In the meanwhile, the Eritrean Government has issued a report of 7 fatalities and 4 injured people by the eruption, and mentions that local inhabitants have been evacuated and a scientific mission to survey the area has been sent. [less]

Emissions early yesterday on 16 June were still strong after recovering from a decrease on 14 June and the ash/aerosol (mainly SO2) plumes reached 20,-40,000 ft (6-12 km) and drifted N and NE to cause renewed flight cancellations in neighboring countries.
Today, VAAC Toulouse reported at 06:00 UTC that the "eruption stopped" at 15:00 UTC on 16 June - no more ash can be detected above the volcano from satellite. MODIS hotspots data from 12-16 June indicate that the explosive eruption was accompanied by a large lava flow from vents inside the caldera and reaching around 16 km distance to the west of the caldera. It is uncertain whether lava emissions are still ongoing, but this is a realistic possibility. [less]

- It is confirmed that the vent of the oingoing eruption is a new fissure at the head of Nilahue river and immediately north of the 1960 eruptive fissure.
- The height of the ash column varies considerably and changes in short time. During pulses of stronger activity, the plume reaches up to 8 km, ballistic blocks reach up to 1 km distance and small column collapses (generating pyroclastic flows ?) were observed at the base of the column. [less]

The ash has now drifted as far as Australia, where many flights have been cancelled. On Sunday, Quantas alone cancelled more than 50 flights. [less]

The eruption produced a large ash plume detected on satellite images. The plume is now stretching more than 1000 km westwards into Sudan. The vent location is still uncertain. The eruption is coming from either Afambo, Nabri or Dubbi volcanoes. The last historic eruption of these was from Dubbi volcano in 1861 and also produced a large ash plume.
[less]

On Tuesday, all flights in and out Buenos Aires International airport were cancelled, but flights are now gradually resuming. Aerolineas Argentina informs in their latest statement 6:
"Flights to/from the following destinations continue to be canceled: [less]

Wide-spread flight disruptions have been caused in the region, and both Argentinian and Chilean airlines have temporarily cancelled many domestic flights. Airports affected include Baricloche, Neuquen, Esquel, Chapelco, Trelew, Viedma, Rio Gallegos, El Calafate, Ushuaia, Rio Grande and Comodoro Rivadavia.
It appears from preliminary analysis of infrared satellite data measuring hotspots that the vent of the new eruption is just NW of the 1960 vents, ie. from the Caulle fissure system: twitpic.com/57qpdb [less]

The volcano last erupted in 1990, which was a small event. [less]

The most feared scenario is a sudden eruption of large amounts of CO2 and H2S, such as has happened in 1979 from the nearby crater Sinila which killed around 160 people in that event. [less]

The is the summary from the Smithsonian/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report 18-24 May: [less]

Women and children living on the flanks were evacuated. Residents on the N flank in the community of El Ñajo reported that new fumaroles had opened, prompting authorizes to plan for monitoring all wells within a 5-km-radius of Telica.
(summarized from Smithsonian/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report 18-24 May) [less]

What is left of the ash plumes that had affected northern Europe is now dissipating and European airspace is again fully open. [less]

Hekla is one of Iceland's most active volcanoes and usually erupts very explosively, followed by large discharges of magma. Its last eruption occurred from 26 February to 8 March 2000 when about 0.19 km3 of magma was erupted. Statistically, Hekla erupts on average every 10 years and it is now also on the "waiting list". [less]

While Kevlavik airport on Iceland has resumed operations since yesterday afternoon, a lower level ash plume (at flight level 200, ca. 6 km altitude) has been drifting SE and is now partly over northern Britain, where several flights had to be canceled. (Source: London VAAC) [less]

At the moment, the plume height seems to have decreased from initially 17-18 km (55,000 ft) to 8-12 km (20,-35,000 ft) and is drifting and spreading W and NW, where it is interfering with transatlantic flight routes.
European airspace has so far not been affected and experts think that a repeat of a major disruption of air travel as during last year's Eyafjallajökull eruption is unlikely. [less]

The eruption was preceded by only 15-30 minutes of intense seismic activity and started at around 19h15 pm local time. It created a large eruption plume above the glacier, reaching of 15-20 km height (50-65,000 feet), which is larger than last year's Eyafjallajökull's plume last year and makes it the largest eruption on Iceland since Hekla volcano in 1947.
Iceland review reports that a group of people stayed in a hut on Grímsvötn volcano the night before the eruption, but had left on Saturday 6 hours before the eruption started. The group noticed nothing unusual, but another group that climbed Hrútafellstindar mountain in the southern part of Vatnajökull glacier said they smelled suphur on the morning of 21st May.More than 100 people climbed Öræfajökull volcano, Iceland’s highest peak, on Saturday and saw nothing unusual. [less]

Cristo Rey, Las Colinas y La Quemada.
Increased seismic activity with earthquakes between 1-3 magnitude at shallow depths between 1-5 km, and an increase of temperature of fumaroles in the crater area (up to 395 deg C) accompany the new activity. [less]

Aso is one of the world's most active volcanoes and has one of the longest recorded lists with about 160 historic eruptions since 553 AD. Fatalities occurred due to bomb impacts and volcanic gasses in 1979 and 1997.
The alert level for the volcano has been raised to 2 by the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA). [less]