Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Askja (Central Iceland): A swarm of earthquakes at shallow depths, mostly around 2-5 km has been occurring in an area about 12 km NE of the caldera. 27 quakes including 6 between magnitudes 2.1-2.7 were recorded yesterday.

Gorely (Southern Kamchatka): Strong degassing continues to be accompanied by unchanged moderate seismic activity. KVERT reports no eruptive activity.

Kliuchevskoi (Kamchatka): KVERT reports only weak seismicity and steaming/degassing. It seems that the phase of strombolian activity at the summit crater has ceased or only continues at very reduced intensity.

Kizimen (Kamchatka): The lava dome continues to grow at the summit, and produces hot avalanches on the western and eastern volcanic flanks. Moderate seismicity and strong gas-steam activity accompany this process.

Karymsky (Kamchatka): Seismic and external activity have been weak recently. No significant explosions were reocrded in the past days.

Shiveluch (Kamchatka): An ash plume, presumably from an explosion at the dome, rose to 19,800 ft (6.0 km) altitude yesterday, KVERT reported. Seismicity continues to be moderate, and strong steaming-degassing accompanies the process of the lava dome growth.

Tolbachik (Kamchatka): KVERT reports no significant changes, but the tremor has increased again a bit, suggesting that lava output from the southern fissure vent had been a bit higher as well.

Bezymianny (Central Kamchatka Depression): The strong seismic activity from Tolbachik obscures the seismicity of Bezymianny, but a thermal anomaly at the summit remains visible on satellite data and suggests that the lava dome continues to grow as well.

To-shima (Izu Islands): A swarm of earthquakes can be recognized that has been going on at shallow depths a few km north of the island during the past days. Many quakes have been recorded at magnitudes above 2.

Taal (Luzon, Philippines): Earthquakes have decreased to averages of 2-3 per day, but there is still slight inflation of the Volcano Island in the caldera, PHILVOLCS reports. Recent CO2 emission measurements (from 3 March) showed a modest increase to 947 tonnes per day compared to 720 tonnes per day from the previous measurement on 27 November 2012.

Paluweh (off Flores Island, Indonesia): The dome continues to be very active. An ash plume was observed rising to 8,000 ft (2.4 km) altitude this morning.

White Island (New Zealand): The recent period of increased activity has apparently come to an end for now. Tremor has dropped again to low levels.

Popocatépetl (Central Mexico): The frequency of emissions has increased to almost 3 per hour, with some explosions producing low ash plumes. Degassing remains strong and an important SO2 plume is drifting eastwards from the volcano.

Galeras (Colombia): Activity has remained generally low, with occasional ash explosions such as on the afternoon of 7 March.

Nevado del Ruiz (Colombia): Since Friday, activity has been elevated. Ash emissions have been causing light ash falls in areas near the volcano. Strong degassing and odor of sulfur was noted in parts of the National Park. INGEOMINAS reports continuous volcanic tremor, and keeps the alert level at yellow (2 on a scale 1-4).

Reventador (Ecuador): Mild activity continues, but is rarely visible. At night, glow from the crater can sometimes be seen. IG reports sporadic weak explosions, and continued elevated seismic activity with numerous long-period events, explosion signals and tremor pulses.

Tungurahua (Ecuador): Activity continues to increase gradually. When the volcano is not hidden in clouds, explosions with incandescent material landing on the upper slopes could be seen, and a low ash plume is rising from the volcano. The seismic signal shows near continuous tremor.