Activity for the week of 24 January-30 January 2001
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.
New Activity / Unrest
Fujisan
| Honshu (Japan)
| 35.361°N, 138.728°E
| Elevation 3776 m
According to a Reuters article from 29 January, the high number of low-frequency earthquakes that were recorded at Fuji over the past several months (133 in October, 222 in November, and 144 in December) decreased to 36 in January.
Source: Reuters
Mayon
| Luzon (Philippines)
| 13.257°N, 123.685°E
| Elevation 2462 m
PHIVOLCS reported that the increase in volcanic activity, which has occurred since a lava dome was spotted in Mayon's summit crater on 10 January, led them to raise the Alert Level from 2 to 3 (an increased tendency towards eruption, with magmatic outbursts possible within the coming weeks) on 25 January. During the previous week the monitoring networks had detected numerous volcanic earthquakes, continued inflation at the edifice, and very high gas emission from the summit crater (5,040 metric tons per day). In addition, several ash ejections coincided with earthquakes that originated from beneath the lava dome, which appeared to grow during the week. The ash-laden volcanic plumes typically rose up to 500 m above the crater and generally drifted with the prevailing wind to the WNW and NW.
Sources: Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), Associated Press
Merapi
| Central Java (Indonesia)
| 7.54°S, 110.446°E
| Elevation 2910 m
An Associated Press article from 25 January reported that ash mixed with rain fell on the village of Deres on the flanks of the volcano. Activity reportedly increased slightly on 25 January.
Source: Associated Press
Ongoing Activity
Etna
| Sicily (Italy)
| 37.748°N, 14.999°E
| Elevation 3320 m
Sistema Poseidon reported that during 22-28 January, eruptive activity at Etna was dominated by modest, intermittent lava flows that were emitted from the radial fracture on the N flank of the Southeast Crater. The Bocca Nuova Crater mostly produced ash-and-gas emissions during the beginning of the report period, but they decreased near the end of the period. At night, weak Strombolian activity was observed inside the crater. Limited gas emissions were released from the Northeast and Voragine craters.
Source: Sezione di Catania - Osservatorio Etneo (INGV)
Kilauea
| Hawaiian Islands (USA)
| 19.421°N, 155.287°W
| Elevation 1222 m
Surface lava flow activity on Pulama pali gradually declined during 27 and 28 January, with only two flows near the E and W sides of the flow field. By 29 January, the area where lava entered the ocean was relatively large and a small bench (land built out from the sea cliff) was being constructed. Overall, volcanic tremor near Pu`u `O`o and in Kilauea's caldera was at low-to-moderate levels. Tiltmeters in the summit area and along the east rift zone showed no deformation.
Source: US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)
Popocatepetl
| Mexico
| 19.023°N, 98.622°W
| Elevation 5393 m
During the week several small-to-moderate sized eruptions occurred, with light ashfall reported in two towns and a pyroclastic flow stopping 8 km short of a town. The Washington VAAC reported that on 25 January an ash plume, which was produced by rockfall activity, rose to ~7 km a.s.l and was visible on GOES-8 imagery. According to CENAPRED, at 1338 on the same day an exhalation produced an ash cloud that rose to 3 km above the volcano and blew to the NW, depositing ash in San Pedro Nexapa, ~15 away. A minor eruption at 1212 on 27 January produced an ash cloud that rose to 6.4 km a.s.l. and blew to the NE, depositing light ash in the town of Santiago Xalitzintla, ~15 km from the volcano. An ash-and-steam eruption at 1155 on 28 January produced an ash cloud that that rose to 7 km and blew to the NE. Based on information from the Mexico City MWO, the Washington VAAC reported that an eruption occurred at 1104 on 29 January. A pilot report stated that the ash cloud from the eruption rose to ~11.9 km a.s.l., while CENAPRED reported that the cloud rose to ~8 km a.s.l. and blew to the NE. The eruption sent pyroclasts out to 1 km from the crater and produced pyroclastic flows that traveled down the NE flank of the volcano, stopping 8 km before reaching the town of Santiago Xalitzintla. The pyroclastic flows caused some melting of the summit glacier located primarily on the upper N and W flanks. The volcano remained at Alert Level Yellow Phase III, with a 12-km-radius restricted area.
Sources: Centro Nacional de Prevencion de Desastres (CENAPRED), Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), Associated Press
Sheveluch
| Central Kamchatka (Russia)
| 56.653°N, 161.36°E
| Elevation 3283 m
KVERT reported that on 21-24 January seismicity was above background levels and on 20-24 January a gas-and-steam plume rose 50-1,000 m above the volcano. Shallow earthquakes were registered under the volcano along with short-lived explosions at 0444 on 22 January and at 0924 on 24 January. The Concern Color Code remained at Yellow.
Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)
Soufriere Hills
| Montserrat
| 16.72°N, 62.18°W
| Elevation 915 m
Activity at the Soufrière Hills volcano during 19-26 January was lower than the previous week, although the lava dome exhibited continued growth. Compared to last week, seismic activity was reduced and the number of rockfalls more than halved. Activity continued to be concentrated on the SE side of the lava dome, with a large slabby lobe extruded above the Tar River Valley, which is to the E of the volcano.
Source: Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO)
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.
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.
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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.
