Activity for the week of 9 February-15 February 2005
The Weekly Volcanic Activity Report is a cooperative project between the Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Program and the US Geological Survey's Volcano Hazards Program. Updated by 2300 UTC every Wednesday, notices of volcanic activity posted on these pages are preliminary and subject to change as events are studied in more detail. This is not a comprehensive list of all of Earth's volcanoes erupting during the week, but rather a summary of activity at volcanoes that meet criteria discussed in detail in the "Criteria and Disclaimers" section. Carefully reviewed, detailed reports on various volcanoes are published monthly in the Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network.
Ongoing Activity
Anatahan
| Mariana Islands (USA)
| 16.35°N, 145.67°E
| Elevation 790 m
During 10-13 February, frequent Strombolian explosions continued at Anatathan, but slowly declined to about 5-10% of the peak levels attained during the current eruption. During the report period, ash rose as high as ~6 km a.s.l.
Source: Emergency Management Office of the Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands and United States Geological Survey Volcano Hazards Program
Colima
| Mexico
| 19.514°N, 103.62°W
| Elevation 3850 m
During 9-15 February, several small explosions at Colima sent ash to low altitudes. An explosion on 12 February was accompanied by a pyroclastic flow that traveled ~2.5 km SE down the Montegrande and San Antonio ravines (See video of the event).
Source: Centro Universitario de Estudios e Investigaciones de Vulcanologia - Universidad de Colima
Ebeko
| Paramushir Island (Russia)
| 50.686°N, 156.014°E
| Elevation 1103 m
On 7 February a small emission of steam, gas, and possibly ash from Ebeko rose ~1 km above the volcano's crater and drifted ~12 km SE. On 8 and 9 February plumes rose to 600 m and thin ash deposits were noted in the town of Severo-Kurilsk, ~7 km from the volcano. Ebeko remained at Concern Color Code Yellow .
Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)
Egon
| Flores Island (Indonesia)
| 8.676°S, 122.455°E
| Elevation 1661 m
An explosion at Egon on 14 February at 1830 produced a plume to an unknown height. Egon remained at Alert Level 4, the highest level.
Source: Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG, also known as CVGHM)
Kilauea
| Hawaiian Islands (USA)
| 19.421°N, 155.287°W
| Elevation 1222 m
During 9-15 February, Kilauea's PKK lava flow continued to enter the sea and surface lava was visible on the Pulama pali fault scarp. A few small earthquakes occurred at Kilauea's summit and no tremor was recorded there. Volcanic tremor remained at moderate levels at Pu`u `O`o. A small amount of deformation was recorded at the volcano.
Source: US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)
Klyuchevskoy
| Central Kamchatka (Russia)
| 56.056°N, 160.642°E
| Elevation 4754 m
During 4-11 February, seismicity was above background levels at Kliuchevskoi and ash plumes rose above the volcano. On 6, 8, and 9 February, ash plumes rose ~2.5 km above the volcano's crater. Gas-and-steam plumes rose to ~3 km during 6-9 February. A cinder cone was noted in the volcano's crater on 6 February. Fresh ash deposits were seen on the SW flank of Ushkovsky volcano (NW of Kliuchevskoi) on 7 February, and in the town of Kluchi on 9 February.
During 31 January to 9 February, Strombolian activity occurred in the terminal crater of Kliuchevskoi and a lava flow traveled into Krestovsky channel on the volcano's NW flank. Phreatic bursts occurred in this channel when a lava flow contacted glaciers during 6-9 February. Kliuchevskoi remained at Concern Color Code Orange.
Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)
Manam
| Papua New Guinea
| 4.08°S, 145.037°E
| Elevation 1807 m
Based on information from RVO, the Darwin VAAC reported that emissions from Manam continued during 9-15 February. The Alert Level at Manam was reduced from 3 to 2 around 15 February.
Source: Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC)
Sheveluch
| Central Kamchatka (Russia)
| 56.653°N, 161.36°E
| Elevation 3283 m
Seismicity at Shiveluch was above background levels during 4-11 February, with weak shallow earthquakes occurring beneath the active dome. On 6 February a pyroclastic flow traveled ~2 km down the volcano's flank. Based on interpretations of seismic data, ash-and-gas explosions may have risen to 5.1 km a.s.l. on 6, 7, and 9 February. Weak ash-and-gas explosions and hot avalanches possibly occurred during the week. Ash-and-gas plumes were seen rising to 2.4 km above the lava dome. Shiveluch remained at Concern Color Code Orange.
Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)
St. Helens
| United States
| 46.2°N, 122.18°W
| Elevation 2549 m
During 9-15 February, growth of the new lava dome inside the crater of St. Helens continued, accompanied by low rates of seismicity, low emissions of steam and volcanic gases, and minor production of ash. Gas emissions were unchanged in comparison to recent measurements. On 14 and 15 February, the GPS instrument installed on the new lava dome moved an average of 6 m per day mostly southeastward with an upward component of about 1 m per day. St. Helens remained at Volcano Advisory (Alert Level 2); aviation color code Orange.
Source: US Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO)
Tungurahua
| Ecuador
| 1.467°S, 78.442°W
| Elevation 5023 m
Volcanic and seismic activity were at low levels at Tungurahua during 9-14 February. Low-energy gas-and-steam plumes were emitted and long-period earthquakes were recorded.
Sources: Instituto GeofÃsico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional (IG), Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)
Veniaminof
| United States
| 56.17°N, 159.38°W
| Elevation 2507 m
Low-level Strombolian eruptive activity continued at Veniaminof during 4-11 February. On 9 February, an ash burst rose hundreds of meters above the intracaldera cone. Satellite images continued to show a thermal anomaly in the vicinity of the intracaldera cone, consistent with the presence of hot material at the vent. Seismicity remained above background levels at the volcano. On the morning of 10 February there was a distinct increase in the amplitude and frequency of earthquakes. The increase continued through 11 February. This activity was consistent with more energetic explosions from the active cone, however there were no indications that the bursts rose higher than 4 km a.s.l. Veniaminof remained at Concern Color Code Orange.
Source: US Geological Survey Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO)
News Feeds and Google Placemarks
The RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed is identical to the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report minus some features including the header information (latitude and longitude and summit elevation), the Geologic Summary, and a link to the volcano's page from the Global Volcanism Program. Each volcano report includes a link from the volcano's name back to the more complete information in the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report on the Smithsonian website.
The CAP (Common Alerting Protocol) feeds are XML files specifically formatted for disaster management. They are similar in content to the RSS feed, but contain no active links.
A Google Earth network link for the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report can be loaded into the free Google Earth software, and in turn will load placemarks for volcanoes in the current weekly report. Placemark balloons include the volcano name, report date, report text, sources, and links back to the GVP volcano page for that volcano and to the complete Weekly Report for that week.
Criteria & Disclaimers
Criteria
The Weekly Volcanic Activity Report does not necessarily include all volcanic activity that occurred on Earth during the week. More than a dozen volcanoes globally have displayed more-or-less continuous eruptive activity for decades or longer, and such routine activity is typically not reported here. Moreover, Earth's sea-floor volcanism is seldom reported even though in theory it represents the single most prolific source of erupted material. The Weekly Volcanic Activity Report summarizes volcanic activity that meets one or more of the following criteria:
- A volcano observatory raises or lowers the alert level at the volcano.
- A volcanic ash advisory has been released by a volcanic ash advisory center (VAAC) stating that an ash cloud has been produced from the volcano.
- A verifiable news report of new activity or a change in activity at the volcano has been issued.
- Observers have reported a significant change in volcanic activity. Such activity can include, but is not restricted to, pyroclastic flows, lahars, lava flows, dome collapse, or increased unrest.
Volcanoes are included in the "New Activity/Unrest" section of the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report if the activity occurs after at least 3 months of quiescence. Once a volcano is included in the "New Activity/Unrest" section, updates will remain in that section unless the activity continues for more than 1 month without escalating, after which time updates will be listed in the "Continuing Activity" section. Volcanoes are also included in the "New Activity/Unrest" section if the volcano is undergoing a period of relatively high unrest, or increasing unrest. This is commonly equal to Alert Level Orange on a scale of Green, Yellow, Orange, Red, where Red is the highest alert. Or alert level 3 on a scale of 1-4 or 1-5.
It is important to note that volcanic activity meeting one or more of these criteria may occur during the week, but may not be included in the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report because we did not receive a report.
Disclaimers
1. The Weekly Volcanic Activity Report is intended to provide timely information about global volcanism on a weekly basis. Consequently, the report is generated rapidly by summarizing volcanic reports from various sources, with little time for fact checking. The accuracy of the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report is dependent upon the quality of the volcanic activity reports we receive. Reports published in the Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network are monthly, and more carefully reviewed, although all of the volcanoes discussed in the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report are not necessarily reported in the Bulletin. Because of our emphasis on rapid reporting on the web we have avoided diacritical marks. Reports are updated on the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report web page as they are received, therefore information may be included regarding events that occurred before the current report period.
2. Rapidly developing events lead to coverage that is often fragmentary. Volcanoes, their eruptions, and their plumes and associated atmospheric effects are complex phenomena that may require months to years of data analysis in order to create a comprehensive summary and interpretation of events.
3. Preliminary accounts sometimes contain exaggerations and "false alarms," and accordingly, this report may include some events ultimately found to be erroneous or misleading.
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RSS and CAP Feeds
An RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed for the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report first made available on 5 March 2008 can be utilized with the aid of various free downloadable readers. The report content of the news feed is identical to the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report minus some features including the header information (latitude and longitude and summit elevation), the Geologic Summary, and a link to the volcano's page from the Global Volcanism Program. Each volcano report includes a link from the volcano's name back to the more complete information in the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report on the Smithsonian website. On 12 March 2009, GeoRSS tags were added so that the latitude and longitude for each volcano could be included with the feed.
At the end of each individual report is a list of the sources used. We would like to emphasize that the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) website (http://www.wovo.org/) lists the regional volcano observatories that have the most authoritative data for many of these events.
CAP (Common Alerting Protocol) feeds are XML files specifically formatted for disaster management.
Google Earth Placemarks
A Google Earth network link for the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report was first made available on 1 April 2009. This file can be loaded into the free Google Earth software, and in turn will load placemarks for volcanoes in the current weekly report. Placemark balloons include the volcano name, report date, report text, sources, and links back to the GVP volcano page for that volcano and to the complete Weekly Report for that week.
