Ecuador

A few quick news bits ... and thanks for the questions so far. Keep 'em coming! Tungurahua, Ecuador erupting in 2006. Ash fall from Tungurahua (in spanish) in Ecuador is affecting the farm towns around the volcano. Farmers in Manzano, a village nearby, fear the ash is significant enough to damage their crops. The volcano itself is throwing incandescent bombs near the vent along with producing copious ash. There is a nice piece in the News Tribune about how Alaska Airlines handled the eruption of Mt. Redoubt near Anchorage this March. It is nice to get some insight into how airlines deal with…

Fernandina in the Galapagos erupting in April 2009. Photo by Harald Schmidt First off, I wanted to thank everyone who has submitted volcanoes images so far. They are an remarkable collection (see examples above and below) that I will start using with the articles as they fit. Thank you for sharing these images and your experiences with me (and eventually, with the readers of Eruptions). That being said, send me (more) pictures of volcanoes - erupting or not - that I might use on the blog. I will be sure to give you appropriate credit for the image and if you'd like me to link to your…

Things are busy - both volcanically and personally - so I'm going to just give you some links to a bunch of exciting/interesting/insane news: West Mata erupting on May 5, 2009 in the Lau Basin. According to a bunch of news sources, the eruption at Fernandina in the Galapagos is over (in spanish). That being said, the PNG noted that there is still a lot of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide being emitted, suggesting there is still a lot of degassing magma beneath the vents - at what depth (and will it erupt) is the question. There is a lot of speculation that Nyiragongo (DRC) is erupting or…

The weekly USGS/SI roundup is out. Highlights (beyond Slamet) include: Explosions (some heard 25 km away) and incandescent blocks that started fires at Galeras, Colombia. Ash and tephra being thrown tens of meters into the air and a 4-m tall spatter cone being built at Pacaya, Guatemala Also in Guatemala, Santa Maria's Santiaguito dome produced ash plumes and explosions. Steam, ash and sulfur odors from the continuing eruption at Redoubt, Alaska. Increased seismicity, steam and ash plumes along with a thermal anomaly at El Reventador in Ecuador

UPDATED 3:30PM Pacific: The Associated Press has put up some silent video of the lava flows reaching the ocean at night The Geophysical Institute in Ecuador is reporting that the eruption at Fernandina in the Galapagos has intensified over the last 24 hours. Heck, the image accompanying the report looks downright apocalyptic: Now, I'm actually not entirely sure what is being shown in this image. There is no caption, either. My guess is that this is an ocean entry for one of the lava flows, considering the steam and what looks to be water in the foreground. Of course, I have no idea if the…

Fernandina in the Galapagos erupting in April 2009. Image courtesy of NASA. The latest reports about the ongoing eruption at Fernandina are both coming and going. Reports from officials in the Galapagos National Park suggest that the eruption was become more intense (in spanish), while later reports from the Geophysical Institute in Ecuador say that the eruption is waning. Both reports might be true and reflect the volatile nature of the eruption, but overall it seems that the wildlife (that probably is used to this sort of thing anyway) hasn't been effected too much by the eruption.

It has been rather quiet on the volcano-front in the last week. Redoubt and Llaima (in spanish), after a few weeks of intense eruption, are both back on Orange Alert. News of the eruptions from Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai and Fernandina is rather sparse in the details. The news of volcanism in 2009 seems to have settled down. A few tidbits I caught over the weekend: ChaitenDamage wrought by the eruption of Chaiten on the town of Chaiten in Chile, taken in early December 2008. Image courtesy of the NASA Earth Observatory. Don't you feel like you're read this sort of story before after other…

Fissure vent eruption from Fernandina in the Galapagos Islands. In news that comes as a surprise to no one, the current eruption on Fernandina in the Galapagos is having some adverse effect on the wildlife in the Pacific archipelago. Numerous dead fish and sea lions have been seen in the ocean near the actively erupting volcano - now, what exactly is causing the deaths is more speculative. I would imagine with the large plume being produced by the volcano, along with the lava flows reaching the ocean, that volcanic gases and the lava's interaction with the sea water might be the leading…

Fernandina volcano in the Galapagos. Fernandina in the Galapagos has entered a new eruptive phase according to the Geophysical Institute (GI) at the National University of Ecuador (in spanish). Satellite images show a new crater and ash column from the volcano and the GI will look for evidence of new lava flows beyond the "hot points" spotted on the satellite images. UPDATE 4/11/09 9PM: I thought I'd add a link to the story in English now that I found one. There are also some pictures of the lava flows from La Cumbre (There is some confusion about name - Fernandina and La Cumbre are the same…

For those of you looking for real volcanic eruption news (no, there was no "Yellowstone eruption"), here is this week's SI/USGS Volcano Activity Report. And speaking of April Fools Jokes, this is by far my favorite (mostly by its combination of volcanoes and baseball. How could you go wrong with two of my favorite things - hat tip to Fletcher for finding the article). Highlights (beyond Redoubt) include: Earthquakes, tremors and steam at El Reventador in Ecuador 12,000-15,000 foot (4-5 km) steam/ash plumes were spotted at Colima, the Mexican volcano. A shockwave was felt 10 km away from Fuego…

El Reventador, the composite volcano in Ecuador, has been producing explosions and ash for the last few days, so says reports from the country's  Geophysics Institute. El Reventador is only 100 km from Ecuador's capitol, Quito, and in 2002 the volcano blanketed much of the city in ash. However, the eruptions currently occurring are much smaller and limited in scope, producing ash and throwing incandescent blocks out near the vent (see above). No evacuations are currently planned. These types of eruptions are typical for El Reventador since 2002, with increased activity every few years…

I have a few bits of news about one (of the three) volcanoes erupting in Ecuador. Reports from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of Ecuador says the volcano is still erupting ash and there is evidence that lava is erupting from the summit vent. Not surprisingly, there is a travel ban on both Reventador and Tungurahua.

Ecuador's Geophysical Institute is reporting that Reventador is currently erupting ash. Apparently, there is no threat to nearby Quito or any pipelines near the volcano. The volcano last erupted in 2007 (although the article incorrectly reports 2002) with small VEI 2 explosions and lava flows. The last major eruption was in 2002, a VEI 4 that spread ash over Quito and caused a number of fatalities. The 2002 eruption was an impressive one (see picture above), producing numerous lahars and a 17-km tall (~55,000 feet) ash column. This also makes two currently erupting volcanoes in Ecuador with…

Admittedly, this is only a brief report, but there are indications that Tungurahua in Ecuador might be heading into a new period of heightened activity. Over the last week or so, there has been increased seismicity, reports of "booming noises" and increased ash emissions from the volcano. Being one of the more active volcanoes in the Andes, it would be surprising if the new eruptions were very big, but instead we might expect more frequent moderate ash and pyroclastic eruptions. However, with this little information, it is hard to tell what might happen and I'll keep my eyes peeled for more…

Not really a "new eruption" as such, but the Geophysics Institute of Ecuador is reporting that Tungurahua, one of the most active volcanoes in South America, has been erupting ash and bombs as of late, along with showing signs of increased seismicity. Nothing new for this tongue-twister of a volcano as it has been erupting since 1999.

I had been looking for some pictures of the recent eruption of Cerro Azul in the Galapagos, and finally I found some posted on the BBC. There are some rather stunning pictures of the rift eruption (#3), the lava flows heading downslope (over older lava flows, #4) and even a little lava spatter (#1). 

The latest reports from Cerro Azul in the Galapagos indicate that the current eruption that started last week is over. The volcano erupted from Thursday to Sunday and produced lava flows that travelled 10 km from the vent, but little damage was reported. It is hard to tell from the report if this is the believed to represent all the activity to be expected at Cerro Azul, but more likely than not we'll see more eruptions if this is a new stage of activity at the volcano (in spanish).