Volcanoes - Recent/Current Activity

[venture]

Since the other thread got buried away under all the political junk, just going to start fresh here.

Main update today, Redoubt has been downgraded to Aviation Code Yellow meaning that it is still in a state of unrest, but nothing to indicate an eruption will happen soon. AVO has advised that there is still a high amount of volcanic gasses venting and melting continues. However, the magma has stopped moving for now and shows no signs are getting ready to proceed further up the mountain. Of course they advise conditions can change rapidly, and this state of unrest has been going on since November and could continue for months or years.

Other US Volcanoes that have been recently briefed on:

Okmok, AK - Code Yellow
Cleveland, AK - Code Yellow
Kilauea, HI - Code Orange
Long Valley Caldera, CA - Code Green
Anatahan, Mariana Islands - Code Green
Yellowstone, WY - Code Green
Mauna Loa, HI - Code Yellow
Shishaldin, AK - Code Green
Cascade Range Volcanoes - All Code Green*

*Cascades include Baker, Glacier Peak, Rainier, St. Helens, Adams, Hood, Jefferson, Three Sisters, Newberry, Crater Lake, Medicine Lake, Shasta, and Lassen Peak.

The USGS CVO office did note that there have been a few small earthquakes at both St. Helens and Shasta in the last 24 hours, but nothing to worry about right now.

[westsidesooner]

It appears that Mt Redoubt is back to an Orange on the threat level. No eruption imminent, but activity has increased again. On the photo page of AVO it shows a small steam and ash plume has again formed.

Redoubt - Historic eruptions

Seismic activity at Redoubt has increased since about 13:00 AKDT and is continuing. An AVO observation flight reported that a steam and ash plume rose as high as 15,000 ft above sea level and produced minor ash fall on the upper south flank of Redoubt. Last reports are that the plume is now mainly steam.

"Based on this change in activity AVO is increasing the level of concern and alert level to ORANGE/WATCH.

It does not appear at this time that a significant eruption is likely in the short term, but conditions may evolve rapidly.

AVO is monitoring the situation closely and the AVO operations center in Anchorage is now resuming 24 hour per day staffing."

[larry shafer]

It appears that Mt Redoubt is back to an Orange on the threat level. No eruption imminent, but activity has increased again. On the photo page of AVO it shows a small steam and ash plume has again formed.

Redoubt - Historic eruptions

Seismic activity at Redoubt has increased since about 13:00 AKDT and is continuing. An AVO observation flight reported that a steam and ash plume rose as high as 15,000 ft above sea level and produced minor ash fall on the upper south flank of Redoubt. Last reports are that the plume is now mainly steam.

"Based on this change in activity AVO is increasing the level of concern and alert level to ORANGE/WATCH.

It does not appear at this time that a significant eruption is likely in the short term, but conditions may evolve rapidly.

AVO is monitoring the situation closely and the AVO operations center in Anchorage is now resuming 24 hour per day staffing."

Current Status and Observations
Seismic activity at Mount Redoubt increased at about 1:05 AKDT Sunday afternoon (March 15, 2009) and approximately 4 hours of continuous volcanic tremor ensued. The onset of the tremor was associated with a small explosion that produced a plume of gas and ash that rose to about 15,000 feet above sea level and deposited a trace amount of ash over the summit-crater floor and down the south flank of the volcano to about 3,000 feet. AVO responded to this increase in activity by raising the color code and alert level to ORANGE/WATCH at 2:50 PM AKDT. At this time it does not appear that the increase in activity heralds a significant eruption in the short term, but conditions may evolve rapidly.

[venture]

Small eruption yesterday of ash and steam.

[OKCisOK4me]

If that thing blew full force, that plane wouldn't be there, lol.

[southernskye]

4.2 earthquake in Alaska

Date-Time

* Monday, March 16, 2009 at 05:13:33 PM at epicenter

Location 60.266°N, 152.060°W
Depth 79 km (49.1 miles) set by location program
Region SOUTHERN ALASKA
Distances

* 37 km (23 miles) W (277°) from Clam Gulch, AK
* 40 km (25 miles) NNW (332°) from Happy Valley, AK
* 42 km (26 miles) NW (317°) from Ninilchik, AK
* 162 km (101 miles) SW (232°) from Anchorage, AK

[AFCM]

Volcano monitoring?

Damn, worthless earmarks.

[metro]

any mini volcanoes going off in the mid-del area? they've been having several earthquakes as of late.

[westsidesooner]

I'm starting to think Redoubt is bipolar. Its back to a code yellow again. I'd imagine its driving the people in the danger zone batty by now. Kinda like the Homeland security levels a few years ago. You gotta feel for em.

Metros post reminded me of a story that fascinated me as a kid. Paricutin Volcano Let me know if you see smoke.

[venture]

Redoubt is definitely being fussy. But it is interesting how it was at Orange for awhile, then got really quiet for a couple weeks - then it blew off the small steam/ash bit. Now it is really quiet again. Pretty much like a covered pot or the ol' Oklahoma Cap (for storms)...pressure just has to build up again and it'll barf some more.

A volcano in Oklahoma would be neat to have, help balance off the mutt of a geological sample that we are already. It would be interesting to see if there is any increased drilling activity in that area that could be triggering these more. Mid-Del doesn't seem to be a center for any earthquake activity from 1977 to 2003. (Source: Oklahoma Geological Survey annual earthquake maps 1977-2001) Looking at the other records OGS has (OGS OKLAHOMA EARTHQUAKE CATALOG) which i'm sure is really incomplete and doesn't have any smaller (non-felt) earthquakes before 1977...there haven't been ANY earthquakes centered in the Mid-Del area in the last 105 years.

[HSC-Sooner]

A volcano in Oklahoma would be neat to have, help balance off the mutt of a geological sample that we are already. It would be interesting to see if there is any increased drilling activity in that area that could be triggering these more.

It would be interesting if the Raton hotspot reactivated itself. The Mt. Capulin volcano is fairly young and it sits in NW New Mexico.

[MadMonk]

Off the subject of Mt. Redoubt, but have you seen this?
Tongan inspection team heads to undersea volcano

The video footage is pretty amazing.

*Edit*
Found a longer and better video here:
http://www.flixxy.com/underwater-volcano.htm

[venture]

That's amazing. The seismographs even at Redoubt picked up on the earthquake that occurred during that eruption - Mag 7.7. Nice find on the video.

[venture]

Not really a sign of someone waking up, last eruption at Lassen Volcanic Center was 1914 to 1917. This is in Northern California, SE of Mt Shasta. It includes the Brokeoff Stratovolcano which was a large volcano that pretty much blew in half, Lassen Peak, Mount Helen, Ski Heil Peak, Bumpass Mountain, and Reading Peak.

CASCADES VOLCANO OBSERVATORY INFORMATION RELEASE
Thursday, March 19, 2009 19:29 PDT (Friday, March 20, 2009 02:29 UTC)

LASSEN VOLCANIC CENTER VOLCANO (CAVW#1203-08-)
40.49°N 121.51°W, Summit Elevation 10456 ft (3187 m)
Volcano Alert Level: NORMAL
Aviation Color Code: GREEN

Information Statement for the recent March 17-19, 2009, Lassen Peak swarm activity

A series of small earthquake swarms have occurred beneath the south flank of Lassen Peak in Lassen Volcanic National Park over the last three days. This activity began at 3:00 AM (PDT) on March 17 and persisted through 8:16 AM on the 19th. Episodic swarm activity on the 17th through 4:10 AM on the18th included some 48 earthquakes large enough to be located, the three largest of which had magnitudes of M=2.1, 2.0, and 2.2. Activity resumed at 6:57 AM on the 19th producing 26 earthquakes by 8:19 AM, the largest of which was a M=1.9. These earthquakes are centered at a depth of roughly 5 km beneath the surface and, in map view, form an elongated pattern extending from the vicinity of Eagle Peak on southwest flank of Lassen Peak to the vicinity of Diamond Peak 3 km further to the south-southwest.

Earthquake swarms are not unusual in this area. This most recent activity was preceded by a swarm of 12 earthquakes on February 13-14 that included a M=1.8 event. Earlier activity in this same area over the last five years includes swarms on February 15-16, 2005 (14 events including a M=2.3 earthquake), February 21 2006 (13 events with a M=2.2 earthquake), January 18-19, 2007 (29 events with a M=1.9 earthquake), and September 7-8, 2008 (41 events with a M=2.3 earthquake). This swarm activity over the past 3 days appears to be within the norm of earthquake activity detected in the Lassen area since the modern seismic network was installed in 1980. The USGS will continue to monitor the situation closely.

All other volcanoes in the Cascade Range are at normal levels of background seismicity. These include Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams in Washington State; Mount Hood, Mount Jefferson, Three Sisters, Newberry Volcano, and Crater Lake, in Oregon; and Medicine Lake volcano and Mount Shasta in northern California.

[venture]

Redoubt is getting cranky again. They haven't upgraded the level, but definitely are watching it. Okmok Volcano was downgraded back to Green.

[jstanthrnme]

the small plume of steam and ash is back.

[venture]

That's just a steam plume. No ash with that, just the glacier ice melting.

[venture]

AVO has raised Redoubt back to Alert Level Orange tonight due to the increase in earthquake activity the last couple of days. They are now expecting an eruption to take places in the next few days to weeks.

AVO/USGS Volcanic Activity Notice

Volcano: Redoubt (CAVW #1103-03-)

Current Volcano Alert Level: WATCH
Previous Volcano Alert Level: ADVISORY

Current Aviation Color Code: ORANGE
Previous Aviation Color Code: YELLOW

Issued: Saturday, March 21, 2009, 10:09 PM AKDT (20090321/0609Z)
Source: Alaska Volcano Observatory
Notice Number: 2009/A10
Location: N 60 deg 29 min W 152 deg 44 min
Elevation: 10197 ft (3108 m)
Area: Cook Inlet-South Central Alaska

Volcanic Activity Summary: AVO is raising the aviation color code to Orange and the alert level to Watch. Seismic activity has continued to increase and conditions may evolve rapidly culminating in an eruption within days to weeks.

Recent Observations:
[Volcanic cloud height] Volcano has yet to erupt. No ash cloud present at this time.
[Other volcanic cloud information] Volcano has yet to erupt. No ash cloud present at this time.

[venture]

Latest Update:

2009-03-22 19:45:39
Over the last hour, the rate of seismic events has increased to the highest levels seen within the last 48 hours. We are watching the events closely and continue to staff the observatory 24 hours per day. The webcam view is still obscured by clouds.

[venture]

Activity is rapidly increasing tonight. Latest update.

2009-03-22 21:32:08
Over the last two hours, seismicity at Redoubt has increased significantly.
No eruption has yet occurred, however at these heightened levels of seismicity, there could be a quick escalation to eruptive activity.

[venture]

2009-03-22 23:02:22
An eruption of Mt. Redoubt began at approximately 22:38 AKDT, March 22, 2009 (0638 UTC). AVO is raising the aviation color code to Red and the alert level to Warning. Initial height of the eruption cloud is estimated at less than 20,000 ft above sea level at present. Further reports will be issued as more information becomes available.

Update:
2009-03-22 23:20:21
Current estimate for eruption cloud height are 50,000 ft above sea level.

Using one of my radar programs (GRLevel3 - the other doesn't have Alaska radar sites in it), I was able to save the images of initial states of the eruption. They can be viewed below (I stored them on one of the sites I manage to make sure they were easily accessible) - the red dot in the lower left corner is the approximate location of the volcano:


http://www.flytol.com/coppermine/dis...925&fullsize=1


http://www.flytol.com/coppermine/dis...924&fullsize=1


http://www.flytol.com/coppermine/dis...923&fullsize=1


http://www.flytol.com/coppermine/dis...922&fullsize=1


http://www.flytol.com/coppermine/dis...921&fullsize=1


http://www.flytol.com/coppermine/dis...926&fullsize=1

[venture]

Another ejection of ash and debris is being indicated now on radar. Wish it was light out to actually view all this.

EDIT: AVO has posted an updated.

2009-03-23 00:30:12
As of 12:27AM March 23, 2009, AVO has recorded three large explosions at Redoubt volcano at the following times:
March 22 10:38PM
March 22 11:02PM
March 23 00:14AM
The National Weather Service has issued an Ashfall Advisory. Link: http://pafc.arh.noaa.gov/volcano.php

[venture]

Eruption is still continuing, but nothing major on radar recently. The HUT Webcam (the closest one) and the seismic station there were blow out during the largest eruption at 4:30 AM on the graphic higher up in this thread. The other camera is still cloudy and no clear view of the volcano.

[westsidesooner]

I was really hopeing that the HUT cam would make it til daylight. That would have been an awesome view. Im really curious as to how much of the glacier has been blown off/melted. The pics on AVO showed some impressive melting going on the last few days. Anyone know of any river gauge sites for the drift river basin?

[venture]

Yeah, but for all we know, a pyroclastic flow came down and took the cam out this morning. That would have been an amazing video view. They are sending up a plane today to get some observations - so we'll see how much the damage is then.