Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Etna (Sicily, Italy): No significant changes have occurred at the volcano. Lava continues to flow from the vents at the eastern flank of the New SE crater and produces overlapping flows, typically a few 100 m long, near the rim of and on the upper slope into the Valle del Bove. A small surge in lava effusion occurred during the past hours.

Karymsky (Kamchatka): The volcano continues to have strombolian to vulcanian explosions. Some of them are large enough to produce ash plumes visible on satellite imagery, such as one on 28 Feb (ash plume to 7,000 ft reported by VAAC Tokyo).

Dukono (Halmahera): Eruptions at the volcano continue, probably strombolian explosions of increased size. An ash plume was seen on satellite data reaching 12,000 ft (3.6 km) altitude and drifting 55 nautical miles (90 km) to the S (VAAC Darwin).

Kilauea (Hawai'i): (26 Feb) Last night a swarm of very deep earthquakes occurred in the area of Punalu`u on the SW flank of Kilauea in the Ka`u district of the Big Island!

Cleveland (Aleutian Islands, Alaska): No further eruptions occurred since the 2 small explosions on 25 Feb, but similar events are possible at any time. The remote volcano is not monitored on the ground, which makes it impossible to describe the status of the volcano in detail or make any forecasts.

Popocatépetl (Central Mexico): (27 Feb) The volcano's activity increased yesterday. CENAPRED counted no less than 544 small to moderate emissions during the 24 hours between 25-26 Feb. Current activity at the volcano is low with only occasional small puffs of ash. CENAPRED published an aerial picture showing the new (so far very small) lava dome in the crater. The agency also reports 50 exhalations during 24 hours, which seems high compared to reported averages of 5-10 per day during recent weeks. However, it appears that the type of events included in these counts has changed and now includes ALL visible emissions of steam, gas or ash, however small.

Santa María / Santiaguito (Guatemala): The activity has remained unchanged, dominated by slow extrusion and avalanches of blocky lava mainly from the SE and NE flanks of the Caliente dome. The volcano observatory mentions occasional weak to moderate explosions with ash plumes rising up to 500 m from the dome and warns of the possibility of pyroclastic flows (generated by collapse of lava flows).

Pacaya (Guatemala): Mild strombolian eruptions occur at intervals of 5-10 minutes from the Mackenney crater.

Fuego (Guatemala): Activity at the volcano has remained similar to the previous weeks, but decreased somewhat. Explosions of small to moderate size occur at irregular intervals (approx 1-2 per hour), eject incandescent material to up to 200 m above the crater and cause impressive glowing avalanches on the upper slopes. Shock waves can be felt in several kilometres distance. Ash plumes rise several 100 m and drift 5-10 km before dissipating.

San Miguel (El Salvador): Seismic and degassing activity at the volcano decreased during the past days at bit, but remain elevated. The gas plume reached 100 m above the crater and drifted S-SW yesterday. MARN continues to record frequent micro-earthquakes concentrated below the northern flank, indicating rock fracturing by internal (possibly magma-related) pressure.

Tungurahua (Ecuador): The volcano had a short burst of activity on 26 Feb, producing a series of moderate explosions and small pyroclastic flows reaching up to 400 m on the northern and northwestern flanks. Ash plumes rose up to 2.5 km above the crater. Since then, the volcano has been mostly quiet and only had minor emissions. IGPEN reported continuing inflation at the top of the volcano since 15 Feb as well as long-period type earthquakes, which could indicate influx of gasses and magma in this area of the volcanic edifice.