Volcanoes
S


Satellite

Three Active Volcanoes Spotted on Satellite Imagery from NASA

From space, NASA keeps a watchful eye on volcanic activity around the world with many satellites. NASA has just released satellite images showing activity this week from volcanoes in the countries of Eritrea, Chile and Indonesia.

NASA's Terra satellite and the GOES-11 satellite captured ash plumes or heat coming from the Nabro volcano, the Puyehue-Cordón volcano, and the Soputan volcano, respectively, over the past week. There are a number of other volcanoes showing activity around the world, but thanks to good visibility these three volcanoes were more easily seen from space this week.

NASA's Terra satellite flew over the Nabro volcano in Eritrea on July 6 at 07:50 UTC (3:50 a.m. EDT) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument captured "heat signatures" or hot areas in the volcano. The MODIS images are created by the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The team provides images from the MODIS instrument (that flies on both the Terra and Aqua satellite) every day.

Nabro is located in the State of Eritrea, a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea's neighboring countries include Ethiopia to the south, Djibouti to the southeast and Sudan to the west. An ash plume was difficult to pinpoint on the imagery because of dust blowing in the direction of the volcano and over the Gulf of Aden from nearby Somalia.
Image
© NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response TeamNASA's Terra satellite captured this image of the Nabro Volcano located in the African country of Eritrea. The image was taken on July 6 at 07:50 UTC (3:50 a.m. EDT) and the red spots indicate heat. The light brown area over the Gulf of Aden (right) is blowing dust from northern Somalia (right) in the image.

Bizarro Earth

Scientists monitor Iceland's Katla volcano amid flooding

Katla Volcano
© UnkownKatla Volcano
Scientists are monitoring Iceland's Katla volcano amid signs that a small eruption may be taking place.

The acting head of the Civil Protection Agency Iris Marelsdottir, says flooding is taking place near the volcano, caused by the melting of its ice cap.

But she says the flooding may have other causes - such as high geothermal heat - so it not yet clear whether there is an eruption.

Katla typically awakens every 80 years or so, and last erupted in 1918.

Iceland, in the remote North Atlantic, is a volcanic hotspot. In April 2010 ash from an eruption of its Eyjafjallajokul volcano grounded flights across Europe for days, disrupting travel for 10 million people.

Katla sits beside Eyjafjallajokul.

Source: The Associated Press

Bizarro Earth

Volcano erupts in Indonesia

Image
© ReutersSpectacular: Mount Soputan spews out hot lava on the outskirts of Manado of Indonesia's North Sulawesi province
Jakarta - A volcano in North Sulawesi province of central Indonesia erupted earlier Sunday, but there is no evacuation, head of the country's volcanology agency named only Surono said here.

Mount Soputan located some 60 km from Manado, capital of the province, started a small eruption at around 02:00 a.m. local time Sunday, spewing over 1,000-meter high hot ash, then it was followed by a big eruption at 06:03 a.m. local time by spewing over 6,000 meters high ash, the head of the agency told Xinhua by phone.

The agency has declared a dangerous zone with a radius of 6.5 kilometers, said Surono.

"So far, there is no evacuation because the closest area where people live is about 8 kilometers from the mount," he said.

Agus Budianto, head of monitoring and search at the agency also said that based on the character of the 1,874-meter high Mount Soputan and the history of its eruption, the authorities may still not need to order an evacuation, Budianto told Xinhua by phone from the headquarters of the agency in West Java on Sunday.

Bizarro Earth

Mt Soputan Volcano Spews Smoke, Gas in Indonesia

Mt Soputan
© Associated PressVolcanic smoke billows from Mount Soputan as seen in this photo taken from the town of Amurang, North Sulawesi, Indonesia, Monday, Oct. 6, 2008.
Jakarta - A volcano in central Indonesia has erupted in clouds of smoke and searing gas that shot up nearly 20,000 feet (six kilometres) into the air.

State volcanologist Surono, who uses only one name, says no one was injured when Mount Soputan, located on Sulawesi island, exploded early Sunday.

The nearest villages are well outside the danger zone and there are no immediate evacuation plans.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is located on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

Soputan lies around 1,350 miles (2,160 kilometres) northeast of capital Jakarta. It last erupted in 2008, causing no casualties.

Bizarro Earth

Costa Rica's Turrialba Volcano More Active Experts Notice

The Turrialba volcano has been more active in recent days, spewing out greater emission of gases and with sound that appears similar to a jet engine.

"The gas column is more abundant, the noise is more noticeable in parts that were it is not usual", said Eliecer Duarte, volcanologist for the OVSICORI.

Turrialba Volcano
© InsideCostaRica
Duarte and other specialists visited the colossus on Thursday and found that the lake that formed in the western crater "blocked" the escape of gas which means they now soar over the entire crater.

"It is a process we have not seen before. The gases are distributed by sector but now gas is emanating 360-degrees around the crater", said Duarte.

Bizarro Earth

Philippines: Phivolcs Warns Against Activity Near 3 Volcanoes

Image
Manila, Philippines - The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has warned against any activity near the Taal, Mayon and Bulusan volcanoes as rockfalls and ash explosions may occur due to bad weather.

In its 8:00 a.m. bulletin, Phivolcs said that while Taal volcano was still on alert level 2, magma could be seen rising towards the surface as shown by the continuing high emission rate of carbon dioxide being released in the main crater lake and sustained seismic activity.

Phivolcs advised the public to stay away from the main crater, Daang Kastila Trail and Mt. Tabaro, as sudden hazardous steam driven explosions may occur and high concentrations of toxic gases may accumulate, which are lethal to humans and animals.

Phivolcs reiterated that the entire volcano island remains a permanent danger zone.
On the other hand, Mayon volcano and Bulusan volcano are under alert level 1.

But Philvocs said in the same bulletin that while no eruption was imminent in Mayon, the public should not enter the 6-kilometer radius permanent danger zone due to the continuing threat from sudden small explosions and rockfalls from the upper and middle slopes of the volcano.

Bizarro Earth

Eritrean opposition asks for international support as volcano kills seven

An exiled Eritrean opposition group on Wednesday called on the international community to immediately act to provide urgent assistance to the thousands of Eritreans it said are affected by the Narbo volcano that erupted over a week ago in the country's south.

The Addis Ababa-based Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (RSADO) said the volcanic eruption has killed at least seven people, injured many others and displaced thousands of people.

"We call on the international community to swiftly use diplomatic pressure over the Eritrean government to allow an international humanitarian aid to the thousands of volcano-hit people'' reached by phone Yasin Mohamed Abdela, RSADO spokesperson told Sudan Tribune from the Ethiopia-Eritrea border.

Independent news about the eruption is hard to come by as Eritrea does not allow independent local journalists or foreign correspondents into the the Red Sea nation.

The RSADO official accused the Eritrean government of hiding the level of the disaster. He said that his party holds the Eritrean government accountable for the loss of life and other related damage caused by the volcanic activity.

Bizarro Earth

Africa: First Footage Emerges Of Eritrean Volcanic Eruption

Image
Nabro continued to erupt Wednesday as this MODIS image shows
The first video footage emerged Wednesday of the eruption of the Nabro Volcano, located close to Eritrea's border with Ethiopia in northeast Africa.

Eritrean TV (Eri.TV) today broadcast images of the volcano which erupted for the first time in its history on Sunday 12 June last. The volcano continued to erupt Wednesday sending ash northwestards toward Sudan.

Meanwhile, the eruption of the stratovolcano has created a new landmass, according to the director general of Mines at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Mr. Alem Kibreab.

Mr. Alem said that the ash and lava emitted from the Southern Red Sea region volcano has created a new land mass measuring hundreds of square metres. The director general also disclosed that a team composed of geological and volcanic experts is conducting studies in the area.

Meanwhile, according to reports, 7 people have died while 3 people have sustained injuries due to the eruption. The Ministry confirmed that inhabitants of the area have been moved to safer locations while at the same time they are being given basic provisions.

Bizarro Earth

Chilean Volcano Colors Southern Hemisphere Skies

Red Skies_1
© Kevin Thomson / FlickrNew Zealand sunset colored by the ash and other particles drifting around the Southern Hemisphere skies from the eruption of Chile's Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano.
After lying dormant for decades, Chile's Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano suddenly erupted on June 4 and has since hurled a tremendous cloud of ash, as well as plumes of sulfur dioxide into the air. This material has been circling the Southern Hemisphere and has been seriously disrupting air traffic for most of South America, and as far away as Australia and New Zealand.

But along with these negative aspects, the volcano has also been responsible for producing very colorful displays of deep reds and purplish hues as well as ripples of white both at dawn and dusk for many localities south of the equator.

This phenomenon of volcanic material coloring the twilight sky is well known and has been observed many times before in the aftermath of major eruptions. But just why does this occur? Before getting into an explanation, we should first explain how light is scattered to produce the various colors we see in our daytime sky.

Phoenix

Chile's Puyehue Volcano Spews Lava

Image
© The Associated PressAshes and smoke billow through the clouds after the eruption of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano in Chile
Lava has begun spilling from Chile's Puyehue volcano, 18 days after it first erupted, but there's no danger to nearby residents, according to the National Service of Geology and Mining.

But the ash cloud created by the eruption continues to wreak havoc on airlines around the world.

The Chilean airline LAN cancelled flights to Temuco and Valdivia in the south of the country, and a number of flights were suspended in Australia and New Zealand.

"Viscous lava has flowed slowly westward in a channel roughly 50 metres wide and 100 metres long," the national geology service known as SERNAGEOMIN said in its latest report.

Last week, SERNAGEOMIN chief Enrique Valdivieso said the appearance of lava would signal "the end of the eruptive process" and would not put any of the local population in danger.