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.