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Volcanic activity world-wide 19-21 October 2012: Iceland earthquakes, Etna, Popocatépetl, Fuego, Santiaguito, Nevado del Ruiz, Machin, Reventador, Alaid, Raung, Merapi, Nyiragongo, Ambrym, Sakurajima

Sunday Oct 21, 2012 17:35 PM | BY: T

A strong seismic swarm is in progress at the Tjörnes Fracture Zone just north off Iceland. The largest event was a felt magnitude 5.2 quake at about 10 km depth.

A small earthquake swarm occurred on Saturday at Kverkfjoell volcano in eastern Iceland with about 20 quakes. The largest was a magnitude 2.6 event at 1.1 km depth.
This swarm is similar to several ones in the past years and could indicate a small magma intrusion under the volcano.

Weak strombolian activity from Etna volcano's Bocca Nuova has been observed again last night.

Activity continues to increase at Popocatépetl volcano in Mexico. The number of explosions has increased a lot in frequency: 127 occurred in 24 hours alone between 19-20 Oct and some ejected incandescent material up to 1 km distance, showering the upper part of the cone. Ash plumes rose to about 1 km during several events.

Fuego volcano's lava flow towards the Ash Canyon extends to 1,000 meters length and incandescent blocks roll from its flank to the edge of vegetation. Weak explosions produced small gray ash plumes rising 600 m.

A small ash explosion occurred at Santiaguito earlier today.

In Colombia, Nevado del Ruiz volcano continues to produce a significant steam plume and elevated SO2 quantities. Seismic activity remains low but above background.

Elevated seismic activity continues at Cerro Machin volcano in Colombia as well.

The lava dome of Reventador volcano in Ecuador is growing in the summit crater and the volcano produces a significant steam plume and occasional explosions, although these are not often seen as the volcano is usually in clouds.
IG has recently repaired the seismic station and records more than 100 signals, mostly long-periods on a daily basis.

Alaid volcano in the Northern Kuriles continues to show a thermal hot spot.

Raung volcano in East Java (not to be confused with Ruang volcano in the Sangihe islands) began to show increased seismicity since the 17 September. Small white plumes were seen rising to heights between 50-75 M above the crater.

The lava dome of Merapi volcano in Central Java, Indonesia, who occupied the summit crater partially collapsed at an unknown date but very recently (probably in October because it was still seen in Sep).

A strong SO2 plume is visible from Nyiragongo and/or neighboring Nymuragira volcano in the DR Congo.

A strong SO2 plume can also be seen from Ambrym volcano on Vanuatu today. Several small lava lakes remain active there.

Sakurajima volcano has had "normal" levels of activity with 1-2 moderate explosions (ash plumes to 7-8,000 ft /2-2.4 km altitude) over the past days.
Previous news
Thursday, Oct 18, 2012
Thermal anomalies are visible at Ibu volcano (Halmahera, Indonesia), suggesting eruptive activity at the summit, possibly related to lava dome growth in the wide summit crater that has been documented since 2000. ... [more]
Bulletin of World Volcanism Sep 2012 issue cover
Wednesday, Oct 17, 2012
The latest issue of Lucas Wilson's Bulletin of World Volcanism (Sep 2012) is out. It presents a reviewed detailed summary of volcano activity around the globe during September 2012, reviews, in-depth articles and an interview with Tom Pfeiffer, founder of VolcanoDiscovery. ... [more]
A new submarine eruption was observed from Fukutoku-Okanoba volcano in the Volcano Islands of Japan on Tuesday morning, October 16th. Japanese Coast Guard observed a column of white smoke rising from the sea about 3 miles from Minami-Iwoto island. According to a report "the volcano spewed ash and smoke about 100 meters into the air, and the surrounding sea area changed to a yellowish-green color while other parts became a cloudy gray". ... [more]
Monday, Oct 15, 2012
Activity of Popocatépetl volcano in Mexico is on a slightly increasing trend with 48 exhalations of low to medium intensity during 14-15 Oct, some of which were accompanied by small emissions of ash. The largest produced plumes rising 1.5 km above the crater. Crater glow is visible at night. ... [more]
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