Get our newsletter!     Volcano Calendar 2019: We're proud to present our 2019 volcano calendar: 13 different and attractive images of volcanoes, volcanic landscapes and phenomena taken during volcano tours over the past few years.  Volcano Discoveries: "One of the most eye-catching guides to the world’s volcanoes ever published.  VolcanoAdventures: Our professional team of volcanologists and photographers offers unique travel opportunities: volcano expeditions, photo tours, and relaxed walking & study tours.  The Volcano Adventure Guide: Excellent information and background for anyone wishing to visit active volcanoes safely and enjoyably. The book presents guidelines to visiting 42 different volcanoes around the world. Guaranteed tours: : spaces available / : guaranteed / : few spaces left / : booked out Random pictures | |  Watch Piton de la Fournaise livePiton de la Fournaise, a typical basaltic shield volcano, located on the French island La Réunion, is one of the world's most active and productive volcanoes. It is in a phase of frequent but short-lived eruptions that start with lava fountains and produce large lava flows. Since the active areas of the volcano are not inhabited, its eruptions pose little danger and cause little damage.
Shield volcano 2631 m (8,632 ft)
La Réunion, -21.24°S / 55.71°E Current status: restless (2 out of 5) Piton de la Fournaise webcams / live data | ReportsPiton de la Fournaise volcano books | ToursPiton de la Fournaise volcano eruptions:
1900, 1901, 1901, 1902, 1903(?), 1904, 1905, 1907, 1908(?), 1909, 1910, 1913, 1915, 1917, 1920, 1921, 1924, 1924, 1925-26, 1926-27, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933-34, 1935(?), 1936, 1937, 1938, 1938-39, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947(?), 1948, 1948(?), 1950, 1951(?), 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955-57, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1964-65, 1966, 1972, 1973, 1973, 1975-76, 1976, 1977, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1983-84, 1985-88, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1998, 1999, 2000 (Feb-March), 2001 (March-April), 2001 (June-July), 2002 (Jan.), 2002 (Nov-Dec), 2003 (May) - 2004 (Jan), 2004 (May), 2004 (Aug-Oct), 2005 (Feb-March), 2005 (Oct), 2005 (Nov), 2005 (Dec)-2006 (Jan), 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 (Oct), 2010 (Dec), 2014 (June), 2015 (Feb), 2015 (May), 2015 (Aug-Oct), 2016 (May, Sep), 2017 (Jan-Mar), 2018 (Apr, 2x), 2018 (Sep), 2019 (Feb, June, July, Aug) Typical eruption style:Effusive Last earthquakes nearbyLatest satellite images  Piton de la Fournaise volcano news & updates:Fri, 16 Aug 2019, 07:20 The eruption paused again or ended last night at about 22:00 local time, following a period of 6 hours with pulsating gas emissions. ...moreIt is impossible to determine whether the latest eruption has now ended or just pauses, something the next days will show. [ less] Thu, 15 Aug 2019, 16:25  Lava flows from the active vent of Piton de la Fournaise volcano last night (image: OVPF) Early this morning, the eruption, which had started on 11 Aug, paused for a bit more than 4 hours and then resumed again at 08:30 local time. ...moreEruptive activity remained at the second (lower) fissure at approx. 1500 m altitude, but the output rate of magma is now low. Last evening, lava emission was taking place from two points on the fissure, feeding multiple lava flow branches that merged after approx. 500 m. Due to the comparably low emission rate, the flow front at between 600 and 650 m altitude had not progressed much and remained at approx. 2 km distance from the road.  Tremor amplitude, roughly corresponding to lava output rate (image: OVPF)  Seismic spectrum showing the pause in the eruption (absence of tremor) (image: OVPF) [ less] [ read all] Tue, 13 Aug 2019, 17:21  Lava flows from the current eruption of Piton de la Fournaise this morning (image: OVPF) The eruption on the volcano continues into its 3rd day. Differently from the last short-lived last July, it seems this time it is well-fed and much more intense: lava flows have already reached considerable distance and were only about 2 km away from the coastal road when volcanologists from the observatory (OVPF) could undertake an aerial survey earlier today. ...moreOn Sunday, two eruption fissures opened up on the eastern flank of Dolomieu crater near the edge to the Grandes Pentes, at 1700 and 1500 m altitude and 1400 m apart from each other. At the time of this morning's overflow, only the lower fissure was still active and several cinder cones already had formed along it. Lava flows emerging from it formed several branches before joining into two major arms, which had reached a vegetated area downslope at ab out 2 m distance from the coastal road. Their fronts were slowing down here, but if the alimentation rate continues to be high, they might again reach and cross the road. This happened last time during the big eruption in 2007.  Location of the eruptive fissures (image: OVPF) [ less] [ read all] Mon, 12 Aug 2019, 05:58  Deformation of the summit area of Piton de la Fournaise volcano during yesterday with the interpreted magma movement shown as arrows (image: OVPF) The 4th eruption of the volcano in 2019 started yesterday afternoon, but so far, little details are known. ...moreA seismic crisis began at 07:00 (local time) yesterday, followed by increasing deformation that showed that magma underground was migrating from an area beneath the southeastern rim of Dolomieu crater towards the east and SSE flank. From 16:20, volcanic tremor started, indicating magma having arrived at the surface of very close to it. The eruption could initially not be observed directly due to bad weather conditions. [ less] [ read all] Sun, 11 Aug 2019, 14:15  Satellite image of Piton de la Fournaise volcano on 11 Aug 2019 Volcanic Ash Advisory Center Toulouse (VAAC) issued the following report: ...moreFVXX01 at 14:12 UTC, 11/08/19 from LFPW [ less] [ read all] Tue, 30 Jul 2019, 14:47  Tremor during Piton de la Fournaise's short-lived latest eruption (image: OVPF) The 3rd eruption of the volcano this year already paused or maybe ended after a bit more than 16 hours of activity. ...moreA seismic crisis had started on 29 July on 05:13 local time, followed by the opening of 3 eruptive fissures at around 12:00. The fissures, which erupted low lava fountains and fed several lava flows, were located on the northern flank (600 m from Formica Léo) covering a total length of approx. 450 m, on top of the July 2018 lava flows. Eruptive intensity decreased gradually and ceased today at 04:30, marking the end or at least a pause in the eruption. However, given the small volume of lava erupted, it is possible that activity resumes in a near future.  View of the eruption site yesterday (image: OVPF-IPGP, Imaz Press, Réunion La 1ère) [ less] [ read all] Mon, 29 Jul 2019, 09:15 Volcanic Ash Advisory Center Toulouse (VAAC) issued the following report: ...moreFVXX01 at 09:00 UTC, 29/07/19 from LFPW [ less] [ read all] Thu, 13 Jun 2019, 18:47  Tremor signal during the latest eruption of Piton de la Fournaise volcano (image: OVPF) The eruption which had started early on 11 June ended today around noon. It had thus lasted only little more than two days, one of the volcano's typical brief but (at least in the beginning) intense eruptions. Wed, 12 Jun 2019, 08:12  Photo of one of the eruptive fissures at 15:30 on 11 June (image © OVPF-IPGP) A new eruption started at the volcano yesterday morning. At least 4 eruptive fissures with lava fountaining opened on the SSE slope of the Dolomieu crater at around 06:35 local time. ...moreA seismic crisis, heralding the rapid advance of magma towards the surface was registered at 06:03 local time, meaning that the eruption gave only about 30 minutes of final warning. However, elevated seismic activity and inflation during the past 2 weeks had preceded the eruption as precursor. The lava fountains were reported to be initially about 30 m high, but bad weather prohibited detailed observations. Several lava flows began to travel downslope. Already in the afternoon, tremor started to decrease and had descended to one third of its initial value by early evening.  Thermal image of the several fissure (image © OVPF-IPGP)  Tremor during the first day of the eruption (image © OVPF-IPGP) [ less] [ read all] Tue, 11 Jun 2019, 03:45 Volcanic Ash Advisory Center Toulouse (VAAC) issued the following report: ...moreFVXX01 at 03:41 UTC, 11/06/19 from LFPW [ less] [ read all] Show more newsTue, 12 Mar 2019, 19:40  Webcam image from yesterday showing the still-incandescent new lava flows. Credit: OVPF. The eruption suddenly stopped on Sunday following a brief period of intense eruptive activity (apparently related to the unexpected opening of the new fissure as previously reported). The monitoring observatory has said there is no sign of renewal of activity, and that such dramatic terminations of eruptions are common. Thu, 7 Mar 2019, 16:30  The new eruptive fissure at Piton de la Fournaise volcano seen on 6 Mar 2019 morning (image: 06 mars 2019 au matin. (© Corail hélicoptère /via OVPF)) The eruption of the volcano continues and provides surprises: a new fissure opened sometime during 5 March upstream of the previous eruptive site, on the northwestern flank of Piton Madoré at an elevation of approx. 1800 m. ...moreThe new fissure was first seen by tourists on a helicopter overflight yesterday morning and later confirmed by the volcano observatory. At least 6 new lava emission points were identified. Small new cones have already formed around them. It is however unclear whether it is just a prolongation of the existing eruptive fissure or a separate dike. The magma output was estimated to be between 1-12 cubic meters per second only. This rather low value, together with a still slowly increasing trend of tremor, indicates that the system is not in a stable condition yet. The opening of additional fissures can be seen as a sign that magma flow to the surface through the existing conduits was not efficient enough, as if it is still "trying out" better pathways.  Eruption tremor during the past weeks (image: OVPF) [ less] [ read all] Mon, 4 Mar 2019, 07:55  View of the lava flow from Piton de la Fournaise on 24 Feb (image courtesy: Christophe de Charette / Fournaise.info / facebook) The eruption at the volcano is continuing with no signs of ending soon. Since a few days, the so-far only modest, but stable lava effusion rate has increased. Two more effusive vents opened up downhill on the eruptive fissure and there are now 3 lava flows slowly descending the slope of the Grand Brûlé ("Great Burn"). ...moreDespite this, the effusion rate, estimated at around 1-10 cubic meters per second, is still comparatively low and hence, the eruption is unlikely to affect the coastal area, even though the lava flows are directed towards there. The advance has been about 300 m in 5 days as of yesterday. At this rate, it would take almost 3 months to reach the coast.  Eruption tremor during the past weeks (image: OVPF) [ less] [ read all] Tue, 19 Feb 2019, 15:00  Satellite image of Piton de la Fournaise volcano on 19 Feb 2019 Volcanic Ash Advisory Center Toulouse (VAAC) issued the following report: ...moreFVXX01 at 14:44 UTC, 19/02/19 from LFPW [ less] [ read all] Mon, 18 Feb 2019, 09:07  View of Piton de la Fournaise volcano crater this morning (image: OVPF) A new eruption has begun at the volcano this morning. At 09:48, the volcano observatory recorded the onset of typical eruption tremor and announced the eruption which seems to take place from new fissures on the NNE flank of Dolomieu crater in the central part of the Enclos. ...moreThe eruption came as expected: a seismic crisis had started two days earlier (on 16 Feb), indicating that magma had started to rise towards the surface (generating new paths on its was means breaking rocks, causing small earthquakes). Alongside the seismic crisis, instruments had measured rapid deformation (swelling) and increased emissions of CO2 gas of magmatic origin, all of which led to the conclusion that a new eruption was about to start soon. The frequency of quakes had dropped from over 300/day on 16 Feb to less than 10/day yesterday evening, suggesting a temporary halt of the rising magma. However, continuing inflation suggested that supply of magma from deeper levels continued. In fact, a new seismic swarm started 30 minutes before the magma erupted at the surface this morning.  Distance changes of various GPS station pairs during the past 2 months, showing the inflation in the center due to magma intruding into the edifice (image: OVPF) [ less] [ read all] Mon, 18 Feb 2019, 06:30 Volcanic Ash Advisory Center Toulouse (VAAC) issued the following report: ...moreFVXX02 at 06:25 UTC, 18/02/19 from LFPW [ less] [ read all]  More on VolcanoDiscovery: Nyiragongo volcano photos: Nyiragongo (DR Congo) has the world's largest and most active lava lake. Enjoy our pictures taken during several expeditions over the past years.  1-3 day excursions: If you're interested in volcanoes, there are a number of excursions you should not miss if you're in the area: hike to the craters of Stromboli volcano, climb Etna volcano, get to know the unique volcanic history of Santorini - some examples of shorter (1-3 days) tours and excursions we offer.  Latest VAAC alerts: The Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers provide near-real time global monitoring of volcanic ash plumes for aviation. Read the latest (or browse past) advisories. |
