The latest USGS/SI Update (plus pictures from Soufriere Hills)

Before we get to the latest SI/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report (WVAR), I wanted to draw your attention to some nifty NASA Earth Observatory images from the current activity at Soufriere Hills in Montserrat. After a few puffs last week, the volcano is now releasing a relatively constant stream of ash and steam, this after ~10 months of quiescence. The two images, one on October 12 and one on the 13th, suggest there is a lot of a variability, day to day, in the plume. See the latest WVAR for more info on Soufriere Hills.

On to the Report!

Highlights this week (not including Soufriere Hills) include:

• It is still a noisy time out on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. Thermal anomalies, strombolian eruptions, ash-and-steam plumes, seismicity, you name it at Kizimen, Karymsky, Kliuchevskoi and Shiveluch.
• Seismicity is on the rise (as is the volcano with observed deformation) at Piton de la Fournaise on Reunion Island.
• Lahars and a 4.1-4.6 km / 13,500-15,100 foot steam-and-ash plume from Fuego in Guatemala.
• Sulfur dioxide emissions are still high from the Halema`uma`u Crater at Kilauea in Hawai`i. You can read a couple articles on the hazards of volcanic gases from Kilauea as well.