Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Karymsky (Kamchatka): After months with probably only smaller explosive activity, a powerful vulcanian eruption took place last night (22:35 UTC), producing a 3-4 km tall ash plume rising to 20,000 ft (6 km) elevation. The plume was observed by a helicopter pilot and on satellite imagery drifting east. About 5 hours after the eruption, the plume was 50 miles (80 km) ESE of the volcano.

Tongariro (North Island, New Zealand): During the past two weeks, GeoNet has been recording very small earthquakes beneath the volcano. The quakes were too small to be located but show up on local seismic stations. GNS Science said the earthquakes could simply be part of the background unrest typical of most active volcanoes. However, in this case they are of interest at this time because there have been so few at Tongariro since November 2012 and potentially could signal changes occurring inside the volcano.

Santa María / Santiaguito (Guatemala): A series of stronger explosions occurred this morning from the Caliente lava dome. The explosions produced several small pyroclastic flows on the flanks of the dome and ash plumes of more than 1 km height rose to 3-3.5 km a.s.l. Ash fall occurred in Coatepeque, Malacatán, El Rodeo, Tacana, Sibinal, and other places.