Volcanoes
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Attention

Small eruption at Mount Asama near Tokyo

volcano eruption
© ReutersA light scattering of ash pointed to an eruption of the most active volcano on Japan's main island of Honshu

A volcano near Tokyo erupted early on Tuesday, the latest in a series of volcanic incidents to hit Japan in recent months.


Mount Asama, one of Japan's most active volcanoes, is believed to have spewed a small quantity of ash, but Tokyo was not affected, according to Kyodo News.

A warning against the dangers of falling rocks within a mile radius of the mountain, which is located 87 miles northwest of the capital, was subsequently issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

Experts have been keeping a close eye on the 8,425 feet volcano in recent months, with tremors detected since April and a subsequent surge in sulphur dioxide emissions.

mount Asama
© ReutersPoor visibility due to thick clouds meant that it was not immediately possible to establish whether there was an a eruption

Attention

Sinabung volcano unleashes hot ash a mile into the air on Indonesian island

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Eruption: A farmer continues to tend to his field on the Indonesian island of Sumatra as Mount Sinabung erupts violently in the background

A volcanic eruption in western Indonesia has unleashed hot ash over a mile into the air and threatens the lives of thousands in nearby villages.

Mount Sinabung, which is located on the island of Sumatra, had been dormant for over 400 years before erupting in August 2010 when it killed at least two and made over 30,000 homeless.

Its status was raised to the highest alert level on June 2 because of the growing size of its 'lava dome', a magma-filled mound which grows inside the volcano before erupting violently.

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Explosion: Stunning images have captured the 2,460m-high volcano unleashing hot ash and gas over a mile into the air


Attention

Toba supervolcano showing large emissions of steam and foul smelling gas

mount sinabung
Photo from Indonesia press showing new activity (June 2015) at Mount Sinabung, prompting evacuations around the area.
Western Indonesia's Mount Sinabung has been placed on high alert for what is being called a "mega-eruption" for several km/miles around the volcano.

Video reports coming out from the region show ash, steam, and eruptive blasts currently occurring.

In addition to the large eruption at Mount Sinabung, we now have other reports that the nearby Toba supervolcano is showing large emissions of steam (from the ground), as well as foul smelling gas.

According to reports from Indonesian press, locals are alarmed by these recent developments.

Toba supervolcano is indeed a "super-volcano" by all measurements. Actually LARGER in eruptive power to the other more well known "Yellowstone" super volcano (located in Wyoming / United States).

Comment: Mount Sinabung blows its top, sending lava and thick plumes of volcanic ash into the sky


Arrow Up

Zhupanovsky volcano in Russia's Kamchatka Territory spews column of ash 6 km above sea level

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© AP/Brynjar Gauti
Zhupanovsky Volcano in Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Territory has spewed ash to a height of six kilometres above sea level, the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) of the Institute of Volcanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences told TASS on Tuesday.

"The ash column reached six kilometres above sea level. The plume of ash has been taken by the wind to a distance of 30 kilometres in the southerly direction," a KVERT spokesman said.

The volcano poses no threat to populated localities. Nonetheless, it has been assigned an orange aviation colour code. It is not ruled out that the volcano may spew more ash up to eight kilometres high.

Zhupanovsky Volcano, which takes its name from a river of the same name flowing in its vicinity, is located in eastern Kamchatka, some 70 kilometers north of the Kamchatka capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Zhupanovsky is one of the least studied volcanoes in the region despite its proximity to a large city. It is a complex volcano composed of four overlapping cones aligned on a roughly east-west oriented axis, with the highest cone reaching 2,958 meters high, and the lowest one being 2,505 meters high. The giant mount has been active since October 2013.

Comment: The most powerful existing volcano emits ash, clouds of steam 7,500meters high in Kamchatka, Russia


Shoe

Mount Sinabung blows its top, sending lava and thick plumes of volcanic ash into the sky

Mount Sinabung blew its top Saturday sending lava and thick plumes of volcanic ash into the sky
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Indonesian officials raised the alert status Friday to the highest level, urging residents who live nearby to evacuate. About 2,700 people were forced to flee their homes from the island located in the North Sumatra province. Government agencies have set up public shelters and kitchens to help those who have been evacuated. The 2,600-metre-high volcano had been inactive for three years before showing signs of life in September, 2013.

Photos of the eruption have been posed on Instagram from photography student Ahmad Zikri Mohamad Zuki. Pyroclastic flows (avalanche-like hot ash, rocks and gas) have been rushing down the sides of the mountain for the past week, Zuki told CNN. The photography student lives in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck the Malaysian island of Borneo, shaking the Mount Kinabalu region around 7:15 a.m. local time Friday. At least 12 people have died. Of the eleven people confirmed to have died, nine have yet to be identified by authorities. Zuki has been documenting Mount Sinabung's activity since 2014, according to CNN. Following sharp increase volcanic activity, officials urged residents living within a radius of 7 km south and southeast of the mountain to evacuate Wednesday.
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Mount Sinabung erupted in February 2014, killing 16 people. In August 2010, the volcano claimed the lives of two people and forced 30,000 to leave their homes. There are over 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia.

X

After 55 year slumber, Chile's Guallatiri volcano shaken by earthquake swarm - alert level raised to 'yellow'

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Guallatiri or Guallatire is one of the most active volcanoes in northern Chile. It is just west of the border with Bolivia and at the southwestern end of the Nevados de Quimsachata. It is a symmetrical 6,071-metre-high (19,918 ft) (3.7723 miles) ice-clad stratovolcano. Wallatiri is capped by a central dacitic dome or lava complex, with the active vent at its southern side. The volcano last erupted in 1960. -Wikipedia

Elevated seismic activity since the night 30-31 May triggered SERNAGEOMIN to raise the alert level of the volcano to "yellow." A swarm 22 earthquakes related to internal rock fracturing, possibly caused by rising magma, was registered shortly after midnight 30-31 May. A magnitude 3.7 quake occurred at 05:17 local time the next morning.

At the same time, slight deformation of the summit area of the volcano was detected as well, which would be consistent with a new magma intrusion at depth. No other changes (such as increased degassing, rock falls etc) have been noted.

Fire

Volcanic activity intensifies at Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra

eruption mount sinabung
© @endrolewa / twitterPyroclastic flow at Sinabung yesterday at 18:20
Monitoring officials have warned residents to remain alert as Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra continues with intense volcanic activity. A local chief reported that ongoing eruptions had taken a mental toll on residents, with two people being sent to mental institutions.

The volcano erupted twice early on Wednesday, at 1:21 a.m. and 3:30 a.m., and sent hot clouds southward.

The Sinabung observation station recorded at least 87 tectonic quakes and lava flow from 12 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Observation station staff member Deri Alhidayat said the volcanic intensity over the past few days had shown a significant increase, evident from the tectonic quakes occurring thus far.

"Tectonic shock waves have been detected almost every day. As many as 20 tectonic and volcanic quakes have taken place today alone," said Deri on Wednesday.

He added the eruptions were expected to continue for a long time. He urged residents living around the mountain to raise their awareness until the government issued an official announcement on the volcano's status.

Bizarro Earth

Telica volcano in Nicaragua begins new phase of explosive activity

telica volcano nicaragua
After a week of calm, a new phase of explosive activity occurred yesterday at the volcano, beginning with a moderately large explosion at 12:02 local time. An ash plume rose approx. 3 km above the summit.

Several smaller explosions and phases of calm ash venting followed this event. Ash falls were noted in up to 15 km distance to the SW, in areas of the villages Posolega and Quezalguaque.

So far it is unclear whether the explosions are the result of phreatic or hydrothermal activity, i.e. caused by pressurized fluids in the shallow hydrothermal system, or whether they are result of new magma reaching the surface.

Bizarro Earth

Is 'San Andreas' a cryptic warning about what is going to happen in America's future?

San Andreas Movie Poster
© endoftheamericandream.comSan Andreas Movie Poster.
Hollywood has a long history of inserting political messages, social commentaries, subliminal effects and even cryptic warnings about the future into big budget films. So is someone attempting to use San Andreas to tell us something? For many years, doomsayers have been warning that the "Big One" is going to come along and rip the coastline of California to shreds. Up until this moment, it hasn't happened, but without a doubt we have moved into a time of increased geological activity all over the globe. As you read this article, 42 volcanoes around the planet are currently erupting. That means that the number of volcanoes erupting right now is greater than the 20th century's average for an entire year. In addition, we have been witnessing a great deal of very unusual earthquake activity lately. Just in the United States, we have seen unusual earthquakes hit Michigan, Texas, Mississippi, California, Idaho And Washington within the last month or so. Could it be possible that our planet has entered a period of heightened seismic activity? And could it also be possible that someone behind San Andreas is aware of this and is trying to warn us about what is coming in our future?

Of course just about everyone in the scientific community acknowledges that the "Big One" is eventually coming to California. In fact, the U.S. Geological Survey recently came out and said that the probability of a megaquake along the west coast is greater than they had previously been projecting...
A recent report by the U.S. Geological Survey shows the inevitability of just such a quake, which is predicted to hit within the next couple of decades.

"The new likelihoods are due to the inclusion of possible multi-fault ruptures, where earthquakes are no longer confined to separate, individual faults, but can occasionally rupture multiple faults simultaneously," lead author of the study and USGS scientist, Ned Field says. "This is a significant advancement in terms of representing a broader range of earthquakes throughout California's complex fault system."
And it is undeniable that California has been hit by an unusual number of earthquakes recently. Could this be a sign that our portion of the "Ring of Fire" is heating up? Just over the past few days, there have been significant earthquakes at dormant volcanoes all over the state of California and in Nevada. I don't know about you, but to me all of this shaking is reason for concern.

Bizarro Earth

Galapagos volcano erupts for first time in 30 years

Wolf Volcano
© Photo: EPAThe eruption of Wolf volcano, at Isabela island, Galapagos, on 25 May 2015.
A volcano in the Galapagos Islands erupted for the first time in more than 30 years on Monday, spilling streams of bright orange lava and raising fears for the world's only colony of pink iguanas.

The Galapagos National Park warned on Twitter that Isabela Island, where Wolf Volcano erupted at dawn, holds "the world's only population" of the critically endangered Conolophus marthae, also known as the Galapagos rosy iguana.

But the park later said the iguanas' habitat on the volcano's northwest side appeared to be out of danger.

The iguanas, "which share the habitat with yellow iguanas and giant Chelonoidis becki tortoises, are situated on the northwest flank, which raises hopes that they will not be affected," it said in a statement.

The fiery streams of lava that trickled down the volcano on Monday morning were on the opposite side, officials said.