All times are local unless otherwise stated.

Aira (Japan) | 17 July-23 July 2002 | New Activity / Unrest Cite this Report
Aira Ryukyu Volcanic Arc	Surface observations from Kagoshima airport revealed that on 22 July an ash cloud from Sakura-jima rose to 2.1-2.4 km a.s.l. Ash was visible extending to the SW on satellite imagery. Ash was also observed on 23 July at an unknown altitude. Source: US Air Force Weather Agency

Etna (Italy) | 17 July-23 July 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Etna Sicily Volcanic Province	During 19-21 July, explosions at Etna's Northeast Crater emitted gas and ash, and ejected volcanic bombs and fresh lava that landed within the crater. At Bocca Nuova crater, gas-and-ash emissions and explosions also occurred. At Voragine crater, degassing was less intense than it had been during previous observations on 22 June 2002. According to the Air Force Weather Agency, surface observations revealed that on 22 July a low-level ash cloud was visible. Ash was not visible on satellite imagery. Sources: US Air Force Weather Agency, Etna Volcan Sicilien (Charles Rivière)
Karangetang (Indonesia) | 17 July-23 July 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Karangetang Sangihe Volcanic Arc	During 8-14 July, volcanic activity increased in comparison to the previous week at Karangetang. On July 8 at 1806 an explosion at the main crater produced an ash cloud that rose 1 km above the crater and drifted to the NNW. Lava was visible flowing down the volcano's W slope and burning crops in its path. During the rest of the report week, low-level plumes continued to rise above Karangetang's main crater and Crater II. 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) | 17 July-23 July 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Karymsky Eastern Kamchatka Volcanic Arc	During 12-19 July, seismicity was above background levels at Karymsky. During most of the report week ~10 local shallow seismic events occurred per hour, but by the end of the week the rate had slightly decreased. The character of seismicity suggested that weak ash-and-gas explosions and gas blow-outs had probably occurred. Karymsky remained at Concern Color Code Yellow ("volcano is restless"). Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)
Kilauea (United States) | 17 July-23 July 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Kilauea Hawaiian-Emperor Hotspot Volcano Group	During 16-22 July, surface lava flows were visible traveling on the coastal flat, down the Pulama pali scarp, and down Paliuli, the steep slope and cliff below Pulama pali and just above the coastal flat. On 20 July at 1900 part of the westernmost lava flow reached Chain of Craters road, and by 0445 the next day it was entering the sea in two areas. The active flow front moved relatively quickly for lava at Kilauea on nearly flat ground; the lava flow moved 610 m in 18 hours (35 m/h). Generally, seismicity was at normal levels, except for the continued swarm of long-period earthquakes and tremor that has been ongoing since early June. The swarm increased slightly in the last several days of the report period. Slow deflation occurred at Pu`u` O`o. Source: US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)
Merapi (Indonesia) | 17 July-23 July 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Merapi Sunda Volcanic Arc	During 8-14 July, incandescent lava avalanches traveled predominately down Merapi's SW flank into the upstream portions of Sat, Lamat, Senowo, and Bebeng rivers. The avalanches reached a maximum run-out distance of ~2.5 km. Seismicity was dominated by signals from 180 lava avalanches. Merapi remained at Alert Level 2 (on a scale of 1-4). Source: Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG, also known as CVGHM)
Nyiragongo (DR Congo) | 17 July-23 July 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Nyiragongo Albertine Rift Zone	During the previous several weeks, long and significant episodes of volcanic tremor had been recorded at several seismometers near Nyiragongo. Inclement weather conditions prevented visual observations of the volcano from the city of Goma. A team that climbed the volcano on 16-17 July observed a plume rising above the volcano and smelled SO2. Around 1800 on the 16th, lava fountains were observed rising ~100 m above the crater floor. During the night, large amounts of ash continuously fell on the upper part of the volcano. By morning, ash fall had ceased and a white plume rose above the crater. Observers could not see the bottom of the crater clearly, but due to visible activity on the lower and central parts of the crater they suspected that a new lava lake had formed. Sources: Observatoire Volcanologique de Goma (OVG), UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Popocatepetl (Mexico) | 17 July-23 July 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Popocatepetl Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt	During 17-22 July, there were small-to-moderate emissions of steam, gas, and ash at Popocatépetl. In addition, several episodes of low-amplitude harmonic tremor were recorded. Source: Centro Nacional de Prevencion de Desastres (CENAPRED)
Semeru (Indonesia) | 17 July-23 July 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Semeru Sunda Volcanic Arc	When weather conditions were clear during 8-14 July, lava avalanches were sometimes observed traveling 750 m from Semeru's crater rim E toward Besuk Kembar River. Low-level ash plumes rose above the crater. Seismicity was dominated by 898 explosion earthquakes, while the number of other types of earthquakes decreased. Semeru remained at Alert Level 2 (on a scale of 1-4). Source: Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG, also known as CVGHM)
Sheveluch (Russia) | 17 July-23 July 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Sheveluch Eastern Kamchatka Volcanic Arc	During 12-19 July, seismicity slightly increased and remained above background levels. After a nearly 3-week-long hiatus, individual earthquakes with magnitudes between 1.8 and 2.0 began to occur again. In addition, smaller earthquakes were detected at depths of 0-6 km. There were many other local shallow seismic signals, which possibly indicated weak ash-poor explosions up to 1 km above the dome. Avalanches were also registered. During the week the level of volcanic tremor continued to increase constantly and gas-and-steam emissions rose to 2 km above the dome. Thermal anomalies were visible on satellite imagery, but ash was not. The Concern Color Code remained at Yellow ("volcano is restless"). Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)
Soufriere Hills (United Kingdom) | 17 July-23 July 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Soufriere Hills Lesser Antilles Volcanic Arc	Activity at Soufrière Hills increased slightly during 12-19 July, but remained at relatively low levels. Observations of the lava dome on 15 July suggested that dome growth had continued at a very slow rate on the SE side of the dome. The level of rockfall activity from this active lobe increased slightly on 15 July, with a small pyroclastic flow traveling down the Tar River Valley at 0800. SO2 flux remained low. Source: Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO)
Tungurahua (Ecuador) | 17 July-23 July 2002 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Tungurahua Andean Northern Volcanic Arc	At Tungurahua during 16-22 July, there were several emissions of steam, gas, and ash, periods of continuous tremor, and incandescence was occasionally visible. Several explosions produced ash clouds to a maximum height of 3 km. On the evening of the 21st, in addition to a 1-km-high volcanic cloud, observers noted lava fountains and incandescent blocks rolling down the NW flank. On the morning of the 22nd, an eruption deposited relatively large amounts of ash NW of Tungurahua in the sectors of Ambato, Pillate, Pelileo, Cusua, and Chacauco. 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)