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Volcanic activity worldwide 17 Dec 2013: Shiveluch, Sinabung, Nishino-shima, Fuego, Etna

Etna (Sicily, Italy): It seems that the latest, highly unusual paroxysm can be regarded as over. Lava effusion ceased (or almost completely ceased) over night and tremor has continued to drop to again low levels.
...16 Dec:
The activity has dropped although a small new fissure has now opened on the lower NE side of the cone, producing a small lava flow visible in the picture; whether it is the near end of the current episode or only a pause is difficult to say.

Shiveluch (Kamchatka): Several ash plumes to altitudes of 17-20,000 ft (5-6 km) have been detected by VAAC Tokyo during the past 24 hours. Webcam images are mostly obscured by clouds, but glow can be sometimes seen at the lava dome. Most likely the ash plumes were generated by partial collapse events and/or explosions, which in turn might have been associated with new pyroclastic flows.

Nishino-shima (Volcano Islands, Japan): (16 Dec) Activity continues at the new island and has apparently picked up in strength again. Lava flows have created a significant new delta of new land during the past 3 days, enlarging the island to a current width measuring approx. 400 (E-W) by 300 (N-S) meters.
The Japanese Coast Guard posted an interesting video and report that also shows that sporadic strombolian explosions from the active vent continue along with lava effusion:


Sinabung (Sumatra, Indonesia): The Indonesian Volcanological Survey (VSI) informed in its latest press release that a significant increase in seismic activity was detected during the past days.
While the volcano has been relatively calm at the surface, producing only a dilute gas plume with some ash reaching about 1 km above the crater, the increase in earthquakes suggests that new magma is currently rising and could produce new (potentially large) explosions.
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In particular, low-frequency and so-called hybrid earthquakes, typical of fluid movements inside the volcanic edifice, have climbed to almost one 1000 per day. Continuous volcanic tremor (internal vibration) at medium levels has also been detected over the past days.
Deformation measurements with tilt-meters on the northern and eastern flank and EDM (electronic distance meters) show a fluctuating trend of inflation, suggesting the presence of an intruding magma body at shallow depth. Gas and temperature measurements are not conclusive from the VSI report, as quality / temporal coverage are insufficient.


Fuego (Guatemala): (16 Dec) Activity remains elevated but stable; the lava flow increased its length a bit to 600 m this morning, while explosions have become a bit weaker and occurred at rates of 2-3 per hour. Many of them produce shock waves that rattle windows and roofs of houses in nearby villages.

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