[Vulkanen] The ring of fire #4: Veel aktiviteit!

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Molten lave from underwater volcano captured on video
More than three-quarters of volcanic eruptions happen underwater. But no one has seen molten lava flowing from a deep-ocean seafloor volcano — until now.

A team of scientists set out on an expedition, from Samoa, in early May to study an erupting volcano. Within an hour of reaching the West Mata volcano, the team saw smoke




"And then, wow! There it was. Red lava," said Joe Resing, a University of Washington oceanographer and chief scientist on the expedition. "Everybody. Went. Nuts."

It was 4,000 feet below the surface. The eruptions create new ocean floor.

Video of the eruption, which was recorded earlier this year, was released Thursday during the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.

The video shows red magma bursting in 35-foot streams from the volcano, turning black as it cooled, and rock fragments being thrown 150 to 300 feet.

Had such an eruption occurred on dry land, without the water pressure to keep it contained, lava and debris would have reached much farther.

The recording was made with a remote-controlled vehicle that could get within eight feet of the eruption site, something that's not possible on land.

"Something seemingly as plain as day, a process you'd expect we would have seen over and over again through the course of history, we've seen for the first time: lava flowing on the ocean floor, lava making new ocean crust," Resing said.

Other scientists, seeing telltale signs of volcanic activity, have chased possible eruptions around the seas. Often, the volcano explodes before they arrive.

Only one other seafloor volcanic eruption has ever been seen; that one sent debris and gases streaming into the ocean, but not lava, according to the University of Washington.

Resing hopes that seeing eruptions under the sea will help scientists understand eruptions that occur on land.

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Drie aardbevingen, waaronder een met een kracht van 4,6 op de schaal van Richter, zijn zaterdag rond de vulkaan Etna op het eiland Sicilië geregistreerd.

De eerste twee aardbevingen met een kracht van 2,7 en 4,3 op de schaal van Richter bij de Etna vonden zaterdag 's ochtends vroeg plaats. In de voormiddag volgde dan de derde en zwaarste aardbeving (4,6 op de richterschaal).

De epicentra van de bevingen liggen in drie verschillende zones van de vulkaan op zo'n zestien tot 22 kilometer diepte. Van schade zou er geen sprake zijn.

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Vulkaan Piton de la Fournaise uitgebarsten
Op het eiland La Réunion in de Indische oceaan is de vulkaan Piton de la Fournaise uitgebarsten. In de krater Dolomieu werden vandaag lavastromen en aardverschuivingen waargenomen. Boven de krater hangt een gas- en aswolk. Toeristen en eilandbewoners wordt verboden om de top van de krater te bezoeken.

De Piton de la Fournaise op het eiland Réunion, een Frans overzees departement, is één van de actiefste vulkanen op aarde. Uitbarstingen komen doorgaans twee tot drie keer per jaar voor. Ook op 14 december spuwde de vulkaan nog een grote lavamassa uit.

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Vulkaan Nyamulagira barst uit
In Oost-Congo is de vulkaan Nyamulagira uitgebarsten. De lavastroom die daardoor op gang gebracht werd, bedreigt het nationale Virungapark. Daar leven zeldzame chimpansees en berggorilla's. Dat melden regeringsfunctionarissen. De habitat van de chimpansees wordt bedreigd door de lava.

Het bedreigde gebied is een deel van het Virunga National Park, waar zo'n veertig chimpansees en tweehonderd berggorilla's leven. Wat de gorilla's betreft is dat meer dan een kwart van de totale populatie op de hele wereld. Er zou geen rechtstreeks gevaar zijn voor de berggorilla's.

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8000 mensen geevacueerd na nieuwe uitbarsting Galeras Colombia



De Colombiaanse vulkaan Galeras is uitgebarsten. Niemand raakte gewond door de uitbarsting, maar de overheid gelastte wel de evacuatie van ruim achtduizend mensen.

De Galeras ligt in het Andesgebergte in het zuiden van Colombia nabij de grens met Equador. De vulkaan barstte in 2009 al tien keer uit. De autoriteiten waarschuwen dat de spuwende berg voorlopig nog onrustig zal blijven.

Gewend
De mensen die rond de vulkaan wonen zijn gewend geraakt aan de vele alarmeringen en evacuaties.

Ontruimingen verlopen dan ook altijd soepel, hoewel een deel van de bevolking weigert mee te werken aan de door de overheid opgelegde maatregel.

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Op woensdag 6 januari 2010 15:35 schreef OA het volgende:

[..]

Dat vind ik ook, vandaar dat ik er maar wat aandacht aan heb geschonken.
'Vulkanen zijn wereldwijd onrustig'

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Op woensdag 6 januari 2010 15:58 schreef OA het volgende:

[..]

O, dat was wel de bedoeling...
Straks nog even toevoegen.

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Crack At Turrialbla Volcano Getting Larger, Experts Say

Upon closer inspection, experts of the Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR) say that the enormous crater of the Turrialba volcano has gotten larger following last week's activity, which will in turn cause landslides within the crater, which in turn could mean more eruptions.

Unfortunately the cold front that has gripped Costa Rica this weekend has also affected the weather conditions, rain and strong winds, have been clouding visibility of the crater to confirm all the changes.

Geologists and volcanologists were at least able to confirm that the crack on the wall of the volcano is getting larger, confirmed by flybys by helicopters during a break in the weather.

The experts say the constant spewing of gases is causing the crack to get bigger and could collapse the volcano's crater wall, causing the volcano to spew out the falling material.

Area residents, as well as control posts around the volcano, report feeling seismic activity.

The recommendation is to stay clear of the area and authorities are restricting access to the national park, evacuating anyone found within the safety zone

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Large pyroclastic flows from Montserrat's Soufriere Hills Volcano

BRADES, Montserrat (GIU) -- Scientists at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO) confirmed there was a large pyroclastic flow forming event occurred at Soufriere Hills volcano on Friday afternoon around 2:49pm.

The island came to a temporary standstill as everyone took in the sight of the massive ash cloud that exploded but amazingly did not send much ash and no ballistic material into inhabited areas. Several residents remarked that they had not seen an ash cloud that broad since the early days of the volcano’s reawakening in the mid 1990s.

This afternoon’s event Dr Paul Cole, MVO Director confirmed was similar to the summer 1997 explosion. “A collapsing fountain of tephra, associated with ballistic fragments, was observed at the start of the event on the northeastern side of the volcano. We do not believe that there was major collapse of the dome but significant amount of material was lost.”

Cloud cover around the top of the volcano is inhibiting visibility and scientists are not able to tell if the dome which has been growing rapidly since December has diminished considerably.

According to the MVO statement on the event, “Large pyroclastic flows moved both to the northeast, down towards the old airport, to the northwest down Tyers Ghaut, and into the Belham Valley these flows reached as far as approximately 300 m upstream of the Belham crossing. Pyroclastic flows also moved to the west towards Plymouth, although it is presently unclear whether they actually reached the sea. The event lasted about 11 minutes and seismicity returned to background levels rapidly.”

The Hazard Level is 4. There is no access to Zone C and only daytime access (6:30 am to 5:30 pm) to Zone B.

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Nyamuragira Volcano, Democratic Republic of Congo

Eruptions continue at Nyamuragira volcano in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Lava could cover the Goma and Sake road within weeks. Ash and gas emissions from the volcano have caused health problems for residents. Drinking water from open springs and rainwater catchments in Sake, Kingi and Rusayo have been contaminated by ash. Health centres at Sake and Rusayo have reported increasing cases of diarrhoea, and eye diseases. People around the volcano have reported death of domestic animals and damage to crops. It is estimated that 52,096 people are affected, including: 7,901 from Mugunga (Mumbabiro), 13, 000 from Rusayo and 31,195 from Sake & Kingi localities.

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Volcano-like eruptions in Arunachal

TANAGAR: In a very rare phenomenon on Indian soil, volcano-like eruptions have triggered large-scale forest fires that are threatening vast tracts

There is no official word on these "eruptions" that have occurred in the last few days in the Dehu Mountain range in Kurung Kumey district.

Sources from the remote area said a forest fire has broken out at nearby Langa Tata Mountain situated in between Yangte and Chambang. Arunachal West MP Takam Sanjay has requested CM Dorjee Khandu to seek help from the Geological Survey of India, Department of Mines and Minerals and Forests to investigate into the phenomenon.

In August 2007, similar eruptions had disturbed residents near Kimin in Lower Subansiri district, in which coal-like substances were detected after the remains had cooled down. While scientists from GSI and the Arunachal government's geology and mining department collected evidence, they didn't confirm presence of lava.

Local authorities claimed the fires then were caused by electric short-circuit that generated enough heat to
melt stones around a 200sq metre area.

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Inferno may be a volcano???
Itanagar: The forest of Kurung Kumi district at Chambang in Arunachal Pradesh has been facing a massive inferno for past few days. The fire has engulphed the entire forest and created panic among people in the area as they are discussing of having volcano instead of fire.

According to the Geological Survey of India (GSI), there are only three active volcanoes in the country and they all located in Anadaman & Nicobar Island which is too far from Arunachal Pradesh as the authority has also denied of having any such reports.

Similar incident of fire occurred erstwhile in the region but the facts were against of having any volcano. The fire has perturbed the Member of Parliament, Sanjay Takam, who asked the Chief Minister Doorjee Khandu to enquire the incident and take necessary initiative in this regard.

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Underwater volcano blows top

An underwater volcano erupted Wednesday morning about 5 kilometers north-northwest of Iwo Jima (Iwo To), sending a plume of white ash and steam into the air.

The eruption of the Fukutokuoka no Ba undersea volcano -- which last erupted in July 2005 -- was discovered at about 7:45 a.m. by a Japan Coast Guard patrol boat. According to the coast guard, the volcano is about 1,300 kilometers south of Tokyo, and has also erupted in 1904, 1914 and 1986. In each case small islands were formed, all of which, however, eventually sank back into the ocean.

Since around the 1950s, the sea in the area has regularly changed color, and turned yellow-green last December

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Volcano erupts on Caribbean island

A volcano on the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat has shot a plume of ash an estimated nine miles into the sky, one of its most dramatic events since a devastating 1997 eruption that drove away half the population.

The partial collapse of the dome over the volcano's crater also unleashed flows of hot gas and rocks, triggering sirens for the evacuation of about 20 people from a nearby village.

Paul Cole, director of the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, said it appeared to be the most material shed by the volcano in about four years.

The dome has crumbled several times since the volcano became active in 1995, and Mr Cole said it is possible that activity would settle down now as the dome builds itself up again.

He said there was no immediate cause for concern about more dangerous activity.

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Wandelaar valt in actieve vulkaan

WASHINGTON - Een Amerikaanse wandelaar is in de krater van de actieve vulkaan Mount Saint Helens gestort in de noordwestelijke staat Washington.

Hulpdiensten zetten een flinke reddingsactie op touw en wisten tot op zo'n 15 meter van het slachtoffer te komen, maar ze konden hem toch niet helpen.

De 52-jarige man wilde zich maandag bij de krater laten fotograferen, toen het sneeuwdek ineens inzakte.

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Sakurajima volcano in southern Japan erupted more than 400 times during 2009, and activity is increasing in early 2010. The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) aboard NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite captured this natural-color image of the erupting volcano on February 15, 2010. Gray ash is visible in the plume that extends northeast (towards the lower-right) of the volcano. Ashfall is a regular occurence at the daikon and mandarin farms surrounding the volcano, as well as the nearby cities of Kagoshima and Kirishima.

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Eyjafjoll volcano, Iceland
An earthquake swarm began under Eyjafjoll volcano in January 2010. There was a 40 mm inflation of the volcano. At the beginning of March 2010 over 3000 earthquakes were measured in a 24 hour period, with a maximum at magnitude 3.1. The last eruptions at Eyjafjoll volcano were in 1821-23.