Slamet

This will likely be my last new post for the next week or so. I'll be off to my home town for a wedding and a reunion. If you're jonesing for up to date volcano info, be sure to visit the Volcanism Blog or the European Volcanological Society news page. Feel free to post any other links you know or breaking volcano news over on the open thread as well! I will be posting a couple pieces over this next week, including the next volcano profile, so stay tuned for those as well. Regular posting of new volcano news should return June 15. Mt. Redoubt in Alaska steaming in spring 2009. Image courtesy…

We've already talked about how many active volcanoes reside in Indonesia, but this week's USGS/SI update just drives that point home. Listed in the update are no less than 5 volcanoes were activity is being seen or is on the increase (Karangetang, Slamet, Dukono, Batu Tara and Makian). This doesn't mean mention the activity at Anak Krakatau, Rinjani or Semeru. Amazing. Anyway, highlights - not counting Indonesia or the South American trio - from this week's report (as usual aptly put together by Sally Kuhn Sennert) include: A ~8,000 foot / 2.4 km ash and steam plume from Bagana in Papua New…

Your weekly dose of volcanic activity from the USGS/SI. (a little late thanks to an exciting day of column chemistry). Some highlights include: A 3.7 km / 12,000 foot ash plume from Karangetang in Indonesia (great name, eh?) Lava flows, ash plumes and local ash falls from Slamet in Indonesia. White and grey ash plumes rises to ~4 km / 13,000 feet from Colima, Mexico. Blocks up to 2-m across were transported by lahars from Fuego in Guatemala. The volcano also produced ~4.6 km / 14,500 foot ash plumes. Small ash plume spotted at Barren Island in the Andaman Islands of India.

Mt. Barujari erupting in 1994. Image courtesy of Vulkaner.no. Sometimes it is hard to appreciate how many volcanoes lie within Indonesia. However, within the last few weeks, no less than four Indonesian volcanoes have been put on alert to eruption or shown increased signs of activity - Slamet, Kirinci, Anak Krakatau and now Mt. Rinjani (above). UPDATE 5/3/2009 11AM (Pacific): The volcano is erupting according to the Jakarta Globe. Seems like the activity so far is confined to small explosions emitting ash and gases. More info as I find it. Rinjani is a popular tourist destination on the…

Mt. Slamet, Indonesia, with agricultural fields in the foreground. I'll be brief, mostly because I'm still lost in a haze of jetlag and allergies, but ... Mt. Slamet on the island of Java in Indonesia is showing signs of a "major eruption". Preparations have begun by the Indonesian government to evacuate people in the event that the volcano erupts, however, it is unclear when that might be. Agus Budianto, head of the volcanology unit at the Bandung, West Java-based Volcanology and Disaster Mitigation Agency, said this about the current activity at the volcano: "Even though the earthquake…