Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain): Earthquake activity has been calmer today. So far, only 9 tiny quakes (all below magnitude 2) have been recorded under the island.

Shiveluch (Kamchatka): Explosions continue to occur frequently. Several eruptions during the past 48 hours produced ash plume rising to about 20,000 ft (6 km) altitude.

Sakurajima (Kyushu, Japan): Explosions have been averaging to about 2-3 per day over the past week. Many of them have been moderately large with plume heights reaching 10,000 ft (3 km) altitude. An SO2 anomaly from this activity is visible hovering above the Kagoshima Bay and Sakurajima volcano.

Marapi (Western Sumatra, Indonesia): The volcano continues to produce small explosions every now and then. Local press reported two small eruptions this morning. The first one occurred at 7:49 am (local time WIB), producing an ash plume of 300 meters height, and the second at 8:32 am with an ash plume rising 600 meters.

Ambrym (Vanuatu): The lava lakes inside the Benbow and Marum craters continue to be active, a recent NASA satellite image shows.

Yasur (Tanna Island, Vanuatu): Strombolian activity has been decreasing according to GeoHazard, and the volcano could soon be placed back to alert level 1. However, bombs are still often being ejected outside the crater during larger strombolian eruptions, as the attached webcam image shows.

Gaua (Vanuatu): A tendency of increasing seismic activity has been observed since June and GeoHazards keep a close eye on the volcano, which still remains at alert level 1 (on a scale of 4) for the moment. Areas within 3 km from the crater and the summit area should not be approached, today's new volcanic activity bulletin reads. Satellite images show what is most likely a weak degassing plume from the volcano's main vent, Mt Garet on the shore of the caldera lake. The presence of the lake increases the risk of (usually sudden) phreatic explosions.

Popocatépetl (Central Mexico): At 19:02 h (local time) yesterday, an phase of strong ash emissions occurred accompanied by strong volcanic tremor. Due to cloud cover, the eruption was not observed directly, but fine ash fell in areas west of the volcano, including the towns of Ozumba and Tepetlixpa in the State of Mexico.

Tungurahua (Ecuador): Since 2 August, surface activity has decreased significantly, but seismic and deformation monitoring suggest the arrival of a new batch of magma from depth in the near future. Visually, no more explosions have been observed since 31 July and no ash emissions since 3 August. Gas emissions have been declining as well.