All times are local unless otherwise stated.

Colima (Mexico) | 22 May-28 May 2002 | New Activity / Unrest Cite this Report
Colima Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt	According to the Universidad de Colima, as of 27 May strong volcanic tremor continued at Colima, and small explosions and lava avalanches occurred. Also, seismicity was recorded that was associated with landslides and degassing. Incandescent lava avalanches traveled down the SSE flank of the volcano, with sudden increases in incandescence visible for several hours. As of 24 May inflation was recorded at the volcano, but by 27 May no significant deformation was detected. The preventative evacuation of residents in towns on the volcano's SW and SE flanks remained in affect. Colima was at Alert Level 4 (5 is the highest). Sources: Centro Universitario de Estudios Vulcanológicos (CUEV) - Universidad de Colima, Reuters
Manam (Papua New Guinea) | 22 May-28 May 2002 | New Activity / Unrest Cite this Report
Manam Bismarck Volcanic Arc	The Rabaul Volcanological Observatory stated that the Strombolian eruption from Manam's S crater on 20 May ceased on the same day at about 1400. After that, activity consisted of forceful ash emissions in moderate volumes. The decline in activity led to the reduction in Alert Level from 2 ("eruption expected within weeks to months") to 1 ("non-threatening, background level"). According to the Darwin VAAC, the ash cloud produced from the 20 May eruption was no longer visible on satellite imagery by 22 May at 1515. People were reminded to be cautious when near the valleys SE and SW of the volcano. Sources: Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC), Rabaul Volcano Observatory (RVO)

Karymsky (Russia) | 22 May-28 May 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Karymsky Eastern Kamchatka Volcanic Arc	During 17-24 May, seismicity was above background levels at Karymsky, with ~10 earthquakes occurring per hour. The character of seismicity suggested that weak ash-and-gas explosions, gas blow-outs, and debris avalanches occurred. Thermal anomalies were visible on satellite imagery, but ash was not. Karymsky remained at Concern Color Code Yellow ("volcano is restless"). Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)
Kilauea (United States) | 22 May-28 May 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Kilauea Hawaiian-Emperor Hotspot Volcano Group	During 23-24 May, surface lava flows were visible on Kilauea's coastal flat. For several preceding days an intense swarm of small, shallow, long-period earthquakes occurred beneath Kilauea's caldera, at a rate of about one earthquake every 30 seconds. The swarm abruptly ended on 22 May. By the 24th seismicity at Kilauea was at normal background levels. In addition, tiltmeters recorded no unusual deformation, with Pu`u `O`o slowly inflating. Source: US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)
Popocatepetl (Mexico) | 22 May-28 May 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Popocatepetl Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt	During 21-28 May, Popocatépetl emitted small clouds of steam, gas, and generally minor amounts of ash. In addition, episodes of harmonic tremor were recorded. On 21 May at 1330 a small explosion occurred that was followed by 15 minutes of high-frequency tremor. According to a news report, a small amount of ash fell on communities neighboring the volcano on 22 May. Sources: Centro Nacional de Prevencion de Desastres (CENAPRED), Associated Press
San Cristobal (Nicaragua) | 22 May-28 May 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
San Cristobal Central America Volcanic Arc	INETER reported that on 23 May around dawn a vapor column was observed rising above San Cristóbal. The plume was attributed to rain contacting hot material in the crater. There was no indication of an increase in volcanism at San Cristóbal. According to the Washington VAAC, the plume rose ~3 km a.s.l. and drifted to the SW. For the previous few months seismicity had been at moderate levels. Sources: Instituto Nicaragüense de Estudios Territoriales (INETER), Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)
Sheveluch (Russia) | 22 May-28 May 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Sheveluch Eastern Kamchatka Volcanic Arc	During 17-24 May, there were several small emissions of gas, steam, and ash at Shiveluch. Weak earthquakes occurred at depths of 0-6 km, accompanied by many local shallow seismic signals (from possible avalanches or weak gas-and-ash explosions). There were also episodes of weak intermittent volcanic tremor. Thermal anomalies were visible on AVHRR satellite imagery, but ash was not. Shiveluch remained at Concern Color Code Yellow ("volcano is restless"). Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)
Shishaldin (United States) | 22 May-28 May 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Shishaldin Aleutian Ridge Volcanic Arc	During 17-24 March, the number of locatable low-frequency seismic events at Shishaldin greatly decreased in comparison to the previous week, returning to background levels. Shishaldin remained at Concern Color Code Green ("volcano is in quiet, "dormant" state"). Source: US Geological Survey Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO)
Soufriere Hills (United Kingdom) | 22 May-28 May 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Soufriere Hills Lesser Antilles Volcanic Arc	During 17-24 May, the level of volcanism at Soufrière Hills remained similar to that in the previous week. Cloudy conditions obscured visual observations, but lava-dome growth appeared to be concentrated on the volcano's E flank. Numerous rockfalls and small pyroclastic flows traveled to the upper portions of the Tar River Valley. The number of rockfalls increased slightly on the 21st, but declined again on the 23rd. Sources: Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO), Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)
Tungurahua (Ecuador) | 22 May-28 May 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Tungurahua Andean Northern Volcanic Arc	During 22-27 May, emissions of gas, steam, and ash continued at Tungurahua. On the 22nd a small explosion produced an ash cloud to a height of 2 km above the volcano. 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)