All times are local unless otherwise stated.

Cleveland | 14 March-20 March 2001 | New Activity / Unrest Cite this Report
Cleveland Chuginadak Island (USA)	The AVO reported that at 1430 on 19 March an explosive eruption at Cleveland was detected on satellite imagery. The National Weather Service estimated the top of the cloud to be at ~ 9 km a.s.l. An observer in the town of Nikolski reported that at about 1900 a strong haze resulting from the eruption extended SE from the volcano, but there was no ashfall. The Washington VAAC concluded that the ash cloud had dissipated by 0230 on 20 March because it was no longer visible on satellite imagery. Sources: Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), US Geological Survey Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO)
Mayon | 14 March-20 March 2001 | New Activity / Unrest Cite this Report
Mayon Luzon (Philippines)	PHIVOLCS reported that during 15 to 19 March, 10-37 low-frequency earthquakes were recorded daily. An average of 2,900 metric tons per day (t/d) of SO2 was recorded during the previous week, which was significantly above the baseline value of 500 t/d. Many days a slight inflationary trend was detected at the volcano's edifice and moderate steaming was seen. No incandescence was observed at the crater. PHIVOLCS warned that instrumental and visual observations suggested that an eruption may occur in the coming weeks and that the volcano remained at Alert Level 3. Observations revealed that the lava dome growing at the summit had overlapped the pre-existing SE rim of the summit crater. Further growth of the lava dome towards the SE could result in rockfalls and avalanches that would be channeled down the SE-flank Bonga Gully. In addition, large pyroclastic flows could occur down the volcano's SE slope. Source: Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS)
Miyakejima | 14 March-20 March 2001 | New Activity / Unrest Cite this Report
Miyakejima Izu Islands	Based on information from the Japan Meteorological Agency, the Kyodo news agency reported that on 16 March volcanic tremor was recorded at Miyake-jima. The tremor was the strongest to be recorded since 29 August 2000. On 19 March an eruption produced a black ash cloud that rose 800 m above the volcano. The island is currently uninhabited because the current volcanic activity that began on 26-27 June 2000 led officials to order an evacuation on 1 September 2000. Source: Kyodo News
Piton de la Fournaise | 14 March-20 March 2001 | New Activity / Unrest Cite this Report
Piton de la Fournaise Reunion Island (France)	The OVPDLF reported that instrumental measurements suggest that Piton de la Fournaise may be entering a phase of heightened activity. Periods of increased seismic activity were recorded in late January with up to 13 earthquakes per day, in late February to early March with up to 126 earthquakes per day, and from 10 March until at least 15 March with up to 20 earthquakes per day. Inflation was detected at the volcano's summit from mid-January to early February, and from the end of February to early March. Since mid-January a continuous opening of fissures was recorded at the N and S bases of the volcano, indicating inflation of the summit area. Similar variations in activity were observed before eruptions on the E and S flanks of the volcano in 1999 and 2000. Source: Observatoire Volcanologique du Piton de la Fournaise (OVPF)

Guagua Pichincha | 14 March-20 March 2001 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Guagua Pichincha Ecuador	Based on information from the IG, the Washington VAAC reported that a moderate ash emission at 2145 on 18 March produced an ash cloud that rose to a height of ~5.8 km a.s.l. The ash cloud was not visible on GOES-8 imagery. According to the IG, during the week a large number of earthquakes, especially long-period events, were registered. The detection of a small number of rockfalls confirmed that lava dome 9 continued to slowly grow. The volcano remained at Alert Level Yellow. Sources: Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), Instituto Geofísico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional (IG-EPN)
Kilauea | 14 March-20 March 2001 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Kilauea Hawaiian Islands (USA)	Lava continued to flow down the Pulama Pali and across the coastal flat as it has for the past 2.5 months. By the end of the week the front of the lava flow was within 300 m of the coast. During the previous couple of weeks, the lava flows had traveled farther E than any active flows since 1992. Overall, volcanic tremor near Pu`u `O`o was low-to-moderate and tremor at Kilauea's caldera was low. For approximately the previous 2 weeks, small low-frequency earthquakes occurred below the caldera. Tiltmeters in the summit area and along the E rift zone showed flat signals. Source: US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)
Klyuchevskoy | 14 March-20 March 2001 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Klyuchevskoy Central Kamchatka (Russia)	The KVERT reported that during 9-15 March seismic activity was above background levels, with interrupted spasmodic tremor and shallow earthquakes registered. Between 1925 and 1940 on 15 March, an intense series of shallow earthquakes were registered. Gas-and-steam plumes rose 2 km above the volcano on 12 and 14 March, and others reached 100-250 m above the volcano on 9, 11, and 13 March. The Concern Color Code remained at Green. Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)
Merapi | 14 March-20 March 2001 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Merapi Central Java	Visual and instrumental monitoring by VSI personnel revealed that volcanic activity continued at Merapi. Hot lava avalanches continued to enter the Sat, Senowo, Bebeng, and Lamat rivers, with a maximum runout distance of 2.5 km in the Sat River. Pyroclastic flows traveled up to 2.75 km down the Sat, Senowo, and Bebeng rivers. Superficial earthquakes dominated the seismicity, though fewer occurred than in the previous week. Observations on 10 March revealed that high-pressure fumaroles appeared on most of the dome's surface. The volcano remained at Alert Level 2 (on a scale of 1-4). Source: Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG, also known as CVGHM)
Popocatepetl | 14 March-20 March 2001 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Popocatepetl Mexico	According to CENAPRED, volcanic activity that was relatively high during 14-16 March began to diminish on 17 March. On 14 and 15 March there were many small exhalations of steam, ash, and gas, as well as episodes of harmonic tremor that totaled 1 hour. On 15 March a new lava dome ~200 m in diameter and 40 m high was observed at the volcano's summit. By 17 March fewer exhalations occurred than on previous days and harmonic tremor was only detected for a total of 15 minutes. The volcano remained at Alert Level Yellow Phase III, with a restricted 12-km-radius area. Sources: Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), Centro Nacional de Prevencion de Desastres (CENAPRED)
Sheveluch | 14 March-20 March 2001 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Sheveluch Central Kamchatka (Russia)	The KVERT reported that seismicity was at background levels. On 9 and 11-14 March gas-and-steam plumes rose 400-1,000 m above the volcano. The Concern Color Code remained at Yellow. Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)
Soufriere Hills | 14 March-20 March 2001 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Soufriere Hills Montserrat	The MVO reported that during 9-16 March activity decreased at Soufrière Hills volcano in comparison to the previous week, with the lava dome continuing to steadily grow. Seismic activity significantly decreased relative to the previous few weeks. Observations confirmed that most rockfall activity occurred to the S down the White River, with occasional rockfalls towards the E down Tar River Valley. Source: Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO)
Tungurahua | 14 March-20 March 2001 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Tungurahua Ecuador	During the week several small eruptions occurred at Tungurahua and seismic activity was at high levels. Based on information from the IG, the Washington VAAC reported that an ash emission at 1608 on 13 March produced an ash cloud that rose to ~9.6 km a.s.l. and drifted to the NW. The IG stated that the transmission lasted ~10 minutes and that light ash fell in the towns of Cotalo and Pillaro. At 1415 on 15 March an eruption produced an ash cloud that rose ~3.2 km above the volcano. An ash emission occurred at 1756 on 16 March that rose to 8.8 km a.s.l. and drifted to the ENE. Sources: Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), Instituto Geofísico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional (IG-EPN)

Weekly Reports Archive

Since the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report began in November 2000, there have been 19,584 individual reports over 1,195 weeks (average of 16 per week) on 332 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)