All times are local unless otherwise stated.

Melebingoy (Philippines) | 6 March-12 March 2002 | New Activity / Unrest Cite this Report
Melebingoy Cotabato Volcanic Arc	PHIVOLCS staff dispelled concerns that Parker might erupt after a M 7.5 earthquake (according to the US Geological Survey NEIC) occurred near the volcano on 6 March at 0516. According to news articles, tremor caused a portion of the volcano's crater wall to breach and fall into Lake Maughan atop the volcano. Articles also stated that tons of water that were released from the lake washed away houses and about 33 families were evacuated from river banks below Lake Maughan due to fears that more of the lake would overflow. Government agencies plan to conduct an aerial inspection to assess the lake's water level. Sources: Reuters, Philstar News, Agence France-Presse (AFP), US Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program
San Cristobal (Nicaragua) | 6 March-12 March 2002 | New Activity / Unrest Cite this Report
San Cristobal Central America Volcanic Arc	Seismic tremor increased at San Cristóbal beginning on the afternoon of 6 March. Strong seismicity occurred in 2- to 3-hour periods that were generally separated by less than 1 hour of less intense activity. Scientists visiting the volcano found that the amount of degassing had increased and that temperatures at the volcano were much higher than they had been for several months. Reportedly, incandescent material in the crater was reflected on the clouds above it. According to INETER, the activity at San Cristóbal was not strong enough to warrant raising the Alert Level. Sources: La Prensa (Nicaragua), El Nuevo Diario
Semeru (Indonesia) | 6 March-12 March 2002 | New Activity / Unrest Cite this Report
Semeru Sunda Volcanic Arc	An increase in volcanic and seismic activity at Semeru during 3-10 March led VSI to raise the Alert Level from 1 to 2 (on a scale of 1-4). On 8 March observers saw an emission rise ~400 m above the volcano, and two pyroclastic flows travel S as far as 2.5 km down the Kembar River. During the report period there was an increase in tectonic and volcanic earthquakes in comparison to the previous week. Source: Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG, also known as CVGHM)

Colima (Mexico) | 6 March-12 March 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Colima Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt	As of 6 March activity at Colima was similar to the previous weeks. Avalanches of incandescent material continued to travel 2-3 km down the volcano's S, SW, and W flanks. Block lava continued to flow down the SW flank of the volcano, extending as far as 240 m from the summit. Lava was also visible travelling as far as 2 km down the volcano's W flank, and down the E flank. Based on information from the Mexico City MWO, the Washington VAAC reported that ash and steam emitted from Colima were seen on 8 March at 4.3-5.2 km a.s.l. The emission was too small to be visible on satellite imagery. Sources: Centro Universitario de Estudios Vulcanológicos (CUEV) - Universidad de Colima, Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)
Etna (Italy) | 6 March-12 March 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Etna Sicily Volcanic Province	As of 7 March there had been no new eruptive activity at Etna for several months. Numerous small earthquakes were recorded beneath the volcano's S flank, where the largest of the July-August 2001 lava flows vented. Some of the earthquakes were felt by the population near the volcano. Source: Italy's Volcanoes
Karangetang (Indonesia) | 6 March-12 March 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Karangetang Sangihe Volcanic Arc	An eruption that began at Karangetang on 5 March at 1344 produced an ash cloud to a height of ~1.5 km above the volcano's summit. Ash fell to the NE of the volcano. The eruption was accompanied by lava avalanches down the volcano's slopes. After the eruption, a plume of steam and possible ash was seen reaching ~400 m above the crater rim and a "red reflection" extended up to 25 m above the crater. An increase in volcanic and tectonic earthquakes occurred in comparison to the previous week. Karangetang remained at Alert Level 2 (on a scale of 1-4). Source: Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG, also known as CVGHM)
Karymsky (Russia) | 6 March-12 March 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Karymsky Eastern Kamchatka Volcanic Arc	On 5 March, after 11 days of instrument down time, the seismic station near Karymsky began to operate again. The amount and intensity of seismicity was similar to that recorded in February; about 10 earthquakes occurred per hour. Weak thermal anomalies were observed on AVHRR satellite imagery and no ash was detected. The volcano was at Concern Color Code Yellow ("volcano is restless"). Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)
Kilauea (United States) | 6 March-12 March 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Kilauea Hawaiian-Emperor Hotspot Volcano Group	During 6-12 March, lava was visible near the base of the lava fan and on the nearby coastal flat at Kilauea. At times several rootless shields (a pile of lava flows built over a lava tube rather than over a conduit feeding magma) were active. Generally, volcanic tremor was at moderate levels at Pu`u `O`o and long-period earthquakes and weak tremor continued at Kilauea's caldera. Tiltmeters across the volcano showed no evidence of significant deformation. Source: US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)
Popocatepetl (Mexico) | 6 March-12 March 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Popocatepetl Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt	During 6-11 March, Popocatépetl emitted small clouds of steam, gas, and generally minor amounts of ash. In addition, episodes of harmonic tremor were recorded. On 9 March a steam-and-gas emission rose to ~2 km above the crater. Source: Centro Nacional de Prevencion de Desastres (CENAPRED)
Sheveluch (Russia) | 6 March-12 March 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Sheveluch Eastern Kamchatka Volcanic Arc	During 1-8 March, volcanic activity remained relatively high at Shiveluch. Four short-lived explosive eruptions visible from the town of Klyuchi, 46 km from the volcano, produced ash-and-gas plumes to heights of 1-3 km above the volcano's lava dome. On 3 March at 1500 a mixture of red ash and snow fell in Klyuchi. The ash may have been produced from an eruption at 1447. Seismicity included earthquakes with magnitudes less than 2.4 at depths of 0-5 km, many local shallow seismic signals (from possible avalanches or weak gas-ash explosions), and episodes of weak intermittent volcanic tremor. Thermal anomalies were visible on satellite imagery. The volcano remained at Color Concern Code Orange ("volcano is in eruption or eruption may occur at any time"). Sources: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT), Vladivostok News
Soufriere Hills (United Kingdom) | 6 March-12 March 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Soufriere Hills Lesser Antilles Volcanic Arc	During 1-8 March, volcanism decreased at Soufrière Hills in comparison to the previous week. Lava-dome growth continued to be concentrated towards the E, sending rockfalls and small pyroclastic flows to the upper portions of the Tar River Valley. Incandescence was visible on the upper parts of the dome during the night. Minor episodes of ash venting occurred from the summit of the dome. SO2 emission rates decreased dramatically during the first half of the report period. Sources: Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO), Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)
Tungurahua (Ecuador) | 6 March-12 March 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Tungurahua Andean Northern Volcanic Arc	During 6-11 March, several small emissions of gas, steam, and ash occurred at Tungurahua. On 11 March an eruption produced a gas-and-ash cloud that rose ~2 km above the volcano and drifted to the SW. During the evening, incandescent volcanic blocks were visible near the volcano's crater. 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 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.

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)