic Republic of Congo), Piton de la Fournaise (Réunion), Rinjani (Indonesia), Tungurahua (Ecuador), Turrialba (Costa Rica).
Ongoing activity: Barren Island (India), Chaitén (Chile), Karymsky (Russia), Kilauea (Hawaii, USA), Kliuchevskoi (Russia), Nevado del Huila (Colombia), Rabaul (Papua New Guinea), Sakura-jima (Japan), Sangay (Ecuador), Santa María (Guatemala), Shiveluch (Russia), Soufrière Hills (Montserrat), Suwanose-jima (Japan).
NASA Earth Observatory: Soufrière Hills valleys and debris deposits 8 January 2010
Posted by admin in Caribbean, NASA Earth Observatory, Soufrière Hills.Tags: Caribbean, Montserrat, NASA Earth Observatory, Soufrière Hills, volcano images
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Image of the day for 7 January 2010 at the NASA Earth Observatory is this view of Soufrière Hills volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, captured by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) aboard NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite on 29 December 2009.
The image clearly shows how the deposits from the debris flows radiating out from the summit of Soufrière Hills have descended the major drainage channels in the flanks of the volcano and filled them with volcanic deposits. North is to the right in this image; the prominent debris fan in the middle of the southern coast (on the left) is formed by volcanic material deposited by pyroclastic flows that have followed the channel of the White River Valley.
Soufriere Hills volcano resumes activity – NASA Earth Observatory, 7 January 2010
(To go off-topic for a moment, the NASA Earth Observatory image of the day for today is a Terra MODIS view of the green and pleasant land in which I happen to live.)
For all our Soufrière Hills coverage: Soufrière Hills « The Volcanism Blog.
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Soufrière Hills – information about Soufrière Hills volcano (1600-05=)
Montserrat Volcano Observatory – comprehensive news and information from the MVO
