Volcanoes
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Seismograph

Mount St. Helens has experienced 40 earthquakes since New Years day

Trevor Nace
Forbes
Wed, 03 Jan 2018 16:22 UTC
Mount St. Helens 1
© U.S. Geological Survey via Getty ImagesA plume of condensation rises off Mount St. Helens, as viewed from the roof of the Cascades Volcano Observatory December 19, 2006, in Vancouver, Washington.
Since New Years Day Mount St. Helens has experienced 40 earthquakes within its vicinity as tremors continue every few hours. The most powerful earthquake was a magnitude 3.9 that occurred around midnight west coast time about 5 miles from Mount St. Helens and 23 miles from the town of Morton.

The 3.9 magnitude earthquake was felt in Portland but there were no reported injuries or damage. Since that earthquake there have been 16 more earthquakes, averaging about every half hour with magnitudes from 0.6 to 2.6.

It is common to experience swarms of earthquakes at Mount St. Helens. While it is certainly not a sign of an impending eruption, the earthquakes are a result of an active volcanic system.


Comment: It seems that swarms of earthquakes in the area are a more recent development and were not so common in previous years.


Mount St. Helens is most commonly known for its major eruption in 1980, the deadliest and most economically damaging volcanic event in the history of the United States. The stratovolcano is situated just 96 miles from Seattle and 50 miles from Portland, making an eruption especially dangerous.

Comment: In recent years there has been much activity in the surrounding area and the recent quakes are said to be related to magma movement underground. See also:

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Map

Sumatra's Sinabung volcano has largest eruption since August


The Japan Times
Thu, 28 Dec 2017 15:20 UTC
Mount Agung
© APMount Agung
A highly active volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumatra erupted again on Wednesday afternoon, sending searing hot clouds of gas and ash as far as 4.6 kilometers down its slopes, the country's volcanology agency said.

The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said the major eruption of Mount Sinabung, located in North Sumatra province, occurred at 3:36 p.m. and lasted for 8 minutes. It was its biggest eruption since August.

"Smoke and volcanic ash were spewed from the crater and the ash fell on several villages around Mount Sinabung," it said.

But no casualties were reported, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.

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Attention

Another Kamchatka volcano in Russia violently erupts, emitting colossal amount of ash


TASS
Thu, 21 Dec 2017 21:14 UTC
Klyuchevskoy Volcano
© Alexander Arkhipov/TASSKlyuchevskoy Volcano
The Klyuchevskoy Volcano in the Kamchatka Region has spewed up ash as high as 7 km above sea level, the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) at the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far Eastern Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences told TASS on Thursday.

"Today, the volcano emitted steam and gas with ash as high as 7 km above sea level. The ash spread 68 km in an eastward direction," the response team specified, adding that an orange hazard code was declared for aircraft.

The Kamchatka Regional Directorate of the Russian Emergencies Ministry elaborated that there are no communities along the course, which the ash is being blown.

Klyuchevskoy is Eurasia's highest active volcano, reaching 4,750 meters high, and one of the most active on the peninsula. In 2016, up to 10 lava flows oozed down its slope simultaneously during an eruption. The nearest community - the village of Klyuchi in the Kamchatka Region- is located 30 km away from the volcano base. Ash falls are frequently observed there during eruptions.

Comment: See also: Huge eruption of Bezymianny volcano in Russia

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Attention

Huge eruption of Bezymianny volcano in Russia


Civil Disturbia
Thu, 21 Dec 2017 13:10 UTC
Bezymianny eruption
Bezymianny eruption
Bezymianny eruption 2017-12-20 03:55 UTC (local time December 20 15:55). Height of ash plume ~ 15 km ASL extending to the N-E.

The webcam is located in seismic station, approximately 7 km (4.3 mi) East of Bezymianny volcano.

Credit to Kamchatka Branch of the Geophysical Survey RAS for video.

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Attention

Ecuador's 'Troublemaker' volcano sends lava flying high in fiery explosion


Global News
Tue, 19 Dec 2017 14:09 UTC
A little-known active stratovolcano erupted in a fiery explosion in the Amazonian Andes of Ecuador known as 'Reventador' in early December.
A little-known active stratovolcano erupted in a fiery explosion in the Amazonian Andes of Ecuador known as 'Reventador' in early December. Reventador is Spanish for 'troublemaker'.
British volcano photographer Dr. Richard Roscoe documented the spectacular eruption of a little-known active stratovolcano in the Amazonian Andes of Ecuador known as "Reventador" in early December. Reventador is Spanish for "troublemaker."

Roscoe and a German colleague captured the rumblings and fiery explosions with wide-angle videos using moonlight alone by applying a unique filming technique at a specific rate and sped up the video to show the activity over the course of a three-day period.

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Fire

Massive 'balloon' of hot rock is building up under America's Northeast

Peter Dockrill
Science Alert
Mon, 18 Dec 2017 12:00 UTC
A lake near Stowe, Vermont
© Songquan Deng/ShutterstockA lake near Stowe, Vermont (Songquan Deng/Shutterstock)
A vast mass of hot rock is welling up underneath Vermont and extending into other subterranean regions below New England, new research shows.

Scientists used a network of thousands of seismic measurement devices in the largest geological study of its kind, detecting the enormous blob upwelling under Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts - and possibly elsewhere.

"The upwelling we detected is like a hot air balloon, and we infer that something is rising up through the deeper part of our planet under New England," says geophysicist Vadim Levin from Rutgers University - New Brunswick.

Comment: Also See:

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Attention

Sinabung volcano erupts in Indonesia's North Sumatra

Zhou Xin
Xinhua
Mon, 18 Dec 2017 12:22 UTC
Mount Sinabung volcano spews volcanic ash in Karo, North Sumatera, Indonesia, on Dec. 18, 2017.
© Xinhua/Alberth DamanikMount Sinabung volcano spews volcanic ash in Karo, North Sumatera, Indonesia, on Dec. 18, 2017.
The Sinabung volcano in Indonesia's North Sumatra province erupted on Monday, spewing hot clouds, an official monitoring the volcano said.

Head of Sinabung volcano monitoring post Armen Putra said the latest eruption took place on 13:02 p.m. Western Indonesian Time (WIB), coupled with 303 seconds of tremors around the area.

"Hot clouds were seen rising 2,500 meters to the east-southeast and 3,500 meters to the south," Armed said.

He added the post was hardly able to see the column of smoke and ashes from the eruption as the volcano summit was engulfed by thick haze. The wind blew mildly during the eruption, bringing the ashes to the west-south direction, he added.
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Attention

New brief lava flow at Stromboli volcano, Italy; activity remains elevated


Volcano Discovery
Sat, 16 Dec 2017 10:11 UTC
Stromboli volcano
Stromboli volcano
Yesterday's lava flow was only short-lived. The overflow from the crater terrace over the northeastern crater rim stopped in the evening. Volcanic activity (strombolian explosions) remains elevated as the magma continues to stand high in the conduits.

The current situation of the volcano resembles the one from January 2013 when lava frequently over-spilled the crater rims, producing numerous smaller and larger lava flows on the upper Sciara del Fuoco.

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Camcorder

Hiker captures incredible footage from inside erupting Mount Agung, Indonesia

Tom Barnes
The Independent
Sat, 16 Dec 2017 21:35 UTC
The man appears to be standing right above the heart of Mount Agung as the volcanic lava threatens to explode from its fiery depths
The man appears to be standing right above the heart of Mount Agung as the volcanic lava threatens to explode from its fiery depths
A hiker has captured incredible footage by risking life and limb to film inside an erupting volcano.

Bali resident Ikomang Giri scaled the active volcano Mount Agung on Wednesday in order to record from its peak.

The video, later uploaded to Facebook, shows thick clouds of ash streaming from the volcano during an eruption.

The film has since gone viral on the social network, being viewed almost 900,000 times.

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Attention

Cleveland volcano explosion recorded with ash to 20,000 ft altitude in Aleutian Islands, Alaska


Volcano Discovery
Wed, 13 Dec 2017 13:45 UTC
Cleveland Volcano on July 25, 2016
© Cindy WernerCleveland Volcano on July 25, 2016
The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) raised the aviation alert level of the volcano back to orange after an explosion was detected from the volcano this morning 04:20 AKST local time (13:20 UTC).

Today's eruption was detected in seismic and infrasound data, and an ash plume was observed in satellite data to an altitude of up to 20,000 ft asl and moving to the east.

Earlier today, AVO had briefly lowered the alert level to yellow, as only weak signs of activity had been detected during recent weeks and it was assumed that effusive activity in the summit crater had ceased. This might have been the case, actually, while at the same time a new phase of activity could have started today.
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