Volcanoes
S


Phoenix

Chile: Low Level Activity Continues At Chilean Volcano

Mark Dunphy
Irish Weather Online
Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:38 UTC
puyehue Chili
© Unknown
As the eruption of Puyehue Cordón Caulle wanes, life is returning to normal in nearby communities.

The first domestic aircraft landed at Bariloche, Argentina, in more than three months commenced on Saturday (17 September) while residents began the process of returning to their homes close to the volcano.

Bariloche is an Andean town about 60 kilometers southeast of the eruption center. At the time, winds blew the ash plume from Puyehue Cordón Caulle towards the northwest, away from the town. An airport spokesperson expects future traffic to be dependent on the weather.

The above natural-color satellite image shows Puyehue Cordón Caulle and the surrounding area at roughly local noon on September 17. A pale plume of volcanic gas and ash streams to the northwest from the active vent. The September 15 status report from the Chilean National Service of Geology and Mining (SERNAGEOMIN) stated that the eruption continued at a low level.

NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-GSFC. Instrument: Terra - MODIS
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Indonesia: Farmers Flee as World's Deadliest Volcano Rumbles

Nasrullah Roa
The Associated Press
Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:00 UTC
Image
© AP Photo/KOMPAS Images, Iwan SetiyawanIn this Oct. 19, 2010 aerial photo, Mount Tambora's 10 kilometers (more than 7 miles) wide and 1 kilometer (half a mile) deep volcanic crater, created by the April 1815 eruption, is shown. Bold farmers routinely ignore orders to evacuate the slopes of live volcanos in Indonesia, but those on Tambora took no chances when history's deadliest mountain rumbled ominously this month, Sept., 2011.
Bold farmers in Indonesia routinely ignore orders to evacuate the slopes of live volcanoes, but those living on Tambora took no chances when history's deadliest mountain rumbled ominously this month.

Villagers like Hasanuddin Sanusi have heard since they were young how the mountain they call home once blew apart in the largest eruption ever recorded - an 1815 event widely forgotten outside their region - killing 90,000 people and blackening skies on the other side of the globe.

So, the 45-year-old farmer didn't wait to hear what experts had to say when Mount Tambora started being rocked by a steady stream of quakes. He grabbed his wife and four young children, packed his belongings and raced down its quivering slopes.

"It was like a horror story, growing up," said Hasanuddin, who joined hundreds of others in refusing to return to their mountainside villages for several days despite assurances they were safe. A dragon sleeping inside the crater, that's what we thought. If we made him angry - were disrespectful to nature, say - he'd wake up spitting flames, destroying all of mankind."
Read More...
Bomb

History's deadliest volcano comes back to life in Indonesia, sparking panic among villagers

Robin McDowell
The Washington Post
Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:15 UTC
Indonesia Volcano
© The Washington Post
Bold farmers in Indonesia routinely ignore orders to evacuate the slopes of live volcanoes, but those living on Tambora took no chances when history's deadliest mountain rumbled ominously this month.

Villagers like Hasanuddin Sanusi have heard since they were young how the mountain they call home once blew apart in the largest eruption ever recorded - an 1815 event widely forgotten outside their region - killing 90,000 people and blackening skies on the other side of the globe.

So, the 45-year-old farmer didn't wait to hear what experts had to say when Mount Tambora started being rocked by a steady stream of quakes. He grabbed his wife and four young children, packed his belongings and raced down its quivering slopes.

"It was like a horror story, growing up," said Hasanuddin, who joined hundreds of others in refusing to return to their mountainside villages for several days despite assurances they were safe.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Scientists Concerned By Continued Eruptions At Alaskan Volcano


redOrbit
Sun, 18 Sep 2011 13:40 UTC
Cleveland Volcano
© 2010 – GeoEyeThis GeoEye IKONOS image shows a faint plume issuing from Cleveland Volcano at 2:31 PM on September 14, 2010. Red in this image highlights areas of vegetation detected by the near-infrared channel.
The two-month long, low-level eruptions occurring at a volcano in Alaska's Aleutian Islands have volcanologists worried that there could be a larger eruption forthcoming, Yereth Rosen of Reuters reported on Friday.

The volcano causing concern is Cleveland Volcano (also known as Mount Cleveland), a 5,676-foot peak located less about 940 miles southwest of Anchorage.

As previously reported here on RedOrbit, an eruption warning was issued by the Alaska Volcano Observatory in late July.

At that time, the Daily Mail warned that Cleveland Volcano "could be poised for its first big eruption in ten years," and that experts believed that it could "erupt at any moment, spewing ash clouds up to 20,000 feet above sea level with little further warning."

Nearly eight weeks later, such an eruption remains a definite possibility.

"The big thing we're concerned about is an explosive eruption," Steve McNutt of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, a coordinating scientist for the observatory, told Rosen.

Such an eruption, the Reuters reporter says, could come with "little warning." Satellite imagery has reportedly shown a lava dome growing inside the volcano's crater, and the observatory has reports that Mount Cleveland continues to generate heat. To date, there have been no signs of ash clouds, Rosen said, but those, too, could come with little warning.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

US: Alaska - Aleutian volcano's behavior a challenge for scientists


Reuters
Sun, 18 Sep 2011 09:37 UTC
Image
© Unknown
A volcano in Alaska's Aleutian Islands has been in an unusual low-level eruption for two months, raising the spectre of an explosive eruption with little warning, officials at the Alaska Volcano Observatory said on Friday.

Cleveland Volcano, a 5,676-foot peak located 940 miles southwest of Anchorage, continues to expel lava out its crater, a low-level eruption that began in mid-July, scientists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory said.

Satellite imagery shows a lava dome growing inside the volcano's crater. Satellite data also shows continued heat generated from the volcano, according to the observatory, a joint federal-state organization.

So far, there have been no signs of ash clouds. But those could come with little warning, scientists said. "The big thing we're concerned about is an explosive eruption," said Steve McNutt of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, a coordinating scientist for the observatory.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Indonesia: Mount Tambora Volcano in Alert, Air Evacuation Prepared

Elin Yunita Kristanti
vivanews.com
Thu, 15 Sep 2011 11:42 UTC
Image
© Google Earth
The routes are aimed at helping refugees to avoid hot clouds and volcanic materials

Mount Tambora sees higher intensities of volcanic activities, increasing its status to the alert level 3 (Siaga). The Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) of West Nusa Tenggara prepares two evacuation routes to anticipate unexpected events in Pekat Subdistrict, Dompu Regency, and Tambora Subdistrict.

Chief of the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency of West Nusa Tenggara, Husnuddin, said the routes are aimed at helping refugees to avoid hot clouds and volcanic materials.

The routes readied in Pekat Subdistrict use Kempo Village overland road while those opened in Tambora Subdistrict use Piong Village road. The evacuation route connecting Tambora District and Piong village spans 50 kilometers and can be covered in 2 hours.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Five Indonesian Volcanoes to Keep Eye On

Elin Yunita Kristanti
Vivanews.com
Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:48 UTC
Mt Merapi
© Antara / Regina SafriMount Merapi Eruption in 2010.
Indonesia, situated in the Pacific Ring of Fire, has about 130 active volcanoes. Now few of them even have seismic activities.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has the data that there are 21 volcanoes whose status is above normal-active. "The five volcanoes of alert status (level III) are Mt Tambora, Mt Anak Ranakah, Mt Papandayan, Mt Karangetang and Mt Lokon," said BNPB Head of Data Center Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, Tuesday.

He explained that the status of Mt Tambora and Mt Anak Ranakah was elevated almost in the same time, on September 8, 2011.

In addition to those of alert status, 16 volcanoes in Indonesia whose status is level II namely Soputan, Ibu, Lewotobi Perempuan, Marapi, Bromo, Dieng, Gamkonora, Merapi, Sinabung, Talang, Kerinci, Krakatau, Semeru, Sangeangapi, Gamalama and Dukuno.
Read More...
Phoenix

Best of the Web: Electric Universe: Earthquakes and Volcanoes

Stephen Smith
thunderbolts.info
Sun, 11 Sep 2011 20:42 UTC
Lightning erupts from the crater of Mount Shinmoedake on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
© ReutersLightning erupts from the crater of Mount Shinmoedake on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
Lightning discharges in the atmosphere are familiar, but what about the ones underground?

The electrical phenomenon we call lightning is not well understood. The most common interpretation involves the circulation of water vapor up and down through clouds in a process called convection. Water is heated by the Sun until it evaporates, rising into the air where it collects into clouds. The water vapor continues to rise higher and higher, finally cooling enough to condense back into liquid. Earth's gravity then pulls it back to the surface where the cycle repeats.

According to consensus opinions, water droplets tend to collide during convection, knocking electrons off one another, creating a charge separation. Electrons accumulate in the lower portion of the cloud, where it acquires a negative charge. As the droplets that have lost an electron continue to rise, they carry a positive charge into the top of the cloud.
Read More...
Phoenix

Halmahera, Indonesia: Ash cloud 800 meter high at Dukono volcano

Armand Vervaeck
Earthquake Report
Wed, 07 Sep 2011 10:28 UTC
Dukono volcano (North Halmahera regency, Indonesia) activity increased on September 6, 2011 in sending volcanic ash clouds as high as 800 meters in the sky. The capital town of the Halmahera regency lies at the port of Tobelo, approx. 15 km from the volcano (population approx. 15,000). Residents were asked to evacuate at least about two kilometers from the foot of the volcano.

The volcano observation post at Mount Dukono, told the press that dozens of volcanic earthquakes occurred every day.
The eruption can be seen from Ternate, and island and biggest city in the area (has also an airport).

The volcano is currently in PVMBG Alert status III (local sources) although the official PVMBG site is still showing a II alert status (alert status range from 1 to IV). North Halmehara is part of the province of North Maluku (Moluccas)

Read More...
Bell

US, Alaska: Remote Alaska Volcano Resumes Dome Growth


Associated Press
Wed, 07 Sep 2011 10:22 UTC
Cleveland Volcano Alaska
© Unknown
The lava dome at a remote Alaska volcano has resumed growing, prompting officials to raise its alert level.

The dome now fills the floor of the crater at Cleveland Volcano, 940 miles southwest of Anchorage.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory on Tuesday raised the volcano's alert level to watch status. The threat level was dropped on Aug. 30, but raised against after a persistent thermal anomaly started Saturday. Observatory officials say in a news release that's when the lave dome likely started growing again.

The dome was 262 feet in diameter on Aug. 30, but is now about 394 feet in diameter.

Officials say if that continues, lava flows could start on the flanks of the volcano. The growing dome also increases the possibility - but doesn't ensure - an explosive eruption.
Read More...