Etna Steals The Show, Japan Gets New Island

There is not a lot of 'new' eruptive activity going on lately, however Sicily's Mt Etna continues to put on some breathtaking displays of lava fountain activity lately. While this is not unusual for Etna, being one of the most active volcanoes on Earth, the shows are quite spectacular.

                                     

And while Etna steals the show, Japan's volcano, Nishino-shima has had a surprise eruption off its coast that started as a submarine eruption, but birthed a new island into existence (much like we were HOPING would occur live on webcam at El Hierro! But alas...).

Other than these occurrences, it is a slow month/week/year for volcanoes. The currently erupting volcanoes are sadly, the usual suspects!

Philippine Islands Struck By Massive Cyclone, Help

Not my typical post, but I have some extended family on my fiance's side in the Philippines and the island nation needs everyone's help. Mere weeks after a devastating 7.0 earthquake, and many aftershocks, the Philippines were hit by a MASSIVE cyclone, perhaps one of the biggest storms in historical times, and this has basically leveled the buildings, destroyed thousands of families, and created a living hell for these people.

It is imperative that the global community get moving by donating goods, and money to charities to help the stricken archipelago, and its people. Already the death toll is at approximately 1,500 and rising. This is the worst natural disaster since the Japanese 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, and this will get worse for the next month or so.

These are some of the dangers likely to be faced after this disaster. All help, and donations are needed.

- Exposure to the elements; It is clear from photographs and eyewitness accounts that the devastation is total. In the path of the storm, no structures were able to survive intact. People will be outside at all times...
-Infection, disease; standing water, no dry land, and other complications will make things like diarrhea, fevers, mosquitoes, infections, etc very problematic. Antibiotics and fresh water will be scarce.
-Injuries; many thousands of people have been injured. Doctors and facilities will be needed.


Please find a charity and donate to it. My recommendation is to donate to more local charities rather than places like the Red Cross who use a great amount of your donation for overhead. Smaller charities have less overhead, but do be careful that they are not run as a scam... this is an unfortunate reality of the Internet. Thank you to everyone who can help.

7.3 Magnitude Quake Strikes Off Honshu Japan

A 7.3 quake just occurred off of Honshu, Japan, very near the epicenter of the deadly 2011 quake that caused a massive tsunami, and prompted a nuclear power plant disaster at Fukushima Daiichi. The quake was registered at approximately 17:10:16 UTC. A tsunami alert has been issued, however the predicted size is only about 1 meter (around 3 feet), nowhere near as powerful as the devastating tsunami of the 2011 disaster.

No damage or injuries have yet been reported, however this quake comes on the heels of a years long nuclear disaster at the crippled power plant, where hundreds of thousands (perhaps more) gallons of contaminated radioactive water has been spilling into the Pacific Ocean. So far, there are no reports of how this quake has or has not affected the power plant.

Shaking was likely very lightly felt on the main Japanese island, and due to the shallow depth of the quake, this is unlikely to affect any volcanoes in the region, although time will tell. There are growing concerns by geologists in recent years that an eruption from the famed Mt. Fuji (Fuji-yama) could be close, or imminent in the coming years, and any large quake in the vicinity could be a catalyst for such activity. This particular quake however does not seem to be close enough to Fuji to affect it in this manner.

The aftermath of this quake will likely consist of still more aftershocks. Aftershocks from the massive 2011 quake are still occurring in the area, and it is possible that this 7.3 quake is a result of that previous event, however geologists are likely to classify this as an independent event.

The subduction zone bordering Japan is one of the earth's most active and dangerous. It lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, and produces Japan's volcanoes, and is very much responsible for the existence of Japan itself. Quakes in this area are large, and common.

Smithsonian GVP Reports Not Updated In A Month

The recent US government shutdown has ended, but some effects are still trickling through the various agencies that were affected by it. The Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program (for which I partially rely on for objective volcano reporting) has not updated its weekly volcanic activity activity reports since Sept. 24th, nearly exactly one month ago.

The new Smithsonian GVP website has not been without its share of issues. From database errors, to infrequent reporting of late, it is anyone's guess as to what's going on over there. The USGS volcanic monitoring stations seem to be OK, including AVO, CVO, CALVO, and HVO, also the earthquake monitoring was seemingly unaffected. The federal shutdown lasted for two weeks.

This could be due to many things, all of which would be speculation on my part, and I do try and avoid that on this blog. My guess would be however that there are protocols that had to be followed, and certain reporting could not be done while the government was on hiatus, as they tend to collect data throughout the week.

There are of course other volcanic monitoring sites to visit on the web, like Volcanodiscovery.com, or Earthquake-report.com, both of which are quite comprehensive (you can see the global volcanic activity widget to the right of this blog in the sidebar, a really neat little tool from Volcanodiscovery.com). So if you, like me reletnelssly are searching for more news on volcanoes, those are some pretty great non-governmental and privately run sites. Both have great reporting and do an excellent job of gathering information.

In the meantime, I'll wait patiently for the Smithsonian GVP to get back into the swing of things, as there is likely quite a bit of post-shutdown chaos going on in Washington still. It is my hope that this never occurs again, as vital services can be, and were, affected in a very negative way by this. In any case, I'll do my best to go without their reports for a while. Stay tuned. 

7.1 Magnitude Quake Strikes Near Papua New Guinea and Bougainville

A 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck near the autonomous region of Bougainville, East of Papua New Guinea, and is begin followed by multiple aftershocks. The quake's epicenter is about 30 miles (48km) from the volcano of Bagana, Bougainville's most active volcano.

The quakes proximity to multiple volcanoes on this island, such as Billy Mitchell (yes, that is the volcanoes name!), Tore, Balbi, Loloru, and the Takuan Group could initiate a change in behavior for any one of these volcanoes, although more likely, it will result in changes mostly at Bagana.

Bagana is frequently in eruption, and is a 'usual offender' on the Smithsonain GVP's weekly volcanic activity updates.

Image from Google Earth With USGS quake overlay and shakemap.

No fatalities or injuries have yet been reported, and no tsunami warning has been issued.

Earthquakes in Bougainville are very common, and their structures are likely built to withstand very strong tremors. Earthquakes that occur in imporverished nations, or in areas of the world without a history of frequent quakes, are often far more vulnerable than places like Bougainville, or California, who have very frequent quakes and are used to shoring up their structures and policies to mitigate their effects.

A 7.1 magnitude quake struck the Philippines within the last couple of days, and that quake did result in fatalities, numbering around 100 at the time of this update.

Larger than normal quakes seem to be a running theme this year, and volcanic eruptions less so.