USGS Volcano Site Shut Down...

🌋🌋🌋

Since GOP shut the government down

Take your chances travellin' round

Iceland, Guatemala, Indonesia or PNG

Good choices if lava ya wanna see

Hawai'i always reliable, too

Etna..likely blasting for you..

Be careful out there..

Lotta hate & stupid about..

Today On Earth

Why are we taking this bull..??

They asked me...

Around The Ring And Italian Fling...

Of course, Etna & Stromboli on the list

W/ 26 mountains blowin', is Earth pissed?

No, not at all, Earth does not care

But, it's gonna get that heat outta there

Rock gets subducted then tends to melt

Melted, less dense, less gravity felt

Works to a fracture for pressure relief

Up on the surface, potential for grief

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Means, Santa Maria, Telica, Poas & Popo

Spewing, gassin' & blowing like Fuego

2 in Aleutians oozing, but Spurr, no more

Over on Kamchatka, eruptions we got four

Most start w/ K & all hard to spell

And, it's the ruskies so truth..hard to tell

Japan got 3 ongoing, it is an island arc

Still Indonesia rules w/ 9 on eruption lark

Usual suspects: Dempo & Lewotobi new

But, really a lull, both on active list, too

'Bout time for an update..

Today On Earth

Canaries?..Azores?

Borrowed from somewhere

Mid-June boooom

4-20 Eruption Update:)

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Seems Kamchatka is rocking, Aleutians, too

But, wanna see eruptions, here's whacha do

Go to Guatemala & hire a guide

Tell 'em, not so close ya gotta hide

But, that Santa Maria & Fuego ya wanna see

W/ hourly eruptions, lava, ash & lahar debris

Actually, most anywhere around Fire Ring

Earth & subduction doing their stuff-it thing

In Peru, Ecuador & Colombia

Or Rincon de la Vieja in Costa Rica

Or visit Japan, volcanoes galore

But w/ 6, Indonesia..shut da door!!

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Today On Earth

We'll call it Volcano sky..

It's not..

 but still pretty

Ooopps

Picture swap

4-20...go figure

Central American Volcanoes

Puffy Planets: Editor- Chase Historian- Caroline Human Interest- Abrielle Reporter- Riley

Volcano of the Day

The Central American Volcanic Arc (often abbreviated to CAVA) is a chain of volcanoes which extends parallel to the Pacific coast line of the Central American Isthmus, from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and down to northern Panama.Several volcanoes in Central America are currently active, including Arenal, Turrialba, Irazú, Poás in Costa Rica; Cerro Negro, San Cristóbal, Concepción in Nicaragua; Chaparrastique or San Miguel, Ilamatepec or Santa Ana, Izalco in El Salvador; Santa María/Santiaguito, Pacaya, Fuego in Guatemala. The CAVA includes hundreds of volcanic formations, ranging from major stratovolcanoes, to lava domes, and cinder cones. These towering mountains rise as high as 14,000 feet. The highest mountain is Guatemala. On each side of these highlands exists on along Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

Fuego- 3/16-3/21 Picture taken by Lee Siebert in 1988

Located at 14°N , 91°W in Guatemala, it’s type is Stratovolcano. Its summit is 3,763 meters and its elevation is 12,343 feet. Last week from the sixteenth to the twenty-first Fuego was reported to have spewed ash clouds that rose 950 meters above the crated mouth and the clouds drifted west, south-west, and south. There were reports of ashfall is several areas including Santa Sofía, twelve kilometers southwest of the volcano. Shock waves and rumblings were heard and felt. Incredibly hot material was ejected from the crater as high as 200 meters above the rim of the crater.

Guatemala is home to 18 volcanoes. 14 of which are dormant, 3 are currently active spewing lava and ash, and one is dormant. The volcano Cuilapa-Barberena is extinct resting ar 14.33°N 90.4°W. The last known eruption was a few thousand years ago based on scientific findings. Currently there are 3 active volcanoes, Fuego, Pacaya, and Santiaguito. Pacaya is close to Guatemala city and is one of the most active volcanoes with more than 86 eruptions in the last 17 years. In 2013, there was almost at least one eruption every month. Guatemala is a very lively island of spewing lava and ash.

Human Interest:

How Fuego in Guatemala affects the people around it:

Volcanoes sometimes do not have negative effects, but many times volcanoes do have bad effects. When they erupt everything nearby and around them can be completely covered in ash. The volcano can also destroy houses and towns.  Volcanoes can at times be an extreme devastation for the population surrounding it. Sometimes, volcanoes are just little, not always a huge deal. They will just erupt a little, causing no harm or damage. When they are destructive they are a big problem and can be so harmful that they can kill people or completely ruin their homes and towns. In conclusion, there is a variety of types of volcanoes, some destructive, some not.

This Week Around the Ring of Fire

This post brought to you by the Go-To: Shack,HB, Kami & Karli

While there are many dangerous volcanoes, there are also some very interesting ones that have been active within these few weeks as talked about below. Currently there are 14 volcanoes that have been erupting for a while and the data has been recorded. These volcanoes are situated in several different places around the world, including Papua New Guinea, USA, México, Indonesia, Russia, Guatemala, Colombia, Peru, and Costa Rica.

Recently there has been five newly active volcanoes around the world.

They are:  Manam, Nevados de Chillan, Etna, Bezymianny, and Chirinkotan. Manam is located in Papua New Guinea and has recently erupted on March 21. This volcano

spewed ash. Nevados de Chillan erupted through the days of March 15-17. This volcano poured a gas and ash cloud into the air. On March 15 Mt. Etna poured lava onto the earth. On March 16 there was an explosion that lifted currents of lava flow onto snow on the ground. Several people were injured. The volcano Chirinkotan erupted on March 21 and constructed an ash plume. Finally the volcano Bezymianny erupted throuugh March 10 -17. Gas and steam flumes were shot out.

Mt. Etna, a natural volcano is active right now and is located in Italy, on the world map as 37.7510° N, 14.9934° E. On the early morning of March 15th lava had begun to flow down the South flank of Mt. Etna’s SEC (South East Crater), in the evening the eruptive activity and seismicity had diminished gradually calming down until around midnight of that same day a new flow of lava had started from a vent on the Southern flank of Mt. Etna’s cone. Next day, March 16th at 1243 a phreato-magmatic explosion had started at the front of a lava flow, later it had made contact with a small area of snow. The explosive activity has injured so far 11 people including an INGV-Osservatorio Etneo volcanologist. ( Information taken from Global Volcanism Program, 2017. Report on Etna (Italy). In: Sennert, S K (ed.), Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 15 March-21 March 2017. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey. )

Bezymianny                                                    

                 

Chirinkotan

Etna

Manam

Nevados de Chillan

These photos were taken from: http://volcano.si.edu/reports_weekly.cfm#vn_290260

Popocatepetl

  

Popocatépetl (meaning “Smoking Mountain” in Aztec), is a volcano in Central Mexico that is roughly 730,000 years old. After about 50 years of dormancy, it started erupting once again in 1994 and has since been the most active volcano in Mexico. Standing at 17,880 feet, it is also the second highest peak there. Popocatépetl is a stratovolcano (or composite volcano), meaning it is made of alternating layers of lava and ash. Its last major eruption was on April 3rd, 2016, when the volcano shot out lava, rock, and an ash cloud that reached 1.2 miles in height. Local residents were instructed to evacuate.

Popocatepetl in Aztec means “Smoking Mountain”. The first Spanish ascent of the volcano was made by Diego de Ordaz in 1519 on an exploration. In the early 16th century there were monasteries built on the slopes of the mountain. They were built by the Augustinians, the Franciscans, and the Dominicans in order to evangelize the areas south and east of the volcano in central Mexico. Popocatepetl is the most active volcano in Mexico, it has had more than 15 eruptions since the arrival of the spanish. The volcano’s first major eruption was in 1947. On December 21, 1994 the volcano erupted and ash spread and carried 25 km away which prompted evacuation from nearby towns. Again in December of 2000 tens of thousands of people were evacuated by the government while Popocatepetl made its largest display in 1,200 years.

Popocatepetl is a dangerous volcano with dangerous effects. Popocatepetl is centered between two major cities, with approximately 25 million people living within a 62 mile radius. It’s 43 miles from Mexico City and at least 30 miles from Puebla, Mexico. The surrounding environment is being destroyed due to the violent eruptions. Its largest eruption was on April 16th, 2012. Parts of Mexico surrounding the volcano received up to 7cm of ash fall. However, that was not the only major effect. Other effects included the prompt delays of the city’s major airport. Mexico officials even asked the public to wear face masks in an attempt to prevent grit inhalation. The airborne volcanic residue could have also affected car and plane engines. The eruption resulted in the throwing of volcanic matter that reached as far as one mile away from the site of the volcano, and ashes rose over a mile above the crater.

The Planet is Fired Up

This week's list is down 5 from the huge number of fire breathing mountains last week but there are still two dozen on the list: the whole Ring of Fire is on fire! Only Hawaii and Reunion Island are on the list and off the Ring. Indonesia has action from end to end, Japan, Kamchatka, Alaska, Central and South America, you don't have to travel far to see the action and while I plan on traveling quite aways over the next few weeks unless something very unusual happens I will not be visiting any personally. But, it's Earth and four years ago who would have thought a large earthquake would have rocked central Virginia.
I'll be in places that volcanoes have erupted in the not too distant past but are currently showing no signs of acting up, but one never knows, be wary, Today On Earth!

Active Planet Belches On!

The weather has sure changed since last I commented on the volcanoes of Earth. August last was cool for Virginia standards but today's blog comes on a February day exploding low temperature records across this volcanically quiet chunk of Earth.  Cold the air may be on Earth's surface but the planet inside still seethes and has found at least 22 spots to set some of that heat free. Six of those spots are on or near the Kamchatka Peninsula, the island arc wannabe still attached to Siberia. My long term guess (and I'm just playing armchair geologist) would be today's activity on the Kurils will continue extending the peninsula, connecting with Japan before being slammed into the Asia massive all the while folding up a new gianormous mountain range. But, worry not, that's 300 million years from now. Today's action gives us a look at that future as the activity rings the ever shrinking Pacific.
Our Ring O Fire tour begins in Chile with Villarrica still on the list but South America is quiet other wise. The lower peninsula of North America (now technically an isthmus) is where the action is on the east side of the Pacific. Pacaya and Fuego fire on in Guatemala and Colima joins Popo back on the Mexican action list. Shishaldin in Alaska's Aleutians joins Kilauea on the US list, far from the mind's of the average American. Japanese citizens are few likely aware of the the outer island activity erupting on 4 isolated islands far south (3) and north of the heart of the archipelago. Indonesians have been mindful of the 3 fire oozing mountains slowly building their archipelago for several years now: Soputan, Sinabung, and Dukono are more likely on the active list than off.
Off the Ring, an occasional visitor to the list, Piton de Fournaise above a hot spot on the Indian Ocean's Reunion island is fired up and reminding locals who's in charge and Iceland's BARDARBUNGA still spews lava on that mid-ocean ridge/hot spot island. The "Bard" has slowed from earlier eruption rates but is likely far from done with this cycle.
Arm chair vulcanology from the deep cold in central Virginia; stay warm out there, just not volcano warm, today on Earth.

An Active Week on the Tectonic Planet

After an unstaffed week off, the USGS volcano list is back with 26 volcanoes shaking and belching and oozing. Indonesia tops the list with 5 eruptions but there are also 5 spewing mountains in South America and Central America (little Guatemala has 3 itself, but I don't think that's the reason for the influx of young Guatemalans spewing across the US border - trace that to the Bush lead congress of '06 and a thoughtful but bad law - of course, our current president is still blamed - and the fact that Guatemala is a corrupt, dysfunctional, dangerous place).
Two Italian islands make the list, hosting Stromboli and Etna that are both quite active these days, the Kamchatka peninsula, as usual, has 4 exploding mountains but only one on the nearby Aleutians of Alaska, Shishaldin, and Kilauea on Hawaii's big island is, as always, piling up more fresh basalt.
Japan, always on the list but with only 2 this week and Bulusan on the Philippines main island round out the large list.  If you want to see volcanoes, you don't have to go far around the Ring O Fire to see some active Earth action up close (although, I would guess most of these mountains have warning areas around them to keep the curious or death seekers out).  I'll continue to check the list and visit vicariously through the power of the wild, and wooly web.
Lots of heat is still trying to get out from deep inside this four and a half billion year old planet and these 26 volcanoes are a direct result.  There is likely lots more action along the 45 thousand miles of mid-ocean ridges circling the earth but at the bottom of the sea floor they go mostly unnoticed, quietly driving the plate activity that has lead to the 26 volcanoes on this weeks list.  Subduction gets the headlines but the sea-floor spreading is the cause, today (and everyday) on Earth.

26 Volcanoes - A Happening Week

The USGS volcano list is a who's who of world wide volcanoes with most of the Ring of Fire involved and some other frequent visitors and even a couple of less frequent but still quite active volcanoes. In the eastern ring, from Peru up to Popo in Mexico there is action (the US northwest appears quiet) and the Aleutians, Kamchatka, the Kurils, Japan, Mariana and Indonesia have the top and western edge of the ring belching and shaking with activity.  Etna and Stromboli are both fired up on their respective Italian islands (perhaps bummed by their football team's poor showing in the world cup) and even the Indian ocean makes the list with Reunion off the east coast of Madagascar.  Of course, Kilauea is erupting (since '83).
I'll get back with more details...26 volcanoes on the list...it's a wild, hot planet, be careful out there, Today on Earth.

Sinabung & Kelud Blast Indonesia

The volcanic archipelago of Indonesia now has two violently erupting volcanoes: Sinabung continues on Sumatra, and Kelud fires off a valentine blast on Java. Sinabung has been spewing ash, rolling out lava and tumbling pyroclastic flows down its flanks since early in the new year. Thousands have been evacuated and more than a dozen killed as Indonesia's western island, Sumatra, has dealt with the ongoing eruptions.
The island of Java got into the action yesterday as Kelud blasted into action sending ash into the stratosphere, and noise of the eruptions more than 100 miles into the countryside. At least 2 (from a quick glance on-line) have been killed but thousands are fleeing the area, scrambling to evacuation centers hastily set up outside the eruption zone. As a nation of volcanoes, my guess would be that there are plans in place at all government levels as well as for families and individuals to get out of town when the big mountain in the backyard gets wild. Photos from both volcanoes are both spectacular and scary; easy to look on in wonder and awe from a safe, quiet post in central Virginia but knowing that Indonesians fleeing the scenes are likely finding little wonder or beauty in the violent side of Earth.
The USGS site will not show the current list of active volcanoes (but it hasn't changed since I checked Thursday) and while there are other volcanoes spewing and oozing all eyes are on Indonesia.  The equatorial climate and rich volcanic soil of the island nation are wonderful in quiet times but... when the source of that rich soil fires up, it's time to get out of town and hang on, today on Earth!

Ring of Fire: Eastern Rumbles

The Ring of Fire is still where most of the action is on the big, erupting planet but the eastern portion takes over the list (the list was only "gone" for a day or so)this week. Kamchatka rules again with 5 volcanoes belching and spewing in various degrees with two neighbors erupting just south of there in the Kuril Islands. A little further south and Japan shows 3 on the list - the new island that formed off the SE coast is now bigger than the original island. Two Indonesian eruption are on the list with evacuations happening around Sinabung.  At the bottom of the ring, New Zealand's White Island has stirred back up.
Off the ring and on THE hot spot, Hawaii; Kilauea is spewing and burning nearby forests, not at all unusual for the worlds most active volcano. Etna's current eruption continues with lava and ash ejections on Sicily.  The western side of the ring only shows two eruptions this week: Santa Maria is oozing lava and raining ash on nearby villages in Guatemala and Reventador is back on the list after ash emissions in Ecuador.
Hope you're in a safe spot, far enough away from the action on the tectonic-ing planet, today on Earth.

No Volcanoes???

Perhaps the same folks responsible for the hard to use, ultra touchy, click, click, click, click, click to get the simplest info, impossible to zero in, USGS earthquake site have now taken over the volcano site. It would appear there is only one volcano active on Earth this week and that's in Spain. Spain???
I'm not buying that...but, perhaps the cold weather and snow in DeeCee have shut things down, the volcano website has some lovely pictures but no useful information, even on the one volcano that seems to be erupting in Spain.
We'll check back after the spring thaw.

Early '14 Volcano Stories

2013 wound down with the formation of a new island southeast of Japan (it has now issued enough new Earth to have joined into one with its neighboring island) and mostly the usual Ring of Fire suspects on the list. The new year brings no real surprises to the list; perhaps only 3 on the active list on the Kamchatka peninsula is a bit of a surprise. 3 in Indonesia's no real surprise although the newly stirring mountains have been off the list for some time.
Japan, the US and Central America all have two on the list, with PNG and South America also noted. Etna  and Kilauea remain the non-Ring exceptions but hardly surprising, both keep their  neighborhoods on alert/notice on an almost daily basis.
For those of us in non-explosive zones the days pass with little thought of mountains spewing ash and gas and molten rock. I, myself, like it that way although seeing one of those active spots on Earth remains on my "to do" list.
If you are in a position to check one out, go for it...but, be careful out there, today on Earth.

Ring O Fire Is!

The USGS new volcano site with world map sums it all up: the Ring of Fire is where the action is. Except for the always spewing big island of Hawaii, all of the activity is happening as the (mostly) Pacific plate is being subducted beneath the adjacent continents. The Kuril Islands and Kamchatka peninsula rumble on in the northwest Pacific, the Indonesia/New Guinea archipelago have several on the list and Popo outside Mexico City continues its current eruption cycle. The rest of the list are frequent visitors to the active list.
If your journeys take you to the Pacific rim, check out your planet in action. The active rock cycle and constant change of the largest of the terrestrial planet is likely a large part of why we are here. But, there is nothing but change so stay mindful of the fact that Earth is still very much in charge.

Kamchatka Rumblings

The Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia and the nearby Kuril Islands dominate this week's volcano list. 3 on the peninsula itself and Alaid in the Kurils are all smoking and spitting. The rest of the list has no real surprises: other than a new one in Indonesia, Raung (and it's really not new), Sakura-Jima in southern Japan, Pagan in the Mariana Islands, Little Sitkin and Kilauea in the US, Popo outside Mexico City, Fuego in Guatemala and Galeras in Colombia have all been erupting off and on for much of this year.  A new list late tomorrow is unlikely to look much different. Ring of Fire!!
Stay away from them and you'll be fine, today on Earth.

Indonesia Dominates the List

Indonesia, the island nation of volcanoes, takes over the world volcano list with 6 mountains rumbling and belching. The world's most famous volcano, Krakatau is back on the list and not really a surprise but some of the additions have not stirred in hundreds of years. Earth and humans are on different time scales and we often don't adjust well to Earth's.
Two in the Aleutians and Kilauea rumble on in the far western US. Russia's Kamchatka and Japan have two (almost always) on the list but two mountains in Nicaragua have popped up on the list: Apoyeque is rumbling but San Cristobol is spilling ash and lava onto the nearby countryside. Fuego in Guatemala is back on the list and Colombia's Nevado del Ruiz and Machin are also usual visitors and back on the list.  Popo is off the list but my guess is that it won't be for long.
The Ring of Fire is aptly named and the plate tectonic compression of the Pacific plate continues. Looks like that will continue for another 150 to 200 million years! Enjoy the volcanic soil in your neighborhood but remember where it came from!

Popo Watch!!

While the usual volcano suspects are all belching and rumbling in minor fashion the one that the volcano world (and the world's largest city) is watching is Popocatépetl! The 17,800' mountain, in easy sight of Mexico City (on a clear day), is bulging and belching and rumbling and while that has been going on (and off) since 1994 the signs now are more ominous. Loud explosions, ash falls and a lava dome that continues to grow have local farmers and ranchers and the mexican government ready for evacuations. El Popo appears ready to blow!!

Mostly Quiet Ring of Fire

A little gas, a few quakes but no big action on the big active planet. Two Aleutian volcanoes and Kilauea let the US tie for tops on the list with Indonesia, also with three smoking mountain on it's vast archipelago.  Only 2 on the Kamchatka peninsula and while the western ring is quiet the eastern part of the ring starts belching in Mexico with Popo, then south into Guatemala, Colombia's Nevado Del Ruiz always needs watching with potential glacial melting leading to deadly lahars, the catastrophic mudflows caused when the hot part of earth and its icy cousin get together.  Ecuador and Chile remain on the list with long running eruptions and Etna continues to rumble and belch in Italy while Soufriere Hills' sulfur dioxide clouds will continue to keep the once lovely island of Montserrat off the tourist list of Caribbean destinations.

New Comers and the Regular Crew

A couple of new eruptions on Java allows Indonesia to tie for most active with 3 to match Russia's Kamchatka peninsula and the remainder of the list are truly active volcanoes. Cleveland and Kilauea in the US, Italy's Etna, Hierro in the Atlantic, Mexico's Popo,  Reventador in Ecuador, P-PC in Chile and the always belching Sakura-Jima in Japan round out the week's list. Not many surprises there!!
Stay cool!