Volcano activity of August 21-22, 2012 – Ruapehu, Tungurahua, Fuego, Sakurajima, Batu Tara, Manam, Dukono, Niyragongo, Kilauea and Popocatepetl

This (almost) daily post intends to follow up the activity changes of volcanoes all over the world.
This post is written by geologist Richard Wilson who specializes in Volcano seismicity and Armand Vervaeck. Please feel free to tell us about new or changed activity if we haven’t written about it. -

August , 2012 volcano activity

Mount Ruapehu, New Zealand very active again ? No, not at all. It’s man-made noise, groomers working in the fresh snow and/or the T-bar cranking up.

Mount Ruapehu Far West drum – No, not volcanic – just grroming action in the ski area !

Tungurahua volcano, Ecuador is very active since a couple of days and send gases and ash into the air. 110 families had to be evacuated. Incandescent action was seen after dark (see IR image below). The ash cloud has been send up to 4 km in the air.  A lot of villages in the area did wake up with a layer of ash, but this happens on a regular basis and the population is not at all surprised by this.

Tungarahua volcano action in the night of August 21 – image courtesy IG

At Fuego volcano, Guatemala, a weak white plume was observed this morning. The lava flow toward the canyon reaches 500 meters and is threatening the edges of the vegetation. Sound like weak locomotive steadily. During the night gray ash clouds were erupted up to 100 meters high, spreading west and southwest. The clouds were incandescent during the night.

Activity observed by satellites
VAAC Darwin still sending alerts to aviation for possible volcanic ash clouds up to 7000 fr (2.1 km) for Batu Tara volcano, Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia
VAAC Tokyo the usual Sakurajima explosion at 02:55 UTC

SO2 satellite imagery shows volcano action at : Manam, Dukono, Niyragongo, Kilauea, Tungurahua, Popocatepetl  Ambrym

Interesting articles
Creating a lava flow in a parking lot !
The Syracuse University Lava Project is a collaboration between sculptor Bob Wysocki (Assistant Professor, Department of Art) and geologist Jeff Karson (Professor, Department of Earth Sciences) at Syracuse University. The goals of the project include scientific experiments, artistic creations, education, and outreach to the Syracuse University and City communities. Basaltic lava, similar to that found on the seafloor and erupted from volcanoes in Hawaii and Iceland, is melted and poured to produce natural-scale lava flows. The project supports a wide variety of scientific experiments engaging faculty and students at SU and volcanologists from other institutions. Read more …

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