Nyamuragira
eklemetti | August 31, 2010Busy ... so busy! I'll try to have more later today but the next 24 hours for me are super duper busy.
However, I did want to pass along some news that was noticed by the Volcanism Blog that a volcano at Virunga National Park in the Congo erupted overnight. Now, I haven't been able to find much information beyond the single report in the Irish Independent - and that report doesn't even specify what volcano is doing the erupting - Nyamuragira or Nyiragongo. However, we've seen eruptions at the park earlier this year so the volcanoes are almost constantly degassing, so this should be a surprise…
eklemetti | May 19, 2010
Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Following up on a report earlier this week claiming that an eruption of Mikeno produced an avalanche that killed dozens, it appears that those reports were false. Current news claims that an overflowing river on Nyiragongo in the Congo produced an avalanche on the slopes of the volcano. This avalanche killed 46 people and have wiped out at least 200 homes and UN Peacekeepers in the Congo have been helping with the recovery from the avalanche. So, it seems that the landslide was caused by heavy rains rather than any sort of volcanic eruption…
eklemetti | February 4, 2010News!
Pakistan is home to the world's tallest mud volcano in the region of Balochistan - and its somewhat near the reports of an "eruption" earlier this week.
Guess what? Since Wednesday evening, seismicity at Yellowstone has dropped precipitously. The last batch of earthquakes on February 3rd were also back to deeper levels - 8-9 km depth - compared to the potential shallowing earlier in the week. I'm sure the caldera will keep us on our toes, but as of now, it seems to have settled down a bit.
Over in Pakistan, there is mounting evidence that the recent "volcanic" eruption reported as, in…
eklemetti | January 20, 2010This week's USGS/Smithsonian GVP Volcano Update!
Highlights include:
A volcano I had never heard of in the Kuril islands is showing signs of life: Kharimkotan. Satellite images show a thermal anomaly at the summit of the volcano - its last known eruption was in 1933.
Ash, sulfur dioxide and steam continue to erupt from Nyamuragira in the Congo, although lava flows have abated.
Crater C at Arenal had sporadic strombolian activity - which is par for the course for the Costa Rican volcano.
I must have missed this, but since December 14, the ash erupted at Gaua in Vanuatu has become denser and…
eklemetti | January 14, 2010The weekly volcano report, brought to you by our friends at the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program and the U.S. Geological Survey.
Highlights (not including Mayon, Nyamuragira and Turrialba):
Eruptions continue at Piton de la Fournaise on Reunion Island - heck, this would be the volcano news if it wasn't for all these other, more explosive systems getting in the way. Lava fountains, flows and pools were the order of the day in the SW Dolomieu crater until the 12th of January.
Chaiten in Chile continues to chug along - block-and-ash flows were seen and ash plumes continue to emanate from…
eklemetti | January 13, 2010Somehow I haven't posted a bunch of interesting items collected over the last few weeks, so I need to catch up. A pre-emptive hat tip to everyone who has sent me links or notes that might seem familiar in this post.
Tungurahua in Ecuador erupting in 2000.
First off, those of you looking for information on the Haitian earthquake that devastated the capitol Port Au Prince, Highly Allochthonous has post on the tectonics of the quake. Right now, it is hard for me to come up with a worse location in terms of devastation for a quake to have hit in the Caribbean Basin.
Back in volcano news, a lot…
eklemetti | January 6, 2010Two volcanoes down, two volcanoes up!
Fire fountain on Nyamuragira in the Congo, January 2010.
Down
Mayon
Activity at Mayon has continues to drop - although PHIVOLCS warns that an eruption could happen at any moment and without much warning. About a quarter of the evacuated families have no returned home since PHIVOLCS gave the OK to return home on January 2 - but Philippine officials are still on alert in case evacuations have to be reinstated.
Redoubt
The resurgent Redoubt is no long ... er ... resurging? AVO lowered the alert status to Green - meaning normal/background levels of activity…
eklemetti | January 3, 2010A pile of news for the new week!
The glow of new lava flows from Nyamuragira in the Congo, taken from the Virunga Park Headquarters, January 2, 2010.
Mayon
PHIVOLCS may lower the alert status at Mayon to Level 2 after almost a week of lower seismicity and no ash explosions since December 29th. Schools that were being used as evacuation centers were also returned to teachers and students for the start of classes after the Christmas holiday. However, the Albay provincial government is now considering a plan to permanently move everyone who lives within the 6-km danger zone around Mayon, even…
eklemetti | January 2, 2010It didn't take long in the new year to get started!
Nymuragira erupting in January 2010.
Nyamuragira in the Congo erupted to start off the new year, producing explosions and lava flows. The flow are moving down the southern flank of the volcano. The eruption started with loud, concussive noises at 3:45 AM that startled rangers at the National Park that surround the volcanoes Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo. It appears that there was some part of the eruption that was either fire fountains or strombolian as the rangers describe the early events as "fire with sparks flying". The lava flows from…
eklemetti | May 15, 2009Volcano news ahoy, today brought to you by Islands.
Lake Kivu, located along the border the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda
A gorgeous satellite image (brought to us by the NASA EO) of a steam plume and ash from the ongoing eruption at Shiveluch in Kamchatka. The ash distribution stands out remarkably well on the white snow, with the central circle of ash near the vent/dome and then the wind-aided ash blanketing the terrain to the northeast of the volcano (and a little bit to the south).
Nature has a post reminding us that one of the big hazards at Nyiragongo/Nymuragira is not…
eklemetti | May 12, 2009
Redoubt emitting a large steam plume in April 2009. Image courtesy of Calvin Hall.
A few snippets from the world of volcanoes:
The current eruptive cycle at Galeras continues to go strong. Officials with INGEOMINAS, the Colombian Geology Survey, believe the volcano will erupt again in the next few "days to weeks". The volcano last erupted a few weeks ago (in spanish) and caused quite a bit of panic in the city of Pasto at the foot of the volcano. An Orange Alert has been issued (in spanish) for the volcano.
Another volcano have is on the verge of a larger eruption is Nyiragongo in the DR of…
eklemetti | April 8, 2009Your weekly dose of volcanic activity. As a sidenote, you can now get placemarks for the weekly activity report via Google Earth. Select "Google Earth Placemarks" from the SI / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report page.
Highlights of this week's report:
New explosions at Ebeko. See my article today for more details.
More evidence of increased activity at Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo, Congo. One interesting note is that scientists from the Goma Volcano Observatory noted that earthquake swarms usually precede eruption by 3-5 months.
I've seen very little news about this, but Pacaya in Guatemala…
eklemetti | March 30, 2009
Goma after the 2002 Eruption of Nyiragongo
The activity at Redoubt has captivated a lot of us, but in the grand scheme of things, its eruption are more likely to caused inconvenience and property damage rather than dramatically loss of life (unless something huge and unexpected occurs). However, the same cannot be said if Nyiragongo and/or Nyamuragira (a.k.a. Nyamulagira) in the Congo were to erupt. These volcanoes are close to the city of Goma, a city of nearly 600,000, not including refugees from the fighting in the region. Eruptions of Nyiragongo in 2002 prompted the displacement of 400,…