SI/USGS Weekly Volcano Activity Report for 7/29-8/4/2009

We've made it to Ohio! Tomorrow I'll hopefully be returning to regularly scheduled updates, but until then, enjoy this week's SI/USGS Weekly Volcano Report.

Highlights include:

  • KVERT mentions that seismicity has increased recently at both Kizimen and Kliuchevskoi on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
  • ~4 km / ~13,500 foot steam-and-ash plumes spotted at Colima in Mexico.
  • Rumbling noises, incandescent ejecta and ~4.3 km / 14,000 foot ash plumes at Fuego in Guatemala. Explosions were increasing as the August began.
  • It was a busy week in Guatemala, as ash/gas plumes were spotted at Santiaguito and Pacaya as well.
  • Ashfall and tremors continue at Nevado del Huila in Colombia as a new wave of eruptions seems to have started.

More like this

Regarding Nevado del Huila, after reading this tonight I checked the webcam there, at http://intranet.ingeominas.gov.co/webcam/popayan/webcam_Huila.html , even though it's dark now, and discovered that it has a bit of infrared pick-up to it -- during the day the view is often clouded, but right now it appears that there is a cloud covering the summit and flowing tightly part way down the slope -- I doubt it's an eruption, more like a mild plume being shaped by atmospheric flow. It's pretty neat, though, considering how hard it is to see the volcano -- which is spectacular -- during the day. Click "Volver a la página de inicio" to visit Ingeominas's page on this and nearby volcanoes; it's in Spanish, so some might want to run the URL through one of the free online translators or use the appropriate translator plug-in on their browsers.

Most interesting bit of the GVP report for me was the seismic activity at Kizimen, a serial dome-builder, last active 82 years ago. OK it's had its 'St Helens moment' but that doesn't necessarily mean an eruption would be a mild event