El Hierro Activity Ramping Up Again

El Hierro, the volcano in the Canary Islands, may not be quite done yet (as was suspected by a great many following the behavior of this volcano). Although officially the government had lowered the volcanic threat alert level down to "Green", many volcanologists and volcano enthusiasts (including myself) were skeptical about the government's stance on the volcano. This week nearly 20+ earthquakes occurred at depth and some more shallow, as a science vessel captured images of a submarine ash and gas emission at "Bob", the submarine cone of El Hierro.

Other indications point to renewed or at least intermittent activity of the volcano, and much to the chagrin of the authors at Earthquake-report.com, the Spanish government seems to be covering it up, or at least attempting to obscure observations from the rest of the world and scientific community. For what reasons, nobody knows, but I suspect it is another wrong-headed attempt to get tourists to come back to the island.

While the El Hierro submarine vent has been relatively quiet these past couple of months, it has remained in a state of degassing, and the recent emission points to the possibility that the eruption could easily resume at any time. The amount of magma erupted is still far smaller than the volume of the actual magma chamber, and most likely much smaller than the amount of new magma that was injected into the chamber. Due to these facts, it is likely that the El Hierro island could see a longer period of eruptive activity in the future (this could be a precursor event to a more 'traditional' eruption above land, but so far there have been no records of serious GPS deformation, or increased CO2 emission on land).

The volcano caused quite a stir in the scientific community when the eruption was preceded by many thousands of small quakes. The island itself had not had an eruption since the 1700's, which was poorly documented internationally (locally, there is a wealth of knowledge and history), and most people had thought the Island to be dormant. That changed when a presumed eruption started taking place off the coast of the fishing village of La Restinga. The eruption was spotted when dead fish started washing ashore, and a large 'stain' on the oceans surface manifested. This was followed by what is known as a Serretyan eruption, which produced 'lava balloons' - bubbles of gas filled lava that would float to the oceans surface, and produce a fiery burst when the lava cracked and exposed superheated gas to oxygen. The lava rocks would then fall back to the ocean floor, building the underwater cinder cone further.

This continued for some months, and eventually dwindled down to a degassing phase. Many people had hoped/thought that the volcano would eventually create a brand new mini Canary Island, in what is called a Surtseyan eruption (where a submarine volcano breaks the water's surface to crate either an ephemeral island, much like what occurs regularly in the Marianas island/volcano chain, or a more permanent island like the recent eruption of Jebel Zubair in Yemen). It would have been a spectacular site for those on the island, and those that were watching the eruption webcam before the Spanish government shut it down (apparently running a webcam is really expensive! Yeah right...).

So I will again follow the goings on at La Restinga like I did before the eruption ended to bring you updates as they happen. This is a fun and suspenseful volcano for me to write about because it is such an unusual eruption, and it's occurring on an Island that didn't have much historical eruptive history. I always enjoy a good surprise. I'm not so sure the residents at La Restinga do however, as apparently they are beginning to loathe the attention that their volcano is getting, both from the reporters at El Hierro, and their own government.

Mexico Raises Popocatepetl Alert Level

One of Mexico's most active volcanoes, Popocatepetl (Smoking Mountain) is showing signs of increased unrest, prompting the local government to raise the alert level to 3 (out of a max of 4), and instituting an exclusion zone of up to 7 miles from the summit. After 40 minutes of volcanic tremor, and some minor exhalations of ash and steam, the volcanoes activity has been steadily increasing over the past couple of days. Popocatepetl's last major eruption in 2000 caused widespread ashfall, but no fatalities.

The volcano, easily seen from Mexico City, is one of Mexico's tallest volcanoes, reaching heights of 17,802 feet at the summit (this does vary as lava domes are made, collapse, and the volcano swells or subsides). It has a long history of explosive eruptions, some of which were plinian in nature (shooting high volumes of ash, lava, and gas high into the atmosphere). The last plinian eruption occurred somewhere around 800AD. The volcano lately has only had short bursts of ash and steam.

The reason for raising the alert level is the amount of time the tremor was sustained. A 40 minute long intense volcanic tremor that was heard and felt by locals means a swift injection of magma into the chamber has probably occurred. This could indicate that "Popo" is gearing up for a large eruption, probably on the scale of its 2000 show. It is still too early to tell if Popo will put on a major eruptive display, or if it will sit and seethe. Incandescence was observed at the summit crater overnight, indicating either a building lava dome, or lava effusion at the summit. This is actually typical of the volcano, which doesn't go long between eruptive episodes, minor or major.

Mexico has suffered several large quakes in the last month, which leads to speculation about the effects of earthquakes on volcanic systems. While the quakes were large, they were actually hundreds of miles away from the actual volcano, so earthquakes affecting this volcanic system from that distance is pretty unlikely.... not impossible, but very unlikely.

Lamongan Volcano In Indonesia Showing Signs of Brewing Eruption

Lamongan Volcano in Indonesia is showing signs that it may soon erupt. The normal background seismicity of a few quakes a month has skyrocketed to more than 150 events per week, prompting the Indonesian government to raise the alert level to 2 out of 4. A 1km radial exclusion zone from the summit is now in place as authorities attempt to prepare for an eruption from this volcano.

Lamongan was last active during the end of the 19th century and has been relatively quiet ever since.The landscape surrounding the volcano is dotted with numerous large maars (explosion craters created by groundwater coming into contact with hot magma or partially molten rock), cinder cones, and fissure vents.While not particularly active during human habitation, the evidence is all around for an active history spanning hundreds of thousands of years.

Alaska's Cleveland Volcano Has An Explosion, Iliamna Rumbles Away

Alaska's volcanic activity is picking up. Mount Cleveland was reported by multiple news sources and AVO as having had an explosive event on Wednesday, although the cloud is reported to be far less in height than the 20,000 meters it would take to institute a no-fly zone. AVO stated "A small, short duration explosion was detected from Cleveland Volcano on distant seismic stations and infrasound arrays. The time of the explosion was approximately 4:05 UTC March 8 (7:05 PM March 7, AKST.) Weather cloud conditions prevented the detection of an eruption cloud in satellite images or visual observation of the summit. This explosion was similar to recent small events that occurred in December 2011 and produced small ash clouds that dissipated quickly and did not affect air traffic. At this time, no further activity has been detected."

And as Cleveland volcano slowly plods along with what seems to be akin to a slow motion, low explosive eruption, a volcano I have mentioned in a previous post, Iliamna, is showing more signs of dike intrusion. Heightened seismicity including very shallow quakes under the restive volcano, which has no recorded history of eruptions during human habitation in Alaska, is causing AVO to suspect what I have said in the past, that Iliamna is waking up, and is preparing to erupt. The last radiocarbon dates for any eruption at Illiamna are thought to be 140-300 years ago. A record number of seismic events (for Illiamna) is occurring, and AVO scientists are planning a fly by to check for any visual signs of a change in activity. They will be checking for steaming, fumeroles, melting ice, etc.

Today alone, Illiamna has had over 40 quakes, some of them not-so-small, with the largest being a 3.2 magnitude beneath the summit, at a depth of only 2.0km, closely followed by a 3.1 quake at a shallower depth of 1.2km. It is my humble opinion that Illiamna is indeed ready to erupt, and this will occur either this month, or this year. We will wait and see, but so far I have been right about this volcano, and as far as I know, I was the first to report on its unrest aside from AVO noticing the tremor waves (I could not find anything or any other news that was posted before this article). Maybe I'm on to something!

Current seismic tremor at Iliamna Volcano, from AVO website.

In any case, the amount of quakes today alone make me almost think an eruption is already occurring. If it isn't it certainly might very soon, and we have very little idea as to how this volcano will erupt, given that it has never been witnessed in eruption (the only info we have is forensic). The picture below shows the current (last 24 hours) swarm of quakes, while the quakes in Yellow have occurred within the week. 

Image from Google Earth with USGS real-time quake overlay.

Iliamna is a stratovolcano, common for the US's Pacific Ring Of Fire volcanoes, and is most likely capable, like most of its neighbors, of large explosive events. An eruption at Iliamna will most likely cause some disruption to air travel, as well as ashfall on nearby towns, however the immediate area surrounding the volcano is not populated by any permanent towns. This volcano will likely not be able to directly kill anyone, thankfully. Time will tell on this, but it is looking more and more like an eruption at Iliamna is imminent.

As of now, AVO has NOT raised the alert level for Iliamna, however if I were them I would at least consider at this point raising the alert level to "Yellow" (watch). It would be a tragedy if this volcano were to erupt as an airplane is flying over, much like the incident in the 1980's when Mount Redoubt suddenly blew and nearly caused a fatal crash.

The Smithsonian GVP says this about Iliamna:

"Iliamna is a prominent, 3053-m-high glacier-covered stratovolcano in Lake Clark National Park on the western side of Cook Inlet, about 225 km SW of Anchorage. Its flat-topped summit is flanked on the south, along a 5-km-long ridge, by the prominent North and South Twin Peaks, satellitic lava dome complexes. The Johnson Glacier dome complex lies on the NE flank. Steep headwalls on the southern and eastern flanks expose an inaccessible cross-section of the volcano. Major glaciers radiate from the summit, and valleys below the summit contain debris-avalanche and lahar deposits. Only a few major Holocene explosive eruptions have occurred from the deeply dissected volcano, which lacks a distinct crater. Most of the reports of historical eruptions may represent plumes from vigorous fumaroles east and SE of the summit, which are often mistaken for eruption columns (Miller et al., 1998). Eruptions producing pyroclastic flows have been dated at as recent as about 300 and 140 years ago (into the historical period), and elevated seismicity accompanying dike emplacement beneath the volcano was recorded in 1996."

I will probably post an entirely separate article should Iliamna decide to erupt.

*****UPDATE 3/11/2012*****

AVO has raised the alert level at Iliamna to Yellow. They posted the following statement:

"Over the past three months the earthquake rate at Iliamna Volcano has steadily increased and now exceeds normal background levels. Although it is not certain that this sustained increase in earthquake activity represents the movement of magma at depth, it is a significant change and AVO has increased the Alert Level to Advisory and the Aviation Color Code to Yellow. The current activity does not mean an eruption is imminent or certain. A similarly energetic episode of seismic unrest from September 1996 to February 1997 was likely related to the intrusion of new magma at depth, but an eruption did not occur."

Costa Rica's Rincón de la Vieja Volcano Erupts

Rincón de la Vieja, Costa Rica's largest volcanic complex, is experiencing an eruptive phase after 14 years of quiescence. Tremor and explosive activity has been reported by Wired.com Eruptions blog, and local Costa Rican news sources. The explosions were not damaging to surrounding areas, and are reported to have been contained inside the most active (middle) crater of Rincón de la Vieja. Volcanologists say that this is not the result of new magma being injected into the crater, rather this is a phreatic eruption.

Phreatic eruptions occur when water seeps into cracks or fissures, and comes into contact with cooling magma or superheated rock, which in turn causes the water to flash into steam, creating enough pressure for an explosive event. These types of eruptions are considered to be one of the least dangerous types, however they are still quite dangerous as they can occur with little to no warning. These types of eruptions generally do not generate any seismic signals until they actually occur, and are not able to be predicted. They are typically small eruptions, however larger phreatic eruptions, more specifically, ones that can create a 'maar' have occurred in many other volcanic systems, such as the Soda Lakes maars in Nevada, or the Ubehebe craters.

It is probable that this will be some of the only activity for now from Rincón de la Vieja for a while, unless new magma is injected into the chamber. It is anyone's guess at the moment as to if this has occurred or will occur. However the Costa Rican government would be wise to excersize caution, as a 1966 eruption caused a very large, VEI 3 sized eruption, which produced many deadly pyroclastic flows. An earlier eruption in (around) 1820 BC produced a much larger VEI 4 size eruption, which produced the Río Blanco tephra layer, was the largest eruption of the volcano that we know of.

Rincón de la Vieja is the site of geothermal drilling and exploitation.

Rincón de la Vieja does have the potential for extremely explosive events, and it is looking like the volcano is awaking from its slumber... at least for a little while. It is entirely possible that after these phreatic explosions, that will be all and the volcano will go back to sleep. I for one wouldn't plan any trips to the summit any time soon, and would opt to admire the volcano from a good distance!

Japan's Mt Fuji May Be Preparing To Erupt

Volcano-Report.com is reporting that Japan's Mount Fuji (Fujiyama) volcano is showing signs that it is getting ready to erupt. While translating Japanese to English using Google translate leaves much to be desired in terms of readability, the news story (in Japanese) appears to be saying that fumerolic activity and steam emissions have increased, with an unclear anecdote about a 50m wide "new" crater. The only picture I was able to find (below) was a bit grainy, and appears to be showing a snow-less crater on a very snowy mountain. I cannot personally confirm whether or not this is actually a picture of Fuji as there are no other identifiable landmarks in the photo. 

Image from Japanese media of a supposed "new" crater on Mt. Fuji (Fujiyama)

Following the Japanese 9.0 megaquake, there was a magnitude 6.4 quake slightly West of Fuji at it's base. Other quakes of smaller magnitudes (4.0-5.5) have also struck within 50km of Fuji.

While it is unclear from the photos if this is truly a new flank eruption of Fuji (I imagine if the weather was cloudy that people might not notice, but the volcano is easily seen from a great many cities in Japan from a great many angles), the photo does not seem to have an ash layer over the snow. The recent eruption of Mt Etna in Sicily occurred in a supposedly similar fashion, with a cone building flank eruption producing lava flows on a snowy landscape. The ash was clearly visible on the snow for many days.

Mount Fuji last erupted in 1707, in what is considered its largest historical eruption. This eruption was characterized by a massive flank explosion that left a very large crater on the East side of the mountain. This eruption devastated villages nearby, and was strong enough to cover Tokyo with ash. Many current communities in the area are actually built on thick historical lava flows from this event. Nobody alive has ever seen Fuji erupt, but they all know the stories from well-kept records of that period, and the last eruption was very well documented in Japanese historical archives.

Over 100 cinder cones and vents dot the landscape around Fujiyama, highlighting the unpredictable nature of eruptions from this volcano. Fuji could start out with a cone building phase, and enter into a more explosive phase, or this could be all that happens at Fuji for the next hundred years.

If any new information comes available, I will update this blog immediately.

NASA MODIS Satellite Captures Remote Eruption

Some volcanoes are simply too remote, or obscure to have regular monitoring by human eyes. That's where NASA's MODIS satellite comes in to fill the gap. From monitoring volcanoes in Alaska's Aleutian islands, to the most remote volcanic islands like Ascensión, MODIS has been able to capture remote volcanoes doing their thing while nobody's watching. MODIS just captured the very remote and uninhabited Tinakula island in a steam emitting eruptive phase. This would have gone unnoticed by us humans if not for the satellite.

Image from NASA MODIS Satellite of Tinakula in eruption.

The isolated volcano is surrounded by a series of small coral atolls, and sits about 20 miles NNW of Nendo Island of the Solomons. The island was not always uninhabited. An eruption in 1840 produced catastrophic pyroclastic flows that covered the entire island, and annihilated the small indigenous population that called it home. No efforts by anyone have been made to re-establish a population (gee, I wonder why?). The volcano is frequently seen in eruption by passers by, and has been since colonial times.

NASA's MODIS satellite has been busy lately keeping track of the slowly erupting Cleveland Volcano in Alaska, as it continues to be on alert level Orange (out of green, yellow, orange, red) as it effuses a slowly growing lava dome at its summit. AVO speculates that the slow eruption could burst into a more explosive phase at any time, so flights over the volcano are not permitted at this time.

MODIS has thermal sensors to detect heat anomalies, ash emissions, and steam. With a high resolution telescopic camera, the images it is capable of producing are highly detailed. It is capable of seeing wavelengths that our eyes cannot, which proved useful in detecting lava flows from Nyamuragira volcano in the Congo, as well as the new eruption of the long dormant Nabro volcano in Eritrea.

New Guinea's Karkar Volcano Spews Ash

The Smithsonian GVP (Global Volcanism Program) reports that an eruption from Karkar volcano island off the coast of New Guinea has erupted, sending a possible ash plume upwards of 10km. Karkar has had historical eruptions in the past, mainly from a cone constructed within a large caldera. Most eruptions have been restricted to the inner caldera, and most have been minor phreatic events, and cone building events, so highly explosive activity is somewhat new in terms of human observation.

Outside the caldera, you can find several tuff rings, maars, and cinder cones that are currently highly vegetated and probably very old. There have been no historical reports of flank eruption from this shield volcano.

The GVP report did not provide many details in regards to this eruption, but here is their statement nonetheless.

"KARKAR Northeast of New Guinea (SW Pacific) 4.649°S, 145.964°E; summit elev. 1839 m

Based on analyses of satellite imagery, the Darwin VAAC reported that a possible ash plume from Karkar rose to altitudes of 7.6-10.7 km (25,000-35,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted NE and E on 1 February.

Geologic Summary.

Karkar is a 19 x 25 km wide, forest-covered island that is truncated by two nested summit calderas. The 5.5-km-wide outer caldera was formed during one or more eruptions, the last of which occurred 9000 years ago. The eccentric 3.2-km-wide inner caldera was formed sometime between 1500 and 800 years ago. Parasitic cones are present on the northern and southern flanks of basaltic-to-andesitic Karkar volcano; a linear array of small cones extends from the northern rim of the outer caldera nearly to the coast. Most historical eruptions, which date back to 1643, have originated from Bagiai cone, a pyroclastic cone constructed within the steep-walled, 300-m-deep inner caldera. The floor of the caldera is covered by young, mostly unvegetated andesitic lava flows."

Mount Cameroon in West Africa Erupts

Mount Cameroon, West Africa's highest volcano, displayed a brief amount of explosive activity, according to a report from OfficialWire.com. Mount Cameroon is Cameroon's most active volcano, one of many in a SW-NE trending line which include the also deadly and famed Lake Nyos. Cameroon's last major eruption in the 1999 resulted in a long pahoehoe lava flow that stopped just short of the coast.

While some reports of volcanic activity out of Africa are mistaken for wildfire, or plain false, Cameroon's frequent activity and reports from the area are typically accurate. There have been several "less than credible" accounts of some eruptions in Africa, like the supposed eruption in Nigeria around a year ago that turned out to be not only false, but politically motivated (the villagers were feeling a bit neglected by their government, so their local news fabricated a story about a volcanic eruption in an area not known for any previous volcanism). This is unfortunately common in Africa, a continent gripped by poverty, hardship, and militaristic rule.

Whether the Smithsonian GVP publishes this activity in their weekly volcanic eruption update remains to be seen (they publish their weekly reports on Wednesday at about 12PM PST typically). This was the only article I found that cites this activity, however Africa does not have a well-equipped news corps, so reports from the area are typically few and far between, and sometimes full of speculation.

(From Smithsonian GVP):

"Mount Cameroon, one of Africa's largest volcanoes, rises to 4095 m above the coast of west Cameroon. The massive steep-sided volcano of dominantly basaltic-to-trachybasaltic composition forms a volcanic horst constructed above a basement of Precambrian metamorphic rocks covered with Cretaceous to Quaternary sediments. More than 100 small cinder cones, often fissure-controlled parallel to the long axis of the massive 1400 cu km volcano, occur on the flanks and surrounding lowlands. A large satellitic peak, Etinde (also known as Little Cameroon), is located on the southern flank near the coast. Historical activity, the most frequent of west African volcanoes, was first observed in the 5th century BC by the Carthaginian navigator Hannon. During historical time, moderate explosive and effusive eruptions have occurred from both summit and flank vents. A 1922 SW-flank eruption produced a lava flow that reached the Atlantic coast, and a lava flow from a 1999 south-flank eruption stopped only 200 m from the sea."

Alaska's Mount Iliamna May Be Erupting

Indications from USGS seismographs, and the corresponding Google Earth Plugin suggest that an eruption is either about to take place at Iliamna volcano in Alaska, or is already occurring. Earthquake plots from the last week until now seem to indicate rising and frequent tremor, with apparent explosions on the seismographs.

Iliamna is not near any population center, and Alaska is currently experiencing extremely cold weather (down to -48 C) which would hinder anyone or anything from making good direct observations of this remote volcano. It is probable that no observation via satellite, eyewitness, or airplane will be available for some time due to the harsh weather cycle this year. It is highly unlikely that during this period any visual observations could be made except by aircraft seeing an ash plume, which may or may not occur.

Below is a screenshot from Google Earth, with the USGS Real Time Overlay, where you can see quakes within a week (most magnitude 1.1-2.8) in yellow, and the more recent (and larger, up to mag 3.0) coded in orange, denoting a quake in the last 24 hours. These all occur at relatively shallow depths, and are directly beneath the summit, and along the flanks at lower depths. This indicates a rise in magma, and a possible eruption. These signals and the depths at which they are occurring can only mean magma intrusion, as this is a subduction zone, and most non volcanic quakes in the region happen at a much deeper depth (around 210km), not less than 1km. Subduction zones create an exteme amount of energy which heats the rock and creates magma plumes. The volcanoes of the Aleutian arc are very similar to the volcanoes of the Cascades and Indonesia in this respect.

AVO has stated "Since the middle of January 2012 there have been a sequence of earthquakes with several greater than magnitude 2. It is common to have earthquake swarms in the vicinity of Iliamna and the ongoing activity is being closely monitored by AVO seismologists.". They are aware of the current seismicity.

Image from Google Earth with USGS overlay. You can see the localization of the quakes here.

The seismographs from AVO seem to also indicate activity at the volcano. If it has not erupted already, there has CERTAINLY been a large intrusion of magma into its chamber, and will erupt soon.


                                     

Image of AVO seismograph for the last 24 hours. Clearly indicating possible dike intrusion.

Keep your eyes on Iliamna volcano. Especially the AVO seismographs. Unfortunately, this volcano does not have an active webcam to go with the seismograph, and people are very unlikely to be mounting an expedition to this volcano during the inclement weather that Alaska is experiencing right now. Indeed, the only report aside from this one (AVO would never speculate on their volcanoes without proof after all) would be from pilots. So for now, I'll say this. I absolutely suspect an eruption is either taking place at Iliamna currently (or already has), or it will happen very soon.

If there are any updates to this from any official source, I will update this post.

*****UPDATE*****

It appears via seismograph that constant harmonic tremor is now taking place at Iliamna volcano (see above seismograph image). After several large 3.0+ earthquakes, it does appear Iliamna may be erupting, or that there is further magma intrusion into the volcano. If AVO confirms this, it will be the first eruption of Iliamna since the 1950's.

Costa Rica's Turrialba Volcano Alert Level Raised To Yellow

Costa Rica's Turrialba volcano has been raised to alert level "Yellow" in response to reports of increased seismicity, and emissions. Residents and pilots reported seeing a gas plume (possibly containing ash), and some photos seem to confirm this (below). Turriabla has had several major explosive eruptions in the last 3200 years, with most historical activity being fairly small (some phreatic eruptions and minor explosive events). It is anyone's guess as to how this particular volcano will behave if it does decide to erupt.

Turrialba Volcano in Costa Rica (Credit not given from original website)

Increase emissions with ash and gas do not always lead to a major event. The volcano Cerro Hudson in Chile recently came out of 'hibernation' and gave a small 'burp' of ash and gas for a couple days, but then quieted down quickly. As the M.O. for Turrialba seems to be many brief, weak events, with the very occasional large event, this event will likely be small and brief. Time will tell.

Costa Rica has many active volcanoes, 5 of which are the typical repeat offenders (Poas, Irizu, Arenal, Rincon de la Vieja, and Turrialba) as far as frequent eruptions. Of the volcanoes in Costa Rica, only a few have little to no historical volcanic activity (Tenorio, Miravalles, Orosi, an Platanar). The four least active volcanoes doe however display hydrothermal or fumerolic activity, and were considered to be of Holocene age by the Smithsonian GVP, and their referenced volcanologists.

Costa Rica, like most Latin-American countries, the US, and Canada lie on the Pacific Ring of Fire. Costa Rica, is prone to frequent eruptions from Poas, and Arenal (very rare to see these volcanoes dormant).

Vigorous Steaming at El Hierro Volcano

Morning webcam stream shows a VERY strong steam area over the vent at El Hierro. This indicates the vent is getting near to the surface, or temperature has drastically increased near the surface of the water. The steaming is constant, and lively, with occasilanl lava rocks coming briefly to the surface before they sink back down. It is quite possible that the volcano will legitimately enter the Surtseyan phase soon enough.

                               

The column of steam near the surface this morning.

The eruption at El Hierro has been a bit erratic lately, occasionally looking like it's going to end, but the volcano has continuously been erupting for months now, with at least no visual signs lately of slowing down. Indeed, this vigorous steaming is about the most active the surface has ever been during the eruption, with the minor exceptions of a brief explosive event during the evening, and burning lava rocks occasionally visible at the ocean surface.

As of this writing, the column of steam coming from the water is quite persistent, and I see no reason why this eruption would end at this point. Time will tell. The eruption thus far has proceeded at a very slow pace. The island had plenty of warning via thousands of earthquakes, and the vent that opened up south of La Restinga has slowly but consistently grown, collapsed, and grown again. It seems the volcano is in no rush to breach the surface, but that could change at any time.

The steam so far seems to be a combination of floating steaming lava rocks, and very hot water. From what I saw this morning, I did not see a great many floating rocks, and the ones I did see didn't stick around too long. This looks to me like the water is incredibly hot, meaning that either the eruptive force down below is becoming strong enough to boil the water near the summit, or the summit is closer to the surface. Time will tell, and this new activity hasn't gone on long enough for INVOLCAN to take a close up look scientifically. Likely this will take some time. Updates will be posted tomorrow.

As of about 10:30am PST, the Movistar/Telefonica webcams appear to be offline. Earthquake-report.com is urging people to tweet:

@movistar_es ¡Las webcams de la erupción volcánica en El Hierro NO FUNCIONAN! Hay mucha actividad, por favor arreglarlas pronto. Gracias

which translates to: The El Hierro eruption webcams DO NOT WORK. There is a lot of activity, please fix them as soon as possible. Thank You

I would certainly "tweet" this message, if I were a Twitter user (nothing I have to say is 140 characters short!), so if anyone that reads this would like to use their tweet power to help get the cams back online, I'm sure all of us "Bob" fans would greatly appreciate it!

Yemeni Volcano Jebel Zubair Erupts (VIDEO)

John Seach Reports:

"Yemeni volcano Jebel Zubair has entered an eruptive phase (below)

Zubair Islands, Yemen

15.05 N, 42.18 E
summit elevation 191 m
Shield volcano

Jebel Zubair Volcano is located in the Red Sea, Yemen. Eruptions have formed the islands of Zubair, Centre Peak, Saba, and Haycock. 

Eruptions occurred at Saddle Island in the 19th century. Thee islands form the summit of a submarine rise. The volcanic cone is barren and rises 191 m above sea level.

2011 Eruption
A possible eruption occurred at Zubair volcano on 19th December 2011. Fishermen from Salif port city in the west of Yemen reported seeing an eruption with red lava rising to a height of 30 m. This was the first eruption the fisherman can recall from the area. Satellite images showed raised sulphur dioxide emissions close to the volcano on the following day"

From the Smithsonian GVP:
"The 5-km-long Jebel Zubair Island is the largest of a group of 10 small islands and submerged shoals that rise from a shallow platform in the Red Sea rift. The platform and eruptive vents forming the islands and shoals are oriented NNW-SSE, parallel to the rift. An early explosive phase was followed by a brief period of marine erosion, and then by renewed explosive activity accompanied by the extrusion of basaltic pahoehoe lava flows. This latest phase of activity occurred on the morphologically youngest islands of Zubair, Centre Peak, Saba, and Haycock. Historical explosive activity was reported from Saddle Island in the 19th century. Spatter cones and pyroclastic cones were erupted along fissures that form the low spine of Zubair Island."

(Now from me)

About two years ago now, another volcano on the same tectonic spread erupted, named Jebel al-Tair. That eruption was witnessed by a Coast Guard ship on patrol at the area. The island held a small Yemeni military contingent which was evacuated. At least two seven people died either swimming into the water in a panic to escape the lava, or from toxic gas. The new eruption is the island directly south of this volcano.

This could end up being a crustal trend in the area, although this is speculative. There are two other holocene volcanic islands to the SSE of Jebel al-Tair, and Jebel Zubair, which are morphologically fresh, although neither have a record of historical eruptions. The area is quite remote however, so it would not surprise me in the least if these islands had erupted behind our backs once or twice. Below is a screenshot from Google Earth of the Jebel Zubair volcanic island chain.
 

****UPDATE****

There seems to be some confusion as to whether or not this is Jebel Zubair, or Jebel al-Tair volcano. You can read about the confusion at Wired.com for yourself. Apparently, local reports place the eruption at Zubair, but satellite images are confusing. There does appear to be a steam/gas plume over Zubair, but satellite images show SO2 emissions over Al-Tair. It could even be that BOTH volcanoes may be showing signs of activity, which would not be entirely surprising. However, I have not known John Seach to post anything about an eruption unless he has confirmation somehow, so I honestly don't know who to believe at this point... interesting, nonetheless. 

Information from this part of Yemen and the Arabian rift is hard to come by. The area is not very populated, and the military outpost on Jebel al-Tair was destroyed in the last eruption, which was really one of the only "populated" (in quotes because 15 people does not a population make) island in the area. Reports will likely be few and far between, as far as Western Media.

*****UPDATE 1/5/12*****

Video footage via helicopter has been released!

Chilean Volcano Callaqui Erupts

The Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program reported an eruption today at the Callaqui volcano in Chile. This makes a total of 3 currently erupting volcanoes in Chile with Chaiten, and Puyehue-Cordón Caulle. Chile has seen some rare eruptions from some of its least known, and least active volcanoes in recent years. In 2008, Chaiten, a stratovolcano with no historical records of any eruptive activity, violently exploded, destroying the small town of the same name to the West of the volcano. Puyehue-Cordón Caulle erupted several years later. Both eruptions are ongoing.

The Smithsonian GVP had this to say about the new eruption (which wasn't much):

"Based on a pilot observation, the Buenos Aires VAAC reported that the top of an ash plume from Callaqui was at 3 km (10,000 ft) a.s.l. on 2 January. Ash was not detected in satellite imagery under clear skies.

Geologic Summary:

The late-Pleistocene to Holocene Callaqui stratovolcano has a profile of an overturned canoe due to its construction along an 11-km-long, SW-NE fissure above a 1.2-0.3 million year old Pleistocene edifice. The ice-capped, 3164-m-high basaltic-andesite Callaqui volcano contains well-preserved volcanic cones and lava flows, which have traveled up to 14 km. Small craters 100-500 m in diameter are primarily found along a fissure extending down the SW flank. Intense solfataric activity occurs at the southern part of the summit; in 1966 and 1978, red glow was observed in fumarolic areas. Periods of intense fumarolic activity have dominated at Callaqui, and few historical eruptions are known. An explosive eruption was reported in 1751, there were uncertain accounts of eruptions in 1864 and 1937, and a small phreatic ash emission was noted in 1980."

Alaska's Cleveland Volcano Has Minor Explosion

News from AVO and CNN confirm with NASA satellite pictures that Cleveland volcano in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska had a minor explosion. Pictures from AVO show a large plume over the summit of the volcano emitting from the summit crater area, with the ash cloud moving SSE. No other information was provided due to the remoteness of the volcano. Image from AVO (Below) shows the infrared satellite data.

                              

(Image from AVO showing gas/ash/steam plume on radar)

The current statement from AVO reads as follows:

"A detached drifting ash cloud to approximately 15,000 ft ASL has been detected at Cleveland Volcano in satellite images from 1402 UTC, Dec 29. As of 1445 UTC the ash cloud was approximately 80 KM/50 miles moving ESE from the volcano. 

Based on the presence of an ash cloud, AVO has raised the aviation color code at Cleveland Volcano to ORANGE and alert level WATCH.


Satellite data indicate that this is a single explosion event, however, more sudden explosions producing ash could occur with plumes exceeding 20,000 feet above sea level. Such explosions and their associated ash clouds may go undetected in satellite imagery for hours. However, in cooperation with the University of Washington, AVO has implemented a lightning alarm system that may detect significant ash-producing events within minutes of onset. If a large explosive event occurs, seismic signals may be recorded on AVO seismic networks at nearby volcanoes. There is no real-time seismic monitoring network at Cleveland.

Additional information on Cleveland Volcano and the current activity may be found at this link:
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Cleveland.php

Please see http://www.avo.alaska.edu/color_codes.php for complete definitions of Aviation color codes and Volcano alert levels."

The volcano has been showing signs of activity for nearly a year now, with a lava dome being extruded at the summit during the last time the volcano was at ORANGE alert level. It was recently downgraded to "Yellow" however AVO stated that activity could resume anytime in the form of explosions, dome collapse, or avalanches (I guess they were right!). Cleveland volcano is one of Alaska's most active in the Aleutian Island chain, having had multiple eruptions this decade alone.

Due to its remoteness, it is unlikely to affect life in Alaska much, save from a few diverted flight patterns, and the chance of light ashfall should the cloud blow over any populated area. The winds are currently blowing away from land, out into the Pacific ocean.

Given the recent trend of activity, it is probable that dome collapse and a minor explosion have occurred, but satellite pictures will tell us that story later. It is likely that Cleveland will remain under ORANGE alert for a while, until AVO can confirm the eruption is over or subsiding. Cleveland's summit is usually at least steaming, and satellites regularly record elevated temperatures at the crater. This volcano can have very short, or very long duration eruptions, and with no seismic or other equipment on the island itself, it is near impossible to make any observations except satellite on the island, or the occasional boat or plane that goes near it.

*****UPDATE 12/31/11*****

AVO has lowered the alert code to YELLOW down from ORANGE stating:

"2011-12-30 14:43:07 - Weekly Update

Earlier today, AVO lowered the aviation color code to YELLOW and alert level to ADVISORY for Cleveland Volcano. No new explosive activity has been observed at the volcano since the ash cloud that was detected yesterday morning.

More sudden explosions producing ash or ejecting blocks may still occur with plumes exceeding 20,000 feet above sea level. Such explosions and their associated ash clouds may go undetected in satellite imagery for hours. However, in cooperation with the University of Washington, AVO has implemented a lightning alarm system that may detect significant ash-producing events within minutes of onset. If a large explosive event occurs, seismic signals may be recorded on AVO seismic networks at nearby volcanoes. There is no real-time seismic monitoring network at Cleveland.

Additional information on Cleveland Volcano and the current activity may be found at this link:

http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Cleveland.php

Please see http://www.avo.alaska.edu/color_codes.php for complete definitions of Aviation color codes and Volcano alert levels."

No reason for the quick lowering of the code was given.

El Hierro Eruption Ongoing, Ejects Steaming Lava Rocks On Ocean Surface

Despite claims by a few bloggers, the eruption at El Hierro continues. Earthquake-report.com captured video from Dec. 29th that clearly shows a large stain and jacuzzi, with occasional ejection of steaming lava rocks. These rocks would not simply float to the surface if there were no eruptions taking place. This confirms that the eruption, while sputtering occasionally is ongoing.

Harmonic tremor is twice what it has been in recent days, and explosions are being detected underwater. This is not simply hydrothermal as has been suggested by other blogs.

It is important, again, to note that volcanoes do not go according to blogger's schedules. The eruption will be declared dead when there is more than a week of quiescence, not before. In any case, enjoy the link to the video, where you can easily see the floating, steaming rocks! The volcano still has a shot to break the oceans surface, however given the weak level of tremor, I will agree with some that say the eruption is "slowing down"... but again, it is NOT over.

*****UPDATE 12/31/11******

El Hierro continued today to eject floating steaming lava chunks onto the surface of the water, clearly signaling that despite low harmonic tremor, it is still erupting fresh lava. The eruption CONTINUES, despite reports from other blogs, and news outlets to the contrary.

Eruption At Jebel Zubair Confirmed, New Island Forms (VIDEO)

NASA has finally put the confusion to rest as to whether it was Jebel al-Tair or Jebel Zubair that was erupting in the Red Sea. NASA has posted new pictures of the new island as seen from space. Several news outlets have published the before and after pictures (link provided above), which clearly shows a brand new, steaming volcanic island in the Jebel Zubair volcanic island chain. This puts to rest any question as to what island was erupting.

The Red Sea Rift has been a bit more active lately with an eruption of Jebel al-Tair preceding the eruption at Jebel Zubair. There are no historical records of eruptions at Jebel Zubair that I am aware of, but I will check my volcano almanac tonight and this statement may change. Historical explosive activity was reported from Saddle Island in the 19th century (-GVP).

Enjoy the pictures of the new island! I can't help but be a bit miffed that I have been sitting and watching the eruption of El Hierro with the hopes of seeing the moment where the volcano breaks the surface, and then one goes and does it behind all our backs! This new island in the Jebel Zubair chain was built quite quickly, and its structure looks pretty solid from the pictures. Many new volcanoes are quickly eroded and reclaimed by the sea within days to decades, so it will be interesting to see if this is a permanent addition, or if it's going to be a temporary island.

Below is a link to good video from Yemeni TV of the new island erupting!

Video from Yemeni TV of the eruption

Pictured below are the before and after shots of Jebel Zubair:

Jebel Zubair Before Eruption

Jebel Zubair After Eruption

Video May Show First Signs Of El Hierro Breaking Water Surface

New video from earthquake-report.com may show what could be the first signs of the El Hierro submarine cone breaking the water's surface. While the shot is out of focus, the light burst does appear to be on or very near the 'jacuzzi' area. The video was taken at midnight, and I've reviewed it several times. It does in fact look like it could be a lava burst... we will have to see. Judge for yourself below. This could very well be the beginning of the new island!

The usual player is not loading the video properly in the HTML, so I'll try and fix it. In the meantime, you can see the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zV5wGToiVZ0#!

The apparent explosion occurs approximately 11 seconds into the video, where you can see a bright initial burst, followed by another a second or so later which is dimmer, but appears to 'fizzle' out slowly. After that the rest of the video is blank. I will be watching the nightcam tonight. A screenshot is below of the 2nd explosion.

12/14 Update
More reports have surfaced from earthquake-report.com regarding lights or incandescence at or near the jacuzzi area at El Hierro. While video has been posted on their website, it is lacking a point of reference, ie: the docks and town lights, so it really could be anything at this point. There is no way to tell if the new video is authentic, or even shot at the correct angle, so I will withhold judgment. In any case, if it does in fact turn out to be a second display of surface incandescence, this would mean that the birth of a new island is quite near.

Speculation Grows Regarding 2nd Vent At El Hierro

El Hierro continues to be a very active scene for it's eruption. Today (Dec 13th) sees strong jacuzzi action south of La Restinga, while earthquakes are still down to zero. Earthquakes had migrated North to the bay of El Golfo, and were clustered a mile or so North of the coast. These quakes have ceased, leading some to believe that a possible second vent has finally opened. This is not out of the question, however there is still no proof of this at this time.

The reasoning behind this line of thinking is the fact that when earthquakes ceased South of La Restinga, the vent had entered a stable eruptive pattern. Harmonic tremor continues to be consistent with explosive bursts occurring at regular intervals. However, again we can't be certain that these explosions are exclusive to the La Restinga vent, and could be tied to underwater activity North of El Golfo. But this is still all speculation on the parts of bloggers, and even some scientists.

Due to the depths at El Golfo, it is highly impractical to attempt to monitor the situation with an ROV, or other equipment. It's simply too costly, and difficult at this time. INVOLCAN has mainly monitored the situation near La Restinga, as it's the only vent currently with the potential to affect island residents should it break the surface and enter an ash-producing phase, or island building phase. Gases would be freely released into breathable space, and ash could easily be blown to La Restinga, and the rest of the island. This of course has not occurred yet, but they are monitoring the situation closely.

This morning saw strong activity at the La Restinga vent, with no signs of slowing down. Once lava starts to flow freely from the fissure, it forms a submarine cinder cone (most likely), which concentrates the area where the lava exits the magma chamber. Earlier in the month we saw at least two, possibly three, separate "jacuzzis", which mow appear to have coalesced into one large vent at the summit of the cone. This is normal. Even on land, this is exactly how the cone building phase occurs. We've seen several recent events on land that were similar, like the Nyamuragira eruption that began last month, and the fissure eruption at Fimmvörðuháls near Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland. Both events started with strong fissures, but ended up as cinder cones when the lava started to pile up.

Whether or not a second vent has opened in El Golfo is anyone's guess. We likely will not know until INVOLCAN allows underwater teams to survey the area after the situation has calmed down, or the eruption ceases. INVOLCAN is gathering as much info as possible about this eruption, as El Hierro has traditionally been the LEAST studied volcano of the Canary Islands, with more attention being paid to La Palma and Tenerife historically. Even though El Hierro is the youngest of the Canary Islands, it seems nobody ever anticipated an eruption. The last eruption (which is unconfirmed by Smithsonian GVP, but seems to be local fact in El Hierro) was supposedly in 1793, so two centuries and some change is a long time to sit and watch a dormant volcano.

The Island of La Palma is of interest to the media, and doomsayers, who every once in a while like to scare people on the East Coast of the USA by saying a collapse of the island would send a several hundred foot high tsunami that could wipe out New York. This does have a basis in fact, however I don't think it's necessary to begin worrying about something you can't possibly predict, have no control over, and likely wouldn't happen in our lifetime. Just like all the hype about Yellowstone, Rotorua, or Toba, this is probably some information you could live without.

Also, I apologize for posting so frequently about El Hierro (even though I'm sure some people appreciate it). The Earth has been rather quiet in terms of new eruptions this month, and this one still seems to be the most exciting news. When I get a hold of any information on other eruptions, you can be assured that I will write about them!

Quakes Stop At El Hierro, But Eruption Continues

Earthquake activity has all but ceased at El Hierro volcano in the Canary Islands, however the eruption is ongoing. There has been much speculation as to whether or not the cessation of earthquakes indicates that the eruption might be dying down. This is not the case. As many seismologists and volcanologists have pointed out, earthquakes typically precede volcanic eruptions, and sometimes stop when the vent or eruption reaches a more stable phase. New data indicates that the submarine vent at El Hierro has grown in size, and webcams still show strong 'jacuzzi' action.

This eruption, in my opinion, looks like it will be a long term one. The many thousands of earthquakes that preceded the eruption indicate a large magma chamber. Earthquakes are caused when rock breaks apart, slips, or fractures. Given the size, depth, and other locational data, it appears that the magma chamber is at least as large as the island itself, although without more advanced analysis, this is just speculation on my part.

The characteristics of this eruption are similar to the volcano Loihi in Hawaii. Loihi is periodically active off of Hawaii's South coast, and will eventually build a new island. The main difference between Loihi and El Hierro are the depths at which they are located. El Hierro's new vent is much shallower than Loihi and has a much better chance of breaching the surface of the ocean in our lifetime, and possibly during this current eruption, than Loihi. Loihi is assumed to breach the surface at some point within the next 10,000 years (too bad we won't be around to see it!). El Hierro's vent is much closer to the surface- within 100 meters, and given the pace of the eruption, it is still quite likely some lucky people will be able to see it born.

So long story short, the eruption continues even though earthquakes have pretty much stopped. Harmonic tremor does continue to register a steady stream of underwater explosions, and the vent is still quite active. At this pace, I would theorize that the volcano would break the water's surface in the next month or so, but of course, that's up to the volcano.


A lot of speculation is also taking place regarding El Hierro that has no basis in fact whatsoever. The blog earthquake-report.com suggested that a NASA satellite photo showed a 'plume' originating from the vent area. This is incorrect. Clouds do form over volcanoes, as they form over pretty much anything else. This cloud over the vent is a COINCIDENCE, nothing more, nothing less. The same dangerous sort of speculation has occurred on other blogs before, namely the blog of a guy who calls himself "Dutchsinse", a sensationalist doomsayer. He incorrectly reported an eruption at the Pisgah Crater using the same erroneous methods. When he saw a cloud on NASA satellite images over the volcano, he assumed the cloud actually came from the volcano, which is impossible since it is a monogenetic cinder cone with no historical activity.

The publicity Dutchsinse got on the web actually prompted the USGS to issue a statement denying his claim, to which he actually chose to start a war of words with the professional government agency. This sort of speculation is damaging to the credibility of bloggers, and to scientists who are actually doing all the work. Just remember, there are two types of bloggers in regards to volcanoes: Those that know what they're talking about, like Jon Frimann, myself, or other enthusiasts, and then there are those that just want to generate hype to get more ad revenue, at the expense of your intelligence.

Keep it real, keep it scientific, and get the facts straight!