All times are local unless otherwise stated.

Bezymianny | 25 July-31 July 2001 | New Activity / Unrest Cite this Report
Bezymianny Central Kamchatka (Russia)	KVERT raised the Concern Color Code from Green to Orange on 27 July after seismic and satellite data revealed that an extrusive process began at Bezymianny's lava dome. On 23 and 24 July gas-and-steam plumes rose 200-700 m above the dome. On 25 July seismic activity at the volcano increased above background levels as shallow earthquakes and weak, long local seismic events (possible collapses and/or avalanches) were recorded. On 26 July a linear three-pixel thermal anomaly was visible on satellite imagery trending SE from the summit. The Concern Color Code was reduced to Yellow on 31 July because seismic activity was at background levels during 28-31 July and only weak fumarolic activity was observed. Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)
Etna | 25 July-31 July 2001 | New Activity / Unrest Cite this Report
Etna Sicily (Italy)	During 25-31 July the eruption that began on 17 July at Etna's Southeast Crater continued at the same five eruptive fissures as the previous week. One of the fissures was located on the NE flank and the other four on the S flank at elevations of 2,950, 2,700, 2,500, and 2,100 m. During 24-26 July eruptive activity declined at the 2,100 m fissure, but then intensified on 27 July to reach the original level of Strombolian activity on the evening of 28 July. On 26 July modest lava emission occurred at the NE-flank fissure. At the 2,500 m fissure, where the strongest explosive activity occurred, a change was noted from the mostly phreatomagmatic eruptions that were prominent during the previous week to more violent Strombolian explosions and lava effusion. After lava began to flow from the 2,500 m fissure on 25 July, a pyroclastic cone began to grow around three of the vents and by 30 July the cone was ~100 m high. At the 2,950 m fissure (near the base of Southeast Crater) and 2,700 m fissure lava emission and mild explosive activity continued. On 26 July lava from the 2,500 m elevation fissure continued to flow towards Rifugio Sapienza tourist complex, and as of 31 July a cable car base station and a small tourist shop had been destroyed by lava that surpassed constructed earth barriers. Lava continued to flow from the lower vents of the 2,100 m fissure in the direction of the town of Nicolosi (~15 km SSE of the volcano), but it was no longer considered a significant threat to the town. Near-continuous ashfall occurred S of the volcano, including in the town of Catania, ~25 km SSE of the volcano. The international Fontanarossa airport in Catania was closed repeatedly on 29 and 30 July due to ash on the runways. The Toulouse VAAC reported that ash clouds were occasionally visible on the Sistema Poseidon web cam and satellite imagery, with the highest cloud rising ~5.5 km above the volcano. Sources: Reuters, Associated Press, Etna Volcan Sicilien (Charles Rivière), Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC), Italy's Volcanoes
Mayon | 25 July-31 July 2001 | New Activity / Unrest Cite this Report
Mayon Luzon (Philippines)	After the pyroclastic-flow producing eruptions on 26 July Mayon entered an effusive eruptive phase. During 27-31 July lava flowed up to 3.75 km toward the SE in the Bonga Gully, accompanied by numerous high-frequency short-duration tremor events caused by rock fragments detaching from the newly deposited lava flow. Incandescence was visible at the crater, and thick steam plumes and occasional short-lived ash emissions were seen. SO2 emission rates were high, with a maximum of 9,900 metric tons measured on 31 July, which was well above the baseline value of 500 metric tons/day. Due to the possibility of further explosions, Alert Level 5 (the highest level) remained in effect. According to news reports, on 31 July officials allowed residents who live outside of the 7-km danger zone to return to their homes. Sources: Associated Press, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), Reuters
Sheveluch | 25 July-31 July 2001 | New Activity / Unrest Cite this Report
Sheveluch Central Kamchatka (Russia)	During the week seismic activity remained above background levels, with many small earthquakes occurring within the volcano's edifice and many different seismic signals (explosion, avalanche, collapse) recorded locally. Gas-and-steam plumes were observed from Klyuchi town and the highest cloud rose to 2 km above the lava dome. One- to three-pixel anomalies were occasionally visible on AVHRR imagery near the SW flank of the volcano. The volcano remained at Concern Color Code Orange. Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)
Soufriere Hills | 25 July-31 July 2001 | New Activity / Unrest Cite this Report
Soufriere Hills Montserrat	On 29 July ash from Soufrière Hills drifted W, leaving deposits as far away as San Juan, Puerto Rico, 450 km to the WNW. The Washington VAAC issued an advisory on 27 July stating that a steady stream of ash was emitted from the volcano through the evening, rising to 800 m. There was also a persistent, strong hot spot over the volcano's summit visible in satellite imagery. According to MVO, the amount of ash emitted from the volcano increased during 27 July through 29 July, and seismic activity rose on 29 July. Beginning at 1500 on 29 July heavy rainfall mixed with ash deposits and generated lahars that flowed NW down the Belham River. The lava dome that had been growing in the summit region of the volcano during recent years partially collapsed, generating pyroclastic flows that traveled down the E flank of the volcano and entered the sea. Shortly after 1700 observers reported seeing pyroclastic flows and a continuous dense plume of ash that drifted to the W. Dense meteorological clouds, associated with a tropical wave, crossed the island and prohibited ash cloud detection in satellite imagery or ground confirmation of the height of the ash cloud. MVO reported that the large amount of ash that was being vented from the volcano rose to below 6 km. By midnight seismic and pyroclastic flow activity returned to low levels. The next day AVHRR imagery showed possible ash in an area W of Montserrat and SE of Puerto Rico. The position of the cloud correlated with ground observations of ash and haze from Christiansted, St. Croix. There were reports of substantial ashfall and sporadic falling of "stones" in the Montserrat residential areas of Salem and Olveston in the N part of the island. Ash also fell in the US and British Virgin Islands, Roosevelt Roads (Puerto Rico), Christiansted (St. Croix), and as far as 450 km away from the volcano in San Juan (Puerto Rico). The ashfall in San Juan and the surrounding area led to the closing of the San Juan International Airport on 30 July. The airport reopened the next day. Sources: Reuters, Associated Press, Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO), Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)

Kikai | 25 July-31 July 2001 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Kikai Ryukyu Islands (Japan)	Continuous volcanic tremor was recorded at Satsuma-Iwo-jima during 20 to at least 23 July. A seismometer about 700 m SW of Iwo-dake crater recorded 50-100 earthquakes daily, in comparison to 30-90 earthquakes recorded daily during December 2000 and March 2001. Small amounts of volcanic tremor were also occasionally recorded. The Iwo-jima Branch of the Mishima Village Office reported that ash fell during 19-21 July. Faint ashfall and small volcanic tremor had occurred since December 2000. Source: Volcano Research Center-Earthquake Research Institute (University of Tokyo)
Kilauea | 25 July-31 July 2001 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Kilauea Hawaiian Islands (USA)	During the week small-to-moderate levels of lava entered the ocean at the E Kupapa`u entry. During 26-28 July a stream of `a`a lava continuously advanced down the Pulama pali scarp to the coastal flat on the E side of the current lava flow field. Generally, weak, rather steady tremor and a few related long-period earthquakes continued beneath Kilauea's caldera. Near Pu`u `O`o the tremor also became weak and continuous. Elsewhere, seismicity was at normal levels. Tiltmeters across the volcano indicated no significant deformation. Source: US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)
Popocatepetl | 25 July-31 July 2001 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Popocatepetl Mexico	Several small-to-moderate sized emissions occurred at Popocatépetl that were mainly composed of steam, gas, and small amounts of ash. The Washington VAAC received a pilot report on 24 July at 1100 of an ash cloud ~5.5 km above the volcano drifting to the W. On 23 July CENAPRED reduced the Alert Level from Yellow Phase III to Phase II because volcanic activity was at lower levels than it was in December 2000 when the Alert Level was originally raised. Sources: Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), Centro Nacional de Prevencion de Desastres (CENAPRED)
Suwanosejima | 25 July-31 July 2001 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Suwanosejima Ryukyu Islands (Japan)	Volcanic tremor was detected near Suwanose-jima's Otake crater beginning on 25 July at 2200 until at least 26 July. JMA reported that an eruption on 26 July at 1430 produced a volcanic plume that rose to 1.3 km above the crater and drifted to the S. That day seismometers ~2 km SW of the crater recorded explosions at 0501, 0558, 0935, and 1055. According to the Suwanose-jima Branch of the Toshima Village Office, ash fell the morning of 26 July. Source: Volcano Research Center-Earthquake Research Institute (University of Tokyo)
Tungurahua | 25 July-31 July 2001 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Tungurahua Ecuador	Several small-to-moderate eruptions occurred at Tungurahua during the week. The Washington VAAC reported that the highest ash cloud was produced from an eruption on 25 July at 0604. The ash cloud rose ~9 km a.s.l. and drifted to the SW. Sources: Instituto Geofísico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional (IG-EPN), Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)

Weekly Reports Archive

Since the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report began in November 2000, there have been 19,996 individual reports over 1,215 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)