The latest USGS/SI Update (plus pictures from Soufriere Hills)

Before we get to the latest SI/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report (WVAR), I wanted to draw your attention to some nifty NASA Earth Observatory images from the current activity at Soufriere Hills in Montserrat. After a few puffs last week, the volcano is now releasing a relatively constant stream of ash and steam, this after ~10 months of quiescence. The two images, one on October 12 and one on the 13th, suggest there is a lot of a variability, day to day, in the plume. See the latest WVAR for more info on Soufriere Hills.

On to the Report!

Highlights this week (not including Soufriere Hills) include:

It is still a noisy time out on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. Thermal anomalies, strombolian eruptions, ash-and-steam plumes, seismicity, you name it at Kizimen, Karymsky, Kliuchevskoi and Shiveluch.

Seismicity is on the rise (as is the volcano with observed deformation) at Piton de la Fournaise on Reunion Island.

Lahars and a 4.1-4.6 km / 13,500-15,100 foot steam-and-ash plume from Fuego in Guatemala.

Sulfur dioxide emissions are still high from the Halema`uma`u Crater at Kilauea in Hawai`i. You can read a couple articles on the hazards of volcanic gases from Kilauea as well.