Volcanoes
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Fire

Nicaragua's San Cristobal Volcano spews ash, gas

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What authorities described as a "small explosion" from San Cristobal Volcano was enough to leave communities in northwestern Nicaragua covered in ash Thursday and residents awoke to a strong odor of sulfur.

The main impact was in La Grecia, a village some 7 km (4 mi) from downtown Chinandega, Nicaragua's sixth-largest city.

Extending 1,745 m (5,725 ft) above sea-level, San Cristobal is the tallest volcano in the Central American nation and one of the most active.

Wednesday's activity was a "small eruption of moderate intensity of gas and ash," according to the Sinapred disaster management agency.


Attention

4,700 earthquakes in 72 hours could signal impending eruption of Icelandic volcano

Earthquakes around the Fagradalsfjall volcano
© Fox WeatherEarthquakes around the Fagradalsfjall volcano
Residents on the Nordic island nation of Iceland are closely watching a volcano that has been the focal point of thousands of earthquakes over the last few days, which could signal an upcoming eruption.

The Icelandic Meteorological Office reports more than 4,700 earthquakes have occurred around Mount Fagradalsfjall - an active volcano about an hour's drive from the capital city of Reykjavík.

Most earthquakes have been minor, but government agencies warn that seismic activity has increased the risk of landslides.

Alert statuses around the volcano have been raised in anticipation of increased activity and volcanic ash.

The volcano produced a series of eruption events in 2021 and 2022 but has been mostly quiet for nearly a year.

Seismograph

New measurement of Yellowstone magma reservoir suggests upper part is 28% melted rock

Yellowstone
© Earth and Planetary Science Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118244Shear wave speed and radial anisotropy of Yellowstone's shallow crustal structure. (a) Voigt average velocity and (b) Radial anisotropy depth slides at 1, 3, 5, 7, and 12 km. The red lines mark the cross-sections shown in Fig. 7. The shaded area represents the less-constrained area based on a derivative weighted sum (DWS) threshold shown in Fig. S4. Open squares mark the seismic stations. Solid and dashed lines delineate the 0.63 Ma caldera, resurgent domes, and Yellowstone Lake.
A small team of geologists and seismologists from the University of Utah, Salt Lake, the Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei and the University of New Mexico has studied the content of the Yellowstone magma reservoir and reports differences from prior measurements. In their study, reported in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, the group used seismic wave data to better understand the conditions beneath Yellowstone National Park.

Yellowstone National Park is a U.S. national park located in parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. It is known for its beautiful vistas and geothermal features, such as the Old Faithful geyser. These features exist due to a massive reservoir of magma situated beneath the park. Prior research has shown that over the past 16.5 million years, the hotspot beneath the park has led to a series of volcanic eruptions, leaving behind multiple calderas. The last major eruption in the area is believed to have occurred approximately 640,000 years ago.

Comment: See also: 'One day it will just go off': are Naples' volcanic craters at Campi Flegrei about to blow?


Fire

Ash spews out of Peru's Ubinas volcano

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Ubinas, a southern Andean volcano which has been dormant since 2019, was on Tuesday coughing out ash onto nearby villages.

The ash - which rises to around 5,000 meters (16,404 feet) is carried from the volcano to nearby villages and in 2019 even reached as far as neighboring Bolivia.

Approximately 2,000 people live near the volcano and the alert level in these areas has increased from yellow to orange.

The Ubinas volcano is part of a group of seven volcanoes in southern Peru located within a volcanic zone that extends from southern Peru to northern Chile.


Fire

Piton de la Fournaise volcano update - New eruption occurs, two fissures form

Dramatic pictures show lava flowing down France's Piton de la Fournaise volcano
Dramatic pictures show lava flowing down France's Piton de la Fournaise volcano
On the morning of July 2nd, 2023, a new volcanic eruption began on the French island of Reunion which has a population of more than 850,000. There, the Piton de la Fournaise volcano offshore of Madagascar erupted, creating two new eruptive fissures.

These new eruptive fissures have now each produced a lava flow that is approximately 1,000 meters in length, but is continuing to expand.

This video will discuss this eruption, the seismic crisis which preceded the eruption, and the deep valleys of Piton de la Fournaise.


Attention

Strong earthquake swarm at Katla volcano in Iceland - 58 quakes and counting

katla volcano
© Icelandic Met OfficeOngoing earthquake activity in Katla volcano.
During the night of 30. June 2023 an earthquake swarm started in Katla volcano. At the writing of this article the largest verified earthquake had a magnitude of Mw3,3.

This earthquake swarm is ongoing at the writing of this article. Currently an eruption has not started, if that is going to change is something that just has to show it self in next few hours if this earthquake activity continues to increase. All that can be done for now is to monitor this situation.

Comment: One reader writes:
The swarm is situated in a fairly unusual spot, compared to earlier unrest. We have been used to seeing EQ activity closer to the northern rim of the caldera (closer to AUS station), not often in the center of it. This could evolve into a new, interesting chapter for Katla.
More interesting details from youtuber Oppenheimer Ranch:

See also: 'One day it will just go off': are Naples' volcanic craters at Campi Flegrei about to blow?


Colosseum

'One day it will just go off': are Naples' volcanic craters at Campi Flegrei about to blow?

Campi Flegrei
© Roberto Salomone/The GuardianSmall hills dot the landscape of Campi Flegrei. Campi Flegrei, a constellation of ancient craters in the south of Italy, is more active than Vesuvius, and residents live with daily tremors.
To the right is the Gulf of Pozzuoli, where the Mediterranean Sea laps the distant islands of Procida and Ischia. Directly in front is Solfatara, a shallow volcanic crater whose sulphurous vapours are known for their therapeutic benefits.

But for Cammarota, who has lived in the apartment for more than 30 years, the view is a constant reminder of the menace bubbling beneath the surface.

Solfatara is located in Campi Flegrei, a constellation of ancient volcanic craters near the southern Italian city of Naples, parts of which were described in a study this month as edging towards "breaking point".

Comment: See also:


Cloud Lightning

Tonga's Hunga eruption produced the highest-altitude lightning flashes ever

The eruption produced 2,600 flashes per minute.

The 15 January 2022 eruption of Tonga’s Hunga Volcano produced a “supercharged” storm in the plume that had the most intense lightning ever recorded in a storm, according to a new study in AGU’s journal Geophysical Research Letters.
© Felix Mittermeier/UnsplashThe 15 January 2022 eruption of Tonga’s Hunga Volcano produced a “supercharged” storm in the plume that had the most intense lightning ever recorded in a storm, according to a new study in AGU’s journal Geophysical Research Letters.
The Hunga Tonga - Hunga Haʻapai volcano in the South Pacific Ocean erupted on January 15, 2022, continuing to break records. The eruption generated a plume of ash, water, and magmatic gas at least 58 kilometers (36 miles) high. Despite blocking satellite views of the vent and making it more challenging to monitor changes in the eruption as it progressed, the towering plume provided scientists with vital information about the eruption's size.

A new study revealed that the eruption created a "supercharged" thunderstorm that recorded the most intense lightning ever. During the eruption, there were approximately 200,000 lightning strikes in the volcanic plume, with the rate reaching a maximum of over 2,600 strikes per minute, according to the experts.

Scientists have now been able to gaze into that plume, plucking out new stages of the eruption's life cycle and obtaining insight into the strange weather it caused thanks to high-resolution lightning data from four sources previously never used together.

Fire

Eruption of the Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcano in Kamchatka, Russia

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An eruption has begun on the Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcano, Olga Girina, head of the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Group at the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told RIA Novosti.

"An eruption of the Strombolian type began on the Klyuchevskaya volcano tonight. Satellite images show a bright thermal anomaly, a spasmodic tremor is recorded. There are no ash emissions yet," Girina said.

At night, there was a glow from the lava, which had already appeared in the western part of the summit crater. This was recorded by CCTV cameras installed at the observatory in the village of Klyuchi.

The volcano has so far been assigned a "yellow" increased hazard code for aviation, since there are no ash emissions. If the activity increases significantly, emissions may pose a danger to air vehicles.


Fire

Philippines evacuates people near Mayon Volcano, where more unrest indicates an eruption is coming

Philippines Mayon Volcano
© APPhilippines Mayon Volcano
Philippine troops, police and rescue workers began forcibly evacuating residents near Mayon Volcano on Friday as its increasing unrest indicated a violent eruption of one of the country's most active volcanoes is possible within weeks or days.

The area within a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) radius of Mayon's crater is supposed to be off-limits due to possible volcanic emissions, lava flows, rockfalls and other hazards. But many poor villagers have built houses and tended farms in Mayon's danger zone over the years.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said an evacuation of residents from the permanent danger zone was underway and promised to provide aid to the displaced until the crisis ended.

"Right now, what we are doing is preparing and moving people away from the area so that, should the time come, I hope it doesn't happen...we're ready," Marcos told reporters. "But unfortunately science tells us that may happen because the lid or the cap on top of the lava is slowly rising."