The eruption of Nishinoshima with the new island joining with the original Nishinoshima island, seen on December 26, 2013. Image: Japan Coast Guard
Quick volcano news update from Japan! The eruption at Nishinoshima continues and now the new island is no more … because it has joined up with the actual island of Nishinoshima (see above). This is a great example of how volcanic island like this in the Bonin Islands grow over hundreds to thousands of eruptions. Compare these two NASA Earth Observatory images to see how the island has grown between December 8 to December 24. The Japan Coast Guard has also posted a map (see below) that shows how the shape of the coastline for the new island has changed across the course of the eruption — and it is dramatic how quickly the island has grown, especially between December 13 and 24. Some video taken from a helicopter flight above the volcano shows the new island and its continued eruption (with discolored water surrounding it) and a very active spatter cone producing the lava flows.
The submarine eruption at El Hierro continued into 2011. Image: INVOLCAN
2012, for all the hype about apocalypse, was a volcanically-quiet year. No Eyjafjallajökulls, no Puyehue-Cordon Caulles, no Pinatubos. Sure, we had some notable eruptions, but most were small-to-moderate events that, many times, won’t even end up getting preserved in the geologic record. However, that didn’t stop me from posting way too much! No, really, it was still a great year for Eruptions, with decidedly more posts about the science of volcanoes when the actual volcanic events were low. Here is the 2012 Volcanic Year in Review!
I also tackled a topic that came up repeatedly during the year – the missing eruptions in the ice cap record. Namely, the ice cores suggest a large eruption in 1258 AD, but no source has been definitively identified (although inroads have been made). Another mysterious caldera eruption, the Kuwae caldera eruption in the 1450s, was also examined about whether it actually occurred.
Both Popocatépetl and Nevado del Ruiz kept on producing small eruptions as we headed into June, while Cleveland in Alaska had a explosive eruption, likely due to collapse of the dome that had been growing in the crater since earlier in the spring. We also saw the alert status raised at El Hierro in the Canary Islands for the first time in months after an intense seismic swarm occurred — but this swarm didn’t lead to any new eruption.
With all the excitement of the US Presidential election in early November, I looked at the perception of probability versus prognostication when it comes to volcanic mitigation. If you’re looking for a volcano movie to watch, I finally wrote up my guide to volcanic cinema and I described what a SHRIMP-RG is and how I use it in my research.
So, there you have it. The Volcanic Year in Review … and hopefully 2013 will bring us more volcanic excitement.
Erik Klemetti is an assistant professor of Geosciences at Denison University. His passion in geology is volcanoes, and he has studied them all over the world. You can follow Erik on Twitter, where you’ll get volcano news and the occasional baseball comment.
Three webcam views of Popocatépetl as seen on April 16, 2012. Images courtesy of Eruptions reader Kirby.
I mentioned yesterday that Mexico’s famous Popocatépetl experienced one of its largest explosions in years, covering some 30 communities with ash up to 7 cm thick (but highly dependent on wind direction, so that value has a wide range from dusting to the maximum 7 cm). Combine that with continued elevated seismicity and a healthy steam-and-ash plume from the volcano (see above), and CENAPRED has raised the alert status at Popo to Yellow Phase 3, the third highest threat level (of 7). Overnight on April 16th, the volcano was throwing incandescent material over 300 meter above the crater and it has produced at least 14 small steam-and-ash plumes over the last day or so, some reaching as high as ~1 km / ~3,200 feet. The raised alert level means that local authorities are preparing for potential evacuations if the volcano has a major eruption – the last time major evacuations were needed, in 2000, over 50,000 people had to leave their homes. An eruption will also likely cause significant air traffic issues in/around Mexico City, so authorities need to be prepared for this as well.
The major hazards from Popo are going to be ash fall on the area around the volcano, lahars generated by mixing water and volcanic debris (Popo does have several summit glaciers) and even the potential for pyroclastic flows, although they have been relatively rare in the recent (last few hundred years) at Popocatepetl. You can get a sense of the area that could be effected by a new eruption of Popo fromthis map prepared by volcanologists at University of Buffalo.
El Hierro Volcano : Yellow-Red alert – at least 300 SLS in 2 hours time
Last update: January 28, 2012 at 3:01 pm by By Armand Vervaeck
Update 28/01 – 14:59 UTC
– Julio del Castillo Vivero Time lapse from the volcano activity from 07:20 until 13:00 today, including the Salvamar Adhara lava balloon fishing.
Update 28/01 – 12:36 UTC
– Joke was very busy taking pictures this morning. This is a selection from the many she has taken. These images are so big that a simple cutout can give the detail as can be seen below. Click on one of the 2 images to see the full series.
Update 28/01 – 11:32 UTC
– A lot of SLS this morning
– NO earthquakes since midnight UTC
– Harmonic tremor had a hard time surviving at 02:00 but picked up at 07:01 and remains minimally active until now.
– Salvamar Adhara is out fishing lava balloons. Some stones seem to be really big today. Look at the size of the black stones in the water in relation to the size of the Salvamar Adhara.
– Joke just reported that in 2 hours time (from 08:00 until 10:00) she has seen more than 300 SLS. She also pointed out that the lava baloons are surfacing further to Tenerife (to the left) than ever before. We think this is normal as it was described in the lava balloon document we have published a few weeks ago. Some SLS are only starting to float during the rolling down process from the vent to the base of the volcano. The reason was not explained, but it might be the breaking apart during the rolling process of a heavier part enabling gas inside to start the floating process.
Salvamar Adhara and smoking Lava stones – fishing stones close to the action – Image captured by ER reader Penny
Update 27/01 – 13:59 UTC
– 12 earthquakes today, even more than in the beginning of January.
– as so many among you reported, a few strong smoking spectacular lava balloons today.
– Harmonic tremor strated to be more active again from 14:27, so any link with the sudden strong LB episode is hard to find.
– Joke and some friends made some great shots of what was going on today. Click here to see them in our Picaweb – A lot of you must have seen the Salvamar Adhara out in the sea. Joke waited for them when they arrived in the port and has some pictures of the (meager) catch. One Lava Balloon and 2 jellyfish!
– Another regular contributor to Earthquake-Report.com is Julio del Castillo Vivero. Julio is recording a lot during the day and starts to look at his recordings if he reads some emotional comments. Here are Julios images captured during the 16:00 action
– I do apolize for not being able to instantly report on events as i am on a holiday with limited time at the PC. Sometimes i am on new developments and sometimes i try to catch up a little later.
Lava Balloon surfacing with a lot of smoke – image captured by Julio del Castillo Vivero
Update 27/01 – 13:59 UTC
The first set of pictures made by Joke this morning. Click here
Update 27/01 – 13:00 UTC
Dr. Elena González Cárdenas, has written an article showing fault lines, different vents and building up a theory as what probably is happening at the seafloor. What wonders us most is all these new pictures which are shown in this document, pictures which are probably only circulating in a narrow scientific circle. This document reveals much more from what is going on, than weeks of Pevolca communication. Congratulations to Dr. Cardenas and Avcan (the people who have probably asked Dr. Cardenas to write the document). Click here to read the Spanish document and use Google translate to pick up most of the content. We are sure that people following this eruption a long time will perfectly understand the scenario as written by Dr. Cardenas. Thanks to a number of ER readers + Joke who attracted our attention to this document.
Image courtesy AVCAN and Guardia Civil helicopteres / Involcan
Update 27/01 – 12:22 UTC
– 4 more earthquakes stressing the pressure of the magma beneath the island and creating a new phase of the eruption. Will the current vent remain the only vent, and if not, where will the magma try to find his way up.
27/01/2012 06:57 15 0.7 4 W FRONTERA.IHI
27/01/2012 07:39 9 0.4 4 SW EL PINAR.IHI
27/01/2012 07:55 15 0.5 4 W FRONTERA.IHI
27/01/2012 09:18 12 0.9 4 W EL PINAR.IHI
– The 04:24 earthquake as mentioned by ER reader Ann-Kristin has probably a tectonic origin (based on the graph and as the form is totally different from volcanic earthquakes). It can be triggered though through deformation of the island.
– As for deformation (lateral deformation), no big changes. Values are a little higher yesterday. We are very curious if the many earthquakes from today will not chnage this pattern, as it did in early January.
– The jacuzzi and stain are still surviving. No surprise as a minimal HT is still present on the graph.
Update 27/01 – 07:09 UTC
– 5 earthquakes since midnight
27/01/2012 01:02 12 0.9 SW EL PINAR.IHI
27/01/2012 02:13 13 0.9 SW EL PINAR.IHI
27/01/2012 04:24 13 2.0 W EL PINAR.IHI
27/01/2012 06:27 11 0.4 EL PINAR.IHI
27/01/2012 06:27 11 0.4 W EL PINAR.IHI
– continuing minor harmonic tremor
El Hierro Volcano : Yellow-Red alert – the eruption continues at a moderate rate
Last update: December 24, 2011 at 3:13 pm by By Armand Vervaeck
Update 24/12 – 15:13 UTC
– NO NASA Modis satellite image today as it was too cloudy when the satellite was padding by.
– NO new earthquakes
– continuous harmonic tremor slightly decreasing since 06:00
– The video below is the morning time lapse video from the Telefonica / Cabildo La Restinga village webcam as captured by Julio del Castillo Vivero. The emitting vent and corresponding stain can well be seen from the middle of the morning until the end
Joke Volta early morning pictures
Click on the picture to see all images in full size
Update 24/12 – 09:14 UTC
– NO new earthquakes
– continuous harmonic tremor with a lot of action from 03:30 until 04:00
– a very small stain can be seen on the El Pinar / Ustream and La Restinga village webcams
– Joke reports that the she saw a very vast stain from her starting point at El Pinar this morning. Now she is in La Restinga and says that she sees the source of the stain at the main vent. The emitted material is carried by the current to the west (hard to see on the webcam)
– IEO (Oceonographic Institute of Spain) has reported that they are currently analyzing the bathymetry data(depth measuring of the sea floor) from their latest mission. They have a lot of work to do before a final report can be issued as many irregular measurements have to be eliminated. The emission gases, floating and suspended sediments and water conditions are resulting in false data.
Christmas tree in CAP science center in La Restinga. The tree hangers are images of the main events of the eruption
Update 23/12 – 18:43 UTC
Joke has created a small video from the pictures that she made while traveling with the bus from La Restinga to El Pinar. Additionally, click here to see the pictures Joke made today.
Update 23/12 – 14:00 UTC / updated 15:43 UTC
Today’s NASA Modis satellite image (from max. a couple of hours ago) shows a very strange picture from the stain and the emission vent. The left white patch is the main vent emission point and small stain. The right white patch at the smallest point of the stain maybe a small remaining cloud patch from the bigger cloud range below it or a new vent (highly unlikely on this location). Click here to see the location of the satellite image.
NASA Modis satellite image of today December 23 – zoomed version (cloud has been blackened)
NASA Modis image without blackened clouds
Update 23/12 – 11:30 UTC
– an active fresh stain visible from La Restinga.
– periods with increased harmonic tremor
image courtesy IGN
La Restinga eruption stain on December 23 – image courtesy Cabildo de El Hierro and Telefonica
Update 23/12 – 08:07 UTC
– 2 new earthquakes since midnight UTC . Both had a magnitude of 1.6 at a depth of respectively 16 and 15 km. The first one happened at 02:16 (epicenter location) and the second at 04:09 (epicenter location)
– variable harmonic tremor
– 25 cruise ships have planned to visit El Hierro next year. The port of La Estaca will be the embarkation port. The average number of passengers will be 300 per ship.
– the company running the Christmas lottery, one of the first lotteries in the world, has decided to pay 60,000 euro as a gift to the people of El Hierro.
– the Terencio supermarket chain did send a food load of 4200 kg to help the Herreños
This information comes from: earthquakereport.com. For more information and updates, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2011/09/25/el-hierro-canary-islands-spain-volcanic-risk-alert-increased-to-yellow/
The Canary Islands government has set the ‘yellow alert’ for the population of El Hierro as a lot of volcanic tremors are continuing to occur below the island since last July.
The ‘yellow alert’ decision bas been after consulting the PEVOLCA, and is based on the conclusions of the meeting of the Scientific Committee. The committee met on Saturday morning in El Hierro. Main reason for the alert increase where the increasing number of volcanic earthquakes as well as deformations (up to 30 mm change from the beginning). The current ‘yellow alert’ phase does not mean that an eruption is eminent, but that the population will be informed on the risks and will be informed how to take certain protective action.
At this stage the ‘Cabildo de El Hierro’ will be responsible for informing the public of the practical aspects of the action plan including meeting points, shelters and evacuation plans.
The website is www.emergenciaselhierro.org.
The Canary Islands government will report weekly on the evolution.
Earthquake activity below El Hierro volcano, Canary Islands, Spain
Last update: July 28, 2011 at 2:48 pm by By Tom Pering
Recently El Hierro volcano of the Canary Islands has been experiencing a seismic swarm beneath it, which as of yesterday reached to over 700 events.
Most of these events have been at Magnitudes of around 2 (+/-0.5) and are clustered beneath El Hierro whilst the depths of these earthquakes have been roughly between 9 and 16 km for the most part, with the exception of a few shallower and deeper quakes, the shallowest of which has been around 4 km (as of 27/04/11 8am GMT for the plotted data below) but as shallow as 1 km following this.
If we look at these earthquakes in two plots here http://www.volcano-blog.com/hierro.html we can see the clustering of these earthquakes is mainly confined to an oval area at 10 km depth.