While what you are looking as might initially look like a preplanned detonation of explosives
at a commercial mining operation, it is instead a volcanic eruption from Indonesia's Ibu volcano.
Located on the island of Halmahera, Ibu is one of the 45 volcanoes which are actively
erupting as of March 3rd of 2024.
Ibu frequently produces these very types of explosions which are known as vulcanian eruptions.
These sometimes generate pyroclastic flows and sometimes occur alongside the ejection
of bombs of lava which can travel beyond its crater rim, which is why this volcano currently
has a 2 to 3.5 kilometer exclusion zone in all directions around its summit.
And now, here are this week's major volcano related news stories.
Due to all eyes being on Iceland's Reykjanes volcano which almost but did not produce an
eruption, the potential eruption of Japan's Fukutoku Okanoba volcano on March 1st received
little attention.
Elsewhere, in Indonesia, the Lewotolok volcano on the island of Lembata produced its longest
lava flow in recorded history, but instead of striking a nearby village is thankfully
bypassed it to the side.
And, in what is this week's top story, a lengthy court case involving 6 companies and entities
were ordered to pay a total of 12.8 million New Zealand dollars in response to what was
in essence negligience and or miscommunication of risks to people and contracts involving
the dangers the White Island volcano posed.
This all revolved around the White Island disaster on December 9th, 2019, which occurred
when an unexpected phreatic volcanic eruption killed or injured all 47 people being given
a tour of the volcanic island at the time.
The issue in my opinion which partially caused this disaster revolves around what I consider
to be a widespread misunderstanding of the hazards different types of volcanoes can pose.
While a visit with small children in designated areas at Hawaii's Kilauea volcano when it
is open is essentially safe, going into or near the active crater of a highly active
volcano which has historically unpredictable eruptions is not.
While the science of volcanology and roughly forecasting magmatic eruptions has greatly
improved since 1980, the same cannot be said of phreatic eruptions, which are mainly powerful
steam explosions.
Phreatic volcanic eruptions although often associated with periods of heightened volcanic
unrest can also occur with little or no warning, as shown by the fact that 4 of 9 recent cases
of unexpected volcanic eruptions occurred when a volcano was not at a heightened alert
level.
Some volcanoes are just too dangerous to visit up close, especially when they are at a raised
alert level, and I believe that both Taal and White Island are among this category.
Meanwhile, In Indonesia, a 2 to 3 meter high lava flow is slowly advancing towards the
town of Waipoekang.
This lava flow began on February 16th, and in the 16 days since has been moving further
south-southeast at a rate of 124 meters a day.
The relevant basaltic andesite lava flow now measures 2.4 kilometers in length and represents
the longest historical lava flow this volcano has produced.
Lava is being continually input into the flow by strong strombolian eruptive activity at
Lewotolok's main cone, causing the flow to pass close to a village on February 28th.
Due to the potential for the lava flow to reach a more populated area, not only was
Lewotolok's alert level raised from 2 to 3, but its exclusion zone was expanded.
Meanwhile, in Japan, the submarine Fukutoku Okanoba volcano produced a strong plume of
discolored green to cyan colored water.
While this most likely signals a sudden increases in gas emissions, it could also indicate that
a small phreatic eruption occurred underwater.
This plume was detected on February 29th and March 1st, but in following days vanished.
While this could be a one off event if it was an eruption, it could also potentially
signal the start of a larger eruptive sequence.
Here is a quick list of all of the world's volcanoes which are currently erupting.
Additionally, here are some volcanoes showing signs of unrest which are not erupting as
of the recording of this video on March 2nd of 2024.
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our YouTube members!