Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity

Bardarbunga (Iceland): It is far from clear what is currently happening at the eruption. Tremor (indicator of magma moving) stopped yesterday evening around 21:30 local time and has not reappeared according to the Icelandic Met Office. This could indicate that the eruption is subsiding although webcam imagery suggested it continued with no apparent big change during the night. Authorities are on alert for a possible subglacial eruption.

Kilauea (Hawai'i): According to officials, the June 27th lava flow has reemerged for the second time from a huge ground crack along Kilauea's east rift zone, this time approximately 13.2 km (8.2 miles) from the vent and 1.3 km (0.8 miles) from the eastern boundary of the Wao Kele o Puna Forest Reserve, but still continues moving through the ground crack to within 1.1 km (0.7 miles) from the boundary. The inhabited area under immediate threat, Kaohe Homesteads, consists mainly of farms who are already relocating cows, horses, goats & sheep due to increased emissions and smoke from burning forest. The Civil Defense plans to issue an evacuation notice 5 days before lava is expected to hit the community, but with natural variability there will be some guesswork involved. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory plans to increase the alert level from a "watch" to "warning" status within the next day or so, which will trigger Civil Defense to close the area to all non-residents. Looking ahead, the town of Pahoa and the main highway into the lower Puna district could be under threat next, and authorities are already considering construction on alternate routes should this look likely to happen.