Posted by admin in activity reports, eruptions, Nicaragua, San Cristóbal.
A statement from the Instituto Nicaragüense de Estudios Territoriales reports that at 1:50 this afternoon San Cristóbal volcano produced explosions of gas and ashes. The first explosion was detected by the seismic station located on the south-west slope of this volcano, and generated a column that reached an approximate altitude of 200 metres, remaining static because of the absence of wind. There then were four explosions of lesser intensity. According to reports from Defensa Civil personnel in the communities around the volcano, the activity continued until approximately 2:40 in the afternoon.
The INETER statement quoted by El Nuevo Diario does not seem as yet to be available on the volcanology section of the INETER website.
Washington VAAC reported ash at FL280 (i.e. 28000 feet/8500 metres altitude) following the eruption yesterday. The latest Washington ash advisories report no emissions.
Regular, relatively small-scale explosive eruptions are characteristic of San Cristóbal, which last erupted in November 2008. By the way, the Associated Press report wrongly states that the last eruption was in 2006. In fact there was a signficant VEI=2 eruption lasting from November 2005 to May 2006, then two eruptions in 2008, in June and November. It isn’t just AP that gets this wrong, however: Nicaragua’s La Prensa didn’t notice the 2008 eruptions either, and Univisión is busy headlining ‘tres años de inactividad’ when it should be ‘menos de un año de inactividad’.
Yesterday San Cristóbal volcano in Nicaragua was reported to be showing ‘slightly elevated eruptive activity’, with ‘small explosions’ in its crater and earthquakes with magnitudes between 3.5 and 4.0. Nicaragua’s volcanological authority, INETER, describes this activity as ‘a normal part of the volcano’s behaviour in recent years’ which ‘at the moment poses no imminent danger to the population’.
A report in Nicaragua’s El Nuevo Diario says that the explosions ‘hurled ash and volcanic gases’ at towns and villages south of the volcano. There are no reports of damage or injuries, however.
Elevated seismicity is reported to have been registered at San Cristóbal for the last week.
Posted by admin in Alaska, Augustine, Nicaragua, San Cristóbal, Spurr, United States, volcanic resources.
Reuters reports that the State of Alaska is preparing a geothermal leasing programme for Mount Spurr which would allow energy companies to exploit the volcano’s heat sources as a means of generating energy, and that a similar programme is being considered for another Alaskan volcano, Augustine. The Eruptions blog has more.
Only last week Nicaragua announced that it was inviting bids to develop the geothermal potential of San Cristóbal volcano.
An article in the UK Daily Telegraph for 26 June 2008 reports on the resurgence of interest in geothermal power in the United States: ‘According to experts, America is only just waking up to the ancient power source lying beneath dozens of states that has the potential to supply as much as 25 percent of the nation’s energy needs’. If the Telegraph is to be believed, Karl Gawell, executive director of the Geothermal Energy Association, when speaking of current geothermal energy projects and the potential for expansion, actually used the phrase ‘the tip of the iceberg’.
Posted by admin in activity reports, Masaya, Nicaragua.
Nicaragua’s Instituto Nicaragüense de Estudios Territoriales (INETER) reported on 18 June 2008 that an ‘explosion’ took place in the crater of Masaya volcano at 16:50 local time on that date, resulting in the release of ‘gases and volcanic ash in moderate amounts’. A dark eruption cloud was observed by people in the Masaya Volcano National Park.
Masaya, a 6x11km caldera, is one of the most active volcanoes in Nicaragua. Unusually for a basaltic volcano it has had explosive eruptions, including, in 4550BC, one of the largest of the past 10,000 years (VEI=5). Long-lasting periods of gas emission from Masaya, with sulphur dioxide being released at rates of more than 1000 tonnes per day, cause localized health hazards and crop damage.