All times are local unless otherwise stated.

Nyamulagira (DR Congo) | 26 February-4 March 2003 | New Activity / Unrest Cite this Report

Nyamulagira Albertine Rift Volcanic Province

A seismic crisis began at Nyamuragira during the evening of 26 February, with an increase in both long-period and tectonic earthquakes and an increase in tremor amplitude. GVO received reports from residents near the volcano of possible eruptive activity, but GVO scientists' view of the volcano was obscured by clouds. Spasmodic tremor was recorded on 19 and 23 February, lasting several tens of minutes. According to GVO, this seismicity was located very close to the surface. They stated that activity at Nyamuragira was changing very rapidly and an eruption may occur in a matter of days or weeks. Source: Observatoire Volcanologique de Goma (OVG)

Karymsky (Russia) | 26 February-4 March 2003 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Karymsky Eastern Kamchatka Volcanic Arc	Seismicity at Karymsky was at background levels during 20-23 February, so KVERT reduced the Concern Color Code on 28 February from Yellow to Green. Only an occasional very weak thermal anomaly was recorded on satellite imagery from late January to February. According to KVERT, the 7-year-period of eruptive activity at Karymsky may have come to an end. Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)
Kilauea (United States) | 26 February-4 March 2003 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Kilauea Hawaiian-Emperor Hotspot Volcano Group	During 26 February to 3 March at Kilauea, lava continued to enter the sea at the West Highcastle entry and the lava-flow rate was reduced to a small trickle at the Kohala entry. Small surface lava flows occurred along the W edge of the Kohala lava flow and surface lava flows were visible above the Pulama pali fault scarp. Generally, seismicity remained at normal levels, with the long-lasting swarm of long-period earthquakes and tremor at Kilauea's summit, which began last June, continuing at low-to-moderate levels. Moderate tremor was recorded by the nearest seismometer to Pu`u `O`o. Small inflations and deflations occurred at the volcano around 1 March, but no significant deformation was recorded afterwards. Source: US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)
Klyuchevskoy (Russia) | 26 February-4 March 2003 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Klyuchevskoy Eastern Kamchatka Volcanic Arc	Seismicity at Kliuchevskoi was slightly above background levels during 21-28 February, with 10-14 earthquakes occurring per day at depths of ~30 km. Continuous, spasmodic volcanic tremor was recorded all week. Gas-and-steam plumes rose to low levels and possible ash deposits on the volcano's SE summit were visible on satellite imagery. The Concern Color Code remained at Yellow. Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)
Nyiragongo (DR Congo) | 26 February-4 March 2003 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Nyiragongo Albertine Rift Volcanic Province	The level of volcanic activity at Nyiragongo as of 27 February was lower than during previous weeks when fine ash and Pele's hair fell in the city of Goma. Winds were no longer blowing ash and Pele's hair to the S, therefore Goma and other cities S of the volcano were no longer affected by tephra fall. Pele's hair and/or ash fell SW of Nyiragongo in the village of Rusayo, affecting the water supply. Residents of villages around the volcano reported seeing incandescence atop Nyiragongo during the evening. While visiting Nyiragongo's crater on 25 and 26 February, scientists found that the interior of the crater had changed since their last visit on 4 and 5 February. Vegetation had died in the main crater and heavy ashfall had occurred on the S flank. During the evening they saw intense lava fountaining, with lava reaching probably more than 100 m high, and a storm of Pele's hair. Source: Observatoire Volcanologique de Goma (OVG)
Popocatepetl (Mexico) | 26 February-4 March 2003 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Popocatepetl Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt	Several emissions of steam, gas, and ash occurred during 26 February to 4 March associated with the continued destruction of Popocatépetl's lava dome, although there were fewer larger emissions than the previous week. The largest reported emission occurred on 28 February at 0314, with incandescent volcanic fragments ejected ~1 km around the crater and an ash emission that initially drifted E. Sources: Centro Nacional de Prevencion de Desastres (CENAPRED), Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)
Reventador (Ecuador) | 26 February-4 March 2003 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Reventador Northern Andean Volcanic Arc	Heavy rain fall at Reventador caused lahars to flow down Márker gorge on 23 February, affecting travel in the area. On the 24th, lahars traveled mainly down Márker and Reventador gorges. On the 28th, rain caused small lahars in Márker, Reventador, and Montana gorges. During 22-28 February, seismicity remained at low levels, only small amounts of steam were emitted from the volcano, and there was no indication of increased volcanism. Source: Instituto Geofísico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional (IG-EPN)
Sheveluch (Russia) | 26 February-4 March 2003 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Sheveluch Eastern Kamchatka Volcanic Arc	During 21-28 February, seismicity remained above background levels at Shiveluch and many shallow earthquakes were recorded. Seismic data indicated that 14 ash-and-gas explosions reached heights of 3 km above the lava dome, and hot avalanches possibly occurred. Video footage showed several ash-and-gas clouds, with the highest cloud rising to 4.5 km a.s.l on 25 February. Volcanic spasmodic tremor occurred and gas-and-steam plumes rose to 4 km a.s.l. Shiveluch remained at Concern Color Code Yellow. Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)
Soufriere Hills (United Kingdom) | 26 February-4 March 2003 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Soufriere Hills Lesser Antilles Volcanic Arc	Activity at Soufrière Hills increased slightly during 21-28 February in comparison to the previous week. During an observation flight on 27 February, scientists saw that lava-dome growth was concentrated towards the NE. Pyroclastic flows and rockfalls traveled down the lava dome's E and NE flanks via the Tar River Valley and Tuitt's Ghaut. There were also several periods of activity on the N flank, with pyroclastic flows at the top of Farrell's Plain. SO2 emission rates were moderate for much of the report period, with the exception of 22-23 February, when rates increased. The Washington VAAC stated that several low-level ash plumes were visible on satellite imagery. Sources: Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO), Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)
Tungurahua (Ecuador) | 26 February-4 March 2003 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Tungurahua Northern Andean Volcanic Arc	Seismic and volcanic activity were at low levels at Tungurahua during 26 February to 4 March, with emissions of steam, gas, and ash forming low-level plumes. Sources: Instituto Geofísico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional (IG-EPN), Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)
Ulawun (Papua New Guinea) | 26 February-4 March 2003 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Ulawun Bismarck Volcanic Arc	Volcanic and seismic activity remained at low levels during 17-26 February at Ulawun, with the emission of low-to-moderate volumes of steam. There were no emissions from the north valley vent. Heavy rain on 19, 21, 22, and 24 February led to the reactivation of mudflows on Ulawun's flanks. Residents in the affected areas were evacuated. Source: Rabaul Volcano Observatory (RVO) via the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Center

Weekly Reports Archive

Since the Weekly Volcanic Activity Report began in November 2000, there have been 20,531 individual reports over 1,239 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)