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.

Piton de la Fournaise (France) – Report for 20 February-26 February 2019 – NEW

by

OVPF reported that activity continued during 20-26 February from the fissure that opened on 19 February; the site is at 1,800 m elevation at the foot of Piton Madoré, E of Piton de la Fournaise?s Dolomieu Crater. On 21 February scientists mapped the slowly eastward-advancing flows (and also those that had erupted on 18 February). They noted that the cone at the vent was growing, and hosted a lava lake that ejected spatter from bursting gas bubbles. A channelized lava flow traveled 1 km E and descended 200 m elevation before splitting into two flows near Guyanin Crater. The more northern of the two flows was 50 m wide and had progressed as far as 1,320 m elevation. The second more southerly flow was 200 m wide and itself split into two flows about 300 m SE of Guyanin Crater; one branch went to about 1,350 m elevation and the other to 1,300 m. Overall the longest part of the lava flow had traveled 1.9 km from the vent. During 22-26 February the lava emission rate was variable up to 16 cubic meters per second (based on satellite data), though webcam images from 24 February indicated that the flow had not significantly advanced.
Source: Observatoire Volcanologique du Piton de la Fournaise (OVPF)

Mayon: Eruption is getting weaker

by

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

by

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

by

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.

Mayon: eruption increased

by

At the Philippine volcano Mayon, the eruption has increased significantly in the last few hours. PHILVOLCS upgraded the alarm status from 3 to 4. The exclusion zone has been enlarged to 8 km. A further increase in activity is likely. A brief message states that explosions and lava fountains emanate from the lava dome. The seismic have increased significantly. The VAAC Tokyo reports volcanic ash at 9 km altitude. MIROVA registers a very high thermal radiation of 1019 MW. The biggest danger are pyroclastic flows.

Bardarbunga: activity remains high

by
During last week, IMO maintained Aviation Colour Code Orange due to continued eruption at Bárdarbunga’s Holuhraun  fissure. Subsidence of the Bárdarbunga Caldera continued, and seismicity remained strong. Strongest earthquake under the central-volcano was M 5.4. The lava field was  more than 70 square kilometers on 9 November. Local air pollution from gas emissions persisted.
(Source: USGS / IMO)

Sakura-jima: activity elevated

by

JMA reported that nine explosions from Showa Crater at Sakurajima volcano ejected tephra as far as 1,300 m during last week. An explosive eruption on 7 November generated an ash plume that rose 3.5 km. An eruption later that day from Minami-Dake Crater produced a plume that rose 1.4 km. The Alert Level remained at 3. The Tokyo VAAC reported that during 5-8 November plumes rose to altitudes of 2.1-4.6 km.

Source: USGS / Smithsonian

Kilauea: Lava flow is still active

by

The June 27th lava flow remains active. The flow front is 14.9 km (9.3 miles) from the vent, and 170 m from the Kaohe Homesteads boundary. The actual length of the flow, measured along the lava tube is 17.1 km. Between September 10 and 12 the advance rate dropped to approximately 250 meters per day. The flow front is still in thick forest, creating smoke, but fires are not spreading away from the flow. (Source: HVO)