Volcanoes
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Bizarro Earth

Aleutian Islands' Shishaldin volcano being watched following increase in seismic activity overnight

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© Dane Ketner / AVO View of Shishaldin from an Alaska Volcano Observatory monitoring site on the southwest flank of the volcano on June 28, 2014. The upper flanks of the volcano are darkened by ash erupted during low-level lava fountaining and small explosions deep in the summit crater.
The Aleutian Islands' Shishaldin volcano was being watched Monday morning following an increase in seismic activity overnight.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory posted a "watch" alert due to the increase in activity, which suggests "that the eruption at Shishaldin has intensified," AVO wrote. Elevated surfaces temperatures were shown on satellite images near the volcano's summit.

Shishaldin, elevation 9,373 feet, is located on Unimak Island on the Aleutians. The volcano has been listed as "orange" for months, coordinating scientist with the Alaska Volcano Observatory Jeff Freymueller said, as small explosions within Shishaldin's crater have been occurring "pretty much all the time."​ The color code "orange" indicates an ongoing level of heightened activity at a volcano.

These small explosions within the volcano are likely to continue for "some time," Freymeuller said, bringing along the "potential that at any moment ... you could have a much bigger (explosion)."

Bizarro Earth

Residents evacuated as Pico do Fogo volcano in Cape Verde erupts after a 20 year silence

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FogoNews via Facebook
Pico do Fogo - a shield volcano on the island of Fogo in the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa - began erupting on Sunday (November 23, 2014). It's the first eruption since 1995, nearly 20 years. Already, hundreds of residents living in the vicinity have been evacuated, and a local airport has been closed.

Erik Klemetti wrote on his excellent Eruptions blog at Wired:
The eruption has formed a small steam-and-ash plume near the flanks of Pico, a small cone inside the main caldera at Fogo. Earthquakes became noticeable to people living on the island starting Saturday night and by morning, an eruption had begun. According to volcanologists monitoring Fogo, the volcano had been showing signs of unrest "for awhile ... " Most of the activity at Fogo for the past 500 years has occurred within the main caldera of the volcano and the eruption in 1995 was centered on the flanks of Pico. The eruptions are dominantly lava flows, although unlike shield volcanoes like Kilauea, Fogo erupts both low-silica basanite (similar to basalt but higher in alkaline elements like sodium and potassium) and high-silica phonolite (similar to rhyolite but higher alkalines). That eruption in 1995 created a lava flow field that spread over 6 square kilometers of the caldera floor.

Comment: 6 volcanic quakes at Philippines' Mayon Volcano in the last 24 hrs
Mexico's Colima volcano erupts, sending ash 3 miles into the sky


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Mexico's Colima volcano erupts, sending ash 3 miles into the sky

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© Reuters / Bernardo de NizColima Volcano
Volcanic ash leapt into the sky in a column three miles high on Friday, as Mexico's Colima volcano began erupting.
Located in the western region of the country on the border of the states of Jalisco and Colima, the 12,500 high volcano is less than 500 miles from Mexico City. One of the most active volcanoes in the country - and one of the most potentially destructive ones as well - Colima has certainly earned its nickname of the "Volcano of Fire" from locals.

The country's federal civil defense office said that ash has been raining down as far as 15 miles from the volcano. Super-heated glowing volcanic rocks were reported to be raining down the sides of the volcano over a mile from the now-erupting caldera. So far there have been no injuries reported by Colima's most current eruption, as officials say that this new one seems to be much less in intensity than other instances. The last major eruption of Colima, which occurred in 2005, saw local residents evacuating from the region.

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6 volcanic quakes at Philippines' Mayon Volcano in the last 24 hrs

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Mayon volcano
At least six volcanic quakes were recorded at restive Mayon Volcano in the last 24 hours, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said Saturday. In its 8 a.m. update, Phivolcs also recorded an emission of white "moderate to voluminous" steam plumes that drifted west-southwest, west-northwest, northeast, and southeast. Also, it recorded a crater glow at Intensity I Friday night.

Phivolcs said Mayon's alert level remains at 3, meaning an eruption is still likely within weeks. More than 12,000 families were evacuated from their homes in Mayon's danger zone since mid-September, when Phivolcs raised the alert level at Mayon to 3.

Bizarro Earth

Mýrdalsjökull Ice Cap: Iceland's Katla Volcano is 'due a big eruption'

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© NASAAfter and before shot shows how ice cap has changed.
A volcano sitting beneath Iceland's Mýrdalsjökull ice cap is due for a "big" eruption, Nasa has said. Satellite images showing Mýrdalsjökull reveal the ice cap has shrunk dramatically over the last 30 years, and experts believe this is a result of recent volcanic episodes.


Comment: Well, it's nice to see the 'experts' didn't blame the shrinkage on 'global warming'.


The images, from Nasa's Earth Observatory, show before and after photos of the ice cap - the first from September 2014, the second from September 1986.

More than half of Iceland's ice caps and glaciers sit either directly above or near active volcanoes, meaning fire and ice often unite.

Additional images

Bizarro Earth

New eruption has begun at Alaska's Pavlof Volcano

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The lava fountain at Pavlof during the eruption that started on November 12, 2014.
Alaska's most active volcano is spitting lava into the air and producing an ash cloud at low elevations. But unlike Kilauea Volcano on Hawaii's Big Island, where there's been spectacular images of lava encroaching on a community and burning a home, there's no property at risk in Alaska because of the eruption of Pavlof Volcano.

The 8,262-foot Pavlof Volcano is located in a relatively uninhabited area about 625 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Alaska Peninsula. The closest community is about 40 miles away.

Observers from that community, Cold Bay, reported seeing dark snow on the surface of the volcano Wednesday, indicating an eruption has started. The eruption intensified that afternoon and continued through the week, David Schneider, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Alaska Volcano Observatory, said Friday.

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Turrialba Volcano in Costa Rica shaken by violent eruption, ash reaches province of Limón

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© The Tico TimesA site near the Turrialba Volcano’s crater.

Among the observations by volcanologists conducting weekend inspections in the area around Costa Rica's Turrialba Volcano were craters in the earth measuring up to one meter in diameter - the result of rocks shooting out from the volcano.

Experts from the National Seismological Network (RSN) and the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI) conducted the inspections in light of significant activity at the volcano that started last week.

RSN volcanologist Gino González Ilama said the areas of impact are located on the south side of the volcano and cover 80 percent of the slope up to 400 meters from the volcano's crater.

"We observed the impact of volcanic rock that had caused several craters on the ground. We believe the rocks were shot out of the volcano at speeds greater than 100 kilometers per hour, and this proves there is strong activity inside," González said.

Attention

Costa Rica volcano spews ash in biggest erruption for 100 years

Turrialba volcano in Costa Rica
© OVSICORI/AFPSteam and ash spews from a vent inside the crater of the Turrialba volcano in Costa Rica.
The biggest eruption in a century at a volcano in Costa Rica has rained ash over the Central American country and prompted authorities to evacuate some communities.

Emergency services and scientists remained on high alert on Friday after the overnight explosion at the Turrialba volcano, close to the capital San Jose.

Volcanologist Gino Gonzalez said that the volcano had been rumbling and producing seismic activity since Wednesday evening.

He said the explosion caused the side of the crater to collapse, and ashfall was recorded in four provinces.

Bizarro Earth

Idiocracy: Japan reacts to Fukishima disaster by re-opening nuclear plant right next to active volcano

D'oh!

Scientists warned that an earthquake could take out Fukushima. The Japanese ignored the warning ... and even tore down the natural seawall which protected Fukushima from tidal waves.

Fukushima is getting worse. And see this and this.

Have the Japanese learned their lesson? Are they decommissioning nuclear plants which are built in dangerous environments?

Of course not!

Instead, they're re-starting a nuclear plant near a volcano which is about to blow ...

A month ago, there was an eruption at Mt. Ontake:
Mt. Ontake
Screenshot from Youtube Video shot on September 29th of Mount Ontake erupting. 57 hikers were killed by the explosion

Bizarro Earth

Lava stream threatening homes and inching closer to road on Hawaii's Big Island

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© AP Photo/U.S. Geological SurveyIn this Oct. 22, 2014 photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, geologists walk over the surface of the flow to track surface breakouts along a portion of the flow margin, about a kilometer upslope of the flow front. A 13-mile finger of lava from Kilauea Volcano has started to again move quickly, and could hit a secondary road sometime Friday, Oct. 24, 2014. Officials on Hawaii's Big Island won't start evacuating people until the lava flow is within three to five days of affecting Pahoa residents.
A growing lava stream threatening homes and inching closer to a rural road on Hawaii's Big Island oozed forward in fits and starts this week, frustrating some residents but giving officials a window of time to prepare. The narrow, leading edge of the lava flow is now just 250 yards from the one-lane country road, which has been closed. Crews are working on an alternate route for remote communities in the Puna district in case the lava crosses a major thoroughfare.

The lava sped up over the past few days, advancing nearly 460 yards from Thursday morning to Friday, but it slowed again Friday morning, officials said. The flow's fitful nature is taking a toll on some Big Island residents, who got a brief reprieve from the advancing molten stream only to have to raise their guard again.

"This stop-and-go - it's going to be very frustrating for our residents," said Darryl Oliveira, director of Hawaii County Civil Defense. "It raises the anxiety level. It raises the concern."