Troubling increase in global volcanic activity

There has been a significant increase in volcanic activity of late. By correlating coronal mass ejection (CME),  some scientists have shown that increased sun activity increases volcanic activity on Earth, which in turn is reflected in the unusal displays of the Northern Lights.

Impressive Solar Activity and Stunning Aurora Displays

Here is a compilation of recent global volcanic activity:

Updated on Jan 9

Uturuncu Volcano

Bolivia

(Nov 2) Scientists recently discovered the volcano is inflating with astonishing speed. “It’s one of the fastest uplifting volcanic areas on Earth. What we’re trying to do is understand why there is this rapid inflation, and from there we’ll try to understand what it’s going to lead to.” Read more HERE.

A broad swath of the Altiplano plateau in southwest Bolivia is inflating like a giant balloon, presumably as magma builds up deep underground. This aggressive rise hints that a new supervolcano could be awakening in South America, geologists say, and so they are keen to learn more about the underlying cause. At the center of all recent intrigue is Uturuncu, a nearly 20,000-foot (6,000 meter) ancient volcano long given up for dead from its last eruption, 300,000 years ago. Uturunca could be drawing magma from a dense swarm of nearby volcanoes, many of which are currently active. Read more HERE.

Chile

(Jan 6) The latest report from Lascar says that over 300small earthquakes have occurred at the volcano in the last 26 hours. Lascar has the potential to produce a large eruptive column – the 1993 eruption (as shown here) sent ash as fall east as Buenos Aires. (Source)

Hudson Volcano

(Oct 28) Chile’s Hudson Volcano awakens after 20 years of silence and released three huge columns of steam and ash that combined in a cloud more than 3 miles high, threatening a much larger eruption that had authorities in Chile and Argentina on red alert. The volcano has erupted twice in the last 60 years, most recently in August 1991, when it piled ash 18 inches high and killed an estimated 1.5 million sheep on the Argentine side of the Andean mountain chain. Read more HERE.

Puyehue Cordón-Caulle Volcano

(Dec 24) Chilean volcanic eruptions, continuing now for six months, have devastated SAN CARLOS DE BARILOCHE, an Argentina city of 130,000 and nearby Argentine communities, which are economically dependent on skiers in winter and fishermen and trekkers in summer. Regional airports have been paralyzed. (Source)

(Nov 23) Since mid October, the ash cloud forced the cancellation of scores of flights in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.

(Nov 10) Despite being classified as a “minor” (menor, in Spanish) eruption, Chile’s Puyehue Cordón-Caulle Volcano continues to pump out large amounts of ash.

Galeras volcano

Colombia

(Nov 25) The Galeras volcano in Colombia’s western department of Nariño could erupt within weeks or days, according to authorities. In the last 24 hours, tremors have been registered that have similar characteristics to those in the period prior to the majority of eruptions. Some 8,000 people live in the area surrounding the volcano that reawakened in 1988. (Source)

Mount Nyamulagira

Congo

(Jan 3) NASA Earth Observatory has released spectacular images from 3 January showing the vast lava flows from Nyamuragira volcano’s current eruption. (Source)

(Nov 14) Mount Nyamulagira, in Virunga National Park, has been spewing out 200m high fountains of bright red lava since the beginning of November. It is its biggest eruption in a century. Mount Nyamulagira began erupting on November 6 and could continue to do so for days, or even months. Read more HERE.

Tungurahua volcano

Ecuador

(Dec 5) Powerful roars and explosions sounding like cannon blasts coming from the volcano could be heard in the area, rattling windows and shaking the ground in nearby towns. Geologists also reported a columns “with a moderate to high load of ash” rising four kilometers (2.5 miles) above the crater. Ash was reported to have spread to a dozen nearby villages. (Source)

(Nov 29) Four Ecuadorean villages with about 25,000 people are being evacuated after the Tungurahua volcano close to the country’s capital began spewing smouldering rock and billowing columns of ash. (Source)

Germany

(Jan 2) A sleeping super-volcano in Germany is showing worrying signs of waking up. It’s lurking just 390 miles away underneath the tranquil Laacher See lake near Bonn and is capable of ejecting billions of tons of magma. This monster  erupts every 10 to 12,000 years and last went off 12,900 years ago, so it could blow at any time. (Source)

Fuego volcano

Guatemala

(Nov 22) There are reports of increasing explosive activity from Fuego volcano, one of the Guatemala’s most active volcanoes. The explosions were accompanied by moderate to strong booming noises and shock waves that could be felt in up to 15 km distance. (Source)

Note:  On Nov 17, two quakes (5.1 and 5.0 magnitude) struck Guatemala and one (5.7 magnitude) hit Ecuador. (Source)

Katla

Iceland (Dec 2) Scientists in Iceland have been closely monitoring the area: “The July 9 event seems to mark the beginning of a new period of unrest for Katla, the fourth we know in the last half century. The possibility that it may include a larger eruption cannot be excluded. Katla is a very active and versatile volcano. It has a long history of large eruptions, some of which have caused considerable damage.”

Hundreds of metres under one of Iceland’s largest glaciers there are signs of an imminent volcanic eruption that could be one of the most powerful the country has seen in almost a century. “There have been more than 500 tremors in and around the caldera of Katla just in the last month, which suggests the motion of magma. And that certainly suggests an eruption may be imminent.”  Katla usually erupts every 40 to 80 years, which means the next significant event is long overdue since the 1918 eruption. (source)

(Oct 14) Seismologists are nervously watching rumblings beneath Katla, a volcano on the southern edge of the north Atlantic island nation, which could mean an eruption is imminent. Katla is a much bigger volcano than nearby Eyjafjallajokul, the 2010 eruption of which cost airlines £1.27billion after ash grounded flights across Europe. Read more HERE.

Clusters of small earthquakes are being detected around Katla, which means an eruption could be imminent, seismologists say. The earthquakes have been growing in strength, too. After a long period of magnitude three tremors, a magnitude four quake was detected last week. Its last major eruption in 1918 continued more than a month, turning day into night, starving crops of sunlight and killing off some livestock. Read more HERE.

Mt Krakatau

Indonesia

(Nov 23) Indonesia’s Mount Anak Krakatau volcano has been puffing white smoke the last few days, and scientists are warning locals and tourists to keep away. That could mean that the long suspected eruption of the world’s most famous volcano could be imminent. (Source)

(Oct 22) Officials have raised the status of one of its most dangerous volcanoes, Anak Krakatau, to a “standby” or level IV- the highest level. The numbers of seismic tremor registering from the volcano have exceeded 5,000 a day. There are also reports of a gaseous mist which has seeped from the volcano and have enshrouded it in a yellowish haze- something that has never been observed at the volcano before. (Source)

The world’s worst volcanic eruptions

Mount Gamalama

(Dec 16) Mount Gamalama is still erupting. Residents around the area are now worried about cold lava flood due to rising rainfalls. (Source)

(Dec 8th) Residents here are beginning to suffer from upper respiratory tract infections as a result of the ongoing eruption of Mount Gamalama, which began spewing silica ash 1,700 meters into the air above the city on Sunday night. (Source) Increased activity has forced the hurried evacuation of islanders. Indonesian officials said more than 1,200 people from villages on the slopes of mountain are now living in shelters. (Source)

(Dec 5) Mount Gamalama has erupted in eastern Indonesia, forcing the closure of a nearby airport and blanketing villages with thick ash. No injuries have been reported. (Source)

Mount Lokon

(Oct 26) Mount Lokon volcano in central Indonesia has erupted, spewing hot smoke and ash thousands of feet into the air. Its last major eruption in 1991 killed a Swiss hiker and forced thousands of people to flee their homes.  (Source)

Mount Merapi

(Nov 11) The arrival of the rainy season has triggered the time bomb experts have long feared: volcanic mudflows comprised of millions of tons of ash and debris blanketing Mount Merapi’s slopes after last year’s eruptions which killed 300 people. and and pummelling thousands of homes to pieces.  (Source)

There are six volcanoes in Indonesia on high alert: Mount Tambora in West Nusa Tenggara, Anak Ranakan in East Nusa Tenggara, Papandayan in West Java, Karangetang and Lokon in North Sulawesi, and Anak Krakatau in the Sunda Strait. “These volcanoes are on alert level III, which means all volcanic parameters show that activities could develop into an eruption or disaster.” (Source)

(Dec 28) Three volcanoes, Mt Ijen, Mt Semeru and Mt Bromo, are in danger of erupting in East Java. (Source)

(Jan 5) About 500 people residing near Mount Lewotolok in Indonesia abandoned their homes amid the volcano’s mounting activity which has been raised to alert level 3. (Source)

Mount Etna

Italy

(Jan 5) Europe’s highest active volcano has rumbled back to life and released a column of ash up to 5,000 metres (over 16,000 feet) above sea level. (Source) (Oct 24) Mount Etna, Europe’s tallest and most active volcano, has begun to erupt (again), sending flames into the sky over eastern Sicily. Read more HERE.

Sakura-jima

Japan

This active volcano in southwestern Japan explosively erupted 996 times in 2011, the most since record keeping began in 1955 (Source)

(Dec 9) Mt. Sakurajima breaks record with 897th explosive eruption. It has been a frequent site of activity since 2008, after erupting in June 2006 for the first time in 58 years. (Source)

(Oct 26 – Nov 1) Explosions from Sakura-jima produced plumes that rose to altitudes of 1.8-3.4 km  or 6,000-11,000 ft.  (Source)

Mount Shinmoedake

(Oct 12) GPS monitoring found that the 1,421-meter volcanic mountain has been swelling steadily — an indicator of the increasing size of accumulated magma. Read more HERE.

Mexico

(Nov 21) Mexico’s largest active volcano Popocatepetl continued to spew smoke and ashes. The smoke was clearly visible from the capital with some 20 million inhabitants as well as nearby cities in the central provinces of Puebla, Morelos and Mexico. (Source)

Taranaki volcano

New Zealand

(Dec 4) A study now shows a volcanic explosion in Auckland could wipe out a 6km area as the “base surge” of superheated gases and ash exploded outward at ground level.  Almost everyone caught in a base surge will die – in the 1902 eruption of Mt Pelee on the Carribean island of Martinique, 26,000 people caught in the base surge perished and only two survived. (Source)

Mount Paektu

North Korea

(Dec 7) North Korea’s adoption of a new rule on natural disasters last month indicates that experts’ warnings of volcanic eruptions of Mount Paekdu have spread widely throughout the country. (Source)

(Nov 3) Scientists are currently holding a vigil at Mount Paektu, Mount Doom, in North Korea. Historical records and ash layers indicate that Mount Paektu, a volcano that straddles the border between North Korea and China, explodes to life every 100 years or so, the last time in 1903. (Two-thirds of the mountain is in China, where it is called Changbai.) (Source)

Philippines

(Dec 24) Bulusan volcano could be close to a new eruption. A warning for possible eruptions was issued and it is advised to stay out of a 4 km radius around the volcano and not to fly over it. (Source)

Shiveluch volcano

Russia

(Oct 17) An explosive eruption is taking place at Russia’s Shiveluch volcano (sometimes called Sheveluch or Sopka Shiveluch), located in the far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, prompting no fly zones to be imposed in the region.  (Source)

USA

America’s Ten Most Dangerous Volcanoes

Cleveland Mountain

Alaska

(Dec 30) The Cleveland Volcano erupted early on Thursday, spouting an ash cloud 15,000 feet into the sky and prompting an air-traffic alert. (Source)

(Oct 9)  Lava has reached the edge of the crater rim of 5,675-foot Cleveland Mountain on uninhabited on Chuginadak Island, about 940 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska. The observatory says an eruption could send up an ash cloud 20,000 feet or more. (Source)

California

(Dec 17) Geologists at the U.S. Geological Survey say there’s a one in three or one in four chance Mt. Shasta or Lassen Peak could erupt in north state residents’ lifetimes and could destroy huge swaths of the north state. Local counties recently have approved vague disaster plans that assume critical details will be worked out on the spot. (Source)

Pu’u ’O’o Crater, Kilauea Volcano

Hawaii

(Dec 13) A new assessment of Kilauea’s activity suggests that this “quietly erupting” volcano, on Hawaii’s Big Island, may simply be in a lull between violent eruptions. (Source)

(Dec 8) The U.S. Geological Survey website reports the lava is flowing straight down into an abandoned neighborhood. The site says that area is closed off and the only way to see it now is from the air. Local media reported earlier this week that the lava was nearing the ocean. But, so far, the USGS says it hasn’t reached the water. (Source)

(Dec 7) “Our research shows that Kilauea is a dangerous explosive volcano for long periods of time, alternating with periods dominated by gentle lava flows.” Kilauea’s worst eruption in history killed uncounted numbers of Hawaiian people in November 1790. (Source)

(Nov 13) Photographs of Pu’u ’O’o from the U.S. Geological Survey reveal the remarkable variety of colors and textures in the lava. The overlapping flows form a record of the evolving eruption. The extent of change since early September 2011 is remarkable. Read more HERE.

Oregon 

(Jan 3) A 230-square-mile (600-square-kilometer) patch of ground in Oregon has been rising due to volcanic activity. The area lies just west of the South Sister Volcano, which with the North and Middle Sisters form the Three Sisters volcanoes, the most prominent peaks in the central Oregon stretch of the Cascade Mountains. Whether such uplift is a sign of an imminent eruption remains uncertain. (Source)

Mount St. Helen

Washington State

(Nov 9) If Congress goes along, the Army Corps of Engineers says it will raise the sediment-retaining dam on the north fork of the Toutle River 10 feet to trap volcanic sediment and prevent it from flowing into the Cowlitz River. (Source) Mount St. Helens is most notorious for its catastrophic eruption on May 18, 1980, at 8:32 am PDT which was the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States. Fifty-seven people were killed; 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles (24 km) of railways, and 185 miles (298 km) of highway were destroyed. (Wikipedia)

Mount Rainier

(Oct 19) Scientists in Washington state say there has been a spate of earthquakes around the volcano Mount Rainier. The first was a 3.4 magnitude quake that struck west of the mountain near Ashford. It was followed about an hour later with a 2.9 magnitude quake under the volcano. Most of the quakes have been around 1.5 magnitude and that a 3.4 and 2.9 have not been seen for a long time. If this volcano became active it would threaten a lot of nearby residents. Read more HERE.

Underwater Volcanoes

(Dec 29) Underwater volcanic activity has pushed an previously unseen island to the surface in a remote part of the Red Sea. Fishermen witnessed spewing lava fountains reaching up to 90ft tall on December 19 near the group of islands known as the Zubair Group, off the west coast of Yemen. (Source)

(Jan 6) It seems that El Hierro is showing renewed vigor with an increase in seismic tremor at the volcano over the last 24 hours. (Source) (Nov 24) El Hierro volcano has an increased area of upwelling muddy water and discoloration of sea water, forming larger and smaller circular areas surrounded by greenish water drifting west. The activity occurs in irregular intervals of typically 20-40 minutes. Another possible submarine vent is visible much further out to the SW, forming a separate greenish spot. There are no rock fragments, no pumice and no steam visible. (Source)

Underwater eruptions create new island in the Canaries

Mud Volcanoes

(Dec 9) An earthquake in Rakhine State in Myanmar has caused underground water temperatures to rise, setting off volcano eruptions of mud and small amounts of lava. (Source)

(Dec 4) Residents of Piparo in Trinidad are living on the edge as the mud volcano that ravaged the village 14 years ago, has begun to threaten their community again. “It sounded like gunshots and this morning when I awoke it was still making noise. This is the same sound it made before it erupted in 1997. It is possible that we can have a repeat and maybe this time it could be worse.” He said it only took ten minutes on that fateful day for the massive amount of mud spewing from the volcano to wreak havoc.” The rain softens the mud which causes minor explosions. However, over the past few days the noise levels had increased significantly occurring at an alarming rate. On February 22, 1997, steaming mud crushed houses and swept away cars, livestock and all else in its path. (Source)

(Dec 3) The mud volcano in southern Taiwan erupted near a cemetery area, ejecting mud and releasing natural gases on Thursday, almost a year since its last eruption. (Source)

END TIMES TRUTH

Yahweh works in progression. Look to the heavens and all of Father’s creation. Nothing happened quickly. All things are borne out in a slow but ongoing manner. So pay attention to the signs and continue to seek Yahweh and Christ in prayers. Do not listen to those who mock the Most High God and veer off the narrow path. Stand firm and know that your salvation is near!

Psalm 1:1 How happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path of sinners, or join a group of mockers!

Job 17:2 Surely mockers surround me and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.

Psalm 35:16 With godless mockery they gnashed their teeth at me.

2 Kings 19:22 Who is it you mocked and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised [your] voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!

Proverbs 1:26  I, in turn, will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when terror strikes you,

Can earthquakes trigger volcanic eruptions?
Volcanoes around the globe continue to show new activity and increased unrest