Year: 2020

Etna: Video from the NE crater

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Etna in Sicily is still active from 2 craters. Satellite images reveal 2 thermal anomalies: one originates from the New Southeast Crater, which is known to be strombolian active and has ejected ashes in phases a few days ago. The 2nd anomaly manifests itself in the Northeast Crater. The summiter Elia Finocchiaro climbed it yesterday and brought a nice video of the activity in the crater. Such images of Northeast Crater are rare. You can see 3 active vents from which lava sprays out. From one of the small vents a strombolian eruption was generated. Around the vents cones are already forming.

The tremor did not fluctuate as strongly in the past 2 days. But there were more earthquakes under the central crater area, in Valle del Bove and at the Pernicana fault zone. MIROVA registered a high thermal radiation with an output of 170 MW. Should such a value be measured repeatedly, there could be an intracrater lava flow.

Pacaya: Activity increased

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Yesterday the activity of Pacaya in Guatemala increased again. INSIVUMEH reports 3 active lava flows, which were extracted from different vents at the base of the McKenney crater. The longest flow reached a length of 400 m and flowed towards the northeast. The second flow was 300 m long and moved on the north flank, while a third lava flow on the west flank had a length of 200 m. Lava flows there did not occur during the last months. Furthermore, the McKenney crater was strombolian active. During the last night the activity seems to have decreased again a little bit: the only moderate heat radiation displayed by MIROVA indicates this.

La Palma: Seismic swarm

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The Canary Island La Palma was again hit by a swarm quake yesterday morning. The seismographs recorded 25 tremors with magnitudes between 1.6 and 2.0. The hypocenters were at depths between 20 and 45 km. In this area of the asthenosphere, it is usually ascending magma that triggers light tremors. The epicenters were located in the south of the island, which was formed by eruptions.

In addition, seismicity is also increased in other regions of the Canary Islands. For example, it shook unusually often in the area of Tenerife and El Hierro is also still affected by sporadic quakes. Although there are no indications of an imminent volcanic eruption, in the longer term an eruption could occur again. In my opinion the most promising candidate is La Palma.

Etna with further earthquakes

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The day before yesterday there were several interesting earthquakes on Etna. The strongest one had a magnitude of 2.9 and manifested 1100 m east of the central crater. The hypocenter was located at a depth of only 700 m. In the same region there were 4 other quakes. In the north of the volcano, a quake M 2.7 occurred, which manifested itself at the Pernicana fault. This quake was also very flat. The INGV located the source of the earthquake at only 600 m depth. There was another quake M 1.2. The quakes at the fault zone are of tectonic origin, but could still be indicators for magma rise, because the magma can press on the fault zones and thus is able to trigger earthquakes.

Of course Etna is not only seismically active, but also eruptive. In the last days eruptions from the saddle vent of the New South East Crater continued. Strombolians and phases with ash ejection occurred. The tremor fluctuates at the border of the red zone. There are no indicators for short-term changes in the eruption process. In the medium term a more intensive eruption phase could brew again.

Pacaya: Update 09.10.20

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The Guatemalan volcano Pacaya is leading the headlines today because it erupts at least 2 lava flows. They originate from the base of the intracrater cone in the McKenney crater and generate a thermal signal with 333 MW power. The flows flow on the southeast and northeast flanks and split into several arms. Debris avalanches descend from the front of the flows. Exact longitude data are still missing. INSIVUMEH reported yesterday that there is only one stream on the south flank. It had a length of 250 m. The longer of the two rivers will be of this size today. Furthermore, the Pacaya is strombolian active and lets glowing tephra rise up to 100 m high. The eruption can be seen from Guatemala City. Numerous pictures were shared on Twitter.

Telica: Phreatic activity

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The Nicaraguan volcano Telica yesterday emitted clouds of steam, under which volcanic ash occasionally was mixed. The eruption clouds rose several hundred meters high and caused concern among the volcano’s residents. However, in a media report (100%Noticias), meteorologist Agustin Moreira gives the all-clear. The expert explains that heavy rainfall has triggered phreatic eruptions. The steam explosions fragmented old volcanic rock to ash and blew it out of the crater. New magma had not risen. If this had been the case, seismographs would have registered volcanic earthquakes. According to this, there is no reason for alarm among the population.

However, the situation could change quickly, because the 1036 m high complex volcano Telica is one of the most active volcanoes in Nicaragua. Last summer several gas eruptions were registered. 2 years ago, smaller ash eruptions occurred. The last big eruption had a VEI 3 and happened in 2015.

Klyuchevskoy: Larger eruption

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The Klyuchevskoy on Kamchatka started yesterday afternoon with a new series of eruptions, during which volcanic ash was extracted up to an altitude of 8800 m. The ash drifted eastward and at this altitude posed a danger to potentially flying aircraft. MIROVA registered thermal radiation with a power of 604 MW tonight. This value suggests that there was a paroxysmal episode, because this morning the fire mountain shows its calm side. It can be observed via LiveCam.

Villarrica: 2 more eruptions

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At the Chilean volcano Villarrica 2 more eruptions occurred yesterday. SERNAGEOMIN registered 2 seismic events with long periods of time which indicated the explosive activity. The volcanologists describe the events as moderate. Ash clouds were generated, which rose about 400 m above the crater height. The VAAC Buenos Aires issued 2 VONA messages, but without issuing a warning level for air traffic. The eruption clouds could not be detected by the satellites, which speaks for very weak eruptions. Nevertheless an interesting development, because the behaviour of the volcano seems to change.

Shiveluch: New photos of the Lavadome

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Yesterday new photos of the lava dome called Dolphin were published. They show the structure from the side and reveal that the dome is neither egg-shaped nor has anything in common with a dolphin. It is a spine, like the one known from Mount St. Helens. The last time such a structure grew there was in 2006 and the further development of the Shiveluch remains exciting. At the moment the Shiveluch on Kamchatka emits only a small amount of heat radiation.

Etna erupts further ash clouds

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Etna in Sicily is still active and erupts ash clouds and small lava fountains. In our FB group many media were shared about the volcano. Phases alternate in which either intensive ash is transported or small lava fountains are generated. The tremor fluctuates in the yellow area. The earthquake activity has normalized to a certain extent and is back to an average level. MIROVA occasionally registers weak thermal anomalies. However, on a sentinel glider from October 1, a strong hotspot in the New South East Crater is seen glowing. The activity is relatively stable and is expected to continue for a while.