Tuesday Tidbits

Redoubt emitting a large steam plume in April 2009. Image courtesy of Calvin Hall.

A few snippets from the world of volcanoes:

The current eruptive cycle at Galeras continues to go strong. Officials with INGEOMINAS, the Colombian Geology Survey, believe the volcano will erupt again in the next few “days to weeks”. The volcano last erupted a few weeks ago (in spanish) and caused quite a bit of panic in the city of Pasto at the foot of the volcano. An Orange Alert has been issued (in spanish) for the volcano.

Another volcano have is on the verge of a larger eruption is Nyiragongo in the DR of the Congo. Reports of “by day, the air in the city is thick with volcanic dust. By night …the red glow of burning lava trickling out of the summit of the nearest volcano [Nyiragongo]” Additionally, one of the scientists at the Goma Volcano Observatory reports that “significantly increased temperatures had been recorded around Mount Nyiragongo recently and a larger than usual cloud of volcanic dust was being thrown into the skies“. Interestingly, he also mentions that Nymuragira, not Nyiragongo, is the volcano they expect to erupt soon.

Not much new to report on the Redoubt front. The dome collapse has yet to occur and seismicity at the volcano has tailed off compared to last week. Still, always a good idea to take a peak at the webcams.

The erratic behavior of Llaima (in spanish) has government officials in Chile on edge. There is still an active lava flow emanating from the volcano, plenty of volcanic gas and ash emissions – mostly in the form of orange/black plumes that reach a few hundred meters and constant low-level seismicity.