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Bizarro Earth

Double Eruption at Indonesia Volcano


Agence France-Presse
Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:21 UTC
Image
© ReutersResidents reacting as Mount Lokon spews volcanic ash during an eruption in Tomohon, North Sulawesi, on Sunday. Mount Lokon continued to erupt on Sunday, prompting panicked villagers racing back to crowded government shelters.
An Indonesian volcano erupted twice on Monday following its biggest eruption in weeks over the weekend, a government volcanologist said, forcing people to remain in safety shelters.

"The two eruptions happened within ten minutes which sent a column of ash and smoke up to 600 meters into the air," government vulcanologist Freddy Korompis said from a monitoring post.

[Incredible Images of this Event]

The 1,580-meter-tall Mount Lokon experienced its biggest eruption on Sunday with huge clouds of ash propelled 3,500 meters into the sky.

More than 5,200 people have been evacuated to temporary shelters since the volcano erupted on Thursday and its alert status was placed on the highest level.
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Bizarro Earth

Indonesia Mount Lokon Volcano Spews Ash in Biggest Eruption

Gracey Wakari
The Associated Press
Sat, 16 Jul 2011 23:00 UTC
Image
© AP PhotoThe glow of lava from Mount Lokon's eruption is seen against the night sky as seen from Tomohon, North Sulawesi, Indonesia, early Thursday night, July 14, 2011.
A volatile volcano in central Indonesia unleashed its most powerful eruption yet Sunday, spewing hot ash and smoke thousands of feet (meters) into the air and sending panicked villagers racing back to emergency shelters. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Mount Lokon, located on northern Sulawesi island, has been dormant for years but rumbled back to life late last week.

A series of overnight blasts Thursday and Friday claimed one life - a woman who suffered a heart attack as she fled.

But Surono, a government volcanologist who uses only one name, said Sunday's 10:35 a.m. eruption released the greatest amount of energy so far, shooting soot and debris 11,400 feet (3,500 meters) into the sky.

"We're hoping this helped ease pressure building up behind the magma dome and that we'll now start seeing a reduction in activity," he said. "But it's too early to know."
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Phoenix

Indonesia: 4,600 evacuated in volcano eruption


Agence France Presse
Sat, 16 Jul 2011 22:49 UTC
More than 4,600 people have been evacuated since an Indonesian volcano erupted on Thursday and its alert status was placed on the highest level, an official said. Mount Lokon on Sulawesi island spewed grey ash up to 800 metres (2,600 feet) high early on Saturday as it continued to rumble.

"The evacuees are placed in six shelter points. No one has died because of the direct impact of the eruption," disaster management agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
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Bizarro Earth

Indonesia: Lokon volcano erupts near Tomohon


Straits Times / AFP
Fri, 15 Jul 2011 08:25 UTC
Image
© AFPThe Lokon volcano erupts near Tomohon on July 15, 2011.
An Indonesian volcano erupted late on Thursday, spewing rocks, lava and ash hundreds of metres into the air, an official said, three days after its alert status was raised to the highest level.

There has been a significant rise in volcanic activity at Mount Lokon on Sulawesi island since June 9, prompting hundreds of people to evacuate the area.

'There was a big eruption around 10.31pm local time (1531 GMT, 11.31pm Singapore time), which saw ash, sand and rocks thrown 1,500m into the air,' government volcanologist Kristianto told AFP.

Grass and shrubs in an area stretching 500m around the volcano were on fire but there was no immediate danger to people living nearby, he said. The volcano's status was raised to its highest red alert level after it spewed ash 500m into the air over the weekend, leading to a 3.5km evacuation zone being established in case of a bigger eruption.
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Bizarro Earth

Vanuatu Evacuation Alert as Volcano Rumbles


Australia Network News
Thu, 14 Jul 2011 10:06 UTC
Ambae Volcano
© ABC, AustraliaMV Brisk lands at Pentecost island, just east of Ambae.
Vanuatu's Ambae volcano has begun spewing volcanic gases, and residents could be forced to evacuate part of the island.

An expert from the Vanuatu Geohazards Observatory has been sent to monitor the volcano, which has been known to trigger earthquakes.

They have measured an increase in tremor activity in the area and are expecting more explosions.

If the volcano does becomes more active, people living around it will be forced to evacuate.

Volcanologist Sylvain Todman, from the Vanuatu Geohazards Observatory, told Pacific Beat they were watching the situation very closely.

"At the moment we have sporadic explosions but the explosions are getting bigger and bigger every time," he said.
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Bizarro Earth

Indonesia: Over 2,000 evacuated in Mount Lokon eruption


BNO News
Wed, 13 Jul 2011 10:30 UTC
Over 2,000 people have been displaced in the latest eruption from Indonesia's Mount Lokon, which is located on the northern tip of the island of Sulawesi, officials said Wednesday.

North Sulawesi Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) chief Hoyke Makarawung told Antara news agency that the total number of refugees, as of Wednesday at noon local time, was 2,116 people. The evacuees are all residents of Kinilow, Kinilow I and Kakaskasen villages, which are located in the sub district of North Tomohon, near the erupting volcano.

According to reports, one person died during the evacuation, which was carried out by BPBD, local authorities, the Indonesian Red Cross, military personnel, and local youth groups. However, Hoyke said the individual had previously suffered from strokes, and it is still uncertain whether the death was directly related to the eruption.
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Attention

Huge underwater volcanoes mapped near Antarctica

Andrea Mustain
MSNBC
Tue, 12 Jul 2011 02:19 UTC
Image
© British Antarctic Survey Newly discovered volcanoes. The peak in the foreground is thought to be the most active, with eruptions in the past few years.
In a first for the region, a dozen massive peaks, some active, are discovered

A string of a dozen volcanoes, at least several of them active, has been found beneath the frigid seas near Antarctica, the first such discovery in that region.

Some of the peaks tower nearly 10,000 feet above the ocean floor - nearly tall enough to break the water's surface.

"That's a big volcano. That's a very big volcano. If that was on land it would be quite remarkable," said Philip Leat, a volcanologist with the British Antarctic Survey who led a seafloor mapping expedition to the region in 2007 and 2010.

The group of 12 underwater mountains lies south of the South Sandwich Islands - desolate, ice-covered volcanoes that rise above the southern Atlantic Ocean about halfway between South America and South Africa and erupted as recently as 2008. It's the first time such a large number of undersea volcanoes has been found together in the Antarctic region.

Leat said the survey team was somewhat surprised by the find.

"We knew there were other volcanoes in the area, but we didn't go trying to find volcanoes," Leat told OurAmazingPlanet. "We just went because there was a big blank area on the map and we had no idea what was there; we just wanted to fill in the seafloor."
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Bizarro Earth

Sicily, Italy: Etna Volcano Erupts Again on July 9 2011

Armand Vervaeck and James Daniell
Earthquake Report
Sun, 10 Jul 2011 11:58 UTC
UPDATE 09:45 UTC : Due to the volcanic activity and the ash concentration in the air, the (important) regional airport of Catania was closed since yesterday 18:12 (6:12 PM). The airport reopened this morning at 07:00 ( 7 AM).

UPDATE 08:00 UTC : As stated below, the densely populated Catania area got a lot of ash showers covering cars and roofs with a gray layer.

UPDATE : One video tells more than a 1000 words. This YouTube video was recorded by Klaus Dorschfeldt alias KdEtna. We encourage our readers to take a look at his great Etna Channel on YouTube. The strong eruption was short-lived (see in-depth text below), which explains why there are only daylight videos from this eruption
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Bizarro Earth

Indonesia Issues Highest Alert for Mt. Lokon Volcano


Time World
Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:00 UTC
Mt. Lokon
© Manado Rizky Adriansyah / Tribun ManadoMt. Lokon.
Jakarta - Officials raised the alert for an Indonesian volcano with history of violent explosions to its highest level following a series of eruptions over the weekend.

Disaster managment official Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said Monday people living close to Mount Lokon in north Sulawesi province should be prepared to evacuate if necessary.

Locals and tourists have been urged to stay up to 2.2 miles (3.5 kilometers) away from the 5,741-foot (1,750-meter) volcano.
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Radar

Ash from Mount Etna closes Italian airport


Agence France-Presse
Mon, 11 Jul 2011 06:28 UTC
Image
© Unknown
A southern Italian airport was on Saturday closed due to ash from Mount Etna, forcing traffic to be diverted to Palermo, the ANSA news agency said.

Catania airport on the east coast of the island of Sicily was not expected to re-open before Sunday morning while the runway was cleared, the report said.

The volcano, which currently does not present any risk to local residents, spewed lava on to its southeastern slopes on Saturday afternoon and winds carried the ash further afield.

Etna is the highest active volcano in Europe at 3,295 metres (10,810 feet). The last eruption was in May.

A massive flood of meltwater from Iceland's Myrdalsjoekull glacier, meanwhile, has raised fears of an eruption from the powerful Katla volcano there.
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