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Russia: Shiveluch Volcano's ash disrupts air traffic

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© UnknownShiveluch Volcano
Moscow - Ash thrown kilometres into the sky by an increasingly active volcano in a remote Russian Pacific coast territory has forced a reroute of international air traffic, government officials say.

A column of smoke and ash from the volcano Shiveluch, located in the centre of Russia's rugged Kamchatka peninsula, reached an altitude of 8.6km on Monday and posed a threat to aircraft, officials at Russia's National Geophysical Service (RNES) told Interfax.

The ash discharges were increasing in intensity and volume over the weekend. The RNES is now rating Shiveluch at level orange, one step below its most dangerous rating.

The ash column was the most significant in a month and was accompanied by rock slides and an increase in the size of a rock dome known to contain lava, the report said.

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Italy: Increased Activity At Stromboli Volcano, No Tourist Trips

Stromboli volcano
© CanStock PhotoStromboli volcano - Strombolian eruption at the Stromboli...
Palermo - Stromboli volcano has intensified its activity over the last 24 hours.

There have been explosions, with smoke and lapillus and other lava material billowing out. The monitoring network of the Vesuvius Observatory of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology recorded a total of 11 seismic signals associated with landslides on the Sciara del Fuoco, the stratified magma canyon that slides down towards the sea and along which the lava flows.

Tourist trips to the volcano's crater have been suspended for now as a precautionary measure. . .

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Indonesia: Volcano Agency Warns of Likely Papandayan Eruption

Papandayan volcano
© Antara PhotoTwo villagers walk pass Mount Papandayan which serves as a short cut to their farms on Aug. 14, 2011, warnings to stay at least two kilometers from the volcano, which is in imminent danger of erupting.
Indonesia's highly active Mount Papandayan volcano is in imminent danger of erupting, the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Agency warned on Wednesday.

The agency, known as the PVMGB, said it was likely the volcano in Garut, West Java, would erupt either before or just after Idul Fitri, which marks the end of Ramadan.

The prediction was based on the increasing activity of the volcano, the agency said on its Web site.

"The volcano has more energy compared to its last eruption in 2002," agency head Surono said in Bandung, the provincial capital, on Tuesday.

Papandayan has shown an alarming increase in activities since the volcano's status was raised to standby. Between Aug. 19 and 20, there were 45 earthquakes.

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Costa Rica: Experts Keep An Eye On The Turrialba Volcano

Turrialba volcano
© InsideCostaRicaTurrialba volcano.
For over 100 years the Turrialba was dormant, but now is visited weekly by experts who are tracking its changes.

Recently, experts have been investigating new holes in the craters, where the temperature of gas emissions has been rising and forming a single plume of gas that is visible at the top.

The Turrialba volcano records an average of 100 micro quakes daily. In addition, the degassing is affecting production at nearby crop and dairy farms.

To follow the pulse of the temperatures the University of Costa Rica (UCR) has installed infrared cameras, this along with the seismic stations, it will allow experts to learn any drastic change at the volcano in minutes.

Cameras have also been installed at the Poás volcano.

Last July 22 the Ministry of Environment and Telecommunications (MINAET) decided to reopen the Turrialba Volcano National Park, that had been closed since January 2010 activity.

Binoculars

Indonesia's Mount Lokon Erupts Again

Mount Lokon
Mount Lokon erupts
Indonesia's Mount Lokon, which is located on the northern tip of the island of Sulawesi, erupted again on Wednesday, local authorities said.

Farid Ruskanda Bina, the Mount Lokon and Mahawu Kakaskaben monitoring post chief, said Mount Lokon began to spew volcanic ash at around 1.25 p.m. local time. Ash fell as far away as the Kinilow I village and the Tinoor areas in North Tomohon sub district, which is a short distance from Lokon's crater.

Mount Lokon's activity had been quickly increasing since Tuesday as more tremors were being detected, the Antara news agency reported. The monitoring post recorded 25 tremors from 1 to 6 a.m. local time on Wednesday.

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Indonesia: North Sulawesi's Mount Soputan Erupts

Mt Soputan
© AFPMount Soputan near Manado emits thick clouds of volcanic ash on Sunday.
Mount Soputan in Minahasa, North Sulawesi, emitted a cloud of ash on Sunday morning, reaching 1 kilometer in height.

The volcanic eruption drew the attention of residents of Tompaso district in Minahasa, from which the volcano can be clearly seen.

"I was surprised and panicked seeing the eruption at about 10 a.m. It was a big eruption; the clouds and ash looked very tall; almost the same as those produced in the big eruption several months ago," said Tompaso resident Riko Tamunu, 24.

He said he was attending church when the eruption occurred, adding that there had been smaller eruptions earlier at about 6 a.m. on Sunday.

Some Tomoso residents also left their houses, churches or other buildings upon hearing the sound of the eruption. Several residents captured the event using their cell phone cameras, TribunNews reported.

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Indonesia: Mount Papandayan's Alert Level Raised

Mount Papandayan
© Suara Pembaruan PhotoIn the file photo taken in July 2004, Mount Papandayan in Garut, West Java was spewing smoke from its craters. On Saturday, the volcano's alert level is raised from level 2 (beware) to level 3 (stand-by).
The alert level of Mount Papandayan in Garut, West Java has gone up a notch to alert level 3 - just one level below eruption.

According to Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) the 2,665-meter volcano had shown a significant increase in tectonic earthquake activity since Friday.

"BNPB has dispatched a quick-response team to assess the necessary emergency action local government and other agencies need to take in order to ensure the safety of residents living around the volcano," Sutopo said.

Mount Papandayan last erupted on Nov. 11, 2002. Even though there were no deaths or casualties, dozens of houses were destroyed by the lava that swept through the villages within the volcano's 10km radius.

It's earliest recorded eruption was in 1772 when it destroyed 40 villages and killed 2,951 people.

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Aleutian Islands: Cleveland volcano erupts

cleveland volcano
Cleveland Volcano, located on uninhabited Chuginadak Island in the Aleutians, has begun building a lava dome. An Alaska volcano has begun erupting, but it is not yet posing a serious hazard to populations or aviation in the region.

The eruption was described as a "slow effusion of magma that is forming a lava dome" by John Power, the scientist-in-charge at the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

Along with the quiet nature of the eruption, the remote siting of the volcano has so far kept the hazard level low.

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Indonesia: Mt. Ibu Emits Thick Smoke

Mt Ibu
© Bruce Gemmell, PT Nusa Halmahera MineralsA closer look at the lava dome within the Mt. Ibu crater. May 2000 photograph.
Mt. Ibu in West Halmahera regency has been emitting thick smoke, causing its alarm status to be raised on Sunday.

Ridwan, a volcanic observer at Mt. Ibu said the mountain's activities had intensified over the past two weeks. Hundreds of small eruptions have been recorded by the seismograph. "There were numerous tremors. Therefore we increased its status to alert level II," he said yesterday.

Ridwan said the mountain had been closed to hikers and people were prohibited from getting within 3 kilometers of Mt Ibu's crater. "We announced this two weeks ago and have intensified our observations. We hope people will be aware," he said.

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Activity at Kizimen and Shiveluch volcanoes, Kamchatka Peninsula

kizimen, volcano
The Kamchatka Peninsula, along Russia's Pacific coast, is currently the most volcanically active area in the world: four volcanoes are erupting simultaneously, and a fifth is showing signs of an impending eruption. Ash plumes from two of these volcanoes and a thermal anomaly marking active lava flow at a third are visible in this natural-color satellite image.

Along the northern (top) edge of the image Shiveluch emits a broad gray plume from the lava dome growing on its southern flank. 90 kilometers (60 miles) to the southwest a much smaller plume escapes from Bezymianny. Further south, an area where the instrument measured high temperatures over land is outlined in red, marking Kizimen.