All times are local unless otherwise stated.

Kie Besi (Indonesia) | 15 August-21 August 2001 | New Activity / Unrest Cite this Report
Kie Besi Halmahera Volcanic Arc	An eruption began at Makian on 16 August at 1930. During the eruption, chunks of incandescent lava were ejected 75 m through the air. Residents were evacuated to the S side of the island. The volcano is at Alert Level Red. NOTE: VSI has since reported that this eruption is likely to have been a bush fire. We are seeking more information. Source: Société Volcanologique Européenne
San Cristobal (Nicaragua) | 15 August-21 August 2001 | New Activity / Unrest Cite this Report
San Cristobal Central America Volcanic Arc	There was renewed volcanic and seismic activity at San Cristóbal during the week. During mid-August a gradual increase in seismic tremor and long-period earthquakes began and the amount of tremor peaked during the night of 11 August. The same night INETER personnel heard rumbling emanate from the volcano. Seismicity began to decrease on 12 August and increased again the night of 14 August, reaching the same level detected on 11 August. On 14 August incandescence was visible in the crater for the first time during the current episode. INETER stated that the lava lake in the crater illuminated gas and clouds above the summit crater. Seismic tremor gradually decreased until approximately 1400 on 17 August when strong seismic activity began again. Fumarolic activity increased during the current episode and small lagoons within the crater had dried. Source: Instituto Nicaragüense de Estudios Territoriales (INETER)
Tungurahua (Ecuador) | 15 August-21 August 2001 | New Activity / Unrest Cite this Report
Tungurahua Andean Northern Volcanic Arc	The series of eruptions that began at Tungurahua on 6 August continued during the week. Seismic activity was characterized by many long-period earthquakes and seismic signals that represented ash emissions. Several sporadic explosions occurred, with the largest explosion beginning on 15 August at 2231. The eruption produced an ash cloud that rose to 12.2 km a.s.l. IG reported that on 17 August volcanic activity increased slightly and incandescent material was ejected up to 1 km W of the crater. According to news reports, as of 15 August ash affected more than 23,000 people, blanketed approximately 89,000 acres of crops, and killed an undetermined number of livestock. The Alert Level remained at Yellow in the town of Baños and at Orange for the rest of the population in the high-risk zone, as it has since 5 September 2000. Sources: Instituto Geofísico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional (IG-EPN), Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), Associated Press, Reuters

Etna (Italy) | 15 August-21 August 2001 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Etna Sicily Volcanic Province	During the week volcanic activity was relatively low at Etna, with no explosions or lava flows. There were several small earthquakes, and slight degassing at fissures on the volcano's flanks. Vapor was emitted from the summit craters, and was accompanied by occasional plumes of brown ash at Bocca Nuova crater. Source: Etna Volcan Sicilien (Charles Rivière)
Kilauea (United States) | 15 August-21 August 2001 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Kilauea Hawaiian-Emperor Hotspot Volcano Group	Lava continued to enter the sea at the E Kupapa`u entry. Surface lava flows were visible on the coastal plain in both the E and W branches of the current flow field. A short, stubby surface flow was visible halfway down the Pulama pali scarp. On 15 August volcanic tremor abruptly increased at Kilauea's summit and at Pu`u `O`o, but it reached only moderate-to-low levels. Generally, weak, rather steady tremor and a few small earthquakes continued beneath Kilauea's caldera. Tiltmeters across the volcano showed no significant deformation. Source: US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)
Mayon (Philippines) | 15 August-21 August 2001 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Mayon Eastern Philippine Volcanic Arc	Volcanic activity remained relatively low at Mayon during the week. Few rockfalls were observed, seismicity was relatively low, incandescence was not visible in the crater, and no inflation was detected at the volcano's summit. SO2 emission rates reflected continuous degassing of residual magma. Because volcanic and seismic activity had been declining for the previous 2 weeks, on 21 August PHIVOLCS decreased the Alert Level at the volcano from 4 (hazardous eruption imminent) to 3 (increased tendency towards eruption). As a consequence, the Extended Danger Zone (EDZ) in the SE returned to the original 6-kilometer radius Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ). Source: Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS)
Popocatepetl (Mexico) | 15 August-21 August 2001 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Popocatepetl Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt	Small emissions of steam, gas, and small amounts of ash continued at Popocatépetl. The Mexico City MWO reported that on 17 August at 1514 an ash emission produced a cloud that rose to 7.3 km a.s.l. The Washington VAAC reported that GOES-8 satellite imagery did not show an ash plume, but did show an occasional hotspot. CENAPRED reported that recent activity was related to the growth of a new lava dome inside the crater. The volcano remained at Alert Level Yellow Phase II. Sources: Centro Nacional de Prevencion de Desastres (CENAPRED), Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)
Sheveluch (Russia) | 15 August-21 August 2001 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Sheveluch Eastern Kamchatka Volcanic Arc	Seismic activity remained above background levels during the week and included several small earthquakes. On 15 August volcanic tremor decreased gradually to background levels. Observers in Klyuchi reported that on 11 August gas-and-steam plumes rose 1.2-1.5 km above the dome. Several thermal anomalies were recorded on satellite imagery, as well as a gas-and-steam plume extending 75 km SE. The volcano remained at Concern Color Code Orange. Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)
Soufriere Hills (United Kingdom) | 15 August-21 August 2001 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Soufriere Hills Lesser Antilles Volcanic Arc	Volcanic activity remained low during 10-17 August. Weak banded tremor began on 14 August and continued throughout the week. The new lava dome continued to grow within the scar produced from the 29 July partial dome collapse. Deposits in the upper reaches of the Tar River Valley indicated that the new dome had produced several small pyroclastic flows. Source: Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO)

Weekly Reports Archive

Since the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report began in November 2000, there have been 20,322 individual reports over 1,229 weeks (average of 17 per week) on 336 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.

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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)