Posts
I
was about to make an announcement that I would not be covering
volcanic eruption unless something major happened!
Mt Sinaburg has been on the verge of a major eruption for months - the Extinction Protocol has been reporting regularly on this.
Volcano
eruption 'kills at least 14 people in Indonesia' as ash is sent
spewing several miles into the air
- Dead include four students and a journalist who went to see blasts up close
- Only yesterday 14,000 villagers were allowed to return to their 'safe' homes
- Mount Sinaburg in Sumatra, Indonesia, has been rumbling for four months
1
February, 2014
At
least 14 people have been killed today by a violent volcanic eruption
on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, which sent ash spewing several
miles into the air.
The
dead include a TV journalist, four high school students and their
teacher who went to see Mount Sinaburg up close after being told
it was becoming safer
Only
yesterday thousands of villagers were allowed to return to their
homes on the slopes of the volcano, despite the fact it has been
erupting sporadically for four months.
Fleeing:
Residents of Bekerah village, Sumatra, have had to escape a deadly
eruption of Mount Sinaburg
All
unclear: Thousands of locals had only returned home yesterday after
being evacuated in September
Tragedy:
Relatives carry a coffin containing one victim at a nearby hospital.
Officials fear the death toll will rise as the darkness and heat from
the eruption hamper efforts to reach the mountain slopes
Distraught:
A man weeps after identifying a family member killed by the eruption
in Kabanjahe, Sumatra
Trauma:
Thousands of villagers have been displaced by the eruptions, with
families torn apart
At
least three other people have been injured and officials fear the
death toll will rise further.
Rescue
workers have been hampered by darkness and cannot get closer to the
affected areas because of the heat.
Authorities had evacuated more than 30,000 people, housing them in cramped tents, schools and public buildings, after the earlier eruptions which sent lava, searing gas and rocks from the 8,530ft peak.
They
culminated today in a series of huge blasts which sent lava and
pyroclastic flows up to three miles away, said officials.
Villagers
were seen tending to the charred corpses of victims, themselves
covered in thick grey as, as far as two miles from the peak.
Many
in the rural island communities had been desperate to return to check
on their homes and farms, presenting a dilemma for the government.
Armageddon:
a series of huge blasts and eruptions thundered from the
8,530-foot-high volcano, spewing lava and pyroclastic flows up to 3
miles away
Caught:
Officials have said 14 people have died but they fear the death toll
could rise
Harrowing:
Rescue workers set about looking for bodies and survivors but their
job was made more difficult by the intense heat, the dark and the
threat of another eruption
But
hundreds of villagers also demanded to be moved safer areas because
they were scared to go back.
Evacuee
Naek Sembiring, one of 156 camping in a church, told The Jakarta Post
two months ago that his entire village had agreed they would not
return despite the situation being declared safe.
'We
fear we might die,' he said. 'Our village is nearest to Mount
Sinabung. In the event of an eruption where would we run to?'
Yesterday
authorities allowed nearly 14,000 people living outside a three-mile
danger zone to return home after volcanic activity decreased.
Others
living close to the peak have been returning to their homes over the
past four months despite the risk.
After
today's eruptions all those who had returned have been ordered to
move back to evacuation centres.
Engulfed:
Officials said the search for survivors was hampered by darkness and
the intense heat
Dilemma:
Evacuated locals had only been permitted to return home yesterday but
today had to leave behind homes and farms as the ash reached further
and further down the volcano's slopes
Deadly:
Lava and pyroclastic flows have spread from the volcano, killing
people up to two miles away
'The
death toll is likely to rise as many people are reported still
missing and the darkness hampered our rescue efforts,' said Lt. Col.
Asep Sukarna, who led the rescue operation.
Indonesia
is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific Ring
of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific
Basin.
Mount
Sinabung had been dormant for 400 years until it erupted in 2010,
killing at least two people and displacing 30,000 others.
It
is now among about 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia and has
sporadically erupted since September.
But
despite volcanos being notoriously hard to predict, it is difficult
to keep farmers away because the slopes of the mountains are highly
fertile.
In
2010, 324 people were killed over two months when Indonesia's most
volatile volcano, Mount Merapi, roared into life.
Meanwhile, elsewhere (all reports are from 31 January, 2014
Kavachi undersea volcano (Solomon Islands) erupts
February 1, 2014 – SOLOMON ISLANDS – A submarine eruption is likely occurring at the submerged volcano. A NASA satellite image from 29 Jan shows a plume of discolored sea water swirling and drifting from the location of the volcano. The discoloration is likely from suspended volcanic sediments (the fragmented lava) and gasses. Kavachi is an undersea volcano on the southern edge of the Solomon Islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It erupted dozens of times in the 20th century, often breaking the water surface, only to be eroded back below the water line within a few months. Whether the new eruption will break the surface and create another new island remains to be seen. Directly above the undersea peak, a bright patch is visible that suggests vigorously churning water—but there is no sign that the eruption has broken the surface. (NASA) –Volcano Discovery
New eruptive phase reported at Ecuador’s Tungurahua Volcano
January 31, 2014 – ECUADOR – A new eruptive phase has begun at the volcano. Since the early morning today, the seismic network detected an increase in earthquakes including signals of small explosions and long-period events and tremor typical for internal fluid movements (gasses and magma). The Tungurahua volcano Observatory while unable to make direct visual observations received reports from observers that fine black ash fell in Pungal and Penipe, and minor amounts in Palictahua. The black color of the ash suggests that it originates from fresh (so called juvenile) magma. The last eruptive phase of Tungurahua was between 6 Oct and 13 Nov past year and consisted in strombolian-vulcanian explosions generating ash columns rising up to 4 km, accompanied by strong shock waves and producing occasional pyroclastic flows. Bursts of moderate to strong intensity tremor characterized seismic activity during that period. Since 13 Nov, activity had decreased markedly and the volcano only showed weak degassing and no signs that could have been interpreted as precursors to the current new activity, IGPEN mentions in its latest bulletin. This implies that the magma that started the current new phase of activity has risen very quickly from a deeper reservoir into the shallow plumbing system of the volcano. In other words, eruptions at Tungurahua can start with little or even no warning. –Volcano Discovery
Shishaldin Volcano’s alert status upgraded after unusual activity
January
31, 2014 – ALASKA – The
Alaska Volcano Observatory upgraded the alert level at Shishaldin
Volcano in the Aleutian Islands Thursday after seeing some unrest at
the summit. AVO scientist Kristi Wallace says the unusual activity at
Shishaldin began Wednesday. “Little bit ago, AVO changed the color
code at Shishaldin from green to yellow based on increased
temperatures at the summit crater of Shishaldin Volcano as well as
increased steaming yesterday,” she says. Both of those observations
were observed via satellite imagery. Wallace says the observations
don’t mean Shishaldin is in imminent danger of eruption. The yellow
status just indicates behavior that isn’t normal. Shishaldin is the
highest peak in the Aleutians, rising about 9,400 feet above sea
level. It’s located on Unimak Island about 100 miles northeast of
Unalaska. Shishaldin was last elevated to yellow in 2009, when the
same kind of activity occurred. Wallace says that anomaly didn’t
result in anything more serious. Historically, though, Shishaldin has
been very active: “It’s erupted approximately 28 times since
1775, so in historic times it’s erupted quite frequently, although
the eruptions are typically low-level plumes and ash and steam
plumes,” Wallace says. “So [it's] not a particularly dangerous
volcano, although the eruption that occurred in 1999 did send ash
plumes as high as 45,000 feet above sea level.”
Wallace says the AVO is going to keep monitoring Shishaldin for signs of explosions. But the seismic stations closest to the summit aren’t working right now. That means using more distant monitoring points as their main sources of data. “There’s a whole network of stations, so we’re just relying on other stations that are not quite as close to the summit area where we’re seeing the activity,” Wallace says. “Hopefully those will be enough for us to pick up a seismic signal, although this volcano’s not just monitored with a seismic network. We’re still using satellite imagery, and then the infrasound stations which are good at detecting explosion signals.” There are two other volcanoes in the Aleutians currently on a yellow alert. Those are Cleveland, 175 miles southwest of Unalaska, and Veniaminof, northeast of King Cove. –KUCB
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2014/01/31/shishaldin-volcanos-alert-status-upgraded-after-unusual-activity/
Updated
onSunday, 02 February 2014 at 12:51:14 AM
February
is off to a roaring start another brief post to direct you to the
significant explosive eruption going on right now at Ecuador's
Tungurahua.
You
can see the eruption right now on the IG-EPN webcams and it looks
like both an ash column and pyroclastic flows heading towards the
Chambo River being generated. Explosions earlier today reached at
least 2.5 km / 8,200 feet, but the activity right now looks worse.
Tungurahua
had been experiencing heightened earthquake activity for the past few
days.
Some
reports are now putting the ash plume height at 10 km / ~32,000 feet
while the Washington VAAC advisory mentions ash as high as 14 km /
47,000 feet.
According
to the official IG-EPN report, pyroclastic flows apparently moved
down the slopes of the volcano in all directions as well.
One
of our Geoscience majors is in Quito for the semester to study abroad
and he mentioned to me he would be in Banos, near Tungurahua, this
weekend, so I'm especially concerned about this new massive
explosion. It appears that some towns near the volcano were evacuated
prior to this new activity.
