As of April 30th, 2023, there are currently 42 volcanoes which are actively erupting around
the planet.
One of these erupting volcanoes is the famous Sakurajima volcano in Japan, which for most
but not all of the last 7 decades, has been almost continuously erupting via intermittent
vulcanian explosions.
These eruptions can throw bombs of lava and blocks of volcanic material up to a distance
of 2 kilometers beyond its active crater, hence this marks the minimum exclusion zone
while it is erupting.
With this being said, here are this week's major volcano related news stories.
In Washington State, the Mount Rainier volcano produced an increased number of earthquakes
at fairly shallow depths.
Meanwhile, in Italy, a change recently occurred at the Campi Flegrei supervolcano as its uplift
sequence resumed.
And, in what is this week's top story, an unusually strong earthquake swarm occurred
at the La Grande Soufriere volcano in the Caribbean.
The La Grande Soufriere is located on the island of Guadeloupe, and last erupted in
1977.
After this eruption, activity would only begin to change at the volcano in 1992, as this
marks the year when the volcano figuratively "reactivated", as a sustained increase in
seismic activity occurred which was consistent with what in my opinion was the slow refilling
of its at depth magma chamber.
This process has now been ongoing for 31 years and an eruption has not occurred during that
time.
Of course, some new fumaroles have appeared during this time, suggesting a steady change
at depth.
Yet, this complex has produced a series of earthquake swarms consisting in more than
100 quakes about twice every 3 months for the past 3 years.
One such earthquake swarm began on April 21st 2023 at 9:50 pm local time, and by April 24th
when the swarm ended, 746 very low magnitude earthquakes had occurred.
This might sound like a lot, but ranks only 3rd among 26 earthquake swarms this volcano
has produced since 2020.
Thus, while this was a larger than average earthquake swarm, it has stopped, and an eruption
at this volcano in my opinion does not appear likely anytime soon.
In Italy, the Campi Flegrei supervolcano is well known among geologists for not only producing
a series of very large explosive eruptions in addition to more frequent smaller ones
in the last 50,000 years, but also producing some of the highest amount of uplift and subsidence
due to the movement of magma on the planet, with some areas in historical time rising
or subsiding by as much as 30 meters or 98 feet in the long term.
While Campi Flegrei has been undergoing long term magmatic uplift like many other volcanoes
on the planet, the rate of uplift notably increased for the first time in several decades
beginning in 2011, when its alert level was changed from green to yellow.
Then in 2021, the rate of uplift increased again to around 10 centimeters a year, centered
around the Pozzuoli site.
This uplift had increased to 15` centimeters a year in 2022, but then in November of 2022
the uplift temporarily stopped and turned to minor subsidence.
The news is that this subsidence once again turned to uplift beginning in January of 2023,
resuming the 15 centimeters a year rate.
While this might sound worrying, in my opinion an eruption at Campi Flegrei anytime soon
is highly unlikely.
A far more pronounced uplift of 60 centimeters a year occurred between 1982 and 1985, and
that did not result in an eruption, so the same will likely be the case with the current
situation.
Mount Rainier within Washington state is considered to be one of the most potentially dangerous
volcanoes in the United States.
Glacier covered, and 4,392 meters or 14,410 feet in height, this volcano could produce
long reaching and destructive lahars if it were to erupt again.
It has not erupted since 1895, and luckily does not appear likely to erupt anytime soon.
However, during April of 2023, the region underneath Mount Rainier has produced an above
average number of earthquakes, including 7 earthquakes between April 23rd and April 27th,
which were located at between 2 kilometers below sea level and 2.5 kilometers above sea
level.
However, these quakes were in my opinion not caused by the movement of magma, but rather
relates to the weather.
During the winter of 2022 to 2023, the Pacific Northwest and California received far above
normal levels of snowfall.
Thus, when temperatures reached as high as 70 degrees Fahrenheit on the mountain, large
amounts of glacial ice and snow melted.
This then traveled downslope, occasionally permeating through faults, reducing the friction
present and allowing for shallow earthquakes to occur.
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 April 29th of 2023.
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