Activity for the week of 12 September-18 September 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
Hood
| United States
| 45.374°N, 121.695°W
| Elevation 3426 m
The USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory reported that a minor earthquake swarm occurred at Mount Hood from 9 September until at least 14 September. About 25 events were detected, with a maximum magnitude of 2.9. The epicenters of the earthquakes were ~8 km SSW of the volcano's summit at depths of 1-7 km. These types of swarms occur once or twice per year at Mount Hood.
Source: US Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO)
Loihi
| Hawaiian Islands (USA)
| 18.92°N, 155.27°W
| Elevation -975 m
An earthquake swarm occurred at Loihi during 10-11 September and two 13 September earthquakes may have also been part of the swarm. The two later earthquakes occurred at 0311 and 0839 and had magnitudes of 4.9 and 4.4, respectively. Most of the earthquakes from 10-13 September were ~12 km deep and located slightly S of the summit of the volcano.
Source: US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)
Ongoing Activity
Etna
| Sicily (Italy)
| 37.748°N, 14.999°E
| Elevation 3320 m
Volcanic activity resumed at Etna's summit on 11 September. Loud explosions emanated from the NW vent of Bocca Nuova crater at 5- to 10-minute intervals. The explosions were followed by dense gas clouds, but no volcanic fragments were ejected.
Source: Italy's Volcanoes
Karangetang
| Siau Island (Indonesia)
| 2.781°N, 125.407°E
| Elevation 1797 m
During 3-9 September lava flowed 0.5-1.8 km towards the Kahetang and Keting rivers. Lava avalanches that originated from the edges of the flows traveled up to 1 km. On 9 September at 0001 a pyroclastic flow traveled as far as 750 m from the main crater to the Batang River (West Siau). During the week seismicity was dominated by small explosion, avalanche, and multiphase earthquakes. Discontinuous volcanic tremor was also detected. The volcano remained at Alert Level 3 (on a scale of 1-4).
Source: Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG, also known as CVGHM)
Kerinci
| Indonesia
| 1.697°S, 101.264°E
| Elevation 3800 m
During 3-9 September activity at Kerinci was dominated by 1,128 small explosion earthquakes. On 9 September during 0800-1200 small explosions produced ash plumes that rose to 0.5 km above the volcano. Kerinci remained at Alert Level 2 (on a scale of 1-4).
Source: Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG, also known as CVGHM)
Kilauea
| Hawaiian Islands (USA)
| 19.421°N, 155.287°W
| Elevation 1222 m
Lava continued to flow down the Paluma pali scarp, across the coastal flat, and into the ocean at the E Kupapa`u ocean entry. Generally, volcanic tremor remained at low-to-moderate levels at Kilauea's summit and Pu`u `O`o. During 12 and 13 September very slight deflation occurred at Kiliauea's summit. During the rest of the week tiltmeters across the volcano showed no significant deformation. On 17 September at Pu`u `O`o, background tremor was interrupted at intervals of ten's of minutes to an hour or two, by short-lived bursts of relatively vigorous tremor.
Source: US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)
Krakatau
| Indonesia
| 6.102°S, 105.423°E
| Elevation 155 m
In comparison to the previous week there was a significant increase in explosion and volcanic earthquakes at Krakatau during 3-9 September. The number of small explosion earthquakes sharply decreased. 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
| Mexico
| 19.023°N, 98.622°W
| Elevation 5393 m
During the week, volcanic activity at Popocatépetl consisted of small emissions of steam, gas, and minor amounts of ash.
Source: Centro Nacional de Prevencion de Desastres (CENAPRED)
Sheveluch
| Central Kamchatka (Russia)
| 56.653°N, 161.36°E
| Elevation 3283 m
During 7-14 September several gas-and-ash plumes produced from explosions at Shiveluch were observed, with the highest rising 1.2 km above the dome. On 11 September several hot avalanches were observed travelling from the top of the lava dome. On 12 September explosions produced a short pyroclastic flow and an ash plume that rose to 1 km above the dome. During the week, seismic activity was above background levels and spasmodic volcanic tremor and weak, shallow seismic signals (possible collapses and avalanches) were registered. Thermal anomalies were visible on satellite imagery. The volcano remained at Concern Color Code Orange.
Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)
Soufriere Hills
| Montserrat
| 16.72°N, 62.18°W
| Elevation 915 m
Activity at Soufrière Hills remained at levels similar to the previous week. Bands of tremor, associated with rockfalls and ash venting, occurred at irregular intervals. On 12 September continuous low-amplitude tremor began and persisted until at least 14 September. The tremor accompanied rockfalls. The active lava dome continued to produce rockfalls and small pyroclastic flows that descended into the upper reaches of the Tar River Valley. Ash clouds produced from rockfalls rose slightly above the summit and were visible in satellite imagery.
Sources: Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO), Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)
Tungurahua
| Ecuador
| 1.467°S, 78.442°W
| Elevation 5023 m
During the week volcanic activity at Tungurahua was characterized by a large number of long-period earthquakes, near-summit ash-and-gas emissions, and sporadic small-to-moderate explosions. The highest ash cloud reached ~8 km a.s.l. On 11 September, and to a lesser extent on 12 September, ash fell to the N of the volcano in the towns of Pondoa, Runtun, and Baños. In addition, ash fell to the SW in Quero and Penipe, and mud flows were reported in Penipe. Explosions on 13 September deposited ash to the W of the volcano, affecting the towns of Juive, Cotalo, and Bibao. On the 15th ash fell to the SW in Riobamba and Penipe. On 16 September incandescent material was emitted from the volcano along with ash and gas. 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 GeofÃsico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional (IG), Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)
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.
