All times are local unless otherwise stated.

Tengger Caldera | 13 December-19 December 2000 | New Activity / UnrestCite this Report
Tengger Caldera Eastern Java	The VSI reported that during 5-11 December volcanic activity at Bromo cone in the Tengger caldera was marked by ongoing explosions and continuous tremor. Ash clouds produced from the explosions reached 150-900 m above the crater rim. The volcano remained at Alert Level 2 (ranging from 1 to 4). Source: Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG, also known as CVGHM)

Guagua Pichincha | 13 December-19 December 2000 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Guagua Pichincha Ecuador	The Guayaquil MWO reported to the Washington VAAC that an eruption occurred at 0148 on 15 December. No ash plume was visible in GOES-8 imagery and no further eruption details were reported. The IG reported that the high number of earthquakes that occurred during the week indicated that dome 9 continued to slowly grow. Sources: Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), Instituto Geofísico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional (IG)
Karangetang | 13 December-19 December 2000 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Karangetang Sangihe Islands	The VSI reported that during 5-11 December activity increased at Karangetang in comparison to previous weeks. Seismic activity was high, with an extreme increase in volcanic earthquakes. A thin plume was emitted from the main crater and Crater II; the plume rose up to 50 m above the summit and a "fire plume" reached up to 25 m above the summit. The volcano remained at Alert Level 2 (ranging from 1 to 4). Source: Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG, also known as CVGHM)
Kilauea | 13 December-19 December 2000 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Kilauea Hawaiian Islands (USA)	Lava flowed into the sea at the Kamokuna entry until 17 December. From the 17th until the 19th of December (the end of the report period) no lava was observed flowing into the sea. During the week several `a`a flows were visible traveling down Pulama pali. Overall, earthquake activity was low across the island. Volcanic tremor was at normal levels near Pu`u `O`o and beneath Kilauea caldera. A tiltmeter near HVO showed slight deflation the morning of 19 December, while all other tiltmeters on Kilauea showed flat signals. Source: US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)
Popocatepetl | 13 December-19 December 2000 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Popocatepetl Mexico	For the first time in 6 years, continuous-fountaining Strombolian-style eruptions of incandescent spatter occurred at Popocatépetl, marking a significant change in eruption behavior. In addition, strong harmonic tremor and high-mass flux rates have occurred. As of the end of the report period, the summit crater contained hot lava, and continuous ash emissions deposited ash in several towns surrounding the volcano. This report is updated weekly but volcanic activity can change rapidly. To obtain more up-to-date volcanic activity reports refer to the CENAPRED website and/or contact their hotline at 01-800-123-5050. In addition, the Washington VAAC website provides detailed accounts of ash-producing volcanic activity. Since the large exhalation on 12 December sent ash to an altitude of ~10.6 km a.s.l., continuous ash emissions have occurred, with occasional large exhalations of ash reaching a maximum altitude of ~11 km a.s.l. High levels of seismic activity, including harmonic tremor, and other monitoring parameters led officials to raise the Alert Level at the volcano on 16 December from Yellow Phase II to Phase III, thus increasing the high-risk zone from 7 to 10 km. In addition, according to a Reuters article, officials called on ~30,000 residents living within a ~12-km-radius around the volcano to evacuate to 180 refugee centers. On 16 December CENAPRED scientists flew over the volcano and found that a new lava dome had formed in the crater. The Washington VAAC reported that an eruption involving lava began at 1915 on 18 December, sending an ash cloud to an altitude of ~7.3 km a.s.l. In addition, the eruption sent incandescent spatter 1 to 2 km SE of the volcano. CENAPRED reported that during 18 and 19 December a large increase in volcanic activity occurred, consisting mainly of Strombolian ejections. According to a Reuters article, there were concerns that a ~900-km-long glacier on the volcano's western face could be melted by lava and produce lahars. This led officials to extend the high-risk zone to ~20 km. Interior Minister Santiago Creel told a news conference on 19 December, "We are on maximum alert ... because we have to be ready for any possible contingency regarding the glacier." As of 20 December (the end of the report period) continuous ash emissions were occurring and a very large ash cloud covered a large portion of S Mexico, extended E across the southern Gulf of Mexico and to near the N tip of the Yucantan Penninsula. Sources: Associated Press, Stromboli On-Line, Centro Nacional de Prevencion de Desastres (CENAPRED), Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), Reuters
Semeru | 13 December-19 December 2000 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Semeru Eastern Java	The VSI reported that during 5-11 December fume from Jonggring Seloko crater located in the S sector of Semeru's summit rose up to 600 m above the crater. The seismic record was dominated by explosion earthquakes and the record showed that two pyroclastic flows occurred. The volcano remained at Alert Level 2 (ranging from 1 to 4). Source: Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG, also known as CVGHM)
Sheveluch | 13 December-19 December 2000 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Sheveluch Central Kamchatka (Russia)	KVERT reported that the character of volcanic activity at Shiveluch did not change during 9-16 December. Weak seismicity was registered at the volcano during most of the week. Much like the previous week, two seismic events occurred that were above normal levels. First, at 2147 on 9 December a shallow seismic event was likely accompanied by a gas-and-ash explosion that sent a cloud to an inferred 3.5 km a.s.l. The event was followed by volcanic tremor for ~0.5 hour. The second possible gas-and-ash explosion occurred at 0021 on 12 December. The cloud was again inferred from seismic data to have risen to ~4 km a.s.l. These inferred plume heights were determined by comparing the amplitude of the seismic wave caused by the eruption to the heights of ash clouds observed in the past associated with earthquakes with similar amplitudes. After the 12 December event, volcanic tremor was registered for 1 hour. The Concern Color Code at the volcano remained at Yellow. Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)
Soufriere Hills | 13 December-19 December 2000 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Soufriere Hills Montserrat	Activity at the Soufrière Hills volcano remained at an elevated level during 8-15 December, with continued growth of the lava dome. Seismic activity was comparable to last week and the main focus of volcanic activity remained on the E flank. Near-continuous rockfalls and ash venting occurred from the summit area, producing ash clouds that traveled to the W of the volcano. GOES-8 imagery showed that the clouds did not rise above 3 km and that hotspots were occasionally visible. SO2 values were significantly lower than values measured over the previous 2 months. Sources: Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO), Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)
Tungurahua | 13 December-19 December 2000 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Tungurahua Ecuador	The IG reported that at 1415 on 14 December an ash cloud was observed at an altitude of ~5.5 km a.s.l. near Tungurahua's summit, moving to the NE. No ash was visible in GOES 8 imagery. Sources: Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), Instituto Geofísico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional (IG)

Weekly Reports Archive

Since the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report began in November 2000, there have been 18,995 individual reports over 1,169 weeks (average of 16 per week) on 329 different volcanoes.

Use the dropdowns to choose the year and week for archived Weekly Reports.

 News Feeds and Google Placemarks

 Criteria & Disclaimers

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.

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 cover longer time periods and are 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.

4. Many news agencies do not archive the articles they post on the Internet, and therefore the links to some sources may not be active. To obtain information about the cited articles that are no longer available on the Internet contact the source.

5. USGS Disclaimer Statement for this Website:

Information presented on this website is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credit is requested. We strongly recommend that USGS data be acquired directly from a USGS server and not through other sources that may change the data in some way. While USGS makes every effort to provide accurate and complete information, various data such as names, telephone numbers, etc. may change prior to updating. USGS welcomes suggestions on how to improve our home page and correct errors. USGS provides no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability or completeness of furnished data.

Some of the documents on this server may contain live references (or pointers) to information created and maintained by other organizations. Please note that USGS does not control and cannot guarantee the relevance, timeliness, or accuracy of these outside materials.

For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, this government computer system employs software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information on this website are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act. Information may also be used for authorized law enforcement investigations. (Last modified September 21, 1999.)

U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA, USA
URL: https://volcano.si.edu/reports_weekly.cfm

 Acronyms and Abbreviations

a.s.l. - above sea level

AVO - Alaska Volcano Observatory

AVHRR - Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer

CENAPRED - Centro Nacionale de Prevencion de Desastres (México)

CONRED - Coordinadora Nacional para la Reducción de Desastres

COSPEC - Correlation Spectrometer

CVGHM (formerly VSI) - Center of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation

CVO - Cascades Volcano Observatory (USGS)

GMS - Geostationary Meteorological Satellite

GOES - Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite

GVO - Goma Volcano Observatory

GVP - Global Volcanism Program (Smithsonian Institution)

HVO - Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (USGS)

ICE - Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (Costa Rica)

IG - Instituto Geofísico (Ecuador)

IGNS - Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (New Zealand) - now GNS Science

INETER - Instituto Nicaragüense de Estudios Territoriales (Nicaragua)

INGEMMET - Instituto Geológical Minero y Metalúrgico (Peru)

INGEOMINAS - Instituto Colombiano de Geología y Minería (Colombia)

INGV-CT - Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia - Sezione di Catania (Italy)

INSIVUMEH - Instituto Nacional de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Meteorologia e Hidrologia (Guatemala)

IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (France)

JMA - Japanese Meteorological Agency

KEMSD - Kamchatkan Experimental and Methodical Seismilogical Department

KVERT - Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team

M - magnitude

METEOSAT - Meteorological Satellite

MEVO - Mount Erebus Volcano Observatory

MODIS - Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer

MVO - Montserrat Volcano Observatory

MWO - Meteorological Watch Office

NEIC - National Earthquake Information Center

NIED - National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (Japan)

NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NOTAM - Notice to Airmen

OVDAS - Observatorio Volcanologico de los Andes del Sur (Chile)

OFDA - Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance

ONEMI - Oficina Nacional de Emergencia - Ministerio del Interior (Chile)

OVPDLF - Observatoire Volcanologique du Piton de la Fournaise (France)

OVSICORI-UNA - Observatorio Vulcanologico y Sismologico de Costa Rica, Universidad Nacional (Costa Rica)

PHIVOLCS - Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philippines)

RSAM - Real-time Seismic Amplitude Measurement

RVO - Rabaul Volcano Observatory

SERNAGEOMIN - Servicio Nacional de Geologia y Mineria (Chile)

SIGMET - Significant Meteorological Information

SNET - Servicio Nacional de Estudios Territoriales (El Salvador)

SVERT - Sakhalin Volcanic Eruption Response Team (Russia)

USAID - US Agency for International Development

USGS - United States Geological Survey

UTC - Coordinated Universal Time

VAAC - Volcanic Ash Advisory Center

VAFTAD - Volcanic Ash Forecast Transport And Dispersion

VDAP - Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (USGS)

VHP - Volcano Hazards Program (USGS)

VRC - Volcano Research Center (Japan)