[enlarge map]

The lava dome that formed throughout the fall-winter of 2011 was largely removed by the explosive activity on 25 and 29 December, 2011. It remains possible for intermittent, sudden explosions of blocks and ash to occur at any time, and ash clouds exceeding 20,000 feet above sea level may develop. Such explosions and their associated ash clouds may go undetected in satellite imagery for hours. If a large, explosive, ash-producing event occurs, seismic, infrasound, or volcanic lightning may be detected by local and regional monitoring networks. There is no real-time seismic monitoring network on Mount Cleveland. [less]

We plan to have a look at Nea Kameni, photograph the island in winter, and of course, look after local sources and information about the current seismicity and the questions related to a possible eruption in a near or medium future. Santorini merits a visit in winter anyway. It will probably be stormy, wet and cold, but perfect to appreciate its raw beauty without tourists. [less]

In a TV interview earlier today, a seismologist from the Athens Observatory confirmed the widespread (public) opinion that these earthquakes 50 km SW are no longer normal, and that "everything could happen" (not mentioning what), and critisized fellow scientists who have been saying that the quakes were normal.
At the same time, Houliaras said that these quakes have nothing to do with the volcano (which we don't agree, since there is a correlation between the absence of quakes under the volcano and the seismic swarm off the island). He said that before June 25, 2011, only earthquakes magnitute 4 and above where recorded on Santorini (!) and that the increase in the seismic activity was due to the presence of more seismographs on the island. We leave it to the reader to interpret this statement.. [less]

A new weak thermal anomaly located inside Nabro's summit caldera was detected on 29 Jan on satellite infrared images by MODVOLC. It suggests that some sort of activity still goes on there.

New photos from VolcanoDiscovery's recent expedition to still erupting Nyamuragira volcano from 22-25 January are now available at: ...more [read all]

The highly unusual swarm of earthquakes SW of Santorini on the main fault zone that also defines the volcanic vents of the region continues with about 10 quakes larger than magnitude 2 during the past 24 hours. 2 of the quakes were magnitude 4 and 4.7, respectively. ...more [read all]

The unusual seismic swarm in progress at a location ca. 50 km SW of Santorini is continuing. Up to now, 22 quakes between 2 and 4.9 magnitude have been recorded by the Hellenic Seismic networks for 28 January 2012. ...more

Sporadic strombolian eruptions have started at the New SE crater on 27 Jan, following ash emissions observed the previous day. ...more [read all]

Popocatépetl volcano's activity is increasing. On 25 Jan at 10:10 local time, an ash explosion produced a plume of 3 km height drifting NE. During the past days, strong degassing and steaming has been observed as well as periods of low-frequency tremor. At night (see webcam image), a constant glow can be seen from the summit crater, suggesting that the lava dome might have started a new phase of growth. ...more

During our recent expedition, we visited Nyamuragira's ongoing eruption during 22-25 January, and found that the eruption is still going on strongly, but somewhat less intense than during the first 1-2 weeks in January. ...more [read all]

A 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit about 50 km SW of Santorini on 26 Jan at 04:24:58 GMT. The quake was 28.7 km and most likely of tectonic origin. The location is 48 km SW of Santorini at the end of a tectonic fault defining a graben SE of Santorini and the eastern boundary of the volcanically active SW-NE zone comprising the volcanic vents of the Christiania Islands, Santorini itself, the submarine Kolumbos volcano and several minor submarine vents NE of Kolumbo.

Since Monday 23 January 2012, there has been an intensification of Sangay volcano's activity, as indicated by reports from pilots who reported the presence of ash from the volcano drifting S-SE. In addition, satellite images from 24 Jan show the presence of thermal anomalies at the volcano. ...more