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Tag Archives: Volcano
Japanese Volcano ‘25 Years Away’ from Major Eruption
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Iceland’s Largest Volcano Rocked By Earthquakes
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Iceland’s largest volcano was recovering Monday after being rocked by a series of early morning earthquakes. The North Atlantic Island’s Met Office reported that two earthquakes with magnitudes of 4.6 and 4.5 hit the Katla volcano, some of the biggest seismic activity to hit the crater since 1997. According to Bloomberg, the two large quakes were… Continue reading Iceland’s Largest Volcano Rocked By Earthquakes |
Japan’s Mount Aso Erupts, Tourists Evacuated
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Japan’s largest active volcano, Mount Aso, erupted Monday, prompting the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) to raise its five-scale volcanic alert level to three from two, warning people not to approach the area. The eruption shot plumes of smoke 2,000 meters (6,560 feet) into the air. Mount Aso, located on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, erupted… Continue reading Japan’s Mount Aso Erupts, Tourists Evacuated |
Volcanic eruptions help slow global warming
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NASA satellites discover source of mysterious volcanic debris in South Pacific
While on a routine patrol late last week a New Zealand Defense Force patrol craft spotted a massive area of pumice floating in the South Pacific from an unknown source. Teaming up with NASA, volcanologists today pinpointed the source of a raft of debris covering thousands of square miles. Read the rest of this story on Examiner.com including satellite imagery of the undersea eruption.
Forecast calling for volcanic eruption, global super storm, Godzilla goes viral
Mother Nature can be destructive but one weather forecast that recently appeared on YouTube called for conditions approaching Armageddon. The video, recorded by a WTVR Richmond meteorologist, calls for everything from a volcano causing temperatures of 400 degrees to an attack by Godzilla. Read more about this apocalyptic forecast on Examiner.com and check out the video!
Japanese volcano made famous in James Bond movie erupts
This week a significant eruption of Mount Shimnoe on the island of Kyushu in Japan sent ash billowing 15,000 feet into the atmosphere. The mountain, part of a complex of 20 volcanoes, will be familiar to fans of James Bond movies.
Shimnoe-dake (Shimnoe Peak) began to erupt on Wednesday prompting some flight cancelations from area airports and covering nearby cities in a coating of ash. The Japanese government raised the alert level for the volcano and banned entry to an area in a one mile radius around the peak.
According to the Global Volcanism Program, Shinmoe is part of a group of 20 volcanoes north of Kagoshima Bay called Kirishima. Eruptions in the area have occurred four times in the past 40 years however this recent is the largest in more than 50 years. The most recent significant even occurred on February 13, 1959 with others since 1900 occurring in 1946, 1923, 1913 and 1903.
James Bond fans may recall the volcano from “You Only Live Twice.” In the 1967 movie the villain, Ernst Blofeld, maintains a secret lair underneath the mountain.
Activity at the volcano is gradually subsiding and no injuries have been reported. Photos and video of the event nevertheless show that it was a significant eruption. The ballooning ash cloud was large enough to be captured in images taken by NASA satellites.
Among the most impressive images are ones that have captured volcanic lightning, a phenomena which is not entirely understood. You can learn more about it in this story on the Natural Disasters Examiner.
The video below captures the eruption – be sure to take note of the impressive flashes of pyroclastic lightning.
Dual disasters strike Indonesia killing hundreds
One major natural disaster is bad enough but the nation of Indonesia is struggling to recover from two that struck in the past week. A major earthquake caused a tsunami late Monday and Tuesday the nation’s most active volcano erupted.
Off the nation’s western coast, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake triggered a tsunami with 10 foot waves on Monday. Villages on the islands of Pagai and Silabu were destroyed and the death toll from that event stands at more than 400 with nearly 200 still missing.
Mount Merapi, located on the main island of Java, erupted on Tuesday and has since had two more eruptions. The latest, which occurred today, claimed one life bringing the total death toll from that disaster to 36.
Evacuations had been issued prior to the first eruption however many ignored the warnings. Further, after the initial blast, many residents returned home only to find themselves in danger from subsequent eruptions.
View the slideshow below for images from the erupting volcano and the aftermath. For complete coverage of the tsunami and volcano -and all forms of natural disasters – please visit the Natural Disasters Examiner.
More on Mount Merapi from the Global Volcanism Project:
Merapi, one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes, lies in one of the world’s most densely populated areas and dominates the landscape immediately north of the major city of Yogyakarta. Merapi is the youngest and southernmost of a volcanic chain extending NNW to Ungaran volcano.
Growth of Old Merapi volcano beginning during the Pleistocene ended with major edifice collapse perhaps about 2000 years ago, leaving a large arcuate scarp cutting the eroded older Batulawang volcano. Subsequently growth of the steep-sided Young Merapi edifice, its upper part unvegetated due to frequent eruptive activity, began SW of the earlier collapse scarp.
Pyroclastic flows and lahars accompanying growth and collapse of the steep-sided active summit lava dome have devastated cultivated lands on the volcano’s western-to-southern flanks and caused many fatalities during historical time. The volcano is the object of extensive monitoring efforts by the Merapi Volcano Observatory.
Mount St. Helens – 30 years since the deadliest volcanic eruption in American history
The morning of May 18, 1980 started as a quiet one with bright blue skies over the Cascade Mountains in Washington. That however quickly changed at 8:32am when Mount St. Helens came to life erupting in what would become the deadliest volcanic event in the history of the United States.
The eruption wasn’t entirely a surprise – volcanologists and geologists had been closely monitoring the mountain in the weeks leading up to the eruption. A magnitude 4.2 earthquake on March 20th provided a clue of what was to come. Over the next two months, the side of the mountain began to bulge until May 18th when a magnitude 5.1 temblor triggered a landslide that led to the eruption.
In an instant, the side of Mount St. Helens exploded with a ferocity that had not been seen in United States history before. The result was astounding – and devastating.
The eruption sent ash 80,000 feet into the atmosphere depositing ash across 11 states. In neighboring Yakima, 5 inches of ash fell and areas as far east as Spokane were blanketed in darkness from the cloud. The ash took less than two hours to reach Yellowstone National Park and a day to reach Denver, Colorado.
- Don’t miss video (Examiner.com): US Geological Survey (USGS) 30th anniversary video of the eruption and its impact
- Related: By the numbers – The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens (Examiner.com)
- In pictures – The eruption and devastation of the Mount St. Helens volcano (Examiner.com)
230 square miles around the mountain was obliterated – all vegetation and manmade structures were destroyed within the area. 250 homes were leveled and 47 bridges and 185 miles of highway were destroyed. What was Washington’s fifth largest mountain was reduced from 9,677 ft tall to a height of 8,365 ft.
The human toll was equally devastating as 57 people died as a result of the eruption.
Arguably the first to lose their life was volcanologist Dave Johnston who was stationed near Coldwater Ridge. Johnston radioed, “Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!” and was never heard from again.
Perhaps more famous was Harry Randall Truman who lived on the mountain and was the owner of the Mount St. Helens Lodge at Spirit Lake. Leading up to the eruption, the 83-year-old Truman refused to evacuate believing the claims of an impending eruption were exaggerated. He would pay for his decision not to leave with his life.
The mountain would continue to remain very active for the next five months producing five more explosive eruptions. Since that time, the volcano has built a new lava dome and periodically releases steam and ash as the unrest beneath continues to this day.
The area continues its recovery, allowed to do so on its own. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan established Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument setting the area aside for research and recreation.
