Magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile 27 February 2010
Posted by admin in volcanoes.Tags: Chile, earthquakes, natural hazards
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A large earthquake has taken place off the coast of Chile. The quake occurred at 03:34 am local time (06:34 GMT) today. The USGS initially reported a magnitude of 8.3, but that has just been upgraded to 8.8. The earthquake was located off Maule, 325 km SW of the capital Santiago and 115 km NNE of the city of Concepción, with a reported depth of 35 km. The NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (home page) reports that a tsunami warning has been issued for Chile and Peru, and a tsunami watch has been issued for Ecuador, Colombia, Antarctica, Panama and Costa Rica. The BBC reports that the Japan Meteorological Agency ‘has warned of a potential tsunami across the Pacific’ (NOAA tsunami travel time map).
Little news is available from Chile at the time of posting (it is less than two hours since the earthquake). La Tercera is reporting at least two deaths, power cuts, damage to communications networks and extensive property damage. UPDATE: Reuters, quoting Chilean President Michele Bachelet, reports that ‘at least six people’ have been killed.
FURTHER UPDATE: The confirmed death toll has risen to 47, and a state of emergency has been declared in the most seriously affected regions of central Chile. Chilean television station 24 Horas is now (11:31 GMT) reporting 64 dead. Live streaming of Chilean television (24 Horas) here.
[The Volcanism Blog will be back on Monday.]
Away for the weekend 26 February 2010
Posted by admin in admin, miscellaneous.comments closed
I’m away for the weekend from today, so (unless something really dramatic happens) there will be no new posts here until Monday 1 March.
Infrasound monitoring for Marianas volcanoes 26 February 2010
Posted by admin in Pacific, United States, volcano monitoring.Tags: infrasound, Northern Marianas Islands, Pacific, Southern Methodist University, United States, USGS, volcano monitoring
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Left: Pagan erupting, 18 May 1981. Right: Anatahan erupting, 16 June 2003. (Both images courtesy USGS.)
A new programme in the Northern Marianas Islands will use infrasound technology alongside conventional seismometers and other equipment to monitor the archipelago’s active volcanoes. The partners behind the project to enhance volcano monitoring in the Marianas are the Northern Marianas Commonwealth Government, the U. S. Geological Survey and Southern Methodist University (SMU). SMU scientists have been responsible for the application of infrasound to the detection of nuclear explosions in order to monitor test ban compliance.
The project chief, Professor James Quick, explains that infrasound used alongside conventional monitoring techniques will add a new dimension to the interpretation of volcanic signals: ‘My hope is that we’ll see some distinctive signals in the infrasound that will allow us to discriminate the different kinds of eruptive styles — from effusive events that produce lava flows, or small explosive events we call vulcanian eruptions, to the large “Plinian” events of particular concern to aviation. They are certain to have some characteristic sonic signature’.
The planned development of the Marianas as a forward deployment base for the United States military has given particular urgency to the improvement of volcano monitoring in the archipelago.
Volcanic eruptions produce much more sound than human ears can detect – in particular, they are prolific and efficient radiators of low-frequency sound, in the infrasonic bandwith below the threshold of human hearing. These low-frequency sounds are detectable at great distances and are little affected by passage through the atmosphere. Volcano monitoring using infrasound offers several benefits:
- It is unaffected by inclement weather, darkness and poor visibility.
- It offers the potential for a detailed understanding of internal volcanic dynamics in both eruptive and non-eruptive states.
- It avoids the complication of variations in local conditions and monitoring arrangements, making comparisons between different volcanoes easier.
- It can be used to clarify and interpret obscure and enigmatic seismicity.
More information about volcanic infrasound monitoring can be found at the INFRAVOLC site run by New Mexico Tech.
News
USGS-SMU volcano monitoring will target hazard threat to Marianas, U.S. military and commercial jets – SMU News Release, 24 February 2010*
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Anatahan – information about Anatahan (0804-20=)
Global Volcanism Program: Pagan – information about Pagan (0804-17=)
Northern Mariana Islands volcanic activity – from the Marianas government
North Pacific Volcanic Islands – information from the USGS
* Lots of detail in the news release, but it contains two Wikipedia links, ugh. A reputable university should know better.
SI/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report 17-23 February 2010 25 February 2010
Posted by admin in activity reports, Africa, Bagana, Caribbean, Ecuador, eruptions, Hawaii, Indonesia, Japan, Kamchatka, Karymsky, Kilauea, Kliuchevskoi, Ol Doinyo Lengai, Papua New Guinea, Reventador, Russia, Sangay, Shiveluch, Soufrière Hills, Suwanose-jima, Talang, Tanzania, Tungurahua, Ulawun, United States, Weekly Volcanic Activity Reports.Tags: Global Volcanism Program, volcanic activity reports, volcanic eruptions
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Just some of the notable volcanic activity reported at the Global Volcanism Program for the last week:
- Ol Doinyo Lengai – steam emissions and fresh lava flows observed at Tanzania’s unique carbonate volcano
- Kliuchevskoi – continuing lava flows, phreatic and strombolian activity
- Tungurahua – continuing explosions, ashfall and lahars
Click on the map for a larger version (1280 x 898 pixels).
The Smithsonian Institution/United States Geological Survey Weekly Volcanic Activity Report for 17-23 February 2010 is now 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: Ol Doinyo Lengai (Tanzania), Reventador (Ecuador), Soufrière Hills (Montserrat), Ulawun (Papua New Guinea).
Ongoing activity: Bagana (Papua New Guinea), Karymsky (Russia), Kilauea (Hawaii, USA), Kliuchevskoi (Russia), Sakura-jima (Japan), Sangay (Ecuador), Shiveluch (Russia), Suwanose-jima (Japan), Talang (Indonesia), Tungurahua (Ecuador).
Soufrière Hills images at NASA Earth Observatory: before and after the dome collapse 24 February 2010
Posted by admin in Caribbean, eruptions, NASA Earth Observatory, Soufrière Hills.Tags: Caribbean, Montserrat, NASA Earth Observatory, Soufrière Hills, volcanic eruptions
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The NASA Earth Observatory has published two satellite images of Montserrat, one showing the island in March 2007 before the Soufrière Hills lava dome collapse of 11 February 2010, and one captured ten days after that event. The two images make a fascinating comparison: a much-reduced side-by-side version is shown above. The March 2007 image is on the left, the February 2010 image on the right. A great deal of fresh ashfall can be seen, and the extensive pyroclastic flow deposits north-east of the volcano (extending the coastline by 650 metres according to MVO reports) are clearly visible.
Soufriere Hills volcano resumes activity – NASA Earth Observatory, 21 February 2010
For all our Soufrière Hills coverage: Soufrière Hills « The Volcanism Blog.
Essential volcanology books (from Magma Cum Laude) 24 February 2010
Posted by admin in volcanoes.Tags: volcano books, volcanology
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Over at the always-great Magma Cum Laude blog today is an excellent post on essential reading for volcanologists, listing over thirty books of value to people who really want to know what volcanoes are all about.
Magma Cum Laude: Essential reading for volcanologists
Seamounts galore in Oceanography special issue 24 February 2010
Posted by admin in current research, submarine volcanism.Tags: oceanography, seamounts, undersea volcanism, volcanological research
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The latest issue (vol. 23, no. 1, March 2010) of the official magazine of The Oceanography Society, Oceanography, is devoted to the study of undersea mountains or seamounts. This special issue is entitled, not surprisingly, ‘Mountains in the Sea’ and features fascinating content by some very distinguished contributors, and, best news of all, the online version is free!
Seamount volcanism is an important theme in many of the articles, as might be expected. The following focus particularly on volcanic matters (links are direct to the PDFs):
- A. A. P. Koppers & A. B. Watts: Intraplate Seamounts as a Window into Deep Earth Processes (PDF, 2.1 MB)
- H. Staudigel & D. A. Clague: The Geological History of Deep-Sea Volcanoes: Biosphere, Hydrosphere, and Lithosphere Interactions (PDF, 904 KB)
- A. T. Fisher & C. D. Wheat: Seamounts as Conduits for Massive Fluid, Heat, and Solute Fluxes on Ridge Flanks (PDF, 940 KB)
- H. Staudigel, A. A. P. Koppers, T. A. Plank & B. B. Hanan: Seamounts in the Subduction Factory (PDF, 368 KB)
There are also spotlight articles on particular seamounts, including the volcanically active Loihi, Vailulu’u and Northwest Rota-1 seamounts (links are direct to the PDFs).
The table of contents for this special issue of Oceanography gives direct links to all the content, and USGS director Marcia McNutt provides a foreword (PDF). Also: Oceanography home page, The Oceanography Society home page, and a press release at ScienceDaily.
Climbing Pacaya’s lava stairs (at Mountain Beltway) 23 February 2010
Posted by admin in Guatemala, Pacaya.Tags: geoblogs, Guatemala, lava, Pacaya, volcano images
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Over at Mountain Beltway Callan Bentley has posted some great images of Pacaya, one of the most active volcanoes of Guatemala. A friend of his climbed the volcano (she didn’t go right to the top, ‘just high enough to get up close and personal with some lava’) and took pictures on the way – the climb being facilitated by still-warm ‘lava stairs’. The results can be seen on Callan’s blog: Pacaya Volcano, Guatemala. There is also a link to more pictures at Flickr. Strongly recommended for all lovers of lava.
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Pacaya – information about Pacaya (1402-11=)
Chaitén and the follies of the press 23 February 2010
Posted by admin in Chaitén, Chile, volcano monitoring.Tags: Chaitén, Chile, volcano monitoring, volcanoes in the news
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Chilean newspaper El Repuerto has harsh words today for the sensationalist reporting by some sections of the press of the recent ‘red alert’ story. Under the rather neat headline ‘Chaitén: entre la alerta roja y la prensa amarilla’ (‘Chaitén: between red alert and yellow journalism’), the article points out that the red alert was nothing new and SERNAGEOMIN were simply reminding everyone that the volcano remained dangerous.
The writer argues that the press, however, were not interested in the facts, just in headlines about looming catastrophe. Nor are journalists generally interested in the South of Chile (or Argentina, for that matter), they only discover the place exists when they can write about a disaster there:
Once again grandiloquent journalism tempts us with its follies. This time it’s about the South, which exists, when convenient. ‘Red alert in Chaitén’, read the lurid headlines as old archive material showing southern localities under ash was dusted off.
Coverage in the Argentinan Clarín newspaper is held up as a particular example of the sensationalized reporting the writer is condemning.
(Under the ‘any volcano will do’ rules applying to the images used in news reports dealing with volcanic activity, El Repuerto‘s article is illustrated with a picture of Cleveland volcano in Alaska.)
900 Pinatubos don’t make an ice age – research 23 February 2010
Posted by admin in volcanoes.Tags: climate change, volcanic cooling, volcanoes and climate
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Environmental Research Web Blog on some research published in J. Geophys. R. last year:
Robock and colleagues injected 300 ‘Pinatubos’ of SO2 into the baseline run of their models, but also tried amounts as great as 900 Pinatubos. With a dynamic vegetation module, they explored the feedback on global temperatures of widespread death of vegetation due to the volcanic cooling. The feedback was not very impressive. Precipitation dropped markedly, but cooling reached about 10 degrees at most, and recovery was nearly complete after about a decade.
