Let’s start not in alphabetical order, but with the apparently strongest eruption of the last 24 hours. This was delivered by the Ecuadorian volcano Sangay. According to VAAC, volcanic ash rose to an altitude of 12800 m and dispersed to the northwest. A smaller ash cloud rose to 6700 m and moved in the opposite direction to the southeast. Speculatively, the higher ash cloud was explosively produced and the smaller eruption cloud originated from a pyroclastic flow that descended on the southern flank of the volcano. Due to the permanent cloud cover, visual observations of the event are rare. What does exist, however, are reports that the sky darkened over the towns of Riobamba and Chambo. In addition, there were showers of ash. People showed concern. The volcanologists of IGEPN are also concerned: they fear that continued rains could trigger lahars.
Eruptions
News about eruptions and volcanoes can be found in this category. It is updated frequently. Volcano expert and journalist Marc Szeglat reports live from his expeditions to volcanoes.
Etna Paroxysm No 12
The 12th consecutive paroxysm on Etna began this morning. Activity began to increase significantly around 7:30 am. Already half an hour later, a lava flow began to emerge from the New Southeast Crater. In the meantime, the paroxysm has reached its peak.
You can see from the broad tremor base that the paroxysm was increasing comparatively slowly and has now been going on for quite a long time. It looks like it peaked at 10:30 CET (9:30 UCT). The tremor amplitude has risen even a bit higher than during the last paroxysms. Once again, the eruption takes place in unusually good weather. There is almost no wind and the eruption cloud rises vertically. VAAC Toulouse detects volcanic ash at 10,400 m altitude. On a thermalcam, one can see the lava flow that has descended far into the Valle del Bove. Obviously, however, there is only the lava flow in the eastern direction, no lava seems to be on the way in the south.
Taal: Alert level raised
PHILVOLCS has been reporting for several weeks an increase in seismicity under the large Caldera volcano on Luzon, which caused a stir with an eruption only last January. In addition to numerous volcanotectonic earthquakes, volcanic tremors also increased significantly recently. The total number of volcanic tremor events has risen to 866 since the increased activity began on February 13. The volcanic tremors have increased seismic energy compared to previously recorded episodes and have ranged from 3 to seventeen 17 minute durations. In addition, the other parameters that indicate magma is moving at shallow depths are beginning to change: the acidity of Crater Lake increased, rising (or falling) from pH 2.79 to pH 1.59. The water is becoming more acidic because of increased volcanic gases rising. The water temperature increased to 74.6 degrees. Slight bottom deformation was detected using InSAR imagery. Concomitant changes in microgravity were recorded. New measurements have detected positive microgravity changes throughout the Taal caldera, consistent with density changes due to magma migration, magma degassing, and hydrothermal activity. All of these parameters are of concern and the alert status has been raised to “yellow.” Evacuations have not yet been initiated. Authorities remind that Volcano Island is a permanent exclusion zone. The photo shows the volcano during last year eruption.
Pacaya: Eruption in Progress
Unlike Etna, Pacaya did not take long to erupt and has been delighting with a fancy lava fountain for hours. INSIVUMEH reports glowing tephra rising up to 700 m above crater level. An ash cloud is rising up to 4500 m above sea level and drifting towards the southwest and west. In the communities downwind, ash and lapilli are raining and there is even a warning that blocks will fall. Likewise, there is a warning that lava flows may be formed, or that existing lava flows may increase. So it remains exciting at the volcano. It is noteworthy that there is a new livecam from CONRED, which is currently transmitting a livestream (see below).
Sinabung: Seismicity high
At the Sinabung on Sumatra the situation comes to a head: here the seismicity increased enormously in the last days and not only debris avalanches were registered, but above all earthquakes with low frequencies. They indicate massive magma rise. Yesterday, a good 560 of these quakes were recorded. In the first 6 hours of today, there were already 239 quakes. In addition, 112 signals testified to debris avalanches. The dome is growing and the situation is becoming more and more critical!
Pacaya: Another ash cloud
Guatemalan volcano Pacaya erupted another ash cloud today. It rose to an altitude of 3000 m and drifted in a westerly direction. Yesterday INSIVUMEH reported strombolian eruptions from McKenney crater. Incandescent tephra was spewed a good 175 m above crater level. The lava flow on the southern flank reached a length of a proud 1725 m. MIROVA indicates high thermal radiation. INSIVUMEH warns not to enter the south side of the volcano. The photo was published on February 21.
Etna paroxysm no. 7 starts
Update 10:15 am: The paroxysm has already ended and only steam is emitted. The most beautiful view was probably from the north. From the south it was very hazy. The paroxysm built up very quickly and practically without warning and lasted only about 1 hour. It was the shortest paroxysm of the series so far. Since it was practically windless, the ash cloud dominated this time. Red-hot tephra was hidden by it, and less red-hot material was erupted than usual. This is also evidenced by the relatively small lava flow that entered Valle del Bove. Towards the south, no lava at all was on its way this time.
The tremor amplitude reached a high value and was even minimally higher than during the last eruption. In summary, gas pressure was high, but less magma was erupted than in the other paroxysms. The material was more fragmented. Exact data about the height of the eruption cloud are unfortunately missing so far. The VAAC Toulouse issued 2 reports, but apparently detected the eruption only during its initial phase. Likewise values about the thermal radiation are missing. But the pictures say more than a thousand words anyway.
Update 9:30 a.m.: The paroxysm is heading towards its peak, producing a breathtaking eruption cloud. The LiveCam with the best view is linked here. Below you can see the livestream from Localteam. Unfortunately it is very hazy in the south of the volcano, so the view is a bit cloudy.
Original news: 9:15 a.m.: This morning Etna is on the move with its 7th consecutive paroxysm. Without any omens, the tremor started to increase sharply and with absolutely no wind, a lava fountain is currently (9:15 am) building up along with an ash cloud. The paroxysm came much later than the statistics would have suggested. This shows once more that nature remains unpredictable in the end.
Volcano update 23.02.21: Etna paroxysm
The 5th Etna paroxysm in direct succession was also the one that produced the strongest tremor signal. The height of the lava fountain was comparable to that of the last eruption, reaching heights of between 800 – 1000 m. Thus, this paroxysm was also among the strongest representatives of its kind. The VAAC detected volcanic ash at an altitude of 10,000 m. The tephra rained down on the volcanic flanks in the communities and meanwhile covered whole streets. Lava flows flowed in different directions. The largest flowed into the Valle del Bove. Towards the south a moderate flow was on its way and even in the northern direction some lava flowed. It is striking from the course of the tremor that there was a further peak after the actual paroxysm. The associated infrasound signals manifested themselves around 4:00 UCT. Less pronounced tremor peaks can also be detected during the last two paroxysms. Currently, the volcano has not yet calmed down completely and is emitting small ash eruptions. Intense afterglow can be seen on the thermal cams.
Etna: New paroxysm at the start
Update 9:50 a.m.: The paroxysm is now probably almost unstoppable. On the LiveCam you can already see a small lava fountain rising at the New Southeast Crater. The eruption is developing very fast and is already heading towards the peak phase. And this again in the most beautiful volcano watching weather!
Original message 9:15 a.m.: Currently, it looks as if another paroxysm is at the start at Etna in Sicily. Around 9:15 CET, not only the tremor increased significantly, but continuous strombolian eruptions started and the lava output increased significantly. Of course, the eruption can still stall, but so far it looks like a paroxysm is approaching fairly quickly.
Etna: New paroxysm on 17 February
Last night, Etna in Sicily produced another paroxysm. Virtually without warning, the tremor shot up at 21.15 UCT (22.15 CET) and already an hour later the eruption was heading towards its peak. A lava fountain was again produced from New Southeast Crater and multiple lava flows were underway. This time, the lava flowed not only into Valle del Bove, but also in a southerly direction. VAAC detected volcanic ash at an altitude of 10,000 m. The tremor amplitude was a bit larger than during the February 16 paroxysm. MIROVA registered an extremely high thermal radiation with a power of 17,000 MW! Indeed a very extreme value and I don’t remember to have seen something like that at Etna in recent times. Even now it is quite hot in the area of New Southeast Crater, which can be seen nicely on ThermalCam. In the latest Sentinel satellite photo from February 16, hot vents can be seen in all 4 summit craters.
This eruption confirms once again that it is virtually impossible to predict these paroxysms by statistics. Yesterday I postulated an eruption interval of almost 4 weeks, this time the next eruption came after 28 hours. It would not be atypical if we would see more outbreaks in the short term, but of course the break interval may lengthen again, or shorten even further.
In Our FB group, numerous media were shared again