As of September 18th, 2022, there are 49 volcanoes actively erupting on the planet.
One of these erupting volcanoes is Rincon de la Vieja within Costa Rica which has been
continuously erupting since June 28th of 2021.
This ongoing eruption has originated from its highly acidic and ash coated crater lake,
consisting of a series of intermittent phreatic explosions.
While far larger eruptions have occurred from this complex, its last major explosive eruption
occurred in 1820 BCE.
With this being said, here are this week's major volcano related news stories.
In Alaska, there was signs of life via a likely intrusion of magma at a volcanically active
area of the state which has not been the site of a volcanic eruption since 2006.
Meanwhile, in Indonesia, the number of deep earthquakes increased underneath the highly
active Gamalama volcano, suggesting that it might be building towards a new eruption.
And, in the nation of Tonga, a new explosive eruption began at a shallow submarine volcano,
sending a plume of steam and volcanic gasses high above sea level and into the atmosphere
while also generating heat signatures visible from satellite.
Before the eruption began, Home Reef was a shallow submarine volcano with a summit 10
meters or 33 feet below sea level.
This volcano has previously formed temporary volcanic islands which washed away during
prior eruptions in both 1984 and 2006.
Home Reef's new eruption began without much prior warning early in the morning of September
10th, beginning at 1:39 am local time.
As this volcano began to erupt, the shallow lava interacted with the overlying oceanwater,
causing a quantity of it to flash to steam, aiding in the generation of a so called "surtseyan"
eruption.
After only 12 hours of erupting, per Tonga Geological Services, the volcano had once
again risen above the ocean surface, forming the world's newest volcanic island.
They estimated the new island as 70 meters wide and its highest point was 10 meters above
sea level.
On day 6 of the eruption, the island was estimated to have further expanded in size, attaining
a width of 170 meters.
This volcano's prior eruptions have lasted between 5 and 10 days in length, and while
this eruption could even last longer, it is quite likely that the current eruption is
more than halfway done.
Meanwhile, in Alaska, an earthquake swarm has been ongoing underneath the Trident volcano
since August 24th within Katmai National Park and Preserve.
This seismic swarm was highly suspicious as it began at what would be expected to be the
crust-mantle boundary, with quakes occurring at about 35 kilometers in depth.
Over the next 96 hours, the earthquakes got shallower and shallower, likely representing
a fresh intrusion of magma into the crust.
Then, on August 28th, their depth jumped to a mere 5 kilometers in depth, potentially
reflecting a change in the volcano's hydrothermal system or movement of underlying faults.
Since then, the number of earthquakes has continually declined although they are still
occurring at slightly elevated levels.
While this likely intrusion of magma did not immediately result in a new volcanic eruption,
a close eye will continue to be kept on this volcano while its earthquake swarm continues.
In Indonesia, the Gamalama volcano has been one of the nation's most historically active
volcanoes, with 84 confirmed eruptions since 1500.
These eruptions were primarily vulcanian in nature, consisting of intermittent explosions
due to the temporary plugging of a lava dome by volcanic rock.
However, this volcano which last erupted in 2018 has also produced some surprisingly long
travelling basaltic andesite and andesite lava flows some of which even managed to reach
the adjacent ocean.
On the morning of September 14th, the first signs of life occurred at this volcano in
several years as a series of deep earthquakes occurred underneath its summit, potentially
representing a fresh intrusion of magma.
While this also occurred alongside a brownish plume, this colored plume is quite typical
of the volcano even when it is not erupting.
While earthquakes did spike on that day, they subsequently have declined at a steady rate,
meaning that whatever caused the latest earthquake swarm has likely stopped.
Here is a quick list of every volcano which is currently erupting.
Also, here are some volcanoes showing signs of unrest which are not erupting but could
erupt in the near future.
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