Marc Szeglat

Kilauea: Pictures of Leilani eruption in 2018

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In May 2018 a huge eruption of Mount Kilauea on Hawaii started. By the end of the month I visited the site of eruption on Big Island Hawaii. 

The eruption at Kilauea in Hawaii came as no surprise. Already in April the seismic activity increased and the lava lake in the pit crater of Halemaʻumaʻu crater overflowed several times. With a little delay the activity in the Puʻu ʻŌʻō crater also increased. This crater is located in the upper part of the east drift. A larger eruption was thought possible, but what followed was not necessarily expected. At the beginning of May a seismic crisis occurred and the Puʻu ʻŌʻō crater began to collapse. The earthquakes moved along the east rift towards coastal plains and with them the magma that had accumulated under the crater. The magma migrated to the coastal plains and accumulated under the Leilani Estates housing estate, south of the small town of Pahoa. The volcanologists registered a bulge of the ground and cracks formed: a magmatic corridor had formed that ended under the settlement. Whole streets burst open like an overripe tomato. From some cracks it steamed. A little later the first small eruptions took place. In the first days of the volcanic eruption, lava was produced from a residual melt. According to the chemistry, it was the same magma that was responsible for the 1955 eruption. So the magma had lain dormant in the magma reservoir for at least 63 years before it was now displaced by fresh magma from the Puʻu ʻŌʻō crater and erupted as lava at Leilani. On May 20, the eruption intensified: the residual melt had now been ejected and fresh, hotter and thinner lava emerged from the fissures that had formed along the magmatic vein. A few hours later the lava flows reached the ocean. On their way there they destroyed numerous houses and streets. A geothermal power plant was located at the edge of the active fissure along with the lava flows and threatened to explode. A particular danger was posed by the methane gas that was created when the lava buried and charred the vegetation.

Kilauea: Leilani-Eruption in 2018 – Part 1

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Kilauea’s Leilani-eruption took place on Hawaii and begun in May 2018. The lava lakes in the craters of Halema’uma’u and Pu’u O’o drained off through the east rift. A dyke intruded on the coastal plain near Pahoa. In Leilani-Estates more than 25 fissures opened. Lava fountains fed lava flows that reached the ocean. Several hundreds houses were destroyed. In this video you can see huge lava fountains.

Fuego in March 2018

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In March 2018, I visited the famose volcano Fuego in Guatemala. I climbed the volcano together with Matin Rietze and spend one night in the camp on the flank of Acatenango. The highlight of the night was a shooting star over the top of Fuego.

Fuego and shooting stars

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Eruptions of volcano Fuego in Guatemala. This footage shows a timelapse with eruptions and shooting stars above the volcano. The Fuego dominates the city of Antigua. It forms a double volcano with Acatenango. In 2018, pyroclastic flows caused destruction and claimed more than 300 lives.

Mayon: Eruption is getting weaker

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Mayon’s eruptive activity has continued to decline in the last 24 hours. Yesterday morning (local time) 3 paroxysmal eruptions with lava fountains were observed feeding lava flows. During the day, the eruption has become more effusive again. Most likely, the lava dome grows again and there are still 2 lava flows active. Collapse events on the fronts of the lava flows caused debris avalanches.. A pyroclastic flow was observed. Seismic and sulfur dioxide emissions are at the level of the previous day.

Mayon is still active

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The Mayon in the Philippines continues to be active, but activity has slowed in the last few hours. PHILVOLCS reports 5 episodes of sporadic lava fountains. These lasted between 7 minutes and 1.24 hours. Glowing tephra is 600 meters above the crater. The lava fountains increased lava flows which flowed through the gullys. In addition, pyroclastic flows, debris avalanches and rockfalls were observed. Sulfur dioxide emissions increase to 2,466 tonnes. Whether growth of the lava dome continued, was not communicated.

Mayon: strong phreatomagmatic eruption

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The larger volcanic eruption of yesterday, was (according to PHILVOLC) of phreatomagmatic origin, took 8 minutes and promoted an ash cloud, which rose 5 km above the summit level. Pyroclastic flows (or pyroclastic density flows, as they are now called) have been created and flowed through various drainage channels. They reached lengths of 4 km. Volcanic ash rained down in several villages. Videos show that it got so dark that cars had to drive with light and barely had visibility. The local airport was closed and flights were canceled. This was the Mayon’s strongest eruption to date in the current eruption phase.