San Miguel volcano news & activity updates
San Miguel volcano (El Salvador): new eruption
Tuesday Dec 31, 2013 06:21 AM | BY: T
Eruption plume from today's explosion at San Miguel (photo: La Prensa Grafica)
Ash fall in San Jorge (La Prensa Grafica)
Aqua/MODIS image of the eruption plume from San Miguel in El Salvador, seen on December 29, 2013. Image: NASA, rectified by Nahum Chazarra.
Seismic signal (29 Dec) during the eruption (LYC station, MARN)
Part of the hazard map of San Miguel (MARN)
The explosion produced an ash plume of considerable (3-8 km) height, reaching estimated altitudes of 5-10 km. Heavy ash fall followed the eruption in nearby areas downwind, such as in the towns of Chinameca and San Jorge to the west. Civil Protection immediately began to evacuate families residing in a radius of 3 km around the volcano. So far, more than 5000 persons have been ordered to evacuate.
The following video from MARN's webcam shows the onset of the powerful explosion, accompanied by a (fortunately only) small pyroclastic flow (starting a 8sec):
The second largest city of the country, San Miguel de la Frontera (approx. 250,000 inhabitants) is located only 7 km NE of the volcano and could be at risk if the eruption continues and starts to produce pyroclastic flows (see hazard map of MARN).
Satellite images showed the plume shortly after the explosion stretching over approx. 150 km length.
Seismic data showed a steep increase in earthquake activity starting at 06:30 local time. After the explosion, seismic activity dropped again, suggesting that
- All news about: San Miguel volcano
- Information about: San Miguel volcano
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Links / Sources:
Links / Sources:
- Reportan actividad en volcán Chaparrastique de San Miguel (La Prensa Grafica)
- New Explosive Eruption From El Salvador’s San Miguel (Eruptions Blog)
Previous news
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Tuesday, Mar 19, 2013
The volcano has been relatively quiet recently. Only few volcanic quakes, weak tremor and (probably) rockfall signals show up now and then.
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Thursday, Mar 07, 2013
Seismic unrest (fluctuating, sometimes strong volcanic tremor and earthquakes) continue. Several hot spots are visible on the volcano's flanks, but most likely caused by fires.
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Tuesday, Feb 05, 2013
Activity has somewhat increased during the past 24 hours, including a pulse of stronger tremor and numerous small volcanic quakes.
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