Volcanoes
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Fire

Canary Islands: 5,000 evacuated as La Palma volcano eruptions continue

Sam Jones
The Guardian
Mon, 20 Sep 2021 07:39 UTC
Mount Cumbre Vieja erupts in El Paso
© Desiree Martin / AFPMount Cumbre Vieja erupts in El Paso, spewing out columns of smoke, ash, and lava as seen from Los Llanos de Aridane on the Canary island of La Palma on September 19, 2021
At least 20 homes destroyed and people told to stay away as lava pours from volcano on Spanish island

Authorities on the Canary island of La Palma have told spectators to stay away from the continuing volcanic eruptions that have forced the evacuation of 5,500 people and destroyed at least 120 homes since Sunday afternoon.

The island had been on high alert after more than 22,000 tremors were reported within a week in Cumbre Vieja, one of the most active volcanic regions in the archipelago.

Officials had begun evacuating the infirm and some farm animals from nearby villages before the eruption at 3.15pm local time on Sunday on a wooded slope in the sparsely populated Cabeza de Vaca area, according to the government.

Two hours later, with lava edging down the hillside from five fissures, the municipality ordered the evacuation of four villages, including El Paso and Los Llanos de Aridane.

Comment: See also:

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Red Flag

Alaska volcano sparks red alert as 'major eruption' underway - 'explosions' spotted

Brian McGleenon
Daily Express
Mon, 20 Sep 2021 12:46 UTC
Satellite image of the volcano
© Sentinel HubSatellite image of the volcano
A RED alert warning has been issued by scientists stating that a "major eruption" of an Alaskan volcano is occurring.

Volcanologists have stated that the major volcanic eruption is underway with hazardous activity both on the ground and in the air. Seismic observations represent an increase in eruptive activity at the site of the volcano. Scientists have upgraded the Aviation Color Code and Volcano Alert level to a red warning.

The volcano is called Semisopochnoi. It is located on Unyak Island, which is part of the Rat Islands group in the western Aleutian Islands of Alaska.

Observations of Semisopochnoi volcano shows an increase in ash plumes rising to 15,000 feet into the atmosphere.

The ash emissions from the volcano have increased in frequency and intensity and can be seen on satellite images rising above the weather clouds.
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Fire

Lava shoots up from volcano on La Palma in Spanish Canary Islands

Borja Suarez
Metro (US)
Sun, 19 Sep 2021 15:42 UTC
Lava and smoke are seen followng the eruption of a volcano in Spain
Lava and smoke are seen following the eruption of a volcano in Spain
A volcano erupted on the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma on Sunday, sending fountains of lava and a plume of smoke and ash into the air from the Cumbre Vieja national park in the south of the island.

Authorities had already begun evacuating the infirm and some farm animals from the surrounding villages before the eruption, which took place on a wooded slope in the Cabeza de Vaca area at 3:15 p.m. (1415 GMT), according to the islands' government.

Immediately after the eruption, the municipality urged residents in a statement to "exercise extreme caution", and stay away from the area and off the roads.

The population of nearby villages were told to go to one of five centres to be evacuated, and soldiers were deployed to help.

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Fire

Iceland's volcanic eruption the longest in half a century


PHYS.ORG
Sat, 18 Sep 2021 13:57 UTC
The first lava began spewing out of a fissure close to Mount Fagradalsfjall on the evening of March 19
The first lava began spewing out of a fissure close to Mount Fagradalsfjall on the evening of March 19
It will be six months on Sunday that the volcanic eruption currently mesmerising spectators near Reykjavik first began, making it the longest Iceland has witnessed in more than 50 years.

The first lava began spewing out of a fissure close to Mount Fagradalsfjall on the evening of March 19 on the Reykjanes peninsula to the southwest of Reykjavik.

And the ensuing spectacle—ranging from just a slow trickle of lava at times to more dramatic geyser-like spurts of rocks and stones at others—has become a major tourist attraction, drawing 300,000 visitors so far, according to the Iceland Tourist Board.

Iceland's sixth volcanic eruption in 20 years is already longer than the preceding one in Holuhraun, in the centre-east of the island, which lasted from the end of August 2014 until the end of February 2015.

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Fire

Two eruptions at Popocatepetl Volcano, Mexico on September 17

Volcano Time-Lapse
YouTube
Fri, 17 Sep 2021 11:01 UTC
Popocatépetl,
Two events required a real-time format because of their long audio tracks. Thank you to Webcamsdemexico:
https://www.youtube.com/user/webcamsd...

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Fire

Fagradalsfjall Volcano spews fire again in Iceland


Iceland Monitor
Mon, 13 Sep 2021 17:39 UTC
In full swing again.
© mbl.is/Kristinn MagnússonIn full swing again.
After taking an apparent break for eight and a half days, the main crater by Fagradalsfjall, Southwest Iceland, once again began spewing fire into the air on Saturday, mbl.is reports.

Scientists visited the site that day and made some interesting discoveries, according to the Facebook page the Volcanology and Natural Disaster Team of the University of Iceland, where they posted the accompanying videos. The team points out that there is every indication the eruption did not stop during this pause in surface activity. Clearly, the opening of the main vent clogged up, preventing magma from flowing into it.

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Attention

La Palma volcano (Canary Islands): strong seismic swarm suggests magma intruding at depth


Volcano Discovery
Mon, 13 Sep 2021 17:27 UTC
swarm
A strong earthquake swarm started under the area of La Cumbre Vieja volcano in the southern part of the Island yesterday. So far, more than 350 tremors have been detected, including 14 quakes of magnitudes above 3.0 and 226 quakes between 2.0 and 2.9.

The strongest was a magnitude 3.4 event at 00.46 am local time this morning, which was felt by nearby residents.

Most earthquakes are at shallow depths around 8-12 km, suggesting that new magma is currently intruding into a reservoir under the volcano. Whether or not this might be leading up to new volcanic activity is impossible to say at this stage, as there seem not to be other signs of significant volcanic unrest at this stage. Similar earthquake swarms have occurred in the past as well, most recently in late Dec last year; however back then, the quakes were deeper (at around 30 km depth), which could indicate that magma has now risen higher in the volcano's underground storage systems.

La Cumbre Vieja volcano last erupted in 1971, and it is considered one of the most active volcanoes of the Canary Islands. The situation clearly merits close monitoring.
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Fire

Eruption at Popocatepetl Volcano, Mexico on September 11


YouTube
Sat, 11 Sep 2021 19:02 UTC
Eruption at Popocatepetl
The same plume from three different cameras. Popo gearing up. Thank you to Webcamsdemexico! https://www.youtube.com/user/webcamsd...

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Attention

Ebeko volcano erupts on the Kuril Islands, Russia covering local area in layer of ash


RIA News
Wed, 08 Sep 2021 10:45 UTC
ash erupts
On the Kuril Islands, the volcano Ebeko threw out a column of ash and covered Severo-Kurilsk. Locals share post-apocalyptic footage on social media.


(Translated by Google)
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Attention

Uplift detected at Askja volcano in Iceland, began end of July


Icelandic Met Office
Fri, 03 Sep 2021 22:00 UTC
Askja
© WikipediaAskja is located in Iceland. Pictured here in 1984.
GPS observations and ground deformation maps derived from Sentinel-1 satellite data reveal that Askja volcano began inflating at the beginning of August 2021. The uplift signal is centered on the western edge of Öskjuvatn, close to Ólafsgígar, and corresponds to ~5 cm/month of vertical motion. Geodetic modelling (performed using both GPS and satellite data) indicates that the source of this inflation is located at a depth of approximately 3 km and corresponds to a volume change of approximately 0.001 km³/month.

The cause of such inflation is uncertain, but most likely it is due to the inflow of new magma. Askja volcano is seismically active and earthquakes are regularly measured in the area.

Comment: Note that just a few days ago in Iceland it was reported that rivers down stream from volcanoes and a glacier recorded an increase in harmful levels of sulphuric acid, thought to be related to changes in geothermal and volcanic activity. This also comes on the heels of an overall uptick in activity in the region; back in March 2021 the following article reported: 34,000 quakes in two weeks near Fagradalsfjall volcano, Iceland - 900% increase in activity compared with whole of 2020

See also:

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