Nabro eruption stopped – Toulouse VAAC (updated) 17 June 2011
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The Toulouse VAAC has issued a new volcanic ash advisory since our last update on Nabro was published earlier this morning. The advisory was issued at 06:00 UTC 17 June 2011 and reports that ‘eruption stopped 16/1500Z’, that is, 15:00 UTC on 16 June (an earlier advisory at 00:00 on 17 June had indicated that ‘eruption seems to pause about 15 UTC’).
This is not definitive: the eruption may have ended, or it may simply be in remission for a while. Time will tell.
UPDATE. Stopped? Or not? Irish Weather Online: Nabro volcano erupts again Friday after moderate quake. Busy now, more on this later.
FURTHER UPDATE. Irish Weather Online have retreated somewhat from their claim that there has been a fresh eruption from Nabro today: the title of the post linked to above has been changed from ‘Nabro volcano erupts again Friday after moderate quake’ to ‘Magnitude 5.5 earthquake hits near Nabro volcano’. The story originally reported that ‘a 5.5 magnitude earthquake on Friday morning led to a further increase in volcanic activity’ and that ‘Friday’s eruption has sent a massive ash plume westnorthwest over Sudan threatening to bring further disruption to air traffic in the east Africa region’. Now the claim is simply that ‘a 5.5 magnitude earthquake on Friday morning could lead to a further increase in volcanic activity’, and the tale of the massive plume has quite vanished.
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Nabro – summary information for Nabro (0201-101)
Nabro update, 17 June 2011 17 June 2011
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The most recent volcanic ash advisory for Nabro volcano in Eritrea, issued by the Toulouse VAAC at 18:00 UTC on 16 June 2011, reports that the emissions are ‘mainly composed of SO2′. Satellite images currently show no sign of ash, but there is much evidence of copious sulphur dioxide emission. OMI data (from the ESA’s Support to Aviation Control Service near real time data page) shows the SO2 plume stretching north-west from Nabro, then curving back across Egypt and the Middle East and into central Asia, to reach as far as western China.
Above. Nabro SO2 plume 14-17 June (OMI data, KNMI.FMI/NASA). From ESA SACS.
Yesterday emissions were still vigorous with an upswing in activity which caused renewed flight cancellations in Eritrea’s neighbours to the north and west. The ash advisory issued by Toulouse at 1200 UTC on 16 June reported emissions, ‘mainly SO2 and ice’, at 20,000-40,000 feet (6,000-12,000 metres) altitude. NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a MODIS showing a robust plume from Nabro’s caldera (image below reduced in size – click here or on the image for the original at the NASA Earth Observatory):
Above. Nabro volcano erupting 15 June 2011 (NASA/Aqua).
MODIS hotspots data for the last 24 hours downloaded from the University of Maryland’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) and plotted onto Google Earth suggests a large lava flow has been produced by the current phase of activity, perhaps reaching 16 km west of the caldera. The Google Earth plot is below – click on the image to enlarge (my apologies for the lack of a scale bar: the width of the area in the image is ~22 km).
For a glimpse of what the Nabro caldera looked like before the current eruption, here’s an ISS astronaut photograph taken in (I think – I don’t have the precise date) January this year. Many thanks to Robert Simmon of NASA for providing this image. The image has been rotated 180 degrees from the original to make comparison with later pictures easier (thanks T. W. in the comments). Click on the image for a larger version.
Finally, we have known for sure since Monday that the volcano erupting in Eritrea is Nabro, not Dubbi. So, to clueless news outlets which are still blithely reporting that Dubbi is erupting: shame on you.
News
Eritrea volcano: ash disrupts air travel in East Africa – BBC News, 15 June 2011
Nabro volcano erupts again Thursday – Irish Weather Online, 16 June 2011
Fresh Dubbi eruption threatens ash disruption – Arab News, 17 June 2011
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Nabro – summary information for Nabro (0201-101)
The Daily Volcano Quote: subterranean oxidation 16 June 2011
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We are left entirely to hypothesis as to the cause of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, but of the oneness of that cause no doubt remains. The theory first started by Sir Humphrey Davy, suggested by his discovery of the metallic bases of the earths and alkalis, and since elaborated by Dr. Daubeny, has found very general acceptance. According to this hypothesis, which is that of Subterranean Oxidation, the earth is supposed to contain, at its interior, at a great depth and in sufficient quantity, the earthy and alkaline metalloids, iron, sulphur, and sulphuretted salts. These are substances which combine with oxygen with avidity, a high temperature and strong inflammation being the result of the combination. A supply of water reaching the interior of the earth, becomes decomposed by contact with the metalloids, and yields its oxygen to them, occasioning the phenomena of combustion and explosion, which may be imitated upon a small scale, by burying in the ground a moistened mixture of sulphur and iron filings, when the mass becomes gradually heated, takes fire, and explodes. The lava which flows out to the surface in volcanic eruptions, or is driven up in dust and scoriae, is owing to the violent extrication, through a vent, of the steam which has been generated, accumulated, and confined, the oscillations and heavings of the ground in earthquakes being produced by the action of elastic vapours and gases endeavouring to effect their escape by a rending of the strata. Such is the hypothesis. 
Thomas Milner, The Gallery of Nature: A Pictorial and Descriptive Tour Through Creation, Illustrative of the Wonders of Astronomy, Physical Geography, and Geology (London: William S. Orr & Co., 1846), pp. 433-4. Thomas Milner, an Anglican clergyman and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, was also author of Astronomy and Scripture (1843), A Descriptive Atlas of Astronomy and of Physical and Political Geography (1850), The Gallery of Geography: A Pictorial and Descriptive Tour of the World (1884), etc.
The Daily Volcano Quote: from Monday to Friday, a new eruption of volcanic verbiage each day.
Smithsonian/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report 8-14 June 2011 16 June 2011
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The Smithsonian Institution and United States Geological Survey Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, compiled by Sally Kuhn Sennert, has been issued for the week 8-14 June 2011. Another week high in volcanic interest:
- Kizimen: eruptive episode with ash plumes reaching 4-5 km altitude
- Nabro: eruption following an earthquake swarm sent ash to 13.7 km altitude
- Puyehue-Cordón Caulle: eruption continues with continuous ash emission and pyroclastic flows
- Mayon: slight inflation detected at the summit
Click on the map for a larger version (1211 x 784 pixels).
The Smithsonian Institution/United States Geological Survey Weekly Volcanic Activity Report for 8-14 June 2011 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: Aso (Japan), Dieng Volcanic Complex (Indonesia), Kizimen (Russia), Nabro (Eritrea), Puyehue-Cordón Caulle (Chile), Yasur (Vanuatu).
Ongoing activity: Batu Tara (Indonesia), Karymsky (Russia), Kilauea (Hawaii, USA), Mayon (Philippines), Sakura-jima (Japan), Shiveluch (Russia), Soufrière Hills (Montserrat), Tengger Caldera (Indonesia).
Note: ‘a.s.l.’ = ‘above sea level’.
The Daily Volcano Quote: ethical problems in volcano tourism 14 June 2011
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Viewing volcano tourism through a dark spectrum lens raises some interesting ethical questions. For example, how soon after a major eruption is it acceptable to put on display the remnants of a disaster that has caused loss of life? In the case of Pompeii, several millennia have passed since the deaths of the town’s inhabitants and any ethical or moral outrage at treating those deaths as spectacle has passed by. Similar behaviour at the site of a very recent disaster would be considered ghoulish at best, but would attract some tourists.
N. Petford, J. Fletcher & Y. Morakabati, ‘On the economics and social typology of volcano tourism with special reference to Montserrat, West Indies’, in Patricia Erfurt-Cooper & Malcolm Cooper (eds.), Volcano and Geothermal Tourism: Sustainable Geo-resources for Leisure and Recreation (London: Earthscan, 2010), p. 92.
The Daily Volcano Quote: from Monday to Friday, a new eruption of volcanic verbiage each day.
Nabro eruption calming down? 14 June 2011
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[Just a quick update on the Nabro eruption, as I have a busy day today.] Satellite images of Eritrea and Ethiopia this morning seem to show a quieter situation at Nabro, the Eritrean volcano that began erupting on Sunday night and produced an impressive plume yesterday. No sign of such a plume today: on first examination it’s difficult to distinguish any volcanic emissions from surrounding cloud. Below are two images from Sat24.com, showing the situation at 07:30 UTC this morning. The likelihood is that this event is a fissure eruption which had an explosive component at an early stage. Nabro has seen such fissure activity before, and perhaps not that long ago (in geological terms), but with so much of this remote and little-studied volcano’s history and character being unknown it’s difficult to state anything for certain.
Above. Visual image of Eritrea/Ethiopia, 14 June 2011 07:30UTC (Sat24.com/Eumetsat/Met Office). Click on the image for full-size version.
Above. Infrared image of Eritrea/Ethiopia, 14 June 2011 07:30UTC (Sat24.com/Eumetsat/Met Office). Click on the image for full-size version.
The latest volcanic ash advisory from Toulouse VAAC, issued at 06:00 UTC, reports ‘continuous emission’ from the volcano with ash at between FL200 (20,000 feet/6000 metres altitude) in the vicinity of the eruption to FL450 (45,000 feet/13,700 metres altitude), predicted to reach at its extremes as far west as Chad and as far north as Uzbekistan by this afternoon.
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Nabro – summary information for Nabro (0201-101)
Puyehue-Cordón Caulle update, 13 June 2011 13 June 2011
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Above: Puyehue-Cordón Caulle, 13 June 2011: image from camera number 2 at 20:50 GMT. Below: by 22:05 GMT the sky is darkening over the volcano and incandescence is visible at the bottom of the plume (OVDAS-SERNAGEOMIN).
As the pictures at the head of this post indicate, the eruption at Puyehue-Cordón Caulle is still going strong. SERNAGEOMIN reported a largely stable situation in its bulletin no. 36 of 11 June 2011 (PDF), with seismic behaviour ‘little changed’ from that described in previous reports, and a repetition of the warnings of pyroclastic flows and lahars. Bulletin no. 37 of 12 June 2011 (PDF) reported that a helicopter overflight of the volcano had taken place during the previous day, and the following observations were made:
1. It was possible to verify that the emission centre is located at the head of the course of the Nilahue river, immediately to the north of the fissure along which the eruption of 1960 took place, where abundant accumulation of volcanic ash was observed, particularly in the headwaters of the Contrafuerte river.
2. There was also a significant accumulation of ash towards the eastern sector of Cordón Caulle, particularly on the west flank of Puyehue volcano.
3. Significant quantities of floating pumice were observed on the surfaces of Maihue, Huishue, Gris and Puyehue lakes.
4. The south-western part of Cordón Caulle and the western slopes of the Cordillera Nevada do not appear to be affected by ashfall.
The bulletin also notes that seismicity remains ‘largely unchanged’ from the previous report, although there was an explosion at 15:35 local time on 11 June that pushed the eruption column, usually around 4.0-4.5 km in height, up to 8 km altitude for a short time. Some of the areas to which access was previously restricted (Rucatayo, El Boquial, Lican and Mantilhue) have been opened up again, but SERNAGEOMIN continues to warn of the danger of lahars in areas affected by ashfall.
The most recent bulletin, no. 38 of 13 June 2011 (PDF) again reports seismicity ‘largely unchanged’ but notes a pulsing or cyclical behaviour in the tremor signal at the volcano:
… the seismic signal has been characterized by episodes of increase and decrease in the level of tremor, associated with an increase in the height of the eruption column, without significant registering of other types of earthquakes. There have been at least five cycles up to the time of publication of this report. The eruption column associated with the previous pulses of tremor reached heights of up to 8 km, with a very dense aspect, of dark grey colour, connected with ashfalls in surrounding areas due to partial collapses of the column.
Bulletin no. 38 also reports that there was another helicopter overflight by SERNAGEOMIN this morning, during which the following observations were made:
- During the flight the eruption column showed significant variations in height.
- It was confirmed that the eruption has been forming a cone at the emission centre, the crater has a diameter of approximately 300-400 metres.
- The presence of fragments with a ballistic trajectory up to slightly more than 1 km from the emission centre was verified.
- There is no great amount of ash to the west of the emission centre, while there was a great accumulation of pyroclasts to the east and north-east of that centre, in the headwaters of the Nilahue and Contrafuerte rivers.
- During the occurrence of emissions of increased intensity, the lower part of the column collapsed.
- The release of water vapour and gases at two or three points located north-west of the same fracture where the emission centre is located was observed.
The dangers of lahars and of the potential for the volcano to change its eruptive behaviour without warning are emphasized, and the alert level for Puyehue-Cordón Caulle remains at Red 6: ‘moderate eruption’.
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic complex – summary information for the PCCVC (1507-15=)
OVDAS-SERNAGEOMIN bulletins for Puyehue-Cordón Caulle – PDF files are available from this page of the OVDAS website
Official Eritrean statement on the Nabro volcanic eruption 13 June 2011
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A statement on the Nabro eruption has just appeared on Shabait.com (‘Serving The Truth’), the news and information website for the Eritrean Ministry of Information: Volcanic eruption witnessed in the tip of Southern Red Sea Region. Text as follows:
Assab, 13 June 2011 -A volcanic eruption was witnessed in the tip of the Southern Red Sea region at 9 p.m. yesterday.
Reports indicated that the eruption that took place in 4 different areas around Afambo, Nebro and Sireru causing a 5.7 rector scale earth tremor.
The ensuing dust is covering hundreds of kilometers in the area, and that the quake has been heard in the greater portion of the region as a whole, according to reports.
The Southern regional Administration disclosed that the Government has moved the inhabitants in the area to a safe place, in addition to providing them with the necessary care. No damage has so far been inflicted to human life , the Administration added.
Although similar earthquake incidents were witnessed from time to time in previous years, yesterday’s tremor was of higher scale that led to volcanic eruption.
[End of the statement.]
Eritrea eruption update: Nabro volcano erupts (updated) 13 June 2011
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Ever since news of the eruption in Eritrea began to seep out early today the identity of the volcano responsible has remained unclear. Dubbi was a prime candidate (and that’s the one Toulouse VAAC went for [UPDATE - Toulouse VAAC has now confirmed that the volcano is Nabro) but with the release of high definition MODIS satellite imagery from the Aqua satellite it is now pretty clear that the eruption originates at Nabro (as Mark Dunphy at Irish Weather Online and several commenters at Eruptions and Earthquake-Reports had suggested, so due acknowledgements to them for their insight). The image below comes from Aqua/MODIS, 10:45UTC 13 June 2011.
Nabro is a stratovolcano reaching to 2,218 metres a.s.l., truncated by nested calderas of 5 km and 8 km diameter, the latter caldera having a wide breach to the SW. Although Nabro has no recorded Holocene eruptive activity, the GVP (from which this description comes) notes that ' Some very recent lava flows were erupted from NNW-trending fissures transverse to the trend of the Nabro volcanic range', so if the current activity is from the Nabro complex it does not necessarily represent the surprise re-awakening of the volcano after millennia of dormancy. Wiart and Oppenheimer (2005) identify these 'recent basaltic flows' as originating from 'Vents ... located between Nabro and Mallahle calderas, and fed in part from fissures aligned perpendicularly to the NVR [Nabro Volcanic Complex] axis’ (p. 104), although, working with strictly limited data, they do not venture a date for these flows. Satellite imagery shows these flows as weathered, but fresher and distinctly darker than surrounding material.
Above. Map of the Nabro Volcanic Complex from Google Earth, incorporating information from map in Wiart & Oppenheimer (2005), p. 106. Yellow line is the Eritrea/Ethiopia border.
Toulouse VAAC has issued a new ash advisory at 1200UTC for the volcano it is still calling Dubbi, reporting ash at altitudes varying from FL200 (20,000 feet/6000 metres altitude) in the vicinity of the eruption to FL450 (45,000 feet/13,700 metres altitude) to the north, where the plume curves back around to the east (map in .png format) after spreading across Ethiopia to reach Israel, Jordan, northern Saudi Arabia and western Iraq. In Israel the Jerusalem Post is reporting that the ash may disrupt flights from Eilat in the south of the country.
Erik Klemetti has an update on the Eritrea event at Eruptions (just before he goes away on honeymoon too, so congratulations and all good wishes to the happy couple). And have a look at this video from Earthquake-Report.com at YouTube.
The International Big News Machine is now catching up with this eruption. BBC News and Associated Press have both published reports in which they confidently identify the volcano concerned as Dubbi, based on the information from Toulouse VAAC. Reuters says it’s Dubbi, mentions that some people think it might be Nabro, then goes right back to talking about Dubbi again. And U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, attending some international get-together or other in Addis Ababa, is flying out early because of the ash cloud blowing in from Eritrea.
UPDATE: Toulouse VAAC has confirmed that the volcano erupting is Nabro in its latest volcanic ash advisory (issued 18:00 UTC); and via Twitter comes this photograph of Nabro’s plume, taken from ~200 km away by Mark Haldane.
Reference
Pierre Wiart and Clive Oppenheimer, ‘Large magnitude silicic volcanism in north Afar: the Nabro Volcanic Range and Ma’alalta volcano’, Bulletin of Volcanology, vol. 67, no. 2 (2005), pp. 99-115 [DOI: 10.1007/s00445-004-0362-x]
News
Eritrean volcanic ash may affect some flights from Eilat – Jerusalem Post, 13 June 2011
Nabro volcano in Eritrea erupts, ash cloud spreads – Irish Weather Online, 13 June 2011
VAAC: eruption underway at Dubbi volcano in Eritrea – Channel 6 News, 13 June 2011
Eritrea eruption: Lufthansa cancels flights due to ash – BBC News, 13 June 2011
Airlines watching East Africa volcanic ash cloud – Associated Press, 13 June 2011
Clinton cutting short Africa trip because of volcano eruption in Eritrea – Washington Post, 13 June 2011
Volcano erupts in Eritrea after earthquakes: VAAC – Reuters Africa, 13 June 2011
Information
Global Volcanism Program: Nabro – summary information for Nabro (0201-101)
The Daily Volcano Quote: eruption in Eritrea, May 1861 13 June 2011
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A native of Edd states as follows:
On the night of the 7th or morning of the 8th of May, the people of Edd were awakened by the shock of an earthquake, followed by others, which continued with little intermission for about an hour. At sunrise, a quantity of fine white dust fell over the village like rain. About noon the character of the dust appeared to change, and the whole place was covered with the dust nearly knee-deep. On the 9th the dust somewhat abated, and we were able to see a little in our houses without light. At night we saw fire and dense smoke issuing from a mountain called Jebel Dubbeh, about a day’s journey inland; and this continued all the time I remained at Edd. The ashes only fell for two days. Sounds like the firing of guns issued from the mountain. This mountain is inhabited, but no one had reached Edd thence when I left. Nothing of the kind had ever been heard before, and the people were exceedingly frightened.
This account has been amply confirmed from other sources, and the most remarkable feature of the case is the immense extent affected by the disturbance.
At Perim the sounds emitted by the volcano were distinctly heard, and they were attributed to a bombardment. The firing (as it was supposed to be) commenced at about 2 a.m. on the 8th of May, and continued, with long intervals, up to the 10th or 11th. The general idea at Perim was that the sound proceeded from the African coast. The ‘firing’ on the 8th was very heavy, and continued for nine or ten hours.
Both the steamers Candia and Ottawa reported having had two very hot days in the lower part of the Red Sea, and on the 10th they encountered what appeared like a London fog, which continued for several hours. The captain of the latter vessel described this fog as consisting of very fine dust, so that he could not see the length of the ship, and during its continuance the weather was perfectly calm.
On the 8th of May several shocks of an earthquake were felt at Mokha and Hodaida, and there, as well as along the entire coast of Yemen, and inland as far as the mountain range, the dust, described as ‘white ashes,’ fell for several days; the noises were also heard, and, as usual, were attributed to artillery.
At Massowah the (supposed) firing of guns was heard as coming from Annesley Bay, and so exact was the resemblance that the whole town was in a state of consternation. It was believed that the French were bombarding Dissee, and the authorities despatched special messengers to ascertain the cause of such an unaccountable proceeding. The nacoda of the boat which brought the news from Massowah to Aden was detained ten days in the Dhalac Archipelago, unable to continue his voyage owing to the dense clouds of dust which darkened the air. Many other nacodas reported the same thing, and one brought a specimen of the dust. He said it fell in such quantities that he could not keep his poop clean by continual sweeping. The dust appears like very finely powered pumice, containing minute particles of mica. Although the greater part of the shores of the Red Sea are of igneous origin, no active volcano has been known in modern times, save in the Zebeier islands, one of which was observed in a state of activity by the commander of the Indian Navy steamer Victoria, in, I think, August 1846.
Letter from Captain B. L. Playfair, Officiating Political Resident at Aden, describing ‘an eruption of a hitherto unknown volcano on the east coast of Africa, within the Red Sea’, published in a letter from Charles Bell in The Times, 20 June 1861, p. 10. ‘Jebel Dubbeh’ is Dubbi volcano. Edd is on the coast of Eritrea, about 40 km (24 miles) north of Dubbi. A nacoda or nakhoda is the ‘captain or master of a local boat in Indo-Malayan or Arabian waters’ (OED).
The Daily Volcano Quote: from Monday to Friday, a new eruption of volcanic verbiage each day.
