All times are local unless otherwise stated.

Colima (Mexico) | 17 March-23 March 2004 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Colima Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt	Based on information from the Mexico City MWO, the Washington VAAC reported that there was an emission from Colima on 21 March. An ash plume was visible on satellite imagery at a height around 6 km a.s.l. extending S. Source: Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)
Dukono (Indonesia) | 17 March-23 March 2004 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Dukono Halmahera Volcanic Arc	According to the Darwin VAAC, during 17-23 March ash plumes were sometimes visible on satellite imagery reaching a maximum height of ~3 km a.s.l. Source: Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC)
Fuego (Guatemala) | 17 March-23 March 2004 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Fuego Central America Volcanic Arc	During 16-23 March moderate-to-strong explosions continued at Fuego, producing ash plumes to a maximum height of 1.3 km above the volcano. On 16 March ash fell in the village of Morelia. Explosions during 17-19 March produced incandescent avalanches of volcanic material that traveled down the Seca Ravine. During the report period, ash fell in the village of Sangre de Cristo. Source: Instituto Nacional de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Meteorologia, e Hidrologia (INSIVUMEH)
Karymsky (Russia) | 17 March-23 March 2004 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Karymsky Eastern Kamchatka Volcanic Arc	Seismicity was above background levels at Karymsky during 12-19 March, with 250-350 shallow earthquakes occurring per day. Based on interpretations of seismic data, daily ash-and-gas explosions may have produced plumes to a height of ~3 km a.s.l. Karymsky remained at Concern Color Code Orange. Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)
Kilauea (United States) | 17 March-23 March 2004 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Kilauea Hawaiian-Emperor Hotspot Volcano Group	During 17-23 March, there were surface lava flows at the southern part of Kilauea's rootless-shield complex, which is along the Mother's Day lava tube S of Pu`u `O`o cone. A deflation-inflation-deflation event on 20 March culminated in lava emerging from the S base of Pu`u `O`o cone. No surface lava had been added to the crater floor over the previous couple of weeks. During the report period, very weak background tremor continued at Kilauea's summit along with brief periods of long-period earthquakes. Volcanic tremor at Pu`u `O`o remained at moderate levels. Source: US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)
Rabaul (Papua New Guinea) | 17 March-23 March 2004 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Rabaul Bismarck Volcanic Arc	Eruptive activity, which began at Rabaul caldera's Tavurvur cone in October 2002, ceased on 17 February. During 1-17 February, emissions of "light-to-pale ash clouds" were accompanied by occasional moderate explosions that produced thick ash plumes. The ash plumes rose 1-2 km above the summit and drifted E and NE, resulting in ashfall in Duke of York, Rabaul Town, and other villages. During 18-29 February there were only weak gas emissions. Ground-deformation measurements showed a deflationary trend during the last half of February. Source: Rabaul Volcano Observatory (RVO)
Santa Maria (Guatemala) | 17 March-23 March 2004 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Santa Maria Central America Volcanic Arc	During 15-23 March, several small-to-medium explosions at Santa María's Santiaguito lava-dome complex produced ash-and-gas plumes to ~1.5 km above the crater. Incandescent avalanches of volcanic material traveled SW from the lava dome. In addition, ash fell in proximal areas. A partial lava-dome collapse on 17 March sent a pyroclastic flow down the volcano's flanks. Source: Instituto Nacional de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Meteorologia, e Hidrologia (INSIVUMEH)
Sheveluch (Russia) | 17 March-23 March 2004 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Sheveluch Eastern Kamchatka Volcanic Arc	During 12-19 March, seismicity was above background levels at Shiveluch, with a large number of shallow earthquakes up to M 2 occurring beneath the volcano. Spasmodic volcanic tremor was also recorded. Based on interpretations of seismic data, ash-and-gas explosions may have produced plumes to a maximum height of 5 km a.s.l. Shiveluch remained at Concern Color Code Orange. Source: Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT)
Soufriere Hills (United Kingdom) | 17 March-23 March 2004 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Soufriere Hills Lesser Antilles Volcanic Arc	Seismic and volcanic activity at Soufrière Hills during 12-19 March increased in comparison to the previous week. Seismicity was dominated by moderate-to-strong tremor beginning around 0300 on 15 March, with five episodes of moderate tremor. The tremor was accompanied by gas-and-ash venting. At 1622 on 15 March an increase in the energy level of the tremor was recorded and a convecting ash cloud rose to ~2 km above the volcano. At 1745 emergent pulsating ash clouds were observed, although no eruption column was established. Ash drifted WSW away from populated areas over Plymouth, Amersham, and areas farther S. Tremor remained at elevated levels throughout the night peaking around 2245, coincident with a vigorous venting episode that produced an ash cloud to ~4.5 km above the volcano accompanied by lightning. Vigorous gas-and-ash venting continued through 16 March. The amount of ash in the gas plume decreased during 17 March and ash venting had all but ceased by the end of the day. The sulfur-dioxide flux remained at moderate levels during the report period. Sources: Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO), Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)
Tungurahua (Ecuador) | 17 March-23 March 2004 | Continuing ActivityCite this Report
Tungurahua Andean Northern Volcanic Arc	During 16-23 March, degassing continued at Tungurahua with occasional explosions of steam, gas, and ash. In the afternoon of 15 March a lahar traveled in the Pampas sector. 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)